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Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 97 October 2011

In Praise of Tea

In Praise of Tea
By: Peter
Deadman
Keywords:
tea, green
tea, black
tea, oolong,
catechin,
antioxidant,
Shen Nong.

Abstract
Tea is - after water - the most widely consumed drink in the world, thus making the leaves and buds of Camellia
sinensis the most widely consumed herb in the world. It has a long and fascinating history, is deeply infused into
the cultures within which it is drunk, and - as numerous studies have shown in recent years - has remarkable
health benefits.
'Surely every one is aware of the divine pleasures which
attend a wintry fireside; candles at four oclock, warm
hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains
flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and
rain are raging audibly without.' - Thomas De Quincey

Introduction

ea - the leaves and leaf buds of the Camellia

sinensis plant - is considered one of the
seven necessities of Chinese life (along with
firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar). In
the millennia since tea was discovered in China,
much of the world has come to think the same way.
After water, tea is the most widely consumed drink
in the world - its consumption equalling all other
manufactured drinks (including coffee, chocolate,
soft drinks and alcohol) combined.1 What is it about
this herbal brew that has persuaded so many of us
to choose it as the friend and companion to our
daily life?

A brief history of tea

Tea drinking originated in China and it is the semilegendary emperor, scholar and herbalist Shen Nong
who is credited with its discovery. Shen Nong (the
second Celestial Emperor, known as the Divine
Farmer or Divine Husbandman) dates back to the
third millenium BCE. He is considered the father
both of agriculture (inventing the plough and the
rake, and sowing the five grains) and of Chinese
medicine and pharmacology.2 He is renowned for
having personally tested hundreds of different herbs
before finally dying from a toxic overdose. According
to legend, Shen Nong always boiled his water before
drinking it, and it was when leaves from a wild tea
bush fell into the simmering pot that he discovered
the delights and virtues of tea.
Another popular story ascribes the discovery
of tea to the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. In the
seventh year of continuous meditation he is said to
have fallen asleep. He was so angry with this lapse
that he cut off his eyelids and where they fell to the
ground the stimulating, sleep-countering tea bush
sprang up. Bodhidharma, however, lived during the

fifth and sixth centuries and historical records of tea

consumption in China reliably predate this by several
hundred years.
This earliest use of tea in Chinese culture appears
to be as a medicine, with records suggesting its
consumption as far back as the Zhou dynasty (first
millenium BCE). By the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD),
however, tea was widely drunk for pleasure, indeed
by then it had become the national drink of China.
It was during the Tang that Lu Yu (perhaps the
only person in history to run away from a Buddhist
monastery to join a circus) wrote the Cha Jing, The
Tea Classic. This - the most famous book on tea ever
written - describes the history of tea, the tools needed
to harvest and prepare it, the twenty-eight utensils
required to brew tea, the different kinds of water to
make it with, and of course how to drink tea - with an
emphasis on mental preparation and the cultivation of
tranquillity. From Lu Yus time, tea drinking in some
Chinese and Japanese traditions has been practised as
an art form and a kind of active meditation.
'Its liquor is like the sweetest dew from Heaven.'
- Lu Yu, The Tea Classic3
'The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the
fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the
pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence,
and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.'
- Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea.
In the early days of tea drinking in China - during
the Han dynasty (206 - 220 CE) - whole tea leaves
were infused to make a medicinal brew, but by Lu
Yus time it was being prepared by steaming, drying
and compressing into easily-transportable cakes - to
be crushed and powdered for tea making and often
mixed with substances such as onions, salt, ginger peel
etc. It was not until the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644 CE)
that the fashion for loose leaf tea returned, which led
to the great flowering of teapot and teaware design.4
Although tea-drinking had long spread from
China to countries such as Mongolia, Turkey and
Japan, it was not until 1606 that the first European

In Praise of Tea

Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 97 October 2011

Principal varieties of tea

All true tea (and there are ten thousand different

varieties) comes from the tea plant - Camellia sinensis
(also known as Thea sinensis). The plant is subdivided into Camellia sinensis sinensis, originating
in China, and Camellia sinensis assamica, a native
of north-eastern India. Tea loves moisture and is
therefore best grown at altitude (ideally 4000 to 6000
feet) in misty, humid regions. The sinensis variety is
grown as a bush, tolerates cold and can be cropped
for up to 100 years. The assamica variety grows as a
tree, loves heat and dampness and crops for up to 40
years.

'Better to be deprived of food for three days than

tea for one.' - Chinese proverb

[Image courtesy of The Wellcome Trust].

tea shipment arrived in Amsterdam. Despite a price

that initially limited its consumption to the wealthy,
tea drinking slowly spread through Europe over the
next two hundred years, finding a particularly strong
welcome in Britain and Russia. In fact Britain now
leads the world in per capita tea consumption with
2.2kg per person per annum (Turkey is second with
2.1kg, Russia fifth with 1.3kg, Japan tenth with 0.9kg
and China sixteenth with 0.6kg).
Because its expansion into Europe coincided with
the Chinese transition to whole leaf tea brewed in
teapots, this was the style that was adopted, and since
black tea keeps and travels better than green tea, it
was black tea that rapidly came to predominate.
No mention of British tea history can neglect to
mention the shameful Opium Wars. During the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the British East
India Company came to dominate Sino-European
trade. However the goods Europe desired from China
(mainly tea, porcelain and silk) were not matched by
any equivalent Chinese demand for European goods
and they therefore had to be paid for in hard cash
(silver). To remedy this unhappy situation, the East
India Company supplied Chinese smugglers with evergreater quantities of highly addictive opium (for which
it held a monopoly in India), fortuitously paid for in
silver. When the Qing emperor stamped down on the
smoking of opium and its importation into China and
even blockaded British traders, the first of two Opium
Wars broke out. The wars culminated in Western
dominance of China, its collapse and humiliation, and
subsequent widespread opium addiction.
During the first half of the nineteenth century the
first British tea plantations were established in Assam
in India. This improved ease of access to tea and
reduced its price, resulting in the tripling of British
tea consumption by the beginning of the twentieth
century. The vital role that tea played in the morale
of the British was reflected in the government taking
control of tea supplies during the first and second
world wars.

15

As with wine, different varieties of tea vary

enormously in terms of appearance and flavour, and
this is reflected in their price (generally the better the
tea, the higher the price). Sadly, many people tempted
to try green tea because of its reported health benefits
soon lose interest, unaware that the cheap, tasteless
tea they are drinking is the equivalent of trying to
appreciate the delights of wine by buying the very
cheapest cooking variety.
Green (unoxidised) tea
After picking, green teas may (or may not, depending
on variety) be withered by laying out on bamboo
trays and exposed to sunlight or warm air for one to
two hours. They are then heated by pan-firing, ovenfiring or steaming to prevent oxidation and preserve

Image 1:
Camellia
sinensis

16

In Praise of Tea

freshness, and finally rolled and dried. The leaf may be

left whole and will uncurl into its full size when brewed.
Black (oxidised) tea
Known as red tea in China, black teas are heavily oxidised
teas. The leaves are first withered for up to 18 hours, then
either machine-rolled to break up the plant cells and start
oxidation, or mechanically processed in a macerator or
hammer mill to produce the much smaller and quickerbrewing leaf used in tea bags and some blended teas. This
is followed by a further short period of oxidation and then
drying (traditionally in a hot wok or oven) to arrest the
process. Black tea is often drunk with milk.
Oolong (semi-oxidised) tea
Oolong teas lie somewhere between green and black teas.
They vary greatly in their degree of oxidation - from 10
to 70 per cent - with the lightest kinds resembling green
tea and the heaviest closer to black tea. The processing
method varies according to the type of oolong desired.
White (unoxidised) tea
White tea is simply made from young leaves and immature
tea buds, picked and sun-dried. The buds have a silvery
appearance and are also known as Silver Tip.
Puerh tea
The exact method of manufacture of puerh tea varies
according to its different types, but all are made from
oxidised green tea and it is the only tea that can be truly
said to be fermented. Puerh is mostly pressed into blocks
or cakes of different shapes and is traditionally laid down
to mature, therefore also being the only kind of tea that
improves with age. Some sources suggest that puerh
manufacture goes back to the time of the Han dynasty,
the compressed cakes being the ideal way to transport
tea while travelling or for trade. Between 2004 and 2007,
matching the soaring Chinese economy, the price of the
best puerh teas rose to dizzying heights. Compressed
discs were selling at up to 12,000 dollars apiece, and puerh
cakes made in the 1920s at close to 20,000 dollars. The
bubble burst in spring 2007, bankrupting thousands of
farmers and dealers who had jumped on the bandwagon.
Apart from Puerh, all teas deteriorate with age. They
should be kept in airtight containers and kept away from
the light.
Blended teas
Most commercial tea is blended from a large number (up
to 35) of different teas. This is usually done to ensure that
despite variations in season and availability, the product
always tastes the same. Blended teas may be medium
range (for example English breakfast teas) or low range
(cheaper tea bags).

Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 97 October 2011

Tea and health

'Drinking a daily cup of tea will surely starve the apothecary.'

- Chinese Proverb
'If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated, it
will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are
excited, it will calm you.'
- William Gladstone
In China, in Han and pre-Han times, tea was consumed
for health reasons, indeed the legends tell that Shen Nong
regularly drank tea as an antidote to the toxicity of any
of the herbs he was testing. Tea was thought to alleviate
drowsiness and increase concentration, restore energy,
benefit the digestion, counteract depression and lift
the spirit.
A modern textbook of Chinese dietary therapy5 classifies
tea as sweet, slightly bitter and cool, entering the Heart,
Liver, Stomach, Bladder and Large Intestine channels. Its
actions are to refresh the mind and eyes, relieve thirst, aid
digestion and induce urination. As far as tea varieties are
concerned, green tea is cooler, and red/black tea is warmer.
Taken to excess, strong tea can cause phlegm and
diminish zhong (central) qi.
In Britain and Europe, although the early popularity
of tea-drinking generated fears of harm to health (it was
thought, in excess, to lead to weakness and melancholy),6
the realisation that it was a healthy drink (and a good
alternative to alcohol for the temperance movement)
gradually gained ground. This is reflected today in the
names of famous British teas. Typhoo took its name
from the Chinese for doctor (daifu), whilst PG Tips is a
shortening of its original name of Pre-Gestee, suggesting
it benefitted digestion if drunk before meals.
In the last decade or two there has been an explosion in
tea health research that has so clearly demonstrated the
benefits of tea drinking that it seems fair to call it the single
healthiest drink available to us. A good example is a six-year
study7 of fourteen thousand elderly residents (64 to 85 years
old at baseline) in Shizuoka province8 in Japan. It found that
those who consumed more than seven cups of green tea a
day had a 55 per cent reduced all-cause mortality rate and
a 75 per cent reduced cardiovascular disease mortality rate
compared to those who drank less than one cup, as well as
a reduced colorectal cancer mortality.
Recent studies9 suggest that drinking tea regularly can
reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by almost a third,
protect the brain against Alzheimers diseases and other
forms of dementia, protect the eyes against oxidative
stress, reduce the carcinogenic effect of smoking, reduce
depression in the elderly, promote healthy bones, gums
and teeth, reduce the risk of breast cancer in younger
women, lower cholesterol, reduce type 2 diabetes, reduce
the risk of stroke, increase arterial dilation, reduce the risk
of developing advanced prostate cancer and so on.

In Praise of Tea

Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 97 October 2011

These extraordinary health benefits are thought to derive

from the antioxidant catechins tea contains, principally
gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin
(EC) and epigallocatechin gallate (ECGC). Tea also
contains caffeine, tannins, theanine (which promotes
relaxation and reduces caffeine edginess due to its role on
the GABA functioning of the brain), theobromine (mildly
diuretic and stimulant, relaxing the smooth muscles
of the bronchi), and small amounts of theophylline (a
cardiac stimulant, smooth muscle relaxant, diuretic and
vasodilator).

A word about caffeine

Caffeine which is present in varying amounts in

tea, acts as a mild stimulant, increasing heart rate,
alertness, physical endurance, urination and secretion of
stomach acids. People who regularly consume caffeine
quickly become tolerant to its effects. It is, however,
recommended that caffeine consumption be reduced
in cases of insomnia and anxiety, while the UK Food
Standards Agency recommends that pregnant women
restrict their consumption to 200 milligrammes per day.
Although tea contains more caffeine per dried weight
than coffee, much smaller quantities are required in
brewing. Thus while a cup of percolated coffee typically
contains 100 milligrammes or more of caffeine, a cup
of black tea more will contain about 33 milligrammes
(50 milligrammes if brewed longer). Factors that affect
the caffeine content in different kinds of tea include
the following:10 the highest caffeine content is found
in young leaf tips and buds, thus white tea is high in
caffeine; assamica types have higher caffeine levels than
sinensis; tea plants grown with nitrogen-rich fertilisers
have higher caffeine content.

A word about tea and hydration

Some people fear that because of the diuretic effect of

caffeine, tea drinking can lead to dehydration. However
a number of studies11 have demonstrated that this is not
the case and that tea is only likely to have a diuretic effect
on caffeine-naive individuals or in doses of at least 360
milligrammes at a time. A study carried out at altitude
(where the body is subjected to greater loss of fluid) found
no difference in urine output or hydration status between
tea and non-tea drinkers.

Green versus black tea

By far the greatest number of health studies have been

carried out on green tea, yet it is probable that green and
black teas have similar benefits and the smaller number of
studies carried out on black tea bear this out. Both types
of tea contain a similar amount of flavonoids, although
their chemical structure differs. Green teas contain more
catechins, while the oxidisation that takes place in the
manufacture of black tea converts these simple flavonoids

into more complex theaflavins and thearubigins. Research

by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has suggested that
levels of antioxidants in green and black tea do not differ
greatly, with green tea having an oxygen radical absorbance
capacity (ORAC) of 1253 and black tea an ORAC of 1128.12

Making tea

'I always fear that creation will expire before teatime.'

- Sydney Smith
Given the many centuries of development, the hundreds of
varieties of tea, the different cultures in which it is drunk,
and the subtle and elegant input of the Asian traditions, it
is no surprise that the simple act of making tea can appear
desperately complex.
I was brought up in the British tea style. This required
tea to be made with fresh water brought to boiling point,
poured onto loose-leaf black tea in a warmed teapot (so
that the temperature did not drop), brewed for at least five
minutes (often with a tea cosy13 - a woollen jacket - over
the teapot) and drunk with milk. This method is suitable
for the most robust kinds of black tea, and the high water
temperature and long brewing ensures the extraction of
the maximum amounts of tea antioxidants which do not
appear to be affected by the addition of milk.14 However
more fragrant, delicate teas, especially white, green and
oolong, benefit from lower water temperatures and
shorter brewing times, and this is where the subject can
become quite complex.
I feel it is useful to distinguish between utilitarian tea
drinking and more cultivated tea drinking. Personally, I
drink tea all day long and do not normally have the time
or inclination to go for more complex methods. I am
happy - like the majority of Chinese people - to add some
green or oolong tea to a lidded Chinese cup, pour on hot
(but not boiling) water, wait for the leaves to settle and/or
open, and drink - topping up with more hot water for as
long as the tea retains flavour.
However, at other times, when sitting with friends or
resting at the end of the day, there is great pleasure to be
found in making tea more elaborately - for example with
repeated short infusions in a ceramic or clay teapot.
The generally accepted guidelines for making tea are as
follows:15
Water should be fresh (not water that has sat around in a
kettle) and filtered. Spring water is perfect.
Where temperatures of less than 100C are required,
the boiled water can be left to sit or cold water can be
added. It is also possible to buy temperature-controlled
kettles. However if the boiling water can be watched in
action, the traditional Chinese classification of bubble
size can be used - shrimp eyes (70 to 80), crab eyes (80
to 85), fish eyes (85 to 90), rope of pearls (90 to 95)
and raging torrent (100).

17

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Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 97 October 2011

In Praise of Tea

Tea can be brewed in a large lidded cup, a small

lidded cup (gaiwan), infuser or teapot.
The recommended temperature for each variety of
tea will generally be stated on the packet if bought
from a high quality supplier. The more fragrant and
delicate the tea, for example, the lower the water
temperature (black teas can generally take high
temperatures). Since lower water temperatures may
not be sufficient to cause the leaves to sink, these
teas are best made in a teapot or gaiwan.

Conclusion

Green, black, oolong, white ... with or without milk

... at breakfast, noon, tea-time or all day long, tea
is a wonderful, refined and health-giving drink. It
should never be confused with herbal tisanes such
as chamomile or peppermint, however delicious

References
1 Macfarlane, A, Macfarlane, I. (2004). The Empire of Tea. The Overlook Press.
p. 32.
2 The most well-known work attributed to Shen Nong is The Divine Farmer's
Materia Medica (Shen Nong Ben Cao), first compiled some time during the
end of the Western Han Dynasty - several thousand years after Shen Nong
might have existed.
3 Trans. F. Carpenter.
4 How strange, therefore, that despite centuries of teapot design, across the
length and breadth of Britain - in hotels and tea shops - teapots still manage
to pour their contents over the table rather than into the cup.
5 Liu, J, Peck, G (1995). Chinese Dietary Therapy. Churchill Livingstone, pp133134.
6 For example, "I view tea drinking as a destroyer of health, an enfeebler of the
frame, an engenderer of effeminancy and laziness, a debaucher of youth and
maker of misery for old age. Thus he makes that miserable progress towards
that death which he finds ten or fifteen years sooner than he would have
found it if he had made his wife brew beer instead of making tea." William
Cobbett in Cottage Economy (1821).
7 Suzuki, E., Yorifuji, T., Takao, S., Komatsu, H., Sugiyami, M., Ohta, T., IshikawaTakata, K., Doi, H. "Green tea consumption and mortality among Japanese
elderly people: the prospective Shizuoka elderly cohort." Ann Epidemiol.
2009 Oct;19(10):732-9.

they may be, especially when those who reject tea in

their favour do so because they think them somehow
healthier. Now, as I sit here, rubbing my brow,
reflecting on what further words I can say in praise of
tea, those of the 19th century English essayist Thomas
de Quincey come to mind instead:
'For tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally
coarse in their nervous sensibilities, or are become so from
wine-drinking, and are not susceptible of influence from so
refined a stimulant, will always be the favoured beverage of
the intellectual.'
Peter Deadman is founder and assistant editor of The
Journal of Chinese Medicine. He is co-author of A Manual of
Acupuncture and an enthusiastic tea drinker.

8 Shizuoka province has the highest production of green tea in Japan.

9 References for all these studies and the key points of many more are available
at http://www.jcm.co.uk/tea-shop/tea-health-research
10 Taken from http://chadao.blogspot.com/2008/02/caffeine-and-tea-mythand-reality.html
11 All references available from http://www.tea.co.uk/nutrition.
12 Nutrient Data Laboratory et al. "Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC)
of Selected Foods 2007". Webcitation.org. 2009-05-23.
13 'Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cozy, doesn't
try it on.' Billy Connolly.
14 Kyle JA, Morrice PC, McNeill G, Duthie GG. "Effects of infusion time and
addition of milk on content and absorption of polyphenols from black tea."
J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Jun 13;55(12):4889-94.
15 Taken from The Canton Tea Company website http://www.cantonteaco.
com/tea-school/how-to-tea-guides-simple-guides-to-enjoying-china-tea/
how-to-brew-chinese-tea.html.
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