I’ve never heard of chaga until I came upon a bottled drink of chaga made by Sayan Health.

The bottle stated that it’s not a tea or juice, but more of an exotic medley of healthy herbs and berries. It was not bitter at all. it was actually very good.

This is the bottled Chaga I tried in wild raspberry. Can be found at your local Whole Foods Market or ask about it at your favorite health food market. Photo from Amazon.

The label on Chaga tea also stated that this mushroom has antioxidants that are 6 times stronger then acai. The fact that it’s not as pretty looking (as many of the superfruits) probably make this fungus less popular.

Sanya Health got it’s company name from the Altai-Sayan Mountains in the Siberia taiga (where temperatures are below -40 degrees most of the year). As this is where they harvest their chaga, since the extremely cold temperatures produce more potent chaga.

Chaga (scientific name: Inonotus obliquus) also known as cinder cork. It’s a unique fungus that grows especially on the wounds of birch trees. But it can also be found growing on ironwood, elm, alder, beech and other hardwood species.

It has the highest antioxidant concentration of any known natural food. When made into tea (and no sweetener added), the taste is suppose to be slightly bitter. Like many herbal medicines, the bitterness seems to be a common factor.

Due to chaga’s health benefits, it’s been referred to as “King of Herbs” and “Nature’s Silver Bullet”. Chaga has been researched as an antiviral, anti-tumor for breast and uterine and other cancers, and diabetes.

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Last weekend, I decided to pick up Costco’s Kirkland brand of green tea.   It was surprisingly very good green tea.  The tasted reminded me of the green tea served at authentic Japanese sushi restaurants.

It turns out the teas are Japanese grown green tea and packed by Ito En.  According to Ito En, out of Japan’s 47 prefectures (provinces), there are only three major tea producing regions.  For a small island nation where space is a premium, growing tea must be something they cherish.

It is definitely good green tea.  Even when steeped for a long time, the green tea never gets bitter. It reminded of the green tea I got from Two Leaves and a Bud, but so much cheaper. Being that it was 100 bags for around $12. They are also available at Amazon for slightly more.

The tea is packed in flat nylon mesh bags. At first thought, maybe this contributed to the taste of better tasting tea.  As the material is suppose to encourage a better infusion. Many “gourmet” packaged tea have been using these nylon tea bags for the past decade.

The downside to the nylon bags is that it’s not biodegradable. And at the rate of 100 bags per customer, that’s a lot of nylon bags being thrown in the landfills.

I also don’t feel so safe (health wise) about exposing the nylon bags to the high temperature of my water.

Due to these reason, I can’t get myself to purchase the teas again.  I would suggest they change to tea bags made from natural fiber.  Even the cornstarch based mesh tea bags are biodegradable, but they are still made with GMO- based material.

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My love of tea started years ago. And I am always happy to try different types and brand of teas.

Luckily this was a sampler pack which included green tea, white peony, rooibus (red tea), Assam tea, and Earl Gray.

Two leaves and a bud is a tea company based out of Colorado. The teas are made of super-premium whole leaf. Teas are harvested from different regions of the world.

I am a minor fan of Jasmine green tea, but when I took my first sip of this jasmine green tea it was different. Much more lighter, accompanying a soft floral fragrance and it never gets too bitter. This is one cup I can drink anytime!

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Fruit leaves of all kind are traditionally used as herbal remedies.  One I like to include on this list is peach (Prunus persica) leaf.

It’s is mainly used as a sedative (calming effect), laxative (digestive aid), and mild diuretic (increase the flow of urine).

Other benefits of peach leaf include treating gastric and stomach irritations and abdominal tenderness, irritation, or congestion.

The peach leaves infusion is also used in treating chronic diarrhea and dysentery.  Peach leaf are also used to treat throat and bronchial irritation.  Also used to treat chronic hepatitis and bronchitis.

Recommended usage is 2 tsp. of dried leaf to 1 cup of boiling water. Infuse for 20 minutes. Use as a gargle for sore throat every 1/2 cup per hour.

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I’ve never heard of Puripan Tea Garden until my cousin was visiting a while back.  Knowing how much I enjoy drinking tea, she gave me a bag of Puripan’s organic jasmine green tea.  The tea shop is located at Santana Row in San Jose.  They specializes in loose leaf green, white, oolong, and other herbal teas.

These green teas are shaped into little round balls called “pearls”.  The leaves open up once it’s brewed.  As much as I like green tea, I didn’t really like this particular green tea.  I don’t know if it’s the “loose leaf” factor or how I brewed it.  I even brew with filtered water too.  I found this jasmine green tea to be too bitter.  And the jasmine scent was meant to be nice, but it ended up giving me a headache instead. Just so I wouldn’t waste this good bag of tea, I let my mom give it a try.  And she actually ended up loving it!  Now she is drinking it all the time.

Photo of Puripan Tea Garden from Santana Row Shopping Center.

Puripan Tea Garden retails many varieties of loose leaf tea, which is suppose to be the best grade of tea available.  I’ve been wanting to stop by soon and see what other great teas are at the shop.  There are plenty of good online reviews about their service and selection too.  The best part being they let you sample the teas before making a purchase.

Even if you can’t visit the shop, you can still visit their nice website and browse the selection of green, white, oolong, and other herbal varieties.  Since I am into oolong at the moment, I think I want to try  WUYI oolong tea.  A description from Puripan:

Known as “Profound Orchid,” this unique tea is harvested on the cliffs of China’s northern Fujian province Wuyi Mountains, where the soil, climate and unique tea bushes create exquisite oolong.

Smooth, rich body and classical roasted aroma with sweet notes of raisin/sugar, honeysuckle, and roasted barley. Lingering sweet finish.  $5.99 for 2 oz.

Did it say an aroma of honeysuckle in the end?  I love the smell of honeysuckle.  The scent is a little less intense then jasmine, but still very nice.

My latest tea obsession is oolong tea.  I am now drinking Prince of Peace organic Oolong tea.  The tea is from China’s northern Fujian province.  I have always been drinking mostly green tea in recent years, mixing it with white tea and fruit tea.  But I am not a fan of black tea.  Oolong for me is more like a mix of green and black tea.  It’s a very mild tea with a bright golden color.  It never gets bitter and has a pleasant reminscent of coffee too.  A cup of oolong tea contains 30 mg of caffiene. I usually drink tea instead of coffee.

Oolong is mostly grown and processed in China, but much loved in Japan.  Oolong tea is harvest very differently then other teas.  The first stage is picking units of one bud and three leaves.  Followed by exposure to the sun.  The second stage is to dry them indoors to promote fermentation. The most important part in the production of oolong tea is when to stop fermentation.  This happens when the leaves are 30% red and 70% green.  It is now semi-fermented.  Then during the final stages, they are rubbed repeatedly to generate good flavor, aroma, and texture. Some say this makes it more gentle on your stomach as well.  And finally allowed to dry using charcoal.

Tea has been in the news lately for it’s health benefits.  Tea contains a large amount of polyphenols, namely tannin.  According to the Department of Dentistry, Osaka University, consuming polyphenol found in oolong tea  helps fight tooth decay significantly.  There are even claims that drinking tea also helps beat obesity.

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Tea Review: Guava Leaves Tea by ABC Tea House

Of the two brands of guava leaves tea I’ve tried, this is my favorite brand. It is from ABC Teahouse of China. The box said it contains 100% guava leaf.

The other brand I’ve had is Hung Phat from Vietnam. The box said it contain guava leaf and fruit. I actually thought this would be better as it contains fruit pieces. But I could not even finish my first cup. Of the whole box, I’ve only used no more then 3 tea bags. It is very bitter tasting. So after seeping the tea for several minutes, I opened up the tea bag from Hung Phat and found there were more then guava leaf and fruit pieces. It also look like small pieces of twigs or bark too. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but they should at least label it on the package. And I would think that more pieces of the guava plant, the better. But in this case, it just taste worse.

The guava tea leaf from ABC Tea House is much smoother tasting and not as bitter. I opened this tea bag and did find all guava leaves. This brand was bought at a Chinese grocery store for $2.99 per box. As I wrote in a previous post, guava leaf has many benefits. In Asian countries, it is mostly used to soothe stomach aches and dieting. But recenlty I found out that it is also suppose to help with menstrual cramps too.

In the past couple of years, my menstrual cramps have been really painful. Studies show that adding more calcium to your diet would help with the cramps. So I drank more milk, ate more cheese and yogurt. Even tried taking calcium supplements, but they all seem to help in the beginning and the pain came back. Now that I started to drink guava tea leaf with the first sign of PMS, I have found that it has also help my mood swings. I have only been drinking this for 1 month and did notice a big improvement on my PMS already. But I can’t say how conclusive it is for me, so I’ll have to wait and see after 3 months of drinking.