Not so fun news for the Chinese tea lovers here:
In a study funded by Greenpeace, "twelve of the 18 samples contained at least one pesticide banned for use on tea."
In December 2011 and January 2012, Greenpeace took samples from nine well-known tea companies in China. Eighteen different kinds of medium-grade tea were purchased at random, and sent to an accredited third-party laboratory for pesticide testing. Twelve of the 18 samples contained at least one pesticide banned for use on tea. Every single sample contained at least three different kinds of pesticides, and on the sample Richun’s Tieguanyin 803 tea a total of 17 different kinds of pesticides was found.
One of these 17 kinds of pesticides was Endosulfan, a chemical that the U.N. Stockholm Convention in 2010 called “highly toxic to humans,” with a global ban negotiated last year. The pesticide has also been identified by the U.S. EPA as a potential endocrine disruptor, while other studies suggest effects on male reproductive development.
Really awful. Hopefully this story gets more traction and we can get a response from some of the American tea companies.
Anyway, back to the thread:
Thanks to this thread, I gave tea with honey a try. I must say, I'm loving it. Currently sipping on some chai tea with honey. It's soooo good. Normally, I don't like honey since it's too sweet. But just a little bit with the tea seems to give it a really nice sweetness that's not too sweet but just compliments the tea perfectly. I might never go back now.
Yeah, honey and tea go perfectly together. You can go pretty deep down this rabbit hole too: try to find some honey produced locally, or failing that, try to find some that has only one origin (and not a blend of honey from North and South America).
Which tea has the strongest flavor? I am mainly a coffee drinker and in the afternoon when I have tea I need something that gives me a strong taste.
If you're looking for bold flavors, you can always try increasing the amount of tea you're using. I typically like strong teas too, so I use 1.5 teaspoons for many teas. Also, keep in mind, if you're using milk, you should considering using a little less water when brewing your tea (say, about 6oz instead of 8oz, depending on how much milk you use).
I'd also recommend trying lapsang souchong, the smokiest variety of tea you'll probably ever encounter.
Hey guys, which one gives the strongest alertness without caffeine crash?
It's an old tea myth that certain types of tea have more or less caffeine than other types. It's pretty much bunk, though. Every type of tea has a range of possible caffeine content and there is considerable overlap between varieties. So, sure, there is probably a white tea out there with less caffeine than green tea, but there is also probably another green tea with less caffeine than that, too. It's not really worth worrying about.
As for trying to avoid a "caffeine crash," it has more to do with your body being accustomed to higher levels of caffeine all at once. Sure, they're is some research suggesting that there are some chemicals in tea that help evenly distribute the caffeine payload, but until someone steps up and does some hard, clinical research, I'm going to skip that part of the discussion.
So, basically, my recommendation is to drink whatever you like. You may want to possibly avoid any tea you'd need to add milk and sugar to, as those can play a role in making you feel "sluggish." If you're looking for something that does have more caffeine than any tea, you can try yerba mate or guayusa, two South American herbs with caffeine content equivalent to coffee.
