Easy to Draw Train Tea Cup Fair Symbol

Pick your raw materials

There's more to tea than PG Tips vs Tetley. Buy whole-leaf, says Yousef Serroukh, Harrods tea buyer. It's like wine: care and age give it a truer flavour and more health benefits. Long-leaf tea guarantees both.

Green

Much like Heather Mills, it's healthy but not instantly likeable. Make green tea more palatable and beneficial by mixing it with elderflower: Purdue University found this boosts the activity
of tea's anti-cancer EGCGs (and your smugness) by about 50 per cent.

White

"The champagne of teas," says Marina Krstic, Amanzi tea bar's resident tea expert. "It's made from the buds of the first tea leaves so it contains the most life-lengthening polyphenols." The University of Derby found it also has less fluoride content; too much can damage your bones.

Black

Not quite builders sans milk, this particular leaf is what's left after green oxidises. The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences found this process creates an antioxidant-rich polyphenol on a par with green teas. What's more, black also combats blood sugar spikes after eating carbs.

Never leaf it out

As with Bikram enthusiasts, heat can make tea go a bit weird. "Its polyphenols are degraded by oxygen and heat," says Professor Alan Crozier, biochemist at the University of Glasgow. Maintain your tea's illness-killing potency by storing it in an airtight caddy, and away from direct sunlight or hot objects (i.e. your kettle).

Strain to improve

If you buy just one bit of kit, make it a tea strainer. Not only will it stop any wayward leaves from floating around and sticking in your teeth, but you won't risk scalding the leaves with boiling water. Plus it looks pretty pro.

Hot or hotter

It's time to put the kettle on. But forget your grandmother's rule of hot for coffee, boiling for
 tea; there's a little more to it than that. Different teas perform best at different temperatures; you'll reap the greatest health rewards if you
 keep them punching at their fighting weight. "The anti-cancer compounds increase with brewing time," reveals Crozier. "Heat is needed to extract them from the tea but they are, ironically, sensitive to overheating. For the best flavour and health boost, you need precision."

100°

Bring to the boil

To reap 100 per cent extraction of all the antioxidants in black tea you need fully boiling water, according to a University of Leeds study. "Steep a teaspoon of leaves for three to four minutes," says Krstic. A University of California study found downing three cups or more a day may cut your risk of a stroke by around 20 per cent, if it helps you to justify your 10-a-day habit.

85°

Raise the heat

"You need a teaspoon of leaves steeped for three minutes at 85° to enjoy the benefits of green leaves," says Krstic. Cornell University found two cups a day raised antioxidant levels in saliva and kept them high. What's more the University of Leeds found it protects the brain from the plaque linked to Alzheimer's disease. Worth remembering.

80°

Gently does it

White tea's young leaves are delicate and the polyphenols are in greater concentrations, so don't overheat it. "One teaspoon should be left for three minutes in 80° water," says Krstic. "This is when tiny bubbles begin to form in the pot and rise up." A Pace University study found two cups of the white stuff kills 80 per cent of bacterial viruses in 10 minutes. It's a sickness whitewash.

How do you like yours?

With sugar

This will surprise herbal tea evangelists. Purdue University found adding ascorbic acid (that's lemon) and sugar to green tea ups the bioavailability of its immunity-boosting catechins by 300 per cent. Good news for builders everywhere.

With milk

Dairy naysayers can have a cow, man. A European Journal of Clinical Nutrition study revealed a drop of milk has no bad effect on polyphenols in black or green tea, while the University of Guelph says milk actually helps deliver tea antioxidants.

With hibiscus

No, it's not a biscuit: tea made with hibiscus has higher antioxidant activity, according to Universidade do Porto. It's also more flavourful to quaff – which is the main thing, of course.

Alex Harris Alex Harris is Commissioning Editor of Men's Health

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Source: https://www.menshealth.com/uk/nutrition/food-drink/a749983/how-to-make-the-perfect-cup-of-tea/

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