“Leaf tea are those that are made from the buds and unfolded leaves from the freshest growth on the tea plant. If someone said, “I am drinking only ‘TGFOP’ tea, it meaning a ‘Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe’. This article will help you to know about tea grading and separations. The “CTC” tea is a little bit more straightforward than “Orthodox” teas.

CTC Teas as known as Crush, Tear and Curl Tea or Cut, Tear, Curl Teas;
Which takes fresh and whole tea leaves are run through a series of cylindrical rollers/machines then macerates them (crushing, tearing and curling).
Top of the pile (known as Primary Grades):
1. BP1 = Broken Pekoe 1-
Forms about 12 to 14% of the total production and has the largest size particles. Liquors are light in color but have a strong flavor.
2. PF1 = Pekoe Fannings 1
Form the bulk of the production (about 58 to 60%), it’s made up of black grainy particles slightly smaller than BP1.
3. PD = Pekoe Dust
Forms 10 to 12% of the production, it’s often black and finer than the PF1 with thick liquors and aroma.
4. D1 = Dust 1
Forms about 4 to 6% of the production, it is made up of the smallest particles and characterized by strong liquors.
Bottom of the bunch (known as Secondary Grades) teas:
5. * D = Dust
Made up of tiny bits of broken leaf often used to brew strong tea.
* BMF = Broken Mixed Fannings, also know as ‘Mattress Fiber”
Fibrous bits with very little trace of black teas.

Orthodox Teas,
In Orthodox process, some tea leaves can look very small at the end, the leaves are never cut or torn apart.
1. GFBOP = Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
2. GBOP = Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
3. BP and OP = Broken Pekoe and Orange Pekoe
4. GFOP = Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
5. BOP = Broken Orange Pekoe
6. TGBOP = Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe
7. FOP = Flowery Orange Pekoe
8. FBOP = Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe
9. BPS = Broken Pekoe Souchong
10. TGFOP = Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe
11. OP SUP = Orange Pekoe Superior
12. TIPPY
13. SFTGFOP 1 = Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1
14. FTGFOP 1 = Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe 1

• Pekoe – ‘peck-oh’ or ‘pee-koh’. This chinses term mean “white down” and refers to the character of the young leaves. Pekoe and Orange Pekoe are term for the grade of tea.
• Tippy – the lighter or golden, tips of the tea (leaf tips of the young, tender tea leaf bud) that do not affect the color in the cup.
• Orange – doesn’t describe the color of the leaf (that would be strange) but, in fact, refers to the Dutch royal family who were among the first to import tea in to Europe.
• Broken – smaller leaf, or broken “
  
  Reference:
  The Tea Book by Louise Cheadle and Nick Kilby
  

The post Tea Geek Speak appeared first on Manikitchen.

“Herbs are often overlooked in the diet, thought of only as flavoring, rather than as a nutritious ingredient in their own rights. Herbs were an important part of medicine for centuries until modern drugs took over and we can still enjoy their benefits. You van make a simple herb tea or tisane to be sipped at any time of the day.
Essentially, TEA is just a herbals or leaf juice.

Almost all herbs make a good tea. and they bring their own range of benefits some are better for the morning, and others for the evening. If you make extra you can use tea to add a bit of extra character to your smoothies and juices. You can also make teas from various weeds, shrubs, and plant roots. Some of the most useful include-
Aloe-vera, Basil, Borage, Burdock, Celery, Chives, Cilantro, Dandelion, Dill, Epazote, Garlic, Ginger, Lemongrass, Lovage, Oregano, Parsley, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Spearmint, Stevia, Sweet Marjoram, Tarragon, Thyme, Turmeric.
Let’s seen the some of herbs Teas beneficiaries;
Sage Tea-
Old herbal remedy books list many benefits of sage, including helping digesting and treating menopause. It may also help with Alzheimer’s disease. You can use the tea to fight off infection, either by drinking it or using it to clean wounds. It is not a good idea to drink sage tea if you are pregnant or have just had a baby because it can affect your milk supply.
Ginger Tea-
Warming Ginger has been used in Eastern herbal teas against nausea and travel sickness and to make a sweat to break a fever. If the taste is too strong for you, soothe it down with a teaspoon of honey or molasses.
Rosemary and Juniper Tea-
Rosemary is thought to stimulate the mind and clam the stomach. It is a good source of iron, calcium, and vitamin B6. Juniper berries are not actually berries, but tiny pine cones, and they are full of antioxidants; they pep up this infusion in a unique way.
Echinacea and Raspberry Leaf Tea-
Echinacea stimulates the body’s immune system to fight off bacterial and viral attacks and is a popular remedy for flu and colds. The medicinal properties are found in the leaves, purled flowers, and roots and they are made into widely available liquids. Native to North America, echinacea was used for medicinal purposes by plains Indians and it was on the list of official approved therapies until 1950 when it was replaced by antibiotics. if you grow raspberries pick a few leaves to add to this tea or buy the dried ones.
Blackberry Leaf Tea-
Next time you go blackberry picking, pick some leaves to dry home. Herbalists use blackberry leaves as a source of vitamin C and tannins, which are good for the immune system.
Clover Tea-
Cloves are often used to flavor fruit punches, but they can also have a starring role on their own. To get the antioxidant flavonoids, vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids from clover you need to sue really fresh cloves. You can test how fresh they are before buying by pressings with your thumbnail to see if there is any of the oil left.
Rose Hip and Fruit Berry Tea-
Rose hip are the seed pods at the base of the rose blossom. They contain vitamin C, Calcium, iron, selenium, and zinc so are well worth using in tea. On their own they make a sharp tea so here we combine them with fruit tea to add sweetness.
Chamomile Tea-
The medicinal value of this tea is mainly in the flowers. it is a great drink for bedtime as the chamomile has a calming effect. It takes little longer to brew than other teas, about six or seven minutes. You can grow chamomile from seed.

With larger plant like celery or lovage you can make an infusion; leave to steep in boiling water for 10 minutes and then strain. Tough roots such as lemongrass benefit form being pounded first to release their aromatic oils. Most teas benefit from being strained so you can drink the whole tea without tea without ingesting the leaves and fibers; woody herbs impart a bitter flavor if you leave them in water for too long.”

Resources:
The High Alkaline Smoothie Cleanse by Dr. Stephan Domeing

The post Herbal Tea appeared first on Manikitchen.

“If you’re looking for a way to restore your body and achieve greater balance, alkaline teas can be the perfect addition to your balance and restorative rituals. We are made up of complex systems that must work in harmony together to help us achieve a greater quality of life. All of these systems can largely be impacted by one or two critical areas of well-being, namely, the health of our gut and the PH balance of our bodies. While specific teas can help with the health of our gut, alkaline teas can help our PH levels by restoring balance to our bodies.
Over time our bodies can become overly acidic. As you might have guessed, this is no good for our health. This increase in acidity may negatively impact our body’s ability to productively use insulin, metabolize glucose, and repair muscle. It can also affect other biochemical functions of the body.

The PH scale is used to classify the level of acidity. The higher the PH level the more alkaline, the lower the PH level the more acidic. It ranges between 0 and 14 with the balance found in the middle which is 7. This is where water can be found on the scale. It makes sense that this is where our bodies would like to reside considering more than 50% of our body is made up of water.

Black tea, the one most people drink and love to have (high caffeine), is acidic so we don’t drink it as part of an alkaline diet. Most herbal infusions, green tea, rooibos mate have an alkalizing effect which can work to neutralize acidity in the body. Once they are digested and assimilated, these alkaline teas work to raise the pH level in the body.”
“Tend to overlook the power of herbs: herbs teas and tisanes were our original juices and were everyday medicine in the Middle Ages. Just try a cup of lemon balm or chamomile tea before goin to sleep to experience their calming properties.

Herbs are often overlooked in the diet, thought of only as flavoring, rather than as a nutritious ingredient in their own rights. Herbs were an important part of medicine for centuries until modern drugs took over and we can still enjoy their benefits. You van make a simple herb tea or tisane to be sipped at any time of the day. Essentially, TEA is just a herbals or leaf juice.

Making herb tea is no different from making tea with anything else: you just need a cup, hot water, a few minutes to let the leaves impart their goodness, and a tea strainer. You need about one teaspoon to make tea for one person. We use herb teas as a base for juices and smoothies too, and you can use them when a recipe call for water. It is a good way of getting the benefits of the herbs into your diet.
Tea teas here have been organized so that those best to drink in the morning come first, and those perfect for an evening cup are toward the end of the section.”

Reference:
The High Alkaline Smoothie Cleanse by Dr. Stephan Domeing
https://blog.fusionteas.com/alkaline-teas-to-restore-and-balance-the-body/

The post Balance pH Level in Your Body 2Health 4Life appeared first on Manikitchen.

These unique TEA recipes are from “The Kentucky Housewife” on 1839. The Southern cooking that is recorded by Mrs. Lettice Bryan in The Kentucky Housewife has been refined by its practitioners and extolled by its consumers for centuries now. It is the product of an active, dynamic synthesis of the foodways of three continents, three cultures.

In buying tea, try to get the best quality, selecting only such as looks firm and glossy, and has a strong fragrant smell. Tea that is very dry and crumbly, affording but little smell or taste, is sure to be weak, having lost much of its excellency. The best of green tea will look smartly green in the cup, after it is drawn, and good black tea will look dark.

The strictest attention should be paid to your tea-pots and tea-kettles, to keep them well scalded and sunned, otherwise the best of tea will be indifferent when drawn.

Scald your tea-pot well, then put in your tea, pour on enough boiling water to cover it well, shut down the lid, and set it before the fire to infuse for ten or fifteen minutes; then fill up the pot with boiling water from a tea-kettle, and send it immediately to table, with another tea-pot filled witl, boiling water to weaken it at table. for those who may prefer it.
If you have large company, of course you must have more than one pot of tea: then it will ne more convenient to have a tea-kettle of boiling water placed on a chafing-dish and set in the room for the purpose of filling your pots; or, if you choose, just before you sit down to table, put a portion of tea in a cup, pour on a little boiling water, cover it closely with a saucer or small plate, and let it set on your tea-board to steep, and after you have filled the first course of cups, put the tea from the cup into the tea-pot, and fill it up immediately with water from a boiling kettle, that the second course of cups may be as strong as the first. Never fail to have your tea perfectly hot when you fill the cups, otherwise it will not be good.

The black tea is considerably weaker than the green: of course a larger quantity of it will be required for a drawing. Two tea-spoons, heaping full of good tea, will be enough for a pint of water.

Ginger Tea-
Ginger tea is at once food and medicine. Break up some of the root ginger, and boil it in clear water till just strong enough to be palatable; then cool it, and you may drink it so, or sweeten it as you like; or you may sup it with cold buttered biscuit. It is excellent for a weak stomach.

Pepper Tea-
Pepper tea is also good. Put a little capsicum or powdered red pepper into a cup, fill it up with warm water, sweeten it, and drink it on going to bed. It is a very good remedy for a bad cold, and for its simplicity, it is rejected many times when it ought to be used.

Mint Tea-
Pick the leaves and stalks so spare mint, rinse them clean, put them in a pitcher, and pour boiling water on, cover it, and let it stand for a few minutes to infuse; then turn the tea from the leaves, sweeten it lightly with loaf sugar, and serve it warm. It is a sovereign efficacy in settling a sick stomach after taking an emetic.

Sage Tea-
Sage tea is good. Balm makes a very cooling tea; it is good to use in fevers as a constant drink.

Barley Tea-
Take a quarter of a pound of common, or pearl barley, and wash it clean. Put it in a sauce-pan, with two quarts of water, and boil it soft, or till the liquid is reduced to one half; the strain it, dissolve in it while hot, enough liquorice to give it a strong flavor, and sweeten it to your taste with loaf sugar.

The post Unique Tea Recipes from 1839 appeared first on Manikitchen.

These unique TEA recipes are from “Housekeeping in Old Virginia” by Mrs. Marion Cabell Tyree at 1879. The book contribution from Two Hundred and Fifty (250) of Virginia’s noted housewives, distinguished for their skills of domestic economy.

A good Cup of Green Tea
Before putting in any water, set the teapot with the tea in it before the fire and let it get thoroughly hot. Then fill the pot with boiling water and let it stand five minutes – Mrs. M.E.L.W.

Green Tea
Scald the teapot, and add one-half pint boiling water to two teaspoonfuls of the best green tea. Set it where it will keep hot, but not boil. When it has drawn fifteen or twenty minutes, add boiling water till it has the strength desired – Mrs. J.R.McD.

Black Tea
Add one and one-half pint boiling water to a half-tea cupful of the best tea. Boil gently for ten or fifteen minutes. If too strong, weaken with boiling water – Mrs. J.R.McD.

Iced Tea
After scalding the teapot, put into it one quart of boiling water and two teaspoonfuls green tea. If wanted for supper, do this at breakfast. At dinner time, strain, without stirring, through a tea-strainer into a pitcher. Let it stand till tea time and then pour into decanters, leaving the sediment in the bottom of the pitcher. Fill the goblets with ice, put two teaspoonfuls granulated sugar in each, and pour the tea over the ice and sugar. A squeeze of lemon will make this delicious and healthful, as it will correct the astringent tendency – Mrs. S.T.

The post Unique Tea Recipes from 1879 appeared first on Manikitchen.

Furthermore, in China, people regularly consume 20-year-old tea. 

Same is true in countries like Sri Lanka and India. And these are actually more expensive!
So, if you find your loose tea leaves moldy, it’s due to improper storage. Or very rarely due to poor quality. That’s why always you have to buying high quality tea from high quality tea sellers or the companies. MiniKitchen’s Retail Tea shop has a wide choice of flavors for your taste buds, also bestsellers and highly rated. 

Does Herbal Tea Expire? 
No, herbal tea does not expire. gain providing it’s not left in conditions where mold is prevalent. Herbal tea also just tends to reduce its flavor and aroma qualities over time. Hence, you might be disappointed to find a loss in taste, flavor, or aroma after the expiry date. Meaning the date that is the best use it before. But, as discussed earlier, it all comes down to proper storage. In fact, all the discussion given above applies the same way – it’s the same for herbal tea.

Does Tea Need to Be Stored Airtight?
Yes, they have to be stored in airtight containers. The less the tea gets exposed to air the better the flavor. Because air has different temperature levels. As on said, tea is sensitive to temperature and moisture. So, keep it airtight as much as possible.

Can I Store Loose Leaf Tea in Glass Jars? 
Not usually, glass is transparent and the ability for light or heat to pass through is greater. So, if you store tea in a glass container, it’s more likely to be prone to different light and temperature levels. The same applies to plastic containers additionally affects the odor, because plastic absorbs them more readily. In situations where you have only glass containers available to hand, try colored glass containers. But, keep them away from light and heat sources. 

Do you know?
It takes 2000 tiny leaves to make one pound of finished tea. So never waste them. At the very least, Follow the article about “Ways of Re-using Leftover Tea Leaves”

Rapping-up
Loose tea leaves don’t expire, even if it’s herbal or any other type. However, there is a, “best before date” as expiry date for its best flavors. In many Asian countries old tea is commonly drank, despite it being more expensive. Yet, still maintaining the high-quality features of loose tea leaves – even after any ‘best before’ date requires proper storage. Not only that, but tea is temperature-sensitive. So, be sure to consider all aspects of temperature, light pollution, and moisture fluctuations when storing tea loose tea leaves. With all these factors being met the best way possible, you can still drink expired tea leaves.

“Life is like Tea, it’s all in How you make and How you taking care it”

Reference: 
https://teahow.com/does-loose-leaf-tea-expire-why-when-and-how-to-prevent-it/
Trying to give more, accurate, updates, moderated information to citizen who love Tea. Thank you very much for the referral that I used for make this article – Jeewaka 

The post Does Loose Leaf Tea Expire? appeared first on Manikitchen.