What could be the reason I wait until late afternoon or evening to drink green/white tea? Good question. Am glad you asked.
It's not that I don't like these teas-I truly do. And I can't say I never drink green tea earlier in the day. Just rarely.
But on the whole, I wait for the green. As with other sorts of tea, I like strong green teas. Don't mind that vegetal taste that turns some off. And grassy Japanese Senchas are very much appreciated.
Have read limitless conflicting information about caffeine levels in different teas. Some say black tea has far more caffeine than green tea, others say green tea has just as much caffeine as other teas. No idea why, but I can sleep after drinking plenty of caffeine. So whether a tea has a little or a lot of the stuff really doesn't make any difference.
I do feel a bit daunted writing about green teas. So many sites and blogs are out there written by people who've been all over China or have been drinking this stuff half their lives. Unlike other teas where I feel more qualified to make judgements, green teas still seem to be in a category that I've not yet mastered.
It does take a while to learn that not all green teas are created equal. That how you prepare the more sensitive kinds has everything to do with the quality of the resulting taste. It's almost as if I have the rest of my life to solve the mysteries of all the different Chinese and Japanese creations. I'm not complaining. Far from it.
It's simply very clear to me that I still have plenty to learn.
I have a friend who swears by a study trick he learned at university. Whatever you read right before you fall asleep is more likely to stay lodged in your brain. Well, my day normally ends with a pot or two of green tea. My body has yet to complain about this last taste before bed.
My bladder, on the other hand, would prefer I lay off the limitless green tea.
"Good question. Am glad you asked."
ReplyDeleteNo problem. :P
"It's simply very clear to me that I still have plenty to learn."
And this is good. :P
More seriously, I like reading about the reasons why other people are drinking specific teas at specific times as I am most of the time freely shifting from one to another.
I tend to be very sporadic in my tea consumption.
ReplyDeleteI don't seem to have set times or even a trend I follow. I just drink what I feel like having!
Each to their own I suppose =]
Only black in the morning, green maybe in the afternoon, or early evening. The lighter parts of the day are paired with dark teas, and the later, and darker parts with light teas. Strange, but there you go.
ReplyDeleteIf you order from Upton, try getting a sample of Chun Mee Dao Ming; it's a strong green tea and you might like it. You might also try getting your hands on a Darjeeling green from Makaibari estate -- I've found them to be quite strong (and outstanding). Another tea I found to be strong, from Utpon, was Yunnan Green Jade Supreme; you might ignore the commercial description, it's one of the few that I think is totally wrong ("delicate aroma of apricot. The flavor is mellow and slightly sweet, with a light fruity finish"--no. I wrote "I found this tea to be strong, dark, and kind of wicked tasting")
ReplyDeleteAbout the caffeine, I'm trying to settle that once and for all...green tea does not contain more tea than caffeine, and in fact, you can't generalize about any kind of tea (green, white, black, etc.) having more or less caffeine...it really varies by individual tea. There are some interesting studies cited on the page I'm working on on tea and caffeine. If you know of any more studies, please let me know as I want to make that page as comprehensive as possible, and I think more studies would really enrich it.
Oh wow, I can't spell.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Upton stopped selling it, but you might find it elsewhere...in Vietnam, some green tea is grown with the Assam cultivar, and I absolutely love it! It also is very strong!