According to the theories of traditional Chinese medicine, developing a habit of tea drinking is an effective way to enhance your body functions and prevent you from many diseases. Black teas are strongly recommended during the wintertime when the temperature is very low, the metabolism in the body slows down, and when there is a decline in physiological function. We need to acquire more energy and nutrition in order to keep our body warm and strong, and to fight against the cold weather. Black tea is warm in nature, and helpful for better digestion, as a result of which, stops us from eating too much in the winter, and reduces belly fat caused by eating too much high-protein and high-fat food. There are also some ingredients you can add to black tea to make it more delicious and beneficial to our body.
Black tea with milk
Ingredients: black tea leaves 3g, milk 100g, salt 2g
Preparation: Cook black tea leaves in a pot with water for 5 minutes. Filter tea leaves out and set the black tea aside. Cook milk with another pot. When the milk is boiled, add black tea and salt. Stir until they are completely mixed together.
Black tea with milk is a perfect weight-losing breakfast recipe. Milk provides you high-quality protein, and keeps you full. Drink a cup of it in the morning every day, it can supplement energy and activating blood circulation in your body.
Black tea with Huang Qi
Ingredients: black tea leaves 3g, Huang Qi 15g
Preparation: Rinse Huang Qi and cook it with water in a pot for 15 minutes. Add black tea leaves and cook together for another 5 minutes. Drink the tea.
Huang Qi tastes sweet and has a neutral characteristic. It is a tonic that supplements energy and generates Yang. It reconciles the stomach and spleen, nourishes the lungs, increases body fluids and eliminates phlegm. Black tea with Huang Qi is especially beneficial for people who have a weak stomach and spleen, or sweat a lot. It helps to improve the health of the central nervous, cardiovascular, and the immune system.
Black tea with sticky rice
Ingredients: black tea leaves 5g, sticky rice 50g
Preparation: Rinse sticky rice and cook it with a proper amount of water in rice cooker. Add black tea in the cooked sticky rice.
Black tea with sticky rice can be taken at breakfast or dinner. It nurtures body energy and blood, and enhances body functions. Sticky rice is better for people who have high blood sugar than regular rice, and prolongs the feeling of satiety.
Puer tea with chrysanthemum
Ingredients: Puer tea leaves 3g, dried chrysanthemum 2.5g
Preparation: Put puer tea leaves and dried chrysanthemum into a ceramic teacup. Pour boiled water in it and lid it. Pour the first brew out and refill the cup with boiled water. Lid it for 2 minutes. Drink it while it is warm.
Chrysanthemum not only adds a nice smell to the puer tea, but also brings the benefits such as removing body heat and toxins, relieving summer heat, improving digestion, and strengthening your body.
Puer tea with rose
Ingredients: puer tea leaves 3g, dried rose 15g, honey
Preparation: put puer tea leaves in the tea bowl and pour boiled water in. Get rid of the first brew. Add dried rose in the bowl and pour water in again. Wait until the second brew cools down a little bit. Add honey.
Rose petals enhance the fragrance of puer tea. And it helps you to relax and get rid of anxiety, nervousness or depression.
Tieguanyin tea
Tieguanyin tea is a natural drink with a lot of nutrients, including amino acids, vitamins, mineral substances, tea polyphenols and alkaloids. It helps to reduce lipid levels in your blood, and lower cholesterol levels, and therefore prevents angiocardiopathy and diabetes.
There are many kinds of black teas, such as Xiangjian from Hunan, Laoqingcha from Hubei, Biancha from Sichuan, Puer from Yunnan, and Liubaocha from Guangxi. Please keep in mind that the first brew of black tea will be skip and Chinese people drink it from the second brew.
On top of the teas we introduced above, there are many other teas that help you to maintain your health.
Gou Qi Zi tea
Gou qi zi tea nourishes the kidney and tonifies your liver so that it enriches the blood and makes you energetic. It also boosts bone health, and fends you off fatigue. The most common way to make a cup of goqizi tea is to steep the rinsed gouqizi in boiled water for 2 to 5 minutes. Then you can drink the gouqizi tea and also eat the gouqizi. Some people like to add red dates, dried longan or dried chrysanthemum into the gouqizi tea. It is all up to you according to your body constitution and what is needed for your body at that time. However, gouqizi tea is not for everyone. If you are having a cold, a fever and diarrhea, or if you have inflammation, or high pressure, you should avoid goujiqi tea.
Flower tea
Flower tea doesn’t contain any caffeine, and is low in tannin and calories. At the same time, it contains a lot of nutrients that are good for our health. There are a variety of flower tea that we are very familiar with, such as jasmine flower tea, and lavender tea. They all have pleasant fragrance, and vary in flavors, some of them taste sweet, some are sour, some are a little bitter. In general, the flower tea relieves you from pressure, help you to sleep well, and keeps you awake during the daytime. It also improves your digestion system, and reconciles different parts of your body. Most of the flower teas don’t have any side effects, and you are free to drink as much as you want in a day.