White Licorice Tea
In my opinion white licorice tea is about the best stuff on earth. I believe you have to be nuts not to drink white tea on a daily basis. Read on and I’ll tell you why I believe this about licorice tea.
The people of China and India have enjoyed the delightful flavors of this beverage and benefited from its amazing health enhancing properties for centuries. I am happy to report that American tea drinkers are now discovering, enjoying and benefiting from white licorice tea as well.
On a hot summer day, you can’t find a more refreshing and invigorating beverage than iced licorice tea. It has a mild sweet flavor that quenches one’s thirst better than water. Even though it is my favorite beverage for taste and thirst, that is not my reason for recommending it. I encourage everyone to drink white tea because it is so good for you. Over the last decade or so there has been a lot of buzz about green tea. Green tea is a good source for anti-oxidants, but the research is coming in and it shows that white tea out performs green tea approximately 2:1. White tea also has additional beneficially properties that are not present in green tea. As my Grandma used to say “its good for what ails you.”
The reason white tea is so good for you and is the most wholesome of the teas is that white tea leaves are plucked at a very early stage of their development. There are three types of white tea, Silver Needle the rarest and most cherished. It is plucked before the leaf has opened and is still a bud. White Pony consists of the bud and one young leaf. Longevity Eyebrow is the bud and two young leaves. It is called white tea because the leaves are still covered with fine silvery white hairs. The second reason is the processing after plucking. White tea is steamed and left to dry. Green tea is dried using hot air and then pan fried and black tea is left to ferment. Some of the anti-oxidants are lost in the processing of green tea and more so in the fermenting of black tea (for more details see white tea).
You are probably asking…
What are the health benefits associated with drinking white tea? Well there are many. It is pretty amazing.
- Stimulates the body to increase production of interferon. Interferon fights viruses and will decrease liver inflammation.
- Reduces blood pressure and cholesterol
- Helps the arteries perform better
- Works to dispose cells of free radicals
- Anti fungal
- Anti bacterial
- Anti viral
- Anti Diarrheal
- Inhibits the growth of streptococcus and staphylococcus
I learned all of this after I fell in love with the flavor of white licorice tea. I was looking to lower my caffeine intake and replace coffee when I discovered licorice tea. Oh, I almost forgot the young leaves are very low in caffeine, but let’s stay on the topic of licorice tea. Apart from being low in caffiene and high in anti oxidants, the young leaves are also why white tea is so sweet, mellow and ideal for flavoring. There are two methods of flavoring white tea with licorice. One is star anise, which has a milder licorice flavor and is a bit more expensive. The second method is extract of licorice root. There are four growing areas, China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka. The tea from each area has significantly different flavors. There are also the three types of white tea I mentioned earlier. They all effect the overall flavor slightly.
I prefer the milder flavor of the star anise and the lighter Ceylon tea (Sri Lanka) for my iced tea. I find that to be the most refreshing thirst quenching combination. But then there are all those cold months when I drink hot tea and my choice for hot tea is all together different. When I want to warm my bones, I want a stronger flavor tea and more intense licorice flavor too. I use an Indian tea and extract of licorice root, that does the trick for me. I urge you to include white tea or at least green tea into your daily diet. Two cups per day will do your body good. There is a great source for high-quality licorice tea below. If you are not partial to licorice flavor they also have many others to choose from. I am sure you will find one that you will enjoy. My wife’s favorite is Persian Melon.
WHITE LICORICE TEA
Rare white loose leaf tea perfumed
with whole star anise, producing an intriguing bouquet
in this fine white licorice tea.
Click Here To ORDER NOW!
