Basil Tea and Tulsi Chai

Yes! Just like peppermint, you can use basil leaves to prepare a tea and it’s just as good! Surprisingly basil tea is smells very much like chai – it has that sweet, cleansing cinnamon aroma, a pale liquor and a refreshing taste. In India this tea is called Tulsi Chai and it’s not only very popular, but also part of a long tradition of tea drinking.

You can prepare it in various ways, but first you need 10-15 fresh basil leaves. You cut off the stems, pour boiling water over them and let steep for 5-10 minutes. Optionally you can boil the leaves along with water in a small pan. If you want something more exciting you can also make a camellia sinensis-basil tea. First bring the water and basil leaves to a rolling boil, lower the heat and let them steep for 3-4 minutes. Then put the heat back up and add some camellia sinensis leaves. If it’s a green tea you don’t have to boil it, but if it’s a black tea you want to steep it in a higher temperature. Now that the tea is done, you can add some sugar or lemon to taste. Adding milk for this tea is not recommended.

Generally, there is no set way of preparation and you can do whatever works best. There are many tea vendors that offer ready-made Tulsi Chai, that you just buy and infuse like regular tea. Some of the benefits of drinking basil tea is improved digestion and cardiovascular system, it contains vitamins K, A and C as well as calcium and iron. It is is perfect along with nay kind of meal, and it can be served to persons of any age.

Green Tea for Healthy Teeth and Gums

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Periodontology green tea consumed daily, on a regular basis helps to keep teeth and gums healthy for longer. An analysis of 940 Japanese men between 49 to 59 years old showed that catechin by reducing inflammation promotes a better periodontal health, preventing bleeding and loss of attachment of tooth to gum. Previous studies have also shown that regular use of dental thread can prolong lifespan even 5 years, making dental and periodontal care important factors in overall body health.

What is decaf tea?

I think that many of us would like to drink tea all day long, dosing up on all those antioxidants, but the truth is that tea does have caffeine and drinking a lot of it especially in the evening can cause sleeping problems. At some point you might want to consider decaf tea. This was the case for me when I thought about decaf tea for the first time – and I wondered what it means for tea to be decaf, does it change the tea in any significant ways?

There are two ways in which tea can be decaffeinated. The first one uses a solvent called ethyl acetate and it allows about 30% of the polyphenols (antioxidants) to be retained. This method is cheaper, but also less beneficial for us as consumers. 

The second process is called effervescence and is more natural, using just water and carbon dioxide. Here 95% of polyphenols are retained, making this a more desired way of decaffeinating tea.

An alternative way to decaf tea yourself, which I mentioned in an earlier article is letting your tea steep for 30-40 seconds, pouring out the liquid and continue to steep the same tea leaves. The tea you pour off contains most of the caffeine, because it gets released in the beginning of the steeping. You can also choose naturally caffeine-free teas like rooibos or herbal infusions. You want to avoid bagged green tea, because it contains more caffeine then loose leaf and also you get less control of how much tea to brew. 

Since the three main substances in tea leaves (polyphenols, amino acids and caffeine) all affect the taste of the infusion, it is inevitable that the decaffeination process will alter the flavor.

Recycled tea

Sometimes, after you’ve made your tea, you feel like it’s such a pity to throw the infused leaves away (especially if it’s and expensive or rare tea). Well, I found this article on Product Dose about recycling tea some time ago and I have been doing it since. There is a certain satisfaction to being able to use the same leaves twice for different purposes, however it doesn’t come hassle-free. If you want to recycle tea you have to be determined, decide what you’ll be reusing the tea for and have a plan.

I decided to recycle only one type of the the one I drink on a regular basis and buy in large quantities, in my case that’s Gunpowder green tea. This way the tea will have a uniform aroma. It’s also best to use unflavored/unscented tea, which is not blended with other ingredients, with the exception of Jasmine tea). I wouldn’t advise recycling teas other then green and white, because the idea of recycling is to either enjoy the tea aroma or its benefits.

After you have made your tea, you take them out of the infuser and spread them either on a clean piece of paper or on a plate. It’s good if the leaves are as little clumped as possible. You can let them dry naturally or put them over the element and take them off once they have completely dried.

Product Dose gives the following suggestions of what you can do with the recycled leaves

Bathing

Green tea is great for your skin. Potent in antioxidants, green tea has been found to protect the skin against free radical damage and has been linked to skin cell rejuvenation. For simple use in the bath, fill a cotton bag with tea leaves and place into hot water. The tea will essentially steep in the water, and your skin will soak up the beneficial brew. Once the leaves have fully opened, you can then also rub your body with the tea bag, more acutely exposing your skin to the tea leaves (I can also suggest making a strong essence of the recycled leaves instead of using the leaves themselves, so you can just pour the essence into your bathtub).

Cat Litter

Because green tea is a natural odor absorber, recycled green tea leaves can be used in a cat litter box to minimize the smell. Green tea is also characterized by natural anti-bacterial properties, creating a more sanitary environment when used in a litter box. Simply scatter dried tea leaves within the cat’s litter.

Cleaning (Carpet, Mats, Flooring)

Because tea leaves reduce odor and eliminate bacteria, they are an ideal natural element in cleaning floors and floor coverings. For carpets, spread dried tea leaves and brush them gently over the area, allowing the leaves to crumble into dust; then vacuum the remains up off of the carpet. For flooring and mats, wrap tea leaves in a damp cloth, squeeze it the cloth, and simply wipe the floor, cleaning and polishing the surface.

Cleaning (Cutting Board)

Similarly to the way that green tea can be used to clean flooring, it is also useful for taking odors out of cutting boards, as well as your hands. After preparing an odorous food on a cutting board, rinse the board with water. Spread recycled green leaves over the board and rub the board with your hands, rinsing with water afterward. The interaction between the green leaves and both the cutting surface and your hands will reduce odor in both.

Eye Pads

Because green tea is so beneficial in rejuvenating protecting the skin against free radical damage, it is ideal for reducing puffiness around the eyes. Fill a cotton bag with used green tea, dampen, and place on your eyelids.

Incense

Green tea is an ideal odor absorber, but it is also fragrant when burned as incense. A variety of incense burners, suitable for tea leaves, are available, but the leaves can also be burned within a ceramic pot or container. A boiling pot, with shallow water, containing tea leaves can also give off a pleasant aroma when gently simmering.

Mouth Wash

Using green tea leaves when gargling can both fight bad breath and kill bacteria in the mouth. Tea also contains fluorine, which strengthens teeth and fights both cavities and gingivitis.

Natural Manure

Green tea is a helpful ingredient to compost, but it can also be use don its own to enhance plant growth. Place tea leaves near the root and cover with dirt, preventing the growth of surface mold.

Pillows

Although it sounds weird at first, dried green tea leaves are an excellent option for an organic pillow. Not only soft when used in bulk, the faint aroma of the leaves is also a natural sleep enhancer. A pillow-sized mass of tea leaves will take you a while to collect, but, once you do, air out the pillow outside once a week to avoid mustiness.

Refrigerator Deodorizer

Because of its odor enhancing properties, green tea is an ideal deodorizer for the refrigerator. Because refrigeration can effect the taste of new tea, recycling used tea leaves in this capacity is recommended.

Rust Prevention

The antioxidant properties of Catechin, contained in green tea, have been found to protect iron from rust. The ingredient can create a thin coat on the surface of ironware, keeping away rust. Simply wrap tea leaves in a dry cloth, squeeze it, and with the surface of your pots and pans.

Green tea and your brain

I found an interesting short video about the how green tea affects your brain allowing it to be more focused and efficient.

Farewell sleepless nights!

Green tea pillows can be the organic substitue to yor regular pillows or a fancy gadget for a tea-lover. The idea behind tea pillows is that they aid your sleep and make you feel more relaxed when you inhale the soothing fregrance of the leaves.  These pillows are stuffed entirely with tea leaves. They are even said to improve eyesight, calm the nerves and harmonize your body! Nevertheless, due to tea’s bacteria-fighting properties these pillows are also allergy friendly.

I’ve been browsing green tea pillows for the last couple of days and any the nicest I’ve found were from TeaGW. They are very stylish with pretty textile designs. Below you can see the Jasmine and Green Tea Pillows.

What is Organic Tea

What is organic tea and is it worth buying?

You can find a lot of tea that is marked organic nowadays. The organic tea variations have been grown without use of chemical pesticides and other chemical/harmful substances. The soil is fertilized with natural compost producing tea of superior quality and higher antioxidant concentration. This makes organic tea more beneficial to our health. If the health benefits are the main reason why you drink tea, then it’s defiantly worth to spend some more money on organic tea. Without the use of chemical fertilizers the lifespan of tea plants is longer and healthier, thus less time and money has to be invested in replanting.  

How do you know that an organic tea is really organic?

Organic teas are usually more expensive then other teas, due to their production process being more labor-intensive and the production scale being smaller. Some tea can be wrongfully marked as organic, so that the producer can charge more for it. To avoid buying teas like that there are a few organizations that can certify if the tea is in fact organic (e.g. Faritriade, Organic Trade Association). Here is a list of other organic certifiers. Also, if you have tasted many teas before, you’ll be able to tell the quality of the tea and whether it’s organic by simply tasting it.

Fairtrade and organic

While looking at organic teas it’s very likely that you’ll come across the term ‘fairtrade tea’. Fairtrade teas are usually bought from from smaller estates. Fairtrade is a guarantee that the workers have been paid a fair amount of money for their products, work in safe conditions and have received other benefits. Almost a 100% of Fairtrade certified teas are also organic teas because the organization promotes non-chemical farming, both to protect the health of workers, the environment and to deliver safer quality products. Fairtrade organization helps to develop and support the tea worker communities and their living standards. The communities are paid the Fairtrade premium by tea importers for every kilo they purchase – this money finances health care, education and other needs.

Related links

http://www.fairtradecertified.org/
http://www.ota.com/
http://www.omri.org/

Did you know

To reap all the benefits of green or white tea you should drink 4 cups a day (or more, if you like, since so far scientists have not discovered any side-effects of drinking too much tea, except for have trouble falling asleep from the amount of caffeine). It’s even more healthy to drink tea instead of water, as it has antioxidants and can protect you from heart disease and cancer.