Cool Off With Chinese Iced Teas

These teas will not only take the edge off hot summer days, but offer year-round health benefits too.

The long history of tea is said to have begun in China, and the beverage we enjoy today has been drunk in China and around the world for thousands of years. Chinese tea specifically refers to tea made using an ancient method of processing tea leaves. Interestingly, most Chinese teas are not exported, except to other Chinese communities, and therefore many people in the Western world have never been exposed to authentic Chinese tea. 

While Chinese tea can be classified into five main categories - white, green, oolong, black, and post-fermented - there are hundreds of different drinks that can be made from different varieties of these five teas. Amazingly, with all of these possibilities, all teas in China come from varieties of the same plant, the Camellia sinensis plant. Many of the varieties exist because of different way of preparing the tea leaves, such as heat treating and oxidizing, or because of the harvesting process, i.e. at what time of the year and how far into the growth cycle the leaves are when they are picked. 

Iced Chinese Tea

Though all the Chinese tea traditions refer to the standard hot preparation, iced tea has become popular in parts of China in during the past 30 years. Most international brands of iced tea can now be found prepackaged in Chinese grocery stores around the country. A great benefit of tea is that it can be prepared rather easily and with few ingredients, and iced tea is no different. Prepackaged and specialty teas have extra additives and ingredients, but any tea can be made iced at home, as many Chinese families now do, especially during the hot summer months.

Making Chinese Iced Tea

The only disadvantage of making one’s own iced tea, or making iced as opposed to hot tea, is that the preparation time is a bit longer. Since tea leaves steep far faster in hot water, the easiest method is to make hot tea and then cool it, hence the extra time commitment. However, there are two more slightly different, commonly-used options for making iced tea. The first is to brew the needed amount of tea normally but a couple hours ahead of time and put it in the refrigerator until it is cooled enough. Additional ice can be added at this point. The other option is to brew a small amount of stronger-than-usual tea, either by using more tea or by steeping it longer, and then add a lot of ice to it. The benefit of this method is that it is faster than preparing lots of tea ahead of time, though you may end up using more tea leaves to achieve the same end result.

Types of Chinese Teas

Green tea

Green tea is made from the un-oxidized leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. It is not hard to rave about the benefits of green tea: studies have shown that it can aid in fighting off cancer and heart disease, and there is evidence that it also helps to lower cholesterol, burn fat, and prevent diabetes, stroke and dementia. The antioxidants in green tea help to keep diseases at bay by protecting the body’s DNA from free radicals that can make it susceptible to invaders like cancer. As in most studies, it is hard to prove that green tea is the sole cause of prevention, but studies have shown strong correlation between increased green tea consumption (at least two cups per day) and inhibited cancer growth. For all of the benefits it offers, green tea is a bargain of a wonder drink.

Black tea

The leaves used to make black tea start out the same as the leaves used to make green tea. The difference is that the tea leaves are left exposed to moist oxygen in the air so they become fully oxidized (or fermented), a process controlled by tea makers.  The leaves turn black during this process, creating the tea leaves that make black tea. Black tea includes lots of antioxidants in its flavonoids, just like green tea, which help protect the body from a slew of diseases linked to free radicals. There is also a link, albeit one that needs more research to prove, suggesting black tea can help lower the risk of diabetes. Like green tea, black tea is also linked to a lower risk of some cancers. Additionally, black tea may lower the risk of high cholesterol, kidney stones, Parkinson’s and osteoporosis. The ingredients of black tea are considered to be beneficial enough that they has been turned into a solid supplement that can be taken to reap the rewards of black tea without even brewing a cup.

Oolong tea

Oolong tea is the halfway point between green and black tea, giving it a  distinct reddish color and flowery flavor. Here, the same leaves are partially fermented, longer than green tea leaves, which are not fermented at all, and for a shorter time than black tea leaves, which are fully fermented. Along with the antioxidants contained, all of these oolong leaves contain caffeine too, which is another reason many people drink tea.  Energy and alertness increase with the caffeine levels in oolong tea. As with the other teas, oolong is also associated with preventing a host of diseases – heart disease, hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, dermatitis, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, and tooth decay. 

White tea

Some believe white tea to have the highest amount of antioxidants of all the types of tea because it is the least processed. These leaves are immature because they are picked before the buds have fully opened, producing a pale tea with a sweet, silky flavor. White tea contains the antioxidant benefits of the other teas, as well as immune system boosting and plaque fighting qualities. 

This summer, instead of reaching for a high calorie sugary drink to beat the heat, try a healthy, low-calorie, homemade iced tea. Not only are they easy and inexpensive to make, but all of the teas above can offer unexpected health benefits that no soda will have. Even if the long-term results are not immediately evident, drinking a healthy beverage will help avoid snacking and cool off the body this summer.

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