Best Gift Ideas for Chinese Green Tea Lovers Read more at Suite101: Best Gift Ideas for Chinese Green Tea Lovers: Loose Leaf Premium Jasmine Tea and

Chinese green tea lovers adore trying different blends of healthy jasmine tea. Buy loose leaf premium tea and a tea infuser online for a great birthday or Valentine gift.

Read more at Suite101: Best Gift Ideas for Chinese Green Tea Lovers: Loose Leaf Premium Jasmine Tea and Tea Infusers Make Perfect Gifts

Looking for gift ideas for a green tea lover? Good quality Chinese and Japanese green tea is light, fresh and full of healthy antioxidants and tastes far superior to cheap jasmine tea that is often bitter and lacking in flavor. This article offers some gift ideas that are sure to please any green tea addict.

Best Quality Green Tea

The best quality green tea is produced from small quantities of young leaves picked by hand from the tea plant. In China the leaves are then pan-fired or steamed to prevent oxidization, rolled into shape according to the type of tea and its location, and then the leaves are gently dried to lock in the wonderful flavor of pure fresh green tea.

There are some amazing exotic tea blends available online from tea companies like Mighty Leaf who offer 26 different blends of green tea from around the world including Japan and China. Tea is available in either beautiful one-cup biodegradable hand-sewn tea bags or loose tea for those wishing to buy tea in bulk.

Loose Leaf Tea

The most economical way to buy high quality organic green tea is to buy it in loose leaf tea form. A 3oz bag of fine green tea from Mighty Leaf costs from $8.95 depending on the blend and this quantity produces up to 75 cups of tea. Given that one cup of this kind of high quality tea costs at least $5 in a top hotel or spa, 11 cents a cup represents great value for money.

If it’s hard to choose from the huge variety of tea blends available, then consider buying a tea sampler set presented in individual tins to keep tea as fresh as possible; the tins can then be used to store other exotic teas like Oolong or Rooibos after use.

Luxury Tea Bags

Mighty Leaf also offers a delightful green and white gift tin filled with 30 of their most popular blends in tea pouch form. Any tea lover will simply fall in love with the gorgeous over-sized signature tea pouches which look like a work of art and will have a hard time choosing which tea to try first; the choice includes organic Hojicha green tea from Japan and Mountain Spring jasmine tea from China.

Premium Tea Accessories

Loose tea needs to be prepared by placing the delicate leaves either straight into a teapot or a tea infuser. Good quality tea infusers need to have plenty of room for all the different tea leaves to infuse properly. Alternatively consider buying a Chinese teapot and matching small cups for an authentic tasting experience.

Buy Green Tea Online

Shop around online at specialty tea stores like Mighty Leaf or even Amazon (gourmet foods category) to get the best deals on premium quality Chinese green tea and look for free sample offers with purchases or coupons from specialist coupon websites. Whether an exotic new blend of loose leaf tea is chosen or one of the many tea accessories to enhance the tasting experience, these gifts are sure to please any tea lover.

What's Better for You: Coffee or Tea?

When you reach for that mug in the morning, you may get more benefits than a jump-start to the day.

Daily cups of coffee have been linked to a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease, liver cancer, gallstones and type 2 diabetes. In addition, green tea and white tea have been touted for their health benefits.

"What's interesting really is for years we were beating up on coffee. … And now study after study is suggesting benefits," said "Good Morning America" medical contributor David Katz.

So given the choice between coffee and tea, what's the healthiest thing you can reach for in the morning?

You can find Katz's advice below. Full disclosure: He's a coffee drinker.

How Much to Have?

The maximum recommended amount of coffee is four 8-ounce cups a day, although it depends on the individual in terms of body size, among other factors. Because caffeine has been shown to raise blood pressure, you should limit your intake if you have any blood pressure abnormalities. More than four cups is never recommended.

Antioxidants

There is the strong suggestion that the antioxidants in tea -- whether it's black, green or white -- have health benefits. Antioxidants can prevent inflammation of the blood vessels, and it has been linked to reduced risk for cancer. In terms of antioxidants, white tea has the most, followed by green tea, black tea and coffee. Green and white teas are made from different parts of the tea leaves, but both are minimally processed, unlike black tea, which is fermented. It appears the process of fermentation reduces the antioxidants in the final product.

Caffeine

Caffeine is associated with enhanced alertness, increased productivity and concentration when you're driving, and enhanced athletic performances. In terms of caffeine, coffee has the most followed by black tea, green tea and white tea.

Tea Vs. Tea Beverages

Because the health benefits of tea has become more recognized by the public, some manufacturers are putting a small amount of it in a product, then adding ingredients that are bad for you, such as sugar. For instance, a Snapple Green Tea has 46 grams of sugar in it -- the equivalent of about 11 sugar cubes. That's more than twice as much sugar as you get in a Hershey chocolate bar, which as 22 grams of sugar. Just because the label says white tea doesn't make it a healthy drink.

"Our green teas provide consumers with functional benefits … and great taste," Snapple said in a statement on its product. "We offer a lime green tea in both a diet and regular version, giving consumers different choice and calorie options."

Coffee or Tea?

If you have a choice between coffee or tea, Katz says tea is better. If coffee is part of your morning routine, you have nothing to worry about.

Will Citrus flavored Green Tea break up mucus?

Ok..i got sick just the other day, i had a really bad sore throat but then it cleared up. So now i only have mucus flooding my lungs and i can hardly breathe. And ive heard ppl say drink hot tea with lemon in it and the lemon will break up the mucus. Well we buy the store bought tea and i drink Green Tea with citrus falovor..which has lemon in it. So what im wondering is, if i drink the green tea with citrus in it alot, will the mucus lighten up/break up/dissolve?


Drinking hot tea with lemon in it works to break up mucus and helps heal the body. Tea - all kinds of natural tea, has antioxidants in it that help boost the body's own natural immune system. Processed, pre-made and pre-packaged store-bought tea does not. Citrus flavor is just that - flavor made from chemicals. It does not contain any actual lemon. Real lemons, because of the acid in it, breaks up fat and mucus in a person's body. When you drink lots of fluid, especially hot teas, you are inhaling the steam and warming your insides. Hot water breaks up congestion also.


you're asking if its okay to drink something loaded with sugar and unnecessary ingredients...and while i guess it couldn't hurt too much, i would suggest any of the following...(you could pick them up at various GNC-type stores, or drugstores)...

Bayberry(roots and bark)-clears congestion
Black Cohosh(rhizomes and roots)-reduces mucus production
Boneset(flower petals and leaves)-relieves congestion, loosens phlegm
Chickweed(various parts)- reduces mucus buildup in the lungs
Feverfew(bark, dried flowers, and leaves)-increases fluidity of lungs and bronchial tube mucus(helps you cough it up)
Horehound(flowers and leaves)-decreases thickness and increases fluidity of fluid in the lungs
Nettle(flowers, leaves, root)-an expectorant(helps you cough it up)