Chamomile is a commonly used herb in teas. It actually is one of the most commonly used herbs in teas because It is so easy to grow and produce. Also, it has a very good health benefit to it which is that it cures all digestive problems you may have, such as cramps, nausea, diarrhea, and more.

Anise is also an easy-to-grow herb. It has a taste alike to licorice. While it can sometimes lightly help digestive issues, it mainly cures coughs and congestion.

Lemongrass is growing rapidly in popularity. As another easy-to-grow herb, it was just found out that it helps lower cholesteral, while helping coughs and congestion. Anyone could grow lemongrass in their own garden...That's how easy it is to grow.

Mint is another easy-to-grow herb. Alike to chamomile , it will cure most of your digestive problems. Some specialists do say to drink a cup of mint tea every single day. It adds a GREAT flavor to your tea.

Herbal tea is not any ordinary tea, and by taste also not everyone’s cuppa tea. It is the ‘health tea’. Herbal tea is particularly consumed for sedative, stimulant, and relaxant purposes. Each of the ingredient added to it make the herbal tea different in quality. Some calms the mind, while some stabilizes the heartbeat, that is, relaxes the body.

The properties of herbal tea are used for medicinal values worldwide. It helps to detoxify the entire system by gradually flushing out the toxins present in the body. Medical fraternity are trying to arrive at conclusive figures though but its said that herbal tea can cure prostate cancer by forty five percent. The tea also reduces blood pressure and cholesterol, helps in digestions by promoting gastric secretion. ‘Echinacea’ helps in treating flu or cold.

From fruits to seeds, and roots to stems, nature is rich of natural healing mysticism that helps an individual to get rid of mental, physical, and emotional stress. Drink herbal tea with dim sums or to refresh yourself in the morning, it will always serve up the charms and mysticism of nature.

Mix herbal tea with your hot chocolate to get the divine flavor out of the combination of the two supplements of nature, cocoa and herbs, for a fun filled evening with your close ones. Nothing can ever be more important than your health. The best way to look beautiful from outside is by keeping your internal system toxic free! So go ahead and sip this tea and sip good health once in a while.

‘Masala chai’, as called by English speakers, or ‘chai tea’ is prepared in different ways across the world. At first, equal portions of milk and water are boiled. The spices, especially the ginger and the cardamom, are ground properly. These are then added to the boiling milk. Then tea dust or leaves and sugar are added. The tea is left to simmer for a few minutes, say 8-10 minutes to get a good strength of the tea. This is then strained in the teapot or the cup and served hot.

In India, there is nothing like a hot cup of ‘masala chai’ or ‘chai tea’ on a cold winter morning. The spicy aroma of the tea warms your mind and your soul. The best way to enjoy real Indian ‘chai tea’ would be sipping on ‘chai tea’ from an earthen pot. The flavor and the aroma, altogether, will arise a different sensation that ought to bring that ‘chai smile’ on your face. There is also nothing better to welcome a pack of guests. Even if you don’t have special snacks to treat them, a tastily brewed chai tea will make their day in your house.

There are many different types of white teas that have added or subtracted ingredients, different health benefits, different tastes and more. So below there are a bunch of different types of white teas with brief explanations

Silver Needle: Fujian Province, highest grade of the Bai Hao Yinzhen. No stems or leaves and uniformly shaped and only using undamaged and unopened buds. Harvest time is between March 15 and April 10 when it’s not raining and prepared under strict requirements to ensure the premium potency of the product. Perfection is evidenced by its delicately sweet, clean and airy fragrance.

White Peony: Fujian Province, Bai Mu Dan, second grade that incorporates bud and two leaves covered with fine silvery white hairs.

Tribute Eyebrow: Gong Mei, third grade, uses leaves from the Xiao Bai or small white tea bushes.

Noble, Long-life Eyebrow: Fujian and Guangxi Provinces, Shou Mei, fourth grade, furry and fruity and a chaotic mixture of tips and upper leave. Has a stronger flavor similar to Oolong and may be darker.
Ceylon White: Sri Lanka. A golden coppery extract having light liquor flavor, pine, honey.
Darjeeling White: Darjeeling, India. Has delicate aroma, mellow taste, hint of sweetness and particularly fluffy and light.
Assam White: Assam Region. Lighter in body, yields a naturally refined sweet extract and distinct malty character.
White Puerh Tea: Yunnan Province, China. Harvested in springtime from plantations on remote high mountain peaks. The tea is processed by hand and incredibly labor intensive with each step. It’s rich in fragrance with alluring sweet nectar-like quality.

The creator of this type of tea was a man named Earl Charles Grey of Britain. Well, actually, he is the one credited for the creation. Basically, there is very little proof to support him being the creator, and actually, there are other people who claim they were the inventors of this great tea.

Earl Grey tea is not very popular in a lot of places, because it can be considered not to be a high quality tea. But it is all over the place in Britain. You can find this tea at any supermarket or tea room.

Black tea is the most common form of tea being drunk all over the world. Generally, all teas contain antioxidants and flavonoids, theaflavin-3-monogallate compound from an anti-cancer compounds called polyphenols, vitamins C and E, folic acid, amino acids, caffeine, astringent and antiseptic qualities.

1) reduces blood sugar, lipids, cholesterol arteriosclerosis
2) blocks the toxicity of nicotine and tar and removes odor of cigarette from the mouth
3) retardates senility
4) prevents cancer and gene mutations
5) has cooling effects, removes calories and deducts the amount of heat from the body
6) analgesic and antipyretic
7) facilitates digestion
no gas generation and acid excretion in the stomach and adjusts water balance in the body after an extended diarrhea.
9) gets rid of lethargy and apathy, good for mental fatigue, prevents rheumatism, chronic hepatitis and acts as antibiotic for gastrointestinal problems
10) slows up the aging process and produces new blood cells
11) makes the heart function better and stimulates the nervous system

One of the rarest and most expensive of the varieties of tea is the white tea. It is mostly produced exclusively in China, and now produced in other countries. White tea dates as far back in 618-907 AD, during the Tang Dynasty. Chinese started exporting these fine teas in 1891. It gained popularity among the Royal Courts and soon became their favorite choice. It invaded North America and now gaining popularity in the United States due to its purported health benefits. It’s tea connoisseurs’ favorite because of its unsurpassed subtlety, complexity, natural sweetness and delicacy.

The white tea did not undergo so much change until 1885, when specific varieties of tea bushes were sorted out to make the Silver Needle and other specialty white teas. The Silver Needle is the most exquisite of the Chinese teas produced and grown in the Fuding and Zhenhe districts of the Fujian Province.

The white tea belongs to the same species, the Camellia sinensis. Higher proportions of the buds are covered with silvery hairs, giving the plant a whitish effect. The leaves are harvested before it fully opens and buds are still covered with fine white hair. Contrary to green tea's distinct “grassy” taste, the white tea is light and sweet.

White tea contains buds and young tea leaves that contain lower levels of caffeine, around 15 milligrams per serving, and is basically processed making use of low heat and no rolling. Withering is under an extended stage, perfect temperature, humidity, airflow and carefully handpicked to be baked dry. Enzymatic reactions then progress to get the fresh leaves to mature properly with minimal oxidation. The unique shape, color and fragrance are due to the ability of tea experts to balance outdoor and indoor withering.

The ancient Chinese proverb goes: “It’s better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one.” The Chinese people had been using green tea for at least 4,000 years. Since the ancient times, they’re aware about its medicinal benefits in treating everything from depression to headaches.

The green tea is made from the same tealeaves, the Camellia sinensis, that is used to make our typical cup of black tea. The only variation is that the properties between these two are in the drying or manufacturing stage. The green tea is not fermented to achieve its high potency, keeping antioxidants intact and to be absorbed by the body when the beverage is consumed. The fresh leaves are rolled immediately preserving its vegetative or herbaceous properties than blacks or oolongs. It produces greenish-gold liquor that is generally lighter than other teas.
The secret lies that the green tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, in particular epigallocatechin gallate, powerful antioxidants that combats the body’s regular metabolic process that is often accelerated by pollution, sunlight and smoking. The thermogenic properties contribute to the progress or growth of fat oxidation by its caffeine content per se. It controls thermogenesis, a process when the body generates heat or energy by increasing the metabolic rate above normal caused by sympathetic activation in times of stress. The healthy brew is complemented by high levels of theanine, polyphenols and a wide assortment of vitamins and minerals.
Green tea and the “French paradox”

Relativity was being made between the results of drinking green tea and the red wine. French are fond of eating rich fat diet compared to Americans, but the French have lower incidence of heart disease. Researchers were amazed that it was because of high concentrations of resveratrol in red wine that restricts the negative effects of smoking and the fatty diet.

For many centuries, Asian cultures believed that green tea possesses medicinal properties beneficial to human health. Our modern science has just discovered that this is true. They had proven that the health benefits have been long connected with drinking green tea. The Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of the epidemiological study showing the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women was trimmed down to 60 percent. Another research indicated that it lowers cholesterol levels and improves the ratio of the good cholesterol than the bad, and limits the range of abnormal formation of blood clots. Researchers from the University of Purdue concluded that a certain compound in green tea limits the extent of cancer cells growth without harming the healthy tissue.

What’s the health “miracle” behind the green tea?

The green tea has been reported to have many health benefits than any other food or drink. Summing up just a few of the medical conditions that drinking green tea is esteemed to be helpful:

1. cancer
2. rheumatoid arthritis
3. high cholesterol levels
4. cardiovascular disease
5. infection
6. colds and flu
7. impaired immune function

The other benefits of the green tea
Sometime in November 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition had published results of a study done at the University of Geneva in Switzerland that those men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than the other subjects given caffeine or placebo.
Green tea has bacteria-destroying abilities that helps fight bacteria causing dental plaque and helps prevent tooth decay in the same manner that it also prevents food poisoning. What we also have now available in the market skin preparations containing green tea from deodorants to creams.
Does green tea have any harmful effects?
It may be true that it may have a negative side effect, but to date, the only known effect is insomnia because of the green tea’s caffeine content that is lesser than coffee. Reportedly, for every six to eight ounces of tea, there is about 30 to 60 milligrams of caffeine than over a hundred milligrams in eight ounces of coffee. Caffeine is water soluble and about 80 per cent is extracted when the tea is steeped for about 20 to 30 seconds. There’s not much difference in the taste at all, which means that you can still enjoy without the majority of its natural caffeine.

The Tea Basics

Although the green tea is the national drink of the Chinese people, the black tea scores 90 percent of all teas consumed worldwide. It originated in China some 5,000 years ago. The tea plant, Camellia sinensis, is native to Southeast Asia, a bush that can reach a height of 40 feet if allowed to grow wild. In general, there are three main categories: green, black and oolong. From these evolved 15,000 other varieties. The major differences depend on how it is grown, genetic “parentage,” aged, brewed, blended and the processing methods they all undergo. The common denominator that these teas were believed to have harbored profoundly is the promising health benefits.

The history of the black tea is essentially linked to Tibet, Mongolia and the Uyghur people of Northwestern China. During the Tang Dynasty, 618 and 907, was the get-go of tea and horse trades. The Yunnan Province is the largest tea-producing region of Chinese teas. One of the unique teas is Pu-er tea that is being aged from two to six years to possess medicinal properties. India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Argentina and Turkey are some of the major black tea raisers in the world. Sri Lanka is also one of the major producers of black tea. In 1997, it became the world’s number one tea exporter than India and China.

Keemun: One of the prominent teas from China, superior to India’s Darjeeling and Assam. Fragrance is from mild to sweet, more potent sweetness from higher grade Keemuns.

China: Generic name for a variety of black teas.

Assam: Assam, one of the largest tea-producing regions of India. Known for the Crush, Tear and Curl and orthodox black teas refined in two flushes, the first has a rich and fresh aroma and the second is the tippy teas.

Kenya: Kenya, producers of Crush, Tear and Curl grade blended with Assam, Darjeeling and/or Ceylon to concoct some of the most popular tea blends.

Darjeeling: India, the most aromatic tea. Produces rare black teas; the Crush, Tear and Curl; tastes nutty, similar to black currants, and often described as reminiscent of taste and fragrance of muscat grapes.

Turkish: Turkey, taste reveals light smokey tone, no astringency, smooth and full-bodied.

Ceylon: Sri Lanka, crisp aroma remindful of citrus, can be used both unmixed and in blends, from fannings to Crush, Tear and Curl to rare organic teas.

Black tea ranges from reddish brown to black. Vintage black tea is very rare to find. One unique characteristic is that it mellows when aged, becomes superlatively richer and aromatic, stronger and boasting in flavor. It is processed by steaming the green tea and fermenting it naturally. Molds, aspergillus and penicillium, develop in the process; and it just needs to be kept in a well-vented place. It adjures the same adjective that used to describe wines or whisky. Unlike other types of tea, black tea comes in compacted cakes of assorted sizes and to make it easier to weigh and deliver to remote tribal villages.

What exactly are the chemical reactions in that microbial fermentation process, how these chemical components change over time, and the effects they have on human health in the long run are still some of the many questions left unanswered. Through researches and studies, some of these questions have already been supported with factual results. While the medicinal values of all teas are now being explored more, hypothetical remedy for ills or diseases are now being globally linked and associated with tea drinking.