Tea on NPR
There was a story on NPR today about the wonderful benefits of tea, and how milk may diminish the benefits. Don’t know how many Steepsters this applies to, but I’m just excited NPR was talking about tea.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/09/27/161895873/health-benefits-of-tea-milking-it-or-not
Also, yay Dragonwell!
Good for NPR, now they just need to promote the naturally sweet, chocolately and not least bit bitter black teas like Laoshan Black, Bailin Gongfu and other Fujian blacks. And the sweet creamy greens like Laoshan Green and well, someone else can suggest another creamy green. Also oolong! So much good oolong!
Laoshan Green is sweet and creamy? Because I don’t like most green teas, too grassy.
Yes, it’s like green tea ice cream. I do very short steep times on almost all my greens between 3 and 30 secs so they do tend to be lighter and sweeter, but Laoshan takes the cake.
Thanks for sharing the article Rachel! I think its funny the guy they interviewed talked about how he cringes when he sees milk added to certain teas. I do the same thing when I hear about milk but also for other things too. I have a friend that purchases one of our most expensive teas but then she mixes it with a bagged tea to extend the life. I cringed so much and she even wanted me to taste it. It tasted mostly like the bagged tea because it was a really strong tea. Ugh. Oh well, I guess you like what you like.
I have a friend who adds milk to every tea ever. I was literally in shock when she splashed milk into a delicate strawberry white tea. Whhhyyyy? She contritely explained that she’s used to doing this to lower the heat. haha I felt bad for making her feel awkward after I got over my shock. But yeah, like you said, you like what you like.
I don’t get milk in white tea at all. Wouldn’t it just cover up the delicate nuances of the tea? I do use almond mylk or rice mylk in my chai but that’s it.
I can see that if it’s got a strong strawberry flavour; it would basically taste like a hot strawberry milkshake.
Possibly if the tea was made reaaally strong then the adding the milk might work, but this was a light white tea with a light strawberry flavor. In a tea like that, adding milk would only make it taste like funky watery milk.
Milk does smooth over a lot of nuances, but it also adds a nice creaminess. It depends what you’re in the mood for. Strong teas might benefit from milk smoothing it out, but light teas like this white are better plain. Maybe a bit of sugar if you’re a sweet fiend, but I don’t like it sweet myself.
I confess that I went to the Hennesey factory in Cognac, France and had a shot of Hennesey, and I couldn’t drink it straight – so I had to cut it with some Gingerale.
I know that’s like taking one of the most expensive pu-erhs and making a milkshake out of it. LOL.
yeah….I just had a red matcha latte… but I used almond coconut milk! So not real milk! That’s ok, right? It’s not even real tea! …Why am I explaining myself?
I like most of my tea without any additives but I do admit to liking the occasional chai or english breakfast tea with milk. This news doesn’t bother me at all because I don’t drink tea for health benefits. I drink it because I like it! Anything else is frosting on the cake.
I’m one of those who probably makes people cringe. As a matter of course I put two Splenda packets in the bottom of every 8 oz. mug I brew, regardless of the style or flavor of the tea. What can I say? That’s how I like it!
I put sugar in nearly everything, so I get that. But no milk. I used to drink tea with milk until I heard about it destroying the benefits of the tea. When I heard that I figured, with the amount of tea I drink, I can’t afford it! So I gave up milk.
Sugar, never!
I feel like I probably make people cringe too, I always add weird stuff to tea (like cookie butter and frosting haha). I like experimenting! Yeah, an unsweetened oolong is a thing of beauty, but sometimes I want my tea to taste like candy. I think it’s “real” tea no matter what you drink, no matter what you put in! It’s how you feel about it and enjoy it that matters.
I use Splenda instead of sugar because I’d be huge or diabetic otherwise. I use condensed milk because it’s handy when you live alone. BUT…I ALWAYS start without adding anything at all and if the tea tastes good that way I stick with it. Then, I move on to sweet and then to milk. My objective is to look at the ways people other than myself might want to drink a tea I’m reviewing and check it out for myself. I usually don’t prefer milk unless the tea is really malty like an Assam or English Breakfast or a Chai. Honey I reserve for Chai or lemon/herbal tea’s only.
As I expect from any in-depth program on NPR this program seems to cover a broad range of perspectives/opinions/studies about the effects of milk in tea (I like the picture on that blog page, too). And, it’s good to hear NPR covering, well, Tea. And yes, green tea, too.
Thanks for the link!
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