Put that cappuccino down. Walk away from the latte. In case you haven’t yet heard, tea is brewing up a storm. Iced or hot, tea is cool.
We’re a nation of tea-drinkers; this year we will spend £700 million on 62 billion cups. But we’re going off the great British cuppa. Sales of black tea are falling while the amount of speciality, herbal and fruit varieties sold has risen by as much as 50 per cent, according to a recent report by Mintel. “Traditional tea has maintained a relatively staid image and is now competing with more exotic herbal tea options,” says Ellen Shiels, the author of the Mintel report. These range from Ayurvedic teas blended from a selection of herbs and flowers, which claim to stimulate, calm or detox, to green and white teas, the latest must-haves in the herbal medicine cabinet.
Big companies like Nestlé and Tetley are cashing in and launching supposedly healthier, brews after the success of Clipper and Dragonfly, the niche brands that sell organic herbal teas as well as a range of green teas.
So who’s drinking them? “Young professionals are coming here instead of swinging by Starbucks,” says Tara Calcraft, the founder of the newly opened Tea Palace in West London. With more than 65 black teas and 40 green teas it boasts the UK’s biggest selection. Kate Moss and Stella McCartney are celebrity regulars. “Coffee keeps you on the go. It’s fuel,” she says. “Tea is an opportunity to pause; it’s refreshing and relaxing. You have to make time for tea.”
Certainly, afternoon tea is more fashionable than it has been for a generation. Just try getting a table at the Wolseley restaurant and café, Central London, where Elton has been seen dunking biscuits. Tea is the key ingredient in the Chamomile Breeze, the summer’s must-drink cocktail as shaken at Nozomi, a swanky new restaurant on Beauchamp Place, Central London. Yauatcha, the hip tea bar in Soho, has also seen the value of a good brew. It is selling a 35-year-old Chinese tea, a snip at £300 for 100g.
Underpinning this renaissance are the health benefits of tea, although it has always been considered something of a tonic. “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.” So said Gladstone in 1865. Nearly 200 years later the Royal Society of Medicine has caught on. Earlier this year it began to recommend drinking four cups of black tea a day. It found that a minimum of three cups a day taken over two weeks increased the body’s flavonoid content by 25 per cent. Flavonoids are good for boosting the immune system and help to protect against heart disease and cancer.
The British Nutrition Foundation agrees on the benefits of a nice cup of tea. “One study found that two cups of tea a day had antioxidant power equivalent to 400mg of vitamin C, or five portions of fruit and vegetables. But it is important to continue including fruits and vegetables in your diet, too, as they offer health benefits beyond antioxidant power. Although including one or two cups of tea in your diet might be a good way to boost your antioxidant intake further.”
But it’s green tea that has recently caught our imagination. It promises to waft the drinker to Shangri-La on soothing waves of relaxation. It’s an active ingredient in my shampoo. And my moisturiser. Häagen-Dazs and Kit Kat have released special green-tea editions. As I write, a green-tea candle flickers on my desk. All low-caffeine, of course. “Black tea does contain slightly more caffeine than green,” says Cath MacDonald, the nutritionist for the Tea Council. “But that’s still less than half of what you would get in a cup of coffee.” Coffee gives you a buzz; whereas tea gives you a Zen-like hum.
Black and green tea come from the same plant (Camellia sinensis) and have similar health-giving properties. But green tea is less processed and so it contains more antioxidants, those busy little moppers-up of cardiac-threatening free radicals. It also helps to regulate your blood sugar levels, as well as reducing levels of harmful LDL cholesterol. The United States Department of Agriculture is soon to officially recognise green tea as a source of antioxidants. What was a fad is now a serious weapon in the fight against heart disease and cancer. Doctors may soon be prescribing cuppas.
Now there is a new tea on the block so you can feel even more virtuous when you’re sipping your cuppa. White tea — the latest addition to the antioxidant arsenal of the tea drinker — isn’t normal milky tea but a purer, less processed version of the green and black tea. “The leaves look white because they’re covered in downy hairs,” says Bruce Ginsberg, the managing director of Dragonfly Teas, which introduced white tea into the UK. “True white tea is grown in tiny quantities at the top of mountains in the Fujian province of China.”
White tea is the unopened bud of the Camellia sinensis and, according to a report by the Linus Pauling Institute in Oregon, where frequent studies are conducted into the healing benefits of tea, it was found that “white tea, the least processed of all teas, has the highest levels of antioxidants and polyphenols, thought to protect against some cancers and heart diseases”.
At the Tea Palace, Calcraft brews two varieties. “Our White Peony white tea is £12 for 50g,” she says. But a high antioxidant count doesn’t have to be expensive. Clipper sells a variety of white teas, 25 teabags for £1.49 (available from health shops and good supermarkets).
Black, green or white, leaves or bag, mug or cup, it’s time for tea. And it’s all good for you. How do you take yours?
GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR CUPPA
How many cups a day will give me the optimum antioxidant benefit? If you’re drinking black tea, four cups a day, or two to three cups of green or white tea. There is no recommended optimum intake for antioxidants. However, this amount of tea will provide you with a significant amount of antioxidants and will not even exceed the recommended maximum caffeine intake for pregnant women.
How long should I brew the tea? Polyphenols, natural antioxidants, are released from tea after about two minutes in water.
Does storing tea cause its health value to deteriorate? Antioxidants are released by contact with water, not air, so they won’t deteriorate as long as the tea is kept dry. Store it in an airtight caddy to maintain flavour and dryness. The flavour, however, doesdeteriorate over time, so check the use-by date on the packet to get the best in flavour as well as health benefits.
The Tea Palace, 175 Westbourne Grove, London W11, 020-7727 2600, www.teapalace.co.uk
TRENDY TIPPLES
Bubble tea, which originated in Taiwan, is the latest tea craze in the US. The name refers to pea-sized balls of tapioca which are slurped up using a large straw. Unsurprisingly, the tapioca, milk and sugar content makes this a high-calorie way to drink tea.
Blue tea, also from Taiwan, is the most asked-for tea at Yauatcha, the hip London tearoom. Not blue, but pale brown in colour, it has a fruity flavour and is served without milk or sugar. It is a semi-oxidised tea, with a caffeine and antioxidant content between that of black and green teas.
Iced tea sales are soaring and companies such as Nestlé have brought out Nestea, an iced tea available in red fruits or lemon, and Twinings has relaunched its iced-tea range. Bought iced tea does contain antioxidants but make it yourself for a little more.
