May 1st is a day of vacation in China, and while this might not mean too much for everyone outside of China, we are celebrating the day by offering some really cool new tea-ware for everyone. So, all visitors and long time members can find those beautiful double-walled glass cups available now. These are the same ones that many people have seen in some of the site photography for so long. Even more importantly, we now have our own custom designed One-Touch Tea Maker; both available alone or as a gift-box set with the double-walled cups!
You may ask, what does a tea maker do that couldn't have been done before with a pot or Gaiwan or glass? Great question! The One-Touch Tea Maker is a combination of a glass pot (larger than our blossoming pots) with a special removable infuser that fits into the top. The way it works is that one places the fine teas in the infuser, pours in the hot water, lets the tea steep and then finally presses the button to release the liquid into the main glass pot.
So if you are hoping to prepare quality loose-leaf teas in the office ot the cramped apartment, or simply must have real gongfu tea wherever you may be and want to avoid some of the fuss, this is your solution! The One-Touch Tea Maker hasn't replaced our normal tea tasting gear, but it has proved indispensable on all those large tea tasting sessions where several Gaiwans and pots are unwieldy. Of course it is also just as useful on those often occasions of sheer laziness.
If the tea maker alone wasn't enough incentive, we thought it might be because one still must purchase tea to go alongside it; therefore, we have added a free 25g of 1st grade Pu'er, and another of Rosebud (nearly one ounce of each) for all purchases within the month of May.
Make the summertime your new opportunity to redefine 'iced tea'!
Iced tea doesn't have to come in a glass bottle, nor does it have to be purchased in powdered mix format either. A little bit of high-quality loose tea will go a long way, and might even make you rethink your preferred tea temperature! A lot of people - especially in the summer months - ask us whether the tea leaves they bought at Golden Teahouse can be used to make iced tea. But not only is this simply 'doable', the results are fantastic and the methods very flexible! Meaning, you don't have to apply much science in order to get a great glass of iced tea. Here are a few ideas that we enjoy immensely to get you started:
Iced Long Jing green tea in a tall 500ml glass: Pour in a tiny amount of hot water (less than an inch or 2cm of 80 celsius 176 fahrenheit). Add in 3-5g of leaves (an equally tiny amount!) and give it a slight swirl as you take in the fresh and fragrant smell. Once the aroma is well developed top up the glass with less-than-boiling water and leave out in the open to cool down. Once it is near room temperature chill in the refrigerator. Enjoy cold when thirsty, no ice necessary! Can be increased to make a pitcher, but always be sure to use glass that can withstand the temperature!
Iced Da Hong Pao in a tall 500ml glass: The steps here are roughly the same as with Long Jing, but you start by heating the glass with hot water, then adding the 5g of leaves to the empty glass. Pour on boiling water straight to the top and leave to cool naturally before refrigerating.
An alternative approach to iced tea is used sometimes here in China for producing an accurate but chilled version of the same tea that goes through a tea ceremony. The idea here is two-fold: Not wasting great tea that could serve many people while hot, and also keeping the the iced version as similar as possible to what it should taste like hot. Making iced tea in this way simply involves pouring off a certain amount of each infusion to a second pitcher on the side, while enjoying a great tea gongfu-style. At the end of making the tea, take the second pitcher and chill in the refrigerator for a treat later on.
We will go into more detail on gongfu tea-making in the future, so stay tuned!
Until then, check Goldenteahouse.com for all the new teas as well as the new Iced-tea indicator for each tea that we felt deserved some extra recognition for being able to brew a great iced drink!
This New Year's eve was a time spent surrounded by friends, family and lots of tea. It wasn't exactly a traditional or calming setting for taking apart 10 different pu'er cakes and sampling the past few years of aged Wuyi mountain tea left lying around for special occasions. We are actually rarely in Beijing for CNY, but this time we had the special treat of being located on the 23rd floor of one family members apartment in Xuanwu district; close by to the tea city. From high up like this we were able to have a different appreciation for the completely normal festive celebratory fireworks that each family usually partakes in. Using a macbook's iSight camera we perched the computer on the windowsill while marvelling at the amazing noise and light show going on throughout the entire visible space. That was at 9pm, then again at 10:30pm after dinner #2, and then once more from 11:45pm to 12:30am. We've posted some 2.5 minutes of this unbelievable footage from the last segment around 12:15am. At around 1:30am the intensity dropped off sharply, but the video posted here is representative of at least 1.5 hours-worth of windowsill explosions. It is now several days after CNY's eve and still tonight we have a scene that looks like a low-level war going on, though not nearly intense enough for our little iSight camera to pick it up the same way. It definitely must be seen live to believe, but i think this clip can demonstrate the spirit of the celebrations even if it is dark and not super clear.
Enjoy the video, and again happy new years to everyone!
By: Thomas Pickering, MD, DPhil, FRCP, Director of Integrative and Behavioral Cardiology Programof the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.
In many Western countries, the mortality from stroke has been declining in the last few years. Several studies have suggested that one reason for this may be an increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, which contain antioxidants and other beneficial chemicals. Among these chemicals are flavonoids, which are non-nutritive compounds with antioxidant properties, which occur naturally in plant foods, particularly tealeaves and fruits.
A recently published study of 552 Dutch men examined the relationship between intake of various nutrients and stroke over a 15-year period. Forty-two men had a stroke, and when their characteristics at the start of the study were compared with those of the men who didn't have a stroke, it was found that they had higher blood pressure (no surprise here), ate less fish and also less flavonoids. The main source of flavonoids was from drinking tea, and men who drank more than four cups a day had a two-thirds lower risk of stroke than men who drank less than two to three cups. The other source of flavonoids was fruit. Interestingly, no association was found for some of the other antioxidants such as beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E.
Doctor's comments
This is the first study to show a protective effect of flavonoids against stroke, although the same group of researchers reported earlier that they can protect against heart attacks. One possible explanation for the lack of any connection between the intake of other antioxidants (beta carotene, vitamins C and E) and strokes may be that relatively few of the men in the study were taking vitamin supplements, and the beneficial effects of these antioxidants may only be seen with larger doses than are normally present in food. Drinking tea is probably a good thing to do, but these findings don't necessarily apply to herbal teas.
Where it was published
Keli SO and others. Dietary flavonoids, antioxidant vitamins, and incidence of stroke. The Zutphen Study. Archives of Internal Medicine 1996;156:637-42.
Steeped in research: Tea linked to survival after heart attack
Drinking lots of tea may reduce a person's risk of dying after a heart attack, according to a report in today's rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In the Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study, participants who drank the most tea were the least likely to die during the three or four years after a heart attack. The researchers suspect that this may be because tea has flavonoids, antioxidants found naturally in various foods derived from plants. Flavonoids are thought to prevent cardiovascular disease.
"The effects of tea on health have been widely studied, in part because tea contains flavonoids and other antioxidant components, but we don't know of any previous studies that considered the effect of tea consumption on survival after a heart attack, " says Kenneth Mukamal, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. "Flavonoids are probably the best guess for the apparent benefits of tea in this study."
The findings support those from previous studies that linked flavonoid consumption to a lower risk of coronary heart disease and a lower risk of death in people who have heart or blood vessel disease, says Mukamal, who is also an associate in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Researchers interviewed the 1,900 participants an average of four days after having a heart attack. The participants were asked about their usual consumption of caffeinated tea over the last year. Researchers separated the patients into three groups based on weekly tea consumption: non-drinkers, moderate use (fewer than 14 cups), and heavy use (14 or more cups).
The interviews revealed that 1,019 of the patients drank no tea in the year before their heart attack; 615 were moderate drinkers; and 266 were heavy drinkers. In the moderate-use group, participants drank about two cups per week on average. Those in the heavy-use group drank about 19 cups per week on average.
During an average follow up of 3.8 years, 313 patients died. About 75 percent of the deaths were from cardiovascular disease. After accounting for differences in age, gender, and clinical and lifestyle characteristics, the researchers found an inverse relationship between tea consumption and death.
Moderate tea use was associated with a 28 percent lower death rate compared to the death rate of non-drinkers. People who reported heavy tea consumption had a 44 percent lower death rate during the follow-up period.
"We found that tea drinkers generally had lower death rates regardless of age, gender, smoking status, obesity, hypertension, diabetes or previous heart attack," Mukamal says. Caffeine consumption per se did not affect mortality risk after myocardial infarction, he says. The researchers evaluated caffeine intake from sources other than tea and found no association with the risk of dying during follow up.
Several possible mechanisms could explain an association between tea consumption and survival, Mukamal says.
A recent randomized trial found that black tea consumption improved endothelial function (the blood vessels' ability to relax) in people with coronary heart disease, he says. "Flavonoids also inhibit the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Oxidized LDL may promote atherosclerosis, so this property of tea may help prevent additional heart attacks, at least in some patients."
In addition, flavonoids could have an anti-clotting effect. Studies have shown that flavonoids kept blood platelets from clumping together in test tubes, but whether this occurs in the body is unclear.
The findings should apply to different types of tea, Mukamal says. Black tea accounts for most tea consumption in North America, as well as the largest portion of flavonoid intake, he says. Other foods rich in flavonoids include apples, onions and broccoli.
Mukamal says the results are limited because researchers have little information about study participants' diets, which might influence the risk of dying after a heart attack. Although the findings support the concept that tea consumption reduces the risk of death after heart attack, the association needs to be tested in controlled studies, he adds.
Co-authors are Malcolm Maclure, Sc.D.; James E. Muller, M.D.; Jane B. Sherwood, R.N.; and Murray A. Mittleman, M.D., Dr.P.H. American Heart Association
Drinking a Half-Cup of Tea per Day Cuts Hypertension Risk in Half
July 26, 2004 -- Drinking as little as a half-cup of green or oolong tea per day may lower the risk of high blood pressure by nearly 50%, according to a new study of Chinese tea drinkers.
Researchers found that men and women who drank tea on a daily basis for at least a year were much less likely to develop hypertension than those who didn't, and the more tea they drank, the bigger the benefits.
Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Water is first.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the most common form of heart disease and affects about 20% of the adult population in many countries. The condition is associated with stroke, heart failure, and kidney dysfunction and is a major risk factor for heart-related death.
"A link between tea drinking and blood pressure reduction has been postulated for decades in general health care in Chinese populations," write researcher Yi-Ching Yan, MD, MPH, of the medical college of National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and colleagues.
In recent years, researchers say there has been growing interest in exploring the role of antioxidant compounds called flavonoids found in tea that may protect against heart disease.
But researchers say few studies have examined the long-term effects of tea drinking on the risk of hypertension, and the results so far have been conflicting. They say this study is the first on the issue to use a large number of people and detailed information about tea consumption and other lifestyle and dietary factors associated with hypertension risk.
Drinking Tea Lowers Blood Pressure
In the study, which appears in the July 26 issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers looked at the effect of tea drinking over the past decades on the risk of developing high blood pressure in 1,507 Chinese men and women living in Taiwan who had no previous history of high blood pressure.
Because the size of the teacup used varies widely in Chinese culture, the participants were asked to provide details about what kind of cup was used, how the tea was prepared, the amount drunk, and the frequency per week in order to calculate the average tea consumption per day.
Researchers also collected information about the kind of tea (green, black, or oolong) drunk and how long the participants had been tea drinkers. Green, oolong, and black teas are derived from the same plant. It is the processing of the leaves from the Camellia sinensis that determines the type of tea and the flavonoid content.
The study showed that about 40% of the participants were habitual tea drinkers and had been drinking at least a half-cup of tea per day for one or more years. More than 96% of tea drinkers drank green or oolong tea.
The tea drinkers tended to be younger, mostly men, and had higher educational and socioeconomic status than non-tea drinkers. But they also were more obese, smoked more, drank more alcohol, ate fewer vegetables, and had a higher sodium intake than those who didn't drink tea regularly.
After taking these and other factors associated with heart disease and high blood pressure risk into account, researchers found tea drinkers were much less likely to develop high blood pressure than non-tea drinkers.
Those who drank at least a half-cup of moderate strength green or oolong tea per day for a year had a 46% lower risk of developing hypertension than those who didn't drink tea. Among those who drank more than two and a half cups of tea per day, the risk of high blood pressure was reduced by 65%.
"Nonhabitual tea drinkers were at higher risk of developing hypertension than habitual tea drinkers, and there was a progressive reduction in risk associated with higher levels of tea consumption in daily intake," write the researchers. "However, tea consumption for more than one year was not associated with a further reduction of hypertension risk."
Based on the results of their study, researchers say the minimum tea consumption needed to provide blood pressure-reducing benefits appears to be a half-cup per day of green or oolong tea for at least one year.
They say further long-term studies are needed to confirm these results and better understand the mechanisms behind tea's blood pressure-lowering effects.
Tea drinking is an ancient tradition dating back 5,000 years in China and India. Long regarded in those cultures as an aid to good health, researchers now are studying tea for possible use in the prevention and treatment of a variety of cancers. Investigators are especially interested in the antioxidants-called catechins-found in tea. Despite promising early research in the laboratory, however, studies involving humans so far have been inconclusive.
1. What are antioxidants?
The human body constantly produces unstable molecules called oxidants, also commonly referred to as free radicals. To become stable, oxidants steal electrons from other molecules and, in the process, damage cell proteins and genetic material. This damage may leave the cell vulnerable to cancer. Antioxidants are substances that allow the human body to scavenge and seize oxidants. Like other antioxidants, the catechins found in tea selectively inhibit specific enzyme activities that lead to cancer. They may also target and repair DNA aberrations caused by oxidants (1).
2. What is the level of antioxidants found in tea?
All varieties of tea come from the leaves of a single evergreen plant, Camellia sinensis. All tea leaves are picked, rolled, dried, and heated. With the additional process of allowing the leaves to ferment and oxidize, black tea is produced. Possibly because it is less processed, green tea contains higher levels of antioxidants than black tea.
Although tea is consumed in a variety of ways and varies in its chemical makeup, one study showed steeping either green or black tea for about five minutes released over 80 percent of its catechins. Instant iced tea, on the other hand, contains negligible amounts of catechins (1).
3. What are the laboratory findings?
In the laboratory, studies have shown tea catechins act as powerful inhibitors of cancer growth in several ways: They scavenge oxidants before cell injuries occur, reduce the incidence and size of chemically induced tumors, and inhibit the growth of tumor cells. In studies of liver, skin and stomach cancer, chemically induced tumors were shown to decrease in size in mice that were fed green and black tea (1, 2).
4. What are the results of human studies?
Although tea has long been identified as an antioxidant in the laboratory, study results involving humans have been contradictory. Some epidemiological studies comparing tea drinkers to non-tea drinkers support the claim that drinking tea prevents cancer; others do not. Dietary, environmental, and population differences may account for these inconsistencies.
Two studies in China, where green tea is a mainstay of the diet, resulted in promising findings. One study involving over 18,000 men found tea drinkers were about half as likely to develop stomach or esophageal cancer as men who drank little tea, even after adjusting for smoking and other health and diet factors (3). A second study at the Beijing Dental Hospital found consuming 3 grams of tea a day, or about 2 cups, along with the application of a tea extract reduced the size and proliferation of leukoplakia, a precancerous oral plaque (1).
However, a study in the Netherlands did not support these findings. It investigated the link between black tea consumption and the subsequent risk of stomach, colorectal, lung, and breast cancers among 58,279 men and 62,573 women ages 55 to 69. The study took into account such factors as smoking and overall diet. It found no link between tea consumption and protection against cancer (4).
Green Tea Consumption May Lower Stomach Cancer Risk
Among those at high risk of developing stomach cancer, regular consumption of green tea may cut both that risk and the risk of a condition that can lead to stomach cancer — chronic gastritis — by about half, according to researchers publishing their findings in a recent issue of the International Journal of Cancer (Vol. 92: 600-604).
"Stomach cancer is a major problem in the world, and this may be a way to help prevent it," says Zuo-Feng Zhang, MD, PhD, director of the cancer epidemiology training program at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health, and an author of the report in IJC.
"And there was a dose-response relationship to stomach cancer — the more they drank it and the longer they drank it regularly, the less likely they were to develop stomach cancer," notes V. Wendy Setiawan, a PhD student in the UCLA epidemiology department who was the study’s lead author. The researchers suggest a next step might be intervention studies to learn if green tea can help prevent stomach cancer in those who already have chronic gastritis, or help prevent chronic gastritis in people at high risk for it, thereby reducing stomach cancer rates.
NEW YORK - People who regularly drink green tea may have a lesser risk of mental decline as they grow older, researchers have found.
Their study, of more than 1,000 adults in their 70s and beyond, found that the more green tea men and women drank, the lower their odds of having cognitive impairment.
The findings build on evidence from lab experiments showing that certain compounds in green tea may protect brain cells from the damaging processes that mark conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
They speculate that the possible protective effects of green tea may help explain Asia's lower rate of dementia, particularly Alzheimer's disease, compared with Europe and North America. Dr. Shinichi Kuriyama and colleagues at Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine report the findings in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The study included 1,003 adults age 70 and older who completed detailed questionnaires on their diets over the previous month, as well as their overall physical health and lifestyle habits. They also completed a standard test of cognitive functions such as memory, attention and language use.
Now Magazine (London) - Do you know Victoria Beckham's latest slimming secret? The former Spice Girl is reportedly drinking fat busting tea loved by the Spanish A- List to maintain her figure.
"We advised Victoria to drink Pu-erh Imperial tea three times a day for three months and watch the weight drop off. After three months, it is possible to maintain the desired weight by drinking one cup per way," femalefirst quoted a spokesman at a store in Madrid as saying to Now magazine.
The spokesperson also revealed that the Beckhams had been their customers for several months and were also fans of another tea called Tokyo T which purifies the complexion and helps prove circulation and water retention.
Green tea's ability to fight cancer is even more potent and varied than scientists suspected, research suggests.
Scientists already know that green tea contains anti-oxidants which may have a protective effect against cancer.
But now they have discovered that chemicals in the tea also shut down a key molecule which can play a significant role in the development of cancer.
The molecule, known as the aryl hydrocarbon (AH) receptor, has the ability to activate genes - but not always in a positive way.
Tobacco smoke and dioxins, in particular, disrupt the functioning of the molecule and cause it to trigger potentially harmful gene activity.
The researchers, from Rochester University, found that two chemicals in green tea inhibit AH activity.
Similar compounds
Both chemicals are similar to compounds called flavonoids, which are found in broccoli, cabbage, grapes and red wine, and which are also known to help prevent cancer.
Researcher Professor Thomas Gasiewicz said: "Green tea may work differently than we thought to exert its anti-cancer activity.
"It's likely that the compounds in green tea act through many different pathways."
The Rochester team showed that the chemicals shut down the AH receptor in cancerous mouse cells.
Early results indicate the same is true in human cells.
However, the scientists say that the results in the laboratory do not necessarily translate to everyday life as the crucial factor is how green tea is broken down inside the body.
In addition, there are a lot of differences between various types of green tea.
Dr Julie Sharp, a science information office at Cancer Research UK, said: "This research describes additional properties of green tea that may be beneficial but which have yet to be tested properly.
"The causes of cancer are complex and both diet and our genetic make-up act together to influence our risk of developing the disease.
"Cancer Research UK is currently involved in a large-scale study of diet and health that is researching the eating habits of over half a million people in 10 European countries to try and help unravel this complexity."
Research has also suggested that green tea may help to reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis and to lower cholesterol levels.
The research is published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
Iced tea doesn't have to come in a glass bottle, nor does it have to be purchased in powdered mix format either. A little bit of high-quality loose tea will go a long way, and might even make you rethink your preferred tea temperature! A lot of people - especially in the summer months - ask us whether the tea leaves they bought at Golden Teahouse can be used to make iced tea. But not only is this simply 'doable', the results are fantastic and the methods very flexible! Meaning, you don't have to apply much science in order to get a great glass of iced tea. Here are a few ideas that we enjoy immensely to get you started:
