Black tea, green tea, and oolong tea - it's all the same plant but can it replace coffee?steemCreated with Sketch.

in #life6 years ago

It's not a popular topic, but this fact was very interesting to me. Although I don't drink them often (I am one of those people who drink tea when they're sick), even a layman like myself feels differences in taste.

So what's the difference?

The difference is in fermentation.
When the young leaves of the plant are selected (surprisingly, the plant is called Tea), depending on the type of tea that is made, there are different procedures.

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Green tea, for example, is instantly and quickly dried in large dryers. It does not ferment. That's why it has a natural green color.
It's not like that with black tea. These leaves are left to stand for a while. These get mushed, bent and go vain. During this, leaves go through a series of chemical changes (fermentation). That's why this tea has a black color and a more specific and richer taste.
Oolong tea, on the other hand, is something in between. It's left to fermentate, but not as long as black tea.

I will only mention that there is white tea, which is not very popular beyond the borders of China. I am mentioning it because it's made out of the youngest and softest leaves. That's why it has the strongest antibacterial activity.

So you are probably wondering, why the hell am I writing all of this?
A few days ago, I found a site that says that these sorts of tea have a million times (figuratively) more caffeine than coffee.

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They don't.
They may have 2 to 5 times more, depending on tea quality and the method of preparation.

Although for caffeine addicts like me this is important information, it's not all in the caffeine. I know that without the taste of coffee I definitely couldn't last more than a day.

I guess that I can't write a text without a "however" paragraph.

However, what makes these sorts of tea better than coffee is that they have a number of positive and strong effects on our health.
For example, a much stronger antioxidant effect than in coffee, can relieve aging, atherosclerosis, preserve the heart, etc.
They don't have fats while coffee does. Sugars are found in very small quantities, while coffee has a lot more of them.

So they definitely are a better alternative to coffee if you're really, really, really into watching out for your health.

Personally, I will not shift away from my daily espresso with milk foam and two sugars on the side (there goes the preceding paragraph), but if someone wants to, here you can get some information.

If you find value in this post, please upvote. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me :)