It's time to give green tea another go

Tea drinkers, rejoice! New research suggests that drinking three cups of tea a week could help you lead a longer and healthier life. But there's a catch.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, concluded that the favourable health effects are the most robust for green tea.

The results, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, were less conclusive for black tea, although the authors state that this could be for a number of reasons, such as the study having less data for black tea or processing differences between black and green tea.

Although the findings weren't as positive as we might've hoped for the British national drink, this study's findings back up the large body of evidence for the health-promoting properties of tea, especially green tea, which is gaining popularity in markets outside traditional green tea markets in Asia.

Why is green tea good for us?

Black tea undergoes aeration (historically called fermentation, which is inaccurate), whereas green tea remains unprocessed. What this means is that green tea is higher in the simple flavonoid polyphenols, the most active of which are epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and catechin (C), which function as powerful antioxidants.

Antioxidants are known to protect the body against disease and are an important part of a healthy diet. The evidence for reducing the risk of disease is particularly strong for flavonoid antioxidants. Flavonoid antioxidants can be found in a range of fruit and vegetables. As part of a balanced diet, green tea can be a good source of antioxidants.

The study by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences is one of many that have been conducted on green tea in recent years.

An analysis of published studies in 2011 found that consuming green tea, either as a beverage or in capsule form, was linked to significant but modest reductions in total 'bad' cholesterol.

Meanwhile, research published in the journal Psychopharmacology suggests that green tea can enhance our brain's cognitive functions, particularly the working memory.

There are plenty of other green-tea-based studies to be found if you go looking – most of which tend to make positive conclusions, backing up beliefs in Asian countries like Japan and China that green tea has medicinal properties.

The taste test

For most people, the decision whether or not to be habitual drinkers of green tea will rest upon whether or not they like the taste.  

Depending on where they were grown, how they were processed, when they were harvested, etc., green teas can have a range of tastes. Common descriptors for good-quality green tea include 'sweet', 'bittersweet', 'nutty', 'vegetal', 'buttery', 'floral', 'fruity' and 'oceanic'.

The taste you get from a sip is also based on a number of variables around how it has been prepared, such as the temperature of water and brew time.

If not brewed correctly, green tea can taste quite bitter. So palatability comes down to how you make your green tea as much as whether your taste buds get on with the flavour – something to bear in mind before you write off becoming a green tea convert simply because you don't like the taste.

Making the perfect cup

BS ISO 3103:2019, Tea — Preparation of liquor for use in sensory tests, has been created to help tea makers pour the perfect cup of tea, every time. The standard provides guidance on everything from how the leaf should be infused to the optimum brew time.

In addition to green tea, the standard also advises on how to prepare black tea with milk. It's time to settle the age-old debate once and for all.

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