Tea has always been an essential component in everyone’s everyday life. More often than not, people start their day with a boiling cup of tea. It has almost become one habit people cannot do away with. Having said that, it is also important to be noted that tea is always not the best thing for the body. There are various side effects of tea which has been proved time and again by various health researchers and doctors. But tea in all forms is not bad.
There are various kinds of tea available in the market which and brewed in varied ways. This makes it easy for people to avoid those methods of tea brewing which are harmful. One of the various forms of tea is the earl grey tea. In this article, we will discuss the health benefits of earl grey tea and how to make and consume it.
What Is Earl Grey Tea?
The first thing is to understand what earl grey tea is and what makes it different from the other variants of tea available in the market. Earl Grey tea is basically a blend of tea which is typically flavoured with ingredients like bergamot oil. The addition of bergamot gives it its distinctive property as bergamot is made up of a variant of orange which is generally grown in France and Italy. Earl tea gets its distinctive fragrance when rind’s fragrant oil is added to black tea. The fragrance of the earl grey tea is like a pungent punch. Typically, earl grey tea was made from black teas. Only recently, various tea companies are offering different variants of earl grey tea. For example, green earl grey tea, oolong earl grey tea, etc.
How Is Earl Grey Tea Made?
As discussed earlier, earl grey tea is made of a variant of orange which is grown in France and Italy. This variant of orange blooms during winters in the Calabria area of Italy.
There are various variants of grey earl tea and they are a result of combinations of various elements. Let us discuss them in brief.
1. Lady Grey-
There are various kinds of lady grey available in the market. However, the most common forms are citrus lady grey and cornflower lady grey. These are made by combining oranges, cornflower with the traditional earl grey tea. “Twinnings” has trademarked lady tea.
2. London Fog-
This particular variant of earl tea is a result of the combination of some vanilla syrup and boiling hot milk.
3. French Earl Tea-
This is a result of the combination of various kinds of flowers including jasmine, rose petals.
4. Russian Earl Tea-
There are various ways of making a Russian earl tea as four ingredients are combined to make this particular variant. The ingredients are lemongrass, citrus petals, black tea and bergamot. These ingredients when combined in various permutations and combinations give a wide variety of Russian earl tea to the end users.
5. Earl Green Tea-
In these variants, various companies use green tea instead of the traditional black tea and add it with ingredients like bergamot. The process of preparation of white earl tea is also quite similar where white tea is added instead of black tea.
6. Rooibos Earl Tea-
In this variant, instead of the black tea, South Africa’s herbal tea is added.
These were the various variants of the earl grey tea and the combinations of ingredients used to make them. Let us now try to understand the process of making the earl grey tea.
Process Of Making The Earl Grey Tea
Step 1-
Getting the ingredients ready. As we spoke amount the varieties of earl grey tea and the combinations used in making them, the first step is to assemble all the ingredients required to make a particular kind of earl grey tea.
Step 2- Withering
The next step is to either the ingredients so that they are devoid of any germs and bacteria
Step 3- Rolling
The next step is to roll all the ingredients together so that they are crushed and mixed properly. This step is the most important step. The ingredients have to be crushed and rolled properly so that the tea has the distinctive flavour that it aspired to have.
Step 4- Oxidation
the next step is to oxidize the mixture so that it can retain its flavour.
Step 5- Firing
This is the last step in the process of making earl grey tea.
Flavouring The Earl Grey Tea
Flavouring the tea is as important as making it. This is done towards the end of the manufacturing process when the tea leaves have dried completely. There are 2 ways of doing this. One way is to flavour it by blending the mixture with herbs, flowers, spices etc so that it extracts their smell and flavour. The other way of doing it is by spraying the mixture with essential oils, extracts, etc during the curing process.
Benefits Of Consuming Earl Grey Tea
1. Promotes The Health Of The Teeth-
The presence of high level of antioxidant helps this variant of tea in preventing oral infections. Also, it is rich in fluoride which helps the teeth in fighting cavities and decaying.
2. Helps In Fighting Anxiety And Depression-
This is a unique characteristic of the earl grey tea which till now was not widely known. Since one of the essential ingredients of the earl grey tea is bergamot and it is widely known that bergamot has natural aromatherapy qualities, it helps in calming down the senses when one consumes it. This helps the person to overcome anxiety, stress and depression.
3. Helps Improve Digestion-
Since earl grey tea has antioxidants, it helps in the process of digestion it is also good for the gastrointestinal tract. Further, it helps in the movement of bowels and thus, prevents constipation
4. Helps In Boosting The Energy Levels-
Since earl grey tea has caffeine in good proportions, it serves as an instant energy booster.
5. Helps In Aiding Weight Loss-
Since it has a high proportion of citric acid, it is great for people who want to lose some extra kilos. The citrus extracts helps in improving the metabolic rate of the body and thus, aids in weight loss
6. Fights Cancer-
One of the major components of the earl grey tea is antioxidants. These antioxidants help in fighting the free radical cells in the body and thus, reduce the risk of cancer.
7. Makes The Skin Healthy-
Antioxidants are known to improve the health of the skin since time immemorial. Not only does it improve the present condition of the skin, but also helps in delaying ageing, skin cancer, etc.
8. It Is Good For The Heart-
Earl Grey tea is known to have elements which help in reducing the cholesterol levels in the body. This, in turn, provides the good amount of antioxidants in the body. This lowers the blood sugar levels and the risk of diabetes.
9. Acts As A Stress Reliever-
The high amount of caffeine present in the tea helps to lower the anxiety levels of the mind and hence, proves relief.
10. Boosts The Immunity System Of The Body-
– The antioxidants present in grey earl tea attacks the free radical cells in the body and reduces the risk of cancer, diabetes etc. It also improves the fighting mechanism of the body by lowering the cholesterol level of the body.
11. Helps In Fighting Common Cold-
Earl Grey tea has a lot of anti-viral compounds Also, the immunity power of the citrus acid and bergamot helps in fighting any kinds of infection and safeguards the body from diseases like common cold, etc.
12. Natural Source Of Antioxidant-
It has become a norm today to take the substitute for antioxidants. This is a natural and pure source of antioxidants and it comes without any side effects. What better than this!
13. The Triglycerides Level-
This is another added benefit of the earl grey tea. Controlling triglycerides level of the body is very important and earl grey tea is a natural way of doing so.
14. Reduce Heart Strokes-
It has proven to be quite effective in reducing the risk of heart strokes.
15. Good for Digestive System –
It is quite effective in lowering the inflammation level of the gut. This is because it is quite good for digestion and the stomach and thus, reduces the changes of inflammation level in the gut. Therefore, helping in improving the overall health of the digestive system.
16. Relieving Cramps For Women During PMS-
-This is a very common problem that every woman goes through. Regular consumption of earl grey tea could help lower the pain of females during PMS.
17. Best Substitutes For Coffee –
It is one of the best substitutes of coffee as it has a high amount of caffeine which is not harmful to the heath.
These were the health benefits of earl grey tea. I hope you find them useful and incorporate it into your daily lives. Until next time, stay healthy and stay wise.
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