Tea Tips

1. Chewing tea dregs after drinking tea to help maintain health

Some people chew the tea dregs after drinking tea, because the tea contains more carotene, crude fiber and other nutrients. However, considering safety, this method is not recommended. Because tea dregs may also contain traces of heavy metal elements such as lead and cadmium, as well as water-insoluble pesticides. If you eat tea dregs, these harmful substances will be taken into the body.

2. The fresher of the tea, the better

Fresh tea refers to new tea that has been roasted with fresh leaves for less than half a month. Relatively speaking, this tea does taste better. However, according to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, freshly processed tea leaves have internal heat, and this heat will disappear after being stored for a period of time. Therefore, when drinking too much new tea can make people get the internal heat. In addition, the new tea contains high levels of tea polyphenols and caffeine, which are prone to irritation to the stomach. If you drink the new tea regularly, gastrointestinal discomfort may occur. People with a bad stomach should drink less green tea that has been stored for less than half a month after processing. Another thing to remind is that not all types of tea are newer than old ones. For example, dark teas such as Pu’er tea need to be aged properly and have better quality.

3. Drinking tea before going to bed affects sleep

The caffeine contained in tea has the effect of stimulating the central nervous system. Therefore, it has always been said that drinking tea before going to bed will affect sleep. At the same time, caffeine is also a diuretic, and drinking a lot of water in tea will inevitably increase the number of times to go to the toilet at night, thereby affecting sleep. However, according to consumers, drinking Pu’er tea has little effect on sleep. However, this is not because Pu’er contains less caffeine, but because of other unclear reasons.

4. The tea leaves need to be washed, but the first infusion can’t be drunk

Whether you can drink the first tea liquid depends on what kind of tea you drink. Black tea or oolong tea should be washed quickly with boiling water first, and then drained. This can not only wash the tea, but also warm the tea, which is conducive to the volatilization of the tea fragrance. But green tea, black tea, etc. do not need this process. Some people may be worried about pesticide residues on tea, and want to wash the tea to remove the residues. In fact, all tea is planted with water-insoluble pesticides. The tea soup used for making tea will not contain the residues. From the perspective of avoiding pesticide residues, tea washing is not necessary.

5. Tea is best after a meal

Drinking tea immediately after a meal can easily cause the polyphenols to react with iron and protein in the food, thereby affecting the body’s absorption of iron and protein. Drinking tea on an empty stomach before meals will dilute the gastric juice and affect the secretion of gastric juice, which is not conducive to the digestion of food. The correct way is to drink tea at least half an hour after a meal, preferably 1 hour later.

6. Tea can anti-hangover

Drinking tea after alcohol has pros and cons. Drinking tea can accelerate the decomposition of alcohol in the body, and its diuretic effect can help the decomposed substances to be excreted, thus helping to hangover; but at the same time, this accelerated decomposition will increase the burden on the liver and kidney. Therefore, people with poor liver and kidney is best not to use tea to hangover, especially not to drink strong tea after drinking.

7. Use paper cups or thermos cups to make tea

There is a layer of wax on the inner wall of the paper cup, which will affect the taste of the tea after the wax is dissolved; the vacuum cup sets a high temperature and constant temperature environment for the tea, which will make the color of the tea yellower and darker, the taste will become bitter, and the taste of water will appear. It may even affect the health value of tea. Therefore, when going out, it is best to make it in a teapot first, and then pour it into a thermos after the water temperature drops.

8. Make tea directly with boiling tap water

In different regions, there are big differences in the hardness of tap water. Hard-water tap water contains high levels of metal ions such as calcium and magnesium, which can cause complex reactions with tea polyphenols and other

components in tea, which in turn affects the aroma and taste of tea, as well as the health effect of tea.

9. Use boiling water to making tea

High-grade green tea is usually brewed with water at around 85°C. Overheated water can easily reduce the freshness of the tea soup. Oolong teas such as Tieguanyin are best brewed in boiling water for better tea fragrance; pressed dark teas such as Pu’er cake tea can also be considered to brew tea, so that the characteristic quality ingredients in Pu’er tea can be fully leached. 

10. Make the tea with a lid, it tastes fragrant 

When making scented tea and oolong tea, it is easier to make the tea fragrance with the lid, but when making green tea, it will affect the purity of the aroma.