Tea, as usual, comes along for the ride. This was the first time I can say that I've prepared it on a construction site in above-100° temperatures, and I'm happy to say it might taste even better this way. The light, sweet floral notes of this greenish Tieguanyin seemed to match the landscape- and it may have cooled me down a little bit. As soon as I fully recover from the sunstroke I'll let you know.
 |
| photos by Colin Bell |
Posts
3 comments:
love tieguanyun! do you find it to be a 'cooling' tea like dragon well or was it just that consuming something hot regulated your body temp to the above 100 temps?
well, that was part of the experiment- would drinking hot tea in the middle of the day, with the temperature around 103°, help me deal with the heat better?
answer: unclear. i do think hot tea has a cooling effect- look at india, where it's consumed daily- but just living in such a climate probably is more influential, as your body is more adapted to the constant heat. i do drink hot tea all day, every day, no matter how hot it is here in new york, but i'm rarely working outside when i have it, and the seasonal shifts here are so extreme that you only have a few months to really settle into the same temperature.
so it's hard for me to say if tieguanyin, or any particular tea, truly has that cooling effect. it doesn't make me hotter, though, i can say that. (is that even possible at 103°?)
i'm very curious as to everyone else's take on it, though, so let me know your experience!
I can't say from experience as I am a desk jockey and therefore, usually indoors in sub-zero A/C conditions even during major summer heat waves... However, I am a big believer in traditional chinese medicine and they do cateogrize some teas as being "warming" and some as being "cooling". In general, cool teas are white, green and jasmine teas. Warming teas are red or black teas. Pu'erh and Oolong are considered neutral. Maybe that will be an experiment I do this weekend!
Post a Comment