Tea
Tea and health claims, examined
Tea is a pleasant drink with some interesting research attached, and a great deal of the marketing goes well beyond what the evidence supports.
Tea
Green, oolong, black, pu-erh — leaf, water and time.
Tea
Herbal infusions and what they are
Not tea, frequently caffeine-free, and a category worth knowing for the evenings and for anyone reducing caffeine.
Tea
Tea equipment worth having
Very little is required, a few things transform the experience, and most of it is inexpensive.
Tea
Blending your own tea
Breakfast blends, chai and scented teas are all constructed, and constructing your own is straightforward and cheap.
Tea
Pu-erh and aged tea
The only genuinely fermented tea category, deliberately aged, compressed into cakes, and surrounded by an unusual amount of misinformation.
Tea
Chinese tea regions and what grows there
The origin of tea and still the most varied producer, across regions with sharply distinct traditions.
Tea
Japanese green tea: sencha, gyokuro and the rest
Steamed rather than pan-fired, which produces a completely different green tea from the Chinese tradition.
Tea
Caffeine: what it does and how much is in things
A stimulant with reasonably well-understood effects, present in wildly variable amounts depending on preparation.
Tea
Oolong: the most varied category
Partially oxidised tea spanning everything from creamy and floral to dark, roasted and stone-fruited.
Tea
Iced tea and cold brewing leaves
Two methods, one of which produces something considerably better than the other, and neither involves brewing hot and adding ice.
Tea
Matcha, and what makes it different
Shade-grown leaf stone-ground into powder and whisked into water, which means you consume the leaf rather than an infusion.
Tea
Brewing tea without ruining it
Temperature and time, mostly — and boiling water on green tea is why so many people think they dislike green tea.
Tea
Tea processing and the six categories
One plant, six broad styles, separated almost entirely by what happens to the leaf after picking.