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The green tea phenomenon - Part II

I've started writing 3 different posts on 3 different subjects this past week, but haven't finished any of them. I just don't seem to have any drive to inform the world of what is going on in my life.  And who really cares anywaze?

So instead today, while I sip a bit of green tea this morning, I thought I would discuss some of the things I've learned, during this past week or so, about drinking the good stuff, i.e "real" green tea, not the stuff from Trader Joe's or Fresh and Easy, but the loose leaf variety, that actually looks green after brewing.

The best thing I've discovered so far is the extra caffeine, I've been getting, hasn't resulted in any heart palpitations, and I've drank over 40 cups this week.

But more importantly I think I've finally come up with the perfect brewing technique to optimize flavor and EGCG intake.

  • I use two (2) grams of tea for every eight (8) oz of water, and I don't reuse the tea leaves.

  • I use only filtered water. (The Brita water dispenser works great for that purpose.)

  • I heat the water to just below the boiling temperature, about 200°F. [Now boiling the water is supposed to optimize the extraction of EGCG, but for the best taste the water should be heated to between 175°F and 195°F, depending on the particular green tea you have chosen, so I decided to compromise.]

  • Next, I brew the tea for 5 to 7 minutes. [This is also another compromise, since the optimum brewing time for taste is 1 to 2 minutes, but to optimize EGCG extraction, brewing time should be 5 to 10 minutes. So to make up for the lower water temperature, I go a little longer on the brewing time, which seems about right, and I feel comfortable I'm getting the most EGCG, without compromising taste.]

  • And finally, I discovered it is important to use a good filtering (infusing) system for brewing the tea. [Contrary to the review I read, the ingenuiTEA (by Adaigio) just doesn't do the trick. The loose leaves clog up the filtering system, resulting in slow drainage into the cup, and lots of loose leaves entering into the cup as well (which results in a bitter taste after a while). So I went and bought two of these infuser cups (one for work and one for home), which were recommended by some one I consider very knowledgeable on the subject of brewing green tea.]


Ok, hopefully that was informative for everyone.

Now I can go have breakfast, and start gettiing ready for my morning bike ride, confident in the knowledge I have performed my self imposed requirement to post at least weekly to my blog, no matter how benign the post may be.

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