Presently, after water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. Tea has a lot of health benefits; for example, black tea polyphenols promote antioxidant enzymes, promoting apoptosis, preventing angiogenesis, and modulating epigenetic change. Antioxidants are compounds that restrain oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals and chain reactions. Antioxidants also have many health benefits; consuming them helps to decrease cell damage and removes free radicals. As a result of this, the risk of contacting chronic diseases would be reduced. Polyphenols are a kind of antioxidant that is found in foods and beverages like black tea. The primary sources of antioxidants in black tea that help promote your total well-being are a group of polyphenols such as theaflavins, catechins, and thearubigins.
Boiling tea does not destroy antioxidants, but it does in some kinds of tea. You should not boil any green tea leaves because if you do, you will burn the antioxidant properties for which you are consuming it and it will become very bitter for you to drink. It is not a bad thing for you to like the bitter taste of your green tea. Your green tea has tannins in it–which is part of the compounds contained in the tea. If you boil your green tea directly in boiling water, it releases many tannins that give your tea a bitter taste. It is pretty healthy for you, but the bitter taste is not pleasant for your tongue. Green tea leaves are less processed; that is, they are not treated with much heat. So, pouring boiled water over the leaves burns and destroys them. You might also not get the original aroma and flavor of the tea. The typical way of brewing green tea is to boil water and let it cool for some minutes before you add your green tea leaves. Allow it to soak for three to four minutes before draining it. Ensure you don’t boil it for too long.
It would be best if you enjoyed the excellent taste of tea on your tongue when you drink it so that every sip would help you feel relaxed.
The brewing time and temperature affect the antioxidant potential and EGCG content of green tea. Boiling water can destroy vital catechins; that is why you should target water temperatures of 160 to 170 degrees. As the tea cools, the health benefits reduce; that is why you should drink it while it’s still fresh. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is also called epigallocatechin-3-gallate, is the ester of epigallocatechin and gallic acid, a kind of catechin. EGCG is the most abundant catechin in tea, and it is prevalent in most dietary supplements.
Every tea has the specific water temperature it needs to fully maximize and release the compound essence contained in its leaves. So, it would be best to consider water temperature as an essential factor in brewing any tea.
The heated water that is used in making tea helps in extracting the compounds of the tea leaf-like the aroma, flavor, amino acids, and tannins that give the tea its distinct essence.
Many researchers believe that the length of time tea leaves are steeped, and temperature affects their antioxidant properties and varies for different kinds of tea.
Black tea has a rich source of a particular kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. The detoxifying effect of these antioxidants protects cells from free radicals, the damage that can lead to blood clot formation, atherosclerosis, and cancer.
Black tea is a prevalent kind of beverage that comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, and it is often blended with other plants for plenty of flavors, like Earl Grey, English breakfast, or chai. Black tea has a strong flavor and has more caffeine in it than other kinds of tea. However, its caffeine content is lower than that of coffee. The antioxidants in it help to reduce inflammation in the body.
Green tea has so many health benefits like the prevention of heart disease, cancer prevention, reduction of hypertension, reduction of insulin, reduction of gingivitis, and many others.
Green, white, black, and oolong tea are all gotten from the Camellia sinensis plant that grows indigenously in India, Thailand, China, and Japan. While black tea leaves are allowed to wither, ferment, and oxidize, green tea leaves are steamed and parched as soon as they are picked. The difference in the way they are both processed gives a significant difference in the final phytochemical balance–black tea has more theaflavins and thearubigins, while green tea contains more catechins
Is it bad to boil tea?
It is not entirely bad to boil tea, but for some kinds of tea, it is. Boiling tea affects the taste and its health benefits. Boiling tea alters its oxygen levels that is quite crucial. It is pretty reasonable to boil some types of low-grade tea, but it is not suitable to boil green tea, white tea, oolong tea and other types of tea that give you better benefits when brewed at lower temperatures.
Why should tea not be boiled?
It is not good if you use boiling water for white tea or green tea; this is because you will end up burning the leaves, and it will give it a bitter taste. You can estimate the water temperature of your tea by bringing the water to a boil and allowing a bit to cool down before you pour over the leaves.
You should brew your black teas like Earl Grey and English Breakfast with boiling water between 208 and 212 degrees, but for green tea, you should brew it with water ranging from 158 degrees Fahrenheit to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. If you use boiling water to make your green tea apart from burnt, it will also give it a bad aroma and taste. You should also not use a higher temperature than its recommended temperature to make it and do not allow the leaves to soak for too long in the water. One of the reasons you may be complaining about the subtle taste of your green tea may be because you are not making it the right way.
To ensure you get the right temperature for brewing your green tea, you can use a heater that has settings that will help to bring the water to the required temperature. But if you don’t have that kind of heater, you can add some cold water to the water you boiled, or you can also remove the lid of your electric kettle so the boiled water can cool for some minutes.
Does Tea lose antioxidants over time?
Yes, it does. It is good you consume your tea while it is still fresh, so you don’t end up ruining your tea when all the antioxidants are no longer active. Make the quantity of tea you can drink when you don’t have to throw away the remaining or try to store it. The freshly brewed tea is the best.
Does boiling water destroy nutrients in tea?
Boiling water doesn’t destroy the nutrients in tea because minerals don’t get easily destroyed by heat. The flavonoid compounds in tea are not broken down by the low temperatures used to boil water. But vitamins will degrade when you expose them to heat, and vitamin C is an example of such a vitamin.
Does microwaving tea destroy antioxidants?
Microwaving tea won’t destroy the beneficial catechism in green tea like EGCG. There is a way you can use your microwave oven for your green tea that will help maximize its catechin release, and microwaving green tea in cool water might not help you achieve that. When you microwave your green tea, for example, it destroys the polyphenol oxidase content in it. Polyphenol oxidase is an enzyme that degrades polyphenol. When this enzyme gets destroyed during microwaving, the extraction will result in a higher level of catechins and phenols. This will eventually yield a sweeter, tastier, more colorful, and higher quality green tea brew. Microwaving your green tea will help you extract approximately 80% of the catechins and 92% of the caffeine.
What happens if you boil tea too long?
If you boil tea for too long, tannins would be released into it, and if that happens, your tea will have a bitter taste. If you steep your black tea or green tea for more than fifteen minutes, you will end up consuming a bitter drink. Some people still consume it like that because it can serve as a remedy for diarrhea.
Conclusion
All teas are not the same. You should know their differences and the proper ways they should be brewed so you can get the best out of them.
Green tea is very delicate because of the way the leaves are extracted. That is why you don’t need to brew them with boiling water, so you don’t end up burning the leaves and drinking a cup of tea that is bitter.
You deserve to get the value of the money you spent buying your tea, so take your time to brew it properly. You might not be getting the best out of your tea because you’ve been brewing it wrongly.