Quote:
Originally Posted by Quiet Man Cometh
(snip)
I've been told to avoid having too much strong black tea is bad for my already iffy bones, (not sure why, but maybe too much tanic acid) but I've already read in several places that tea (especially with milk, of course) is good for your bones.
So yeah.
|
Hi there. :)
I do drink both coffee and tea. Percolated coffee made in a percolator at least as old as myself, no bad aromas later. And either evaporated milk or plain non-dairy creamer. I like to reserve the milk or sometimes half & half for special occasions.
I've sampled many sorts of tea. My favorite was to make a brew mixed of black chai, eleuthero, green tea and ginseng. I like it both iced or hot with a tad of milk and less of sugar. I found that mixture of great help with concentrating and other issues. Like my weak immune system. I'm debating online ordering, seeing as its getting harder and harder to find them localy.
Oh wow, Earl Grey. Just reading eveyone's comments is making me crave bergamot! I wish i could remember the brand i got several years ago, but was by far the best one i've tried yet.
As for reducing the tanic acids in dark tea, i have done the following for the past 22 or 23 years. (One of my 80+ year old home health clients taught me her grand mother's tea recipe in the mid 1990's, this is it).
First of all, the results: Acid reduction. The tea is iced tea, will be crystal clear and very clean in taste. Little to no after taste. Very refreshing!
She had me place a family sized tea bag in a small pot of cold water, slowly bring it up to hot. Just before it boils, remove the pot from the heat, (remove the tea bag), and add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. It will foam as the baking soda reacts with the tanic acids in the hot tea. Stir until all the foam is gone. Don't rush this step. It will take about 30 seconds to two minutes, depending upon how much tanic acid the baking soda must neutralize.
She then had me sweeten it with Sweet-n-Low, as she was diabetic. At home, i added 3/4 cup of sugar, stirred until the sugar was dissolved, then dilluted with ice cubes or cold water in the pitcher.
It *can* come to a boil. But not for more than a handful of seconds. Boiling releases far more tanic acid than stopping the brewing process before it boils. Beyond this, it's all just basic chemical reactions. The baking soda neutralizes the tanic acid.
I find this is easily utilized with most dark teas. I've not tried it with herbal teas recently, so i cannot remember the results. I've been making iced tea with her grandmother's method since 1993 or '95, somewhere in there. Gotten plenty of compliments and requests for it.
And i know for a fact i used to have stomach upset from many dark teas, until i made it this way. I'm sure it had to be the tanic acids that tore my stomach up back then, it gave me horrible heartburn until i began making it this way.
As near as we can determine (or guess!), her grandmother's tea method dates from approximately middle to early 1800's. Pioneer and settler days. I have no clue its actual origin. But it does work.
Just don't try what my ex-in-law did and ruin it attempting to make it in a Mr. Coffee machine. That was just nasty! x.x