I wasn't a green tea drinker myself before I started my bi-annual detoxing but today this is almost the only hot drink I have. I crave it like you today may crave your morning coffee - fortunately this one has a number of healthy benefits such as a high level of antioxidants (In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years).
Many people have declared to me that they don't like green tea. Neither did I, until I learned how to make it and source the right tea! There are HUGE differences in green tea and how you make them. Prices swing from £2 to £100 per 100 grams and the taste and quality is not far from that large swing (that being said, don't for one second think that an expensive tea is necessarily a better, more tasty tea).
Green tea brewing can become quite a science if you get stuck into it - I am not there at all but have found a nice balance between 'the tea bag' and 'the intense scientific tea brewing process'. One thing I am acutely aware of though is that green tea can become very bitter if you brew it too long (one of the reasons I avoided it in the past and wrinkled my nose when I had it - especially over-brewed tea bags).
For those of you living in London, if you don't have much knowledge about green tea or find yourself in the 'I don't like it'-camp, I would highly recommend a visit to the Tea Smith in Spitalsfield Market (see details below) before you start your detox. This is a wonderful place to be educated about green tea and to taste a couple of them to learn what you like. If you have time, treat yourself to their Afternoon Tea Smith Ceremony tasting menu with 4 different teas paired up with delicious biscuits, patisserie and chocolates. It is a delicious and inspiring experience.
There are a number of specialty tea stores in most large cities where you can taste the teas in addition to buying the actual tea, the various brewing gadgets and get educated on how to brew it etc. My favorites are:
In London:
Tea Smith in London's Spitalsfield Market. They have a wonderful teabar with the most extensive 'tea menu' I have ever seen. They sell teas, gadgets for easy brewing, beautiful tea porcelain and any other tea item you can imagine. http://www.teasmith.co.uk/
East Teas in London's Borough Market. They are passionate about their tea and travel to Asia themselves to source it. If you have the time and interest they will spend lots of time with you at the stall in Borough Market teaching you about their teas and have you taste a selection. They also sell gadgets for brewing. http://www.eastteas.com/
Harrods also have an excellent tea selection in their loose tea section.
In Copenhagen:
A.C. Perch's Tea shop is one of the oldest shops in Copenhagen and in addition to having an excellent variety of teas it is also a true charm to visit. They don't have the facilities available to have you taste in the shop but they do have a small cafe attached where you can taste a large selection of their teas. The staff in the shop is however very knowledgeable and will tell you how long to brew the tea you buy. http://www.perchs.dk/
In Vienna:
Haas & Haas has a wonderful selection and a great cafe next to the shop where you can taste the tea before you buy. The shop is large and sell a huge variety of teas, tea pots, cups, cakes etc. http://www.haas-haas.at/
If you want to keep it simple (at least to start with) and use tea bags, the best green tea bags I have found are from Mighty Leaf Teas. I bring them with me when I travel and they are truly delicious and come very close to the quality of tea I get when I use loose leaves. You can buy tea directly from their website: http://www.mightyleafteas.co.
There is a nice tea shop in Paris too.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mariagefreres.com/
You can see the addresses here:
http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/addresses.html
they have stores in Germany and Japan too!