Green Tea
Like many people I love drinking tea and have made ice cream using tea for a long time (I go into that later in the page). The popularity of tea, just like that of chocolate, coffee and honey, is such that I like to take a closer look and understand why these foods are 'evergreen' and where they come from. So here's a little information on tea.
Where does tea come from?
We are all familiar with tea being 'tea leaves' but not many people know exactly what kind of leaves they are. The answer is .... the Camellia Sinensis which is a flowering tree and is the plant from which all tea is derived. Its leaves are processed in different ways, resulting in different types of tea.
Types of Tea & Percentage Fermentation
The main types of tea are:
green tea - 0 per cent fermented
white tea, yellow tea - midly fermented
oolong tea - 20-80 per cent fermented
black tea, red tea - 100 per cent fermented
Why is the percentage of fermentation
important?
All the teas except green tea undergo a fermentation process (to different degrees as shown above. Green tea is totally unfermented - instead it is steamed - and the result is that it has up to 60 per cent more polyphenols.
What are polyphenols and why are they important?
Recent research has shown that polyphenols are powerful antioxidants, known to promote better health. They are of particular benefit to the immune system. For this reason, health supplements containing green tea extracts are gaining in popularity.
Green Tea - The Health Drink
Tea has been a popular drink for a very long time and green tea in particular has been reputed to have health benefits for thousands of years. In the modern era, green tea has been the subject of in depth study to ascertain true nutritional value and is now believed to be one of the best things you can possibly drink.
Taste of Tea
The wonderful thing about tea is the great variety of tastes that you can enjoy - from the mild and sweet teas to the stronger and scented teas. Green tea is the most popular tea in China and many other countries - known for its health giving properties and mild and refreshing in taste it has a strong appeal for many people.
I enjoy drinking green tea
and have enjoyed making my own homemade green tea ice cream for a long time. My recipe uses the traditional custard base so it makes for a rich ice cream with great texture. If you like green tea and are not counting the calories too much, you can spoil yourself with this little treat - just 1 scoop is enough to feel self indulgent! Indeed, my recipe has been listed on some other websites which I don't mind - I take it as a compliment that the recipe is a good one!
Tea consumption facts
According to recent statistics these are the world's top 10 tea consuming countries:
India -
China -
Russia -
UK -
Japan -
Turkey -
Pakistan -
USA -
Iran -
Egypt
There's lots to learn about tea - Wikipedia has a great page on Chinese Tea Culture