TeaFrog – Quality Loose Leaf Tea

White Tea – The “Gucci” of Brewed Beverages

White tea is a relative newcomer to the North American market place. It is the least processed of all the teas, and has the healthiest profile of all the teas. This tea is made from young leaves and new growth buds. When referring to white teas, it is said it is “two leaves and a bud”. This nickname is because when picked, the youngest and most tender leaves are picked – the top 2 leaves and the bud of the branch.

The oxidization process for white tea is halted almost immediately in white teas, often right in the fields, through heating or steaming. This allows the leaves to retain high concentrations of catechins and other anti-oxidants. Some estates go so far as to shield the buds from the sun to reduce chlorophyll formation.

In recent studies, white tea has been shown to have additional calming and detoxifying effects on the skin, as well as showing the same cancer fighting and anti-oxidizing properties that other teas show. White teas have as much as 3 times as many anti-oxidant polyphenols as other teas, due to the lack of oxidizing that takes place in the processing of this tea. It is much more effective in cleaning up free radicals in the body, which cause skin to sag and age.

Because of the extra high concentrations of the anti-aging and anti-oxidant polyphenols found in white tea, many cosmetic companies are utilizing concentrated white tea in new anti-wrinkle and anti-aging products. Whether these products are effective or not has yet to be proven.

With cancer fighting properties, and anti-aging properties, the velvety smooth taste you get from a quality white tea is a surprising bonus to this extraordinary tea – who says that healthy has to taste bad!

Because the young leaves and buds are used for white tea, it is much more rare than any black or green teas, and is often more expensive. As the health benefits are more widely recognized however, it has become more mainstream, and more available to the western public. TeaFrog has started flavouring white teas to great success, as can be found in our Blueberry Flavoured White tea, Coconut Vanilla White tea and brand new Pink Grapefruit White tea.

So give it a try today. You can purchase a high quality white tea directly from the TeaFrog online store, and have it delivered right to your door!

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Gunpowder Tea

When TeaFrog goes to craftshows, there is one tea in particular that always gets attention, and it is one of the most common kinds of green tea available. It is called Gunpowder Tea, and is named such due to it’s appearance.

Green tea leaves are rolled into tight pellets, reminiscent of gunpowder pellets, and thus the name Gunpowder Tea. This is a fairly recent name for this tea, as it has been produced as far back as 600AD, when gunpowder had not yet been invented. It was introduced in the 1800’s to Taiwan, and it is surmised that it gained the name Gunpowder Tea shortly thereafter.

Gunpowder Green Tea produces a clear golden liquor when brewed, and has a grassy, slightly nutty, full and rich flavor. It is often blended with peppermint leaves to produce a favorite middle eastern tea referred to as “Morroccan Mint”.

When preparing Gunpowder Tea, use slightly less that the usual green tea amount called for (1 tsp) as it expands to many times it’s rolled size. In fact, the tea expands so much, it almost looks like your Gunpowder Tea is “exploding”!

Overall this is a tasty green tea, and will brew to a nice iced tea as well as the traditional warm tea. Consume this tea any time of the day, and it goes well with just about any type of food. Be extra carefull not to over steep this tea, as it will very quickly get very bitter, ruining the flavor of the tea.

To order Gunpowder Tea and brewing accessories, visit the TeaFrog Gunpowder Tea page.

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How to Make Iced Tea With Loose Leaf Tea

Undoubtedly, many people are intimidated by the thought of making their own iced tea.  The way that it has been marketed makes it really easy to just purchase a can of concentrate that is almost purely liquid sugar, with a small bit of flavored water added.  I say flavored water because it is not even fair to refer to it as tea, since the amount of tea in there is miniscule. Contrary to common believe however, making iced tea is as simple as brewing a hot cup of tea, and just as with loose leaf tea vs. teabag tea, the flavor that you will be rewarded with is well worth the effort.

There are many advantages to making your own iced tea with loose leaf tea.  The first is flavor.  Just as loose leaf tea has more flavor than tea bag tea, iced tea from loose leaf tea has MUCH more flavor than iced tea from a tea bag, or iced tea from concentrate.  Second, you can make iced tea from ANY kind of tea that you would brew hot, from the regular black tea, to green tea, rooibos teas, blended and flavored black and green, white teas, fruit teas, anything that you could imagine.  The variety of flavors that is available to you is endless!  The third advantage is price. It is actually cheaper, per cup, to make your own iced tea.

Brewing the perfect cup of iced tea is as simple as following the directions for brewing a hot cup of tea, except you double the amount of leaves that you use to brew it.  That means, if you are using 1 tsp per cup of tea for your hot green tea, you would use 2 tsp per cup to brew your iced tea.  That is the secret in a nutshell!

Another tip for brewing iced tea is to let the tea cool before you refrigerate or ice it.  If you do not, you may get a cloudy cup of tea.  This does not impact the flavor in any way, but it will affect the look of the tea.

You will truly reap the benefits of iced tea by creating your own.  Brewing the tea is only the first step – you can add ingredients to your iced tea, such as lemonade and sugar to taste, you can spruce it up with a sprig of mint, a slice of orange, or whatever you would like!  For iced tea recipes, a step by step guide to making iced tea, recommended teas to use to make iced tea, and more, visit TeaFrogs all about iced tea page »

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How to Infuse Loose Leaf Tea – A Beginners Guide

Here at TeaFrog world headquarters, one of the most often asked questions of new customers is “so, what do I do with this loose tea?”.  Many people have at least heard of a tea ball, but the whole preparation of a cup of tea from loose leaves seems to be a bit of an intimidating mystery.

When you are brewing loose leaf tea, there are really only two was to do it.  The first is straight forward – simply leave the leaves directly in the water, or place them in some sort of devise that make them easy to remove them from the water.  These devices are referred to as infusers.

There are many many different kinds of infusers available.  From your basic tea ball, to the BREWT infuser.  Easy type of infuser has it advantages and disadvantages, however generally you will choose an infuser based on ease of use, ease of cleaning, and based on the type of tea that you drink.

Tea Ball
The tea ball is about the most common type of infuser.  Shaped like a ball, it usually opens in half.  You place your leaves in one half, and latch the other half down to keep the leaves in the ball.  You then place that in the water and let the tea infuse.

There are many drawbacks to the tea ball.  First, it is a pain to clean, and the smaller the leaf, the more will get stuck in the mesh.  Second, because you are dealing with two half’s and latching, it can be a pain to get the tea in and the latch closed without loosing some tea.  The tea ball also keeps the tea compressed and does not give much room for large leaf tea to fully expand, keeping the full flavor of the tea from being released.  The biggest advantage of the tea ball is that it tends to be cheap, and readily available.

There are also many different variations of the tea ball, including a tea pincer, which makes filling easier, as the half’s separate with pressure on the handle, but it still has the same drawbacks as the latching balls in that the tea does not fully expand and the mesh is not fine enough to keep the smaller leaves from your water.

Tea Bag Filters

One often overlooked method of brewing your tea is to create your own loose leaf tea bags.  Using a T-Sac tea bag, you can do just that.  Simply place your loose leaf tea in the provided tea bag filter, and seal it using an iron, sealer or even just a staple, and you instantly have your own tea bag!

The T-Sac filters are environmentally friendly and can be composted.  They are made from a specially developed paper composite and are unbleached,  which also ensures that the taste of your tea is unaffected in the brewing process.  Because they are so small and convenient, it is easy to make a couple up to take with you to the office, or out for a meal at your favorite restaurant.  I find that I am very disappointed when I get a tea bag of generic tea after a nice meal, so I make sure that I have my own loose leaf tea bag at the ready when we go out!

Basket Infusers

The basket infuser is a step up from the tea balls in all ways.  Many teapots that you purchase now come with basket infusers included.  They can be glass, ceramic or plastic, with mesh or just holes in the bottom to allow the water to hit the leaves.

The best basket infusers, such as the Finum Basket Infuser, have a very fine mesh covering the whole basket area.  This allows the water to flow over the whole basket of leaf.  Other designs with the holes only in the bottom of the basket tend to neglect the top leaves in the basket.  You should also look for a basket infuser that will sit it a teapot and tea cup directly, and not limit yourself to only one container for brewing your tea.

The Finum Basket Infuser is a plastic infuser with a stainless steel mesh that is very fine, keeping all your leaves in the basket, even the small Rooibos leaves.  It has tabs on the top of the basket to sit it in tea pots, travel mugs, cups, or any other container that you would make your tea in.  It is dishwasher safe, and a snap to clean.  Just tap out your leaves to the compost, and rinse the basket out.  It even comes with a lid that couples as a drip tray for when you remove the basket from the container.

BREWT Infuser

The last major type of infuser is a self contained pot/infuser that makes tea brewing easier than any other method we have ever seen at TeaFrog.  The BREWT infuser is a high impact plastic “jug” that looks stylish and is simple for anyone to use.  You simply measure your leaves into the container, and pour your water over the leaves.  When your infusion time is up, place the BREWT infuser on your cup or mug, and the water comes out of the BOTTOM of the container, directly into your cup!  The fine plastic mesh filter in the BREWT keeps the leaves in the container, so your drink contains only the infusion, and no floaters or silt!

This revolutionary way to prepare your tea is easy to clean, just tap out the leaves, and rinse.  The mesh filter is easily removed the clean as well.

The biggest advantage that we have found in the BREWT infuser is that it makes it simple to infuse the leaves multiple times.  Because you are removing the water from the leaves, rather that the usual way of removing the leaves from the water, the leaves are sitting there, ready to have more water added to re-infuse them!  It is easy, clean, and a convenient way to brew your tea.

Many restaurants, tea and coffee shops use the BREWT to serve their customers, because it is so hip and stylish.  Serving the tea is made simple for the staff, there is no fumbling around and it is quick and easy to prepare the BREWT for the customer.  The ease of cleaning makes for a no fuss solution to serving premium gourmet loose leaf tea to customers.

Making a Decision

When it comes to making a decision, make sure that you choose based on the ease of use, and ease of cleaning, as well as durability of your infuser.  If you are making more than a cup or two of tea a week, avoid the tea ball right from the start.  The low price point may be attractive, but they are cheaply made and break quickly and easily with little use.

Infuser baskets and the BREWT infuser are the much better choices, as they are very durable, easy to use and clean, and not overly expensive at all.  Both the Finum Basket Infuser and the BREWT infuser are available for purchase from TeaFrog.com.

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How to make Green Tea

It is surprising how many people give up on Green Tea after one bad experience.  While making Green Tea is not difficult in any way, at TeaFrog we have found that there is one overwhelming mistake that people make with brewing Green Tea, and that is water temperature.

Simply put, do not boil your water when making Green Tea.  If you pour the boiling water over the tea leaves, it will cook the leaves, releasing more tannins and making the tea bitter.  This is the number one reason why people give up on Green Tea!

The optimum temperature for Green Teas is between 80 to 90 degrees Celsius, or 140 – 185 degrees Fahrenheit.  At this temperature, the bulk of the tannins in the tea will not dissolve, leaving you with the natural sweetness of the leaf, and the pure flavor of the tea.  If you happen to boil your water, just give it a few minutes to cool before you infuse your leaves in it.

Another tip when preparing your tea is to ensure that the leaves have enough room to expand fully.  Japanese Green Tea in particular is generally tightly rolled, and as such needs plenty of room to allow the water to get into the inside of the leaf.  You can place the leaves directly in the water, or better yet, use an infuser that allows the tea to expand fully, such as the Finum Brewing Basket.

Step by Step Instructions for Brewing Green Tea.

1. Heat water in a kettle or pot to a temperature of 80° to 90° C, or between 140° - 185° F.
2. Place 1 teaspoon of tea into an infusing device that has enough room for the leaves to expand.
3. Pour your water over the tea leaves.
4. Allow the tea 2-3 minutes to infuse.
5. Remove your tea leaves, and enjoy your cup of Green Tea for the first time!

Green Tea Brewing Tips

- you can infuse green tea many times.  Some teas do not fully release their flavor until the second or third infusion!  Use an infuser, such as the Finum Brewing Basket, to make second, third and fourth infusions easy.

- experiment with the infusion times for your Green Tea.  Some teas are best infused for only 1 or 2 minutes, some as much as 7 minutes.  Tea is a personal choice, so find the right brewing time just for you.

- water quality can affect the taste of tea.  If you have hard water out of the tap, try using filtered water to experience the true flavor of your Green Tea

Varieties of Teas

TeaFrog carries a few varieties of the most popular Green Teas.  We carry quality Japanese Teas such as:

Genmaicha Organic Green Tea – A blend of Sencha Tea and roasted brown rice is a staple in Japanese restaurants all over the world.  This tea produces a sweet nutty infusion that can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Sencha Fukujyu – Long dark leaves and a light infusion, this popular Japanese Green Tea is rich in vitamin C as well as the other natural elements in Green Tea. Smooth and sweet tasting.

TeaFrog also carries a number of high quality Chinese Teas:

Dragon Well – Lung Ching – this rare wok roasted tea produces a refreshing yellow and orange infusion with a slightly nutty flavor.

Gunpowder – named for the look of the rolled leaves, this distinct tea has a light taste and is a conversation piece as well!

Jasmine Chung Hao - this top quality Chinese Green Tea is infused with the flavor of Jasmine Flowers by layering the tea over real Jasmine.  A soothing and relaxing cup of tea for any time of the day.

This is only a sampling of the Green Teas that TeaFrog has to offer, so visit our website and introduce them into your lifestyle!

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