While science has credited a lot of health benefits to tea, we want to point out that for health regular exercise and a proper diet is the most important . Also try not to choose tea only for  health effects, pick a tea (or many teas!) you enjoy. Forcing yourself to drink tea like you would a bad tasting medicine will only turn itself against you in the long run.

 Health effects that are sometimes credited to tea:

• improves brain function
• helps against cardial diseases 
• helps reducing weight and cholesterol
• helps controlling type 2 diabetes
• makes the immune system stronger
• improves dental hygiene
• helps against Alzheimer 
• reduces Stress
• helps for stronger bones stronger when aging

Quality matters

Above all, however, quality matters. As repeatedly examined and pointed out in numerous researches, the quantity of potent tea substances vary dramatically not only between tea varieties, but also between different qualities of the same variety. 

Most importantly, it takes having a consistent tea habit in order to benefit from the natural beverage. A series of cohort studies that lasted over decades in Japan point out that those who consistently drink 6~7 cups of green tea a day live much longer than those who drink one cup or less. See this Article So, one more reason to enjoy quality tea each day.

  Hundreds of articles and studies about tea are published each year. For more information we would refer you to specialized websites as:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

You could also look for journals like The Journal of medical association (JAMA), The new England journal of Medicine or The American Journal of clinical investigation, among many.

• Boiling water and then letting it cool removes oxygen from the water and will decrease the flavour of the tea. It's better to bring water up to the appropriate temperature.
• When in doubt, use cooler water. Whereas teas can be ruined by water that's to hot.
• Quality loose tea can be reused multiple times! Just using it once is such a waste. Don't forget to remove the tea from the water between infusions.
• Use clear water: osmoses or spring water, the minerals in the water often conflict with the tea makings its fine aroma harder to come out.

Make sure your tea is high quality and fresh. Ask yourself: Can u smell a dry herbaceous scent from the tea? Is the tea full leaved? Does it shine? Does it only have pure tea leaves? If the answer to these questions is yes. Then you got some good tea. Go any enjoy it.

India is, after China, the largest tea producer in the world.  It also grows some of the most sought after teas. There are tea-growing regions all over the country: over 14000 tea estates and approximately 4% of India's GDP comes from its tea.

The variation of climates in India results in a lot of different teas. Although India produces all sorts of tea they are mostly famous for their black teas.

It’s hard to point out “legendary” teas in India, instead they have top tea regions. Here are the most famous regions for tea India has to offer.

Assam

The Assam region is in the north-east of India. The tea plant is grown in the lowlands of Assam, unlike Darjeeling and Nilgiri, which are grown in the highlands. The Assam tea bush grows in a lowland region, in the valley of the Brahmaputra River.

Assam tea is generally harvested twice, in a “first flush” and a “second flush.” The first flush is picked late March and the second flush from May to June.

Assam tea is strong-flavoured and full-bodied. It is often used as English breakfast tea, often drunk with milk.

Darjeeling

The Darjeeling region is cool and wet. It’s located in the foothills of the Himalayas. The tea is exquisite and delicately flavoured, and considered to be one of the finest teas in the world. The Darjeeling plantations have 3 distinct harvests, and the tea produced from each 'flush' has a unique flavour. First flush teas are light and aromatic, while the second flush produces tea with a bit more body. The third, or autumn flush gives a tea that if often considered a washed down version of the second flush.

Nilgiri

This tea comes from an even higher part of India than Darjeeling. Nilgiri tea is grown in the southern portion of the Western Ghats mountains of Southern India. This southern Indian region has elevations between 1,000 and 2,500 meters. The flavour of Nilgiri tea is generally described as dark, intensely aromatic, and fragrant.

First pictures from Diganta Talukdar

Second Picture from Akarsh Simha

All pictures under Some rights reserved

Tea has always been a tradition in China, with a long-standing culture and a rich history. When the Chinese civilization discovered tea, the upper class used it as a medicine. With tea becoming more accessible it got more widespread and all of China could enjoy it. China still has a strong tea culture.

About 2000 years ago, Chinese farmers had the habit of drinking the tea as they cultivated their tea trees ,and learned how to properly produce tea of different varieties with different flavors. China produces all sorts of teas: green tea, black tea, yellow tea, oolong tea, puerh tea, white tea , and yellow tea. Each of these species has different characteristics and various sorts of tealeaves.

Some Famous Teas,

Longjing: Longjing, also known as Dragon well green tea, is a smooth and mellow green tea grown in the mountain areas around Hangzhou in the Zhejiang Province of China. The color is light yellow-green, and it is often said that, the lighter the color of the Dragon well, the higher the quality will be. It has a strong sweet aroma with a mellow grassy flavor. Day leaves have a beautiful flat long shape.

Keemun Black : If you haven’t tried a fine loose top quality Keemun black tea, then you have been missing out. Keemun black tea has a bold, strong and malty taste. It hails from the Anhui province of China. Keemun black tea has a reputation for being one of the finest black teas on earth, especially in the United Kingdom where a lot of households can’t come through the morning without (at least) a cup.

Bi Luo Chun: or green snail spring, is a tea originating from the Jiangsu province. It is usually picked early in the morning.

The leaves are rolled in typical, tightly twisted spirals like a snail. The tea has a light green color with a typical bit of bite in taste reminiscing its name.

Da Hong pao (great red robe) is one of the darker oolong teas. It is also called Yan Cha. It has full body twisted leaves. It is grown in the Wuyi mountains ,located in the northern Fujian province. It is a legendary tea and is not commonly sold in public.

Tie Guan Yin (iron Goddess of mercy) is a softer oolong. It is named after the mythical Chinese goddess of compassion. It has a sweet taste with touches of honey and peaches.

Bai Hao Yin Shen (silver needle) is considered the finest white tea there is. It consists of only the buds of the tea. It comes from farms in Tianmushan in the Fuding area of Fujian province. The tea has a pale yellow color and a subtle creamy flavor.

Around the world the most widespread technique used today to prevent the tea leaves from oxidizing is to heat them by placing them on a heated surface, as if they were in a big frying pan. However, what is special about Japanese green tea is that the tea leaves are steamed.

In Japan, 99.9 percent of the tea produced is green tea.

Sencha is the most widespread kind of Japanese green tea, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the tea produced in Japan. It is produced almost everywhere in Japan, and there is a broad range of it, from very cheap to the most expensive of tea leaves. After the steaming process,  the tea leaves are rolled and dried  to remove humidity and give the leaves their characteristic needle shape. The result of these processes is called Aracha. It is not yet a finished product. Later on, bigger installations convert it to Sencha.

Gyokuro is another famous tea. Less than 1 percent of Japan’s tea production is Gyokuro. It is grown mostly in Kyoto. There are many theories about how it was invented, but it seems it appeared in the first half of the nineteenth century in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. What makes Gyokuro different is the way it is treated just before being picked. The plantation is covered for 20 days before the tea leaves are picked. This produces tea leaves that have more theanine and amino acids which causes the sweetness of green tea.

Matcha is the powdered Japanese green tea used in the famous Japanese tea ceremony. It has a very old history. It was brought to Japan from China by the Zen monk Eisai. Matcha is obtained by stone-grinding a tea called Tencha to produce a powder. Tencha itself is almost never drunk as such. Like Gyokuro, it is grown in the shade. The tea leaves are steamed and then dried.

Kukicha (Bocha), also called twig tea it is mainly made from the stems and is considered a side product from Sencha. Tt tastes a bit nutty. It contains a lower amount of caffeine and is easier to brew than other green teas. A special kind of this tea is made from the stems of Gyokuro, making it sweeter and more tender. This kind of tea is also called Karigane.

Hôjicha is a Japanese green tea: the leaves and ferns are roasted. It usually is an everyday tea but if the best tea leaves are used it can be of excellent quality as well.

Genmaicha is made from Sencha or other teas with the addition of toasted rice and sometimes even Matcha.

First and second pictures is under creative commons 2.0 the second is from Jacob Ehnmark.