Is tea bad for you?

Had a ton of great responses to my horror story about my kettle from a few days ago. Thanks for all of that. It really is fulfilling to entertain.

So two things happened this week that got me off on another tangent, and somehow I think this'll be appreciated here. Rather than work my way up to it, I'll ask the question here at the outset:

Is tea bad for you?

We often hear about how green tea can cure cancer or halitosis or Tourette's. For every potential life-saving property that's attributed to tea-drinking, there's someone else out there insisting that the science doesn't back up the claims. I'm glad there are people arguing this, but I'm really out of my depth when any of these topics come up.

My response, when the topic of health benefits of tea arises, is to very clearly say that I really don't know. I love drinking the stuff. If there are additional advantages, then I'm all the happier.

But what if all this tea I'm drinking is actually detrimental? Ooh, now this might get interesting.

My friend Art has had some rather monumental health issues that've led him to assess everything he's always thought about nutrition and diet. Anytime he sends me anything, I take it seriously. Partly out of solidarity for him and his struggles. Partly because he finds good stuff. When he locates anything tea-related, I know it's coming my way.

So the blogpost he sent me is from Lindsey "Vee" Goodwin of Vee Tea and it's all about Tea and Iron. It might be two and a half years old, but it seems like all of this still stands. Let me be perfectly clear: she does not say that tea's bad for you.

She does however talk about the effect of the tannins in tea on both anemic and vegetarians, and recommends that those people drink less tea or avoid the black or highly-oxidised Oolong tea that have a lot of tannins. Please don't take any of this from me. Go click on the link, and read what she has to say about it.

She does ask at one point, “You want me to drink LESS tea and plan my meals around my tea-drinking! You must be crazy!” So I wanted to throw this out as a hypothetical:

What if you found out drinking too much tea was, in fact, bad for you? Would it impact your tea drinking in the least? I write quite a bit about black tea. Would I be willing to alter which tea I drink for the sake of my health?

The other thing that happened was much more frivolous. My dentist informed me that it was very self-evident that I was a heavy tea drinker. She said it as if it was an admonition, but I glowed with pride. It's just cosmetic, isn't it? What would you sacrifice for the sake of tea?

But she did convince me to lay off the black tea for the rest of the day. Might sound like it's not much of an inconvenience. I have plenty of really nice Oolong and green tea, but once my black tea was off-limits...it wasn't a pretty sight.

Tempering my Assam

Here's a tea review for you. Sort of. It's an anti-tea review, actually. And then a traditional review. Or as traditional as I'm capable of. I've already written a bit about Assam Greenwood. It's not a bad tea, but it's not to my taste. The best way to describe it is that it's too bitter for me. Now some say all black tea is bitter. Or that it depends upon steeping time. Or that it really depends upon which specific black tea you're talking about. All of these things are true. Certainly some black teas are less bitter, and the more developed your tongue, the better you can differentiate the amount of bitterness.

But what is the bitterness? It comes from the tea tannins. It's not tannic acid. It has nothing at all to do with that. The chemical compound is one of the things which makes tea so healthy. There are many other chemicals involved, some of which we know about. Many we don't. But many black teas are loaded with these bitter tasting tannins. Herein lies the problem. I like the Assam Greenwood, but it's too bitter. There's something about it that's just a bit too much.

A blend recipe

So now I'm going to describe the simplest of blends. Some of you seem interested in this, so I'll tell you what I'm doing. If you can't get these exact teas, try this with an Assam that has a lot of tannins. Ask your tea-seller which one. Then take another Assam that's definitely not so bitter. The ones I've been using most are Assam Hajua and Assam Khongea. The Hajua is stronger, and although it tempers the tannins quite nicely, this is not a light tea. Not by a long shot. But when you mix these two teas (1 part Greenwood plus 1 part Hajua/Khongea), it takes away some of the bitterness. Not all of it, but certainly the lion's share.

Like I said, you needn't try and get these exact teas from these exact plantations. Just because you find a tea online or in a shop that comes from Khongea, definitely does not mean that you and I are drinking the same tea. Two teas from the same plantation can have incredibly different qualities. It depends upon what season, as well as what year. And not all the plants are identical. Both your Khongea and mine will have the characteristics of what I'm describing, but they'll never be identical.

Assam Khongea

For an Assam, this is a surprisingly subtle tea. Like most, if not all, Assams, this has a taste of malt. No matter how smoothly in goes down, there will always be a bit of earthiness in an Assam. This one is typical on both counts: smooth and malty. It's certainly worth trying. I had multiple pots of straight Khongea today. Still prefer that to any Greenwood or highly tannic blend I've tried.

Would love some feedback on this. Try blending a few black teas. Whether the ones I've mentioned or the ones you already have in your pantry. Let me know.