Delicious Tea Blends For Making Iced Tea

The weather sure is warming up here in the Willamette Valley this summer, and with the hot sun shining, it's important to stay hydrated! Iced tea is a great and refreshing beverage to enjoy with the temperature is climbing, it's easy to make and easy to enjoy. Here's how we recommend brewing your perfect cuppa:

Brew Like Normal And Add Ice

People often have questions on how to properly prepare a cup of iced tea, and it can really be as simple as brewing your tea as you normally would, perhaps letting it steep longer than usual, and adding ice to your individual glass. If you don't want to dilute your tea too much, put the hot tea in the fridge for as long as you can stand before adding the ice, so that the ice doesn't instantly melt! 

Use The Sun!

Letting your tea brew in the sun, commonly known as "sun tea", is the easiest method when the sun is plentiful. Grab a jar, add your tea (recommend putting your loose-leaf tea in bags first) and set your tea in the sun to steep for a couple of hours. Once your tea is your desirable color, take it out of the sun and it's ready to go. Unlike brewing your tea with boiling water, sun tea isn't quite as hot, making it easier to enjoy with ice quicker.  Sun tea is also a great way to make a big batch of tea that will last a few rounds! 

Here at Tea Lady Teas we have a few blends that are just screaming to be made as iced tea. Black and green teas typically make the yummiest iced teas. For a full-bodied blend, try our Lucky Dragon or Assam. If you're after adding a bit more of a fruity flavor to your iced tea, try out our Green Peach, Green Pomegranate, Jazzi-Tea or Aprico-Tea, really any tea that has a fruit in the name is delicious as an iced tea! Cool off this summer with a perfect cuppa of iced tea, you won't regret it! 

Tea Highlight: The Many Benefits of Ooolong Tea

Oolong is a unique tea hailing from the Fuijan province of China that has a flavor in between black tea and green tea, some richer than others. Oolong tea is caffeinated, making it a great substitution for your daily cup (or three) of coffee without the jittery feeling of being overly caffeinated. Aside from giving you an energy boost, oolong is also packed full of other health benefits, making it a top contender in the health department. 

Oolong is also unique in design, making it look a bit different than your standard loose leaf tea. What makes oolong unique is how it is prepared. The oolong leaves are either rolled and packed tightly into a sphere, or are twisted to become tight and almost stem-looking. Once the leaves steep in the hot water, they unravel to their natural shape. To prepare oolong, simply add a small spoonful into a pot of hot water to steep for 2-3 minutes. With oolong, less is better! Don't add too much or else you could be left with a very bitter, almost astringent, tea. 

Now, the benefits. Oolong, like green tea, boosts your metabolism, making for a much healthier body to fight against free radicals and it can even help with weight loss. Of course, the tea itself will not cause weight loss, but having a generally higher metabolism will!

It will increase your mental awareness. Get rid of your brain fog quickly with a cup of oolong! The caffeine boost will help you think clearly and get things done.

Oolong reduces hair loss and helps with a glowing complexion. Again, those antioxidants are at work to clear your body of free radicals that are often to blame for a poor complexion. 

Keep your teeth healthy! Oolong tea protects your teeth from acid produced by certain bacteria that like to hang out in your mouth and cause plaque and tooth decay. Adding a cup or two to your day will keep your teeth shining bright!

While these are only a few of the many benefits of drinking oolong tea, we urge you to stop by our shop and try a sample! Want a robust oolong? Our Se Chung Oolong is a great option. For something a bit lighter, we recommend our Formosa Oolong. We also have a some great blends, including Oolong & Ginger as well as Oolong & Lemon, both offering great flavors! Try out a hot cuppa of oolong and start to rejoice in the benefits!

Tea Highlight: Why You Should Drink Rooibos Tea

Rooibos is a special tea that comes from a very specific area of the world. Rooibos is a caffeine free tea that comes from a shrub that can only be found in South Africa. The shrub is dried and oxidized to then be steeped in hot water and enjoyed. The locals of South Africa have been drinking rooibos tea for a very long time, and has gained more popularity in the Western world in recent decades. Rooibos is full of antioxidants, some sources stating over 50 times more than green tea.

Rooibos is praised for ridding your body of free radicals, easing digestion problems and even adding loads of benefits that promote healthy skin and hair. Because this auburn colored tea is caffeine free, it can be enjoyed at all hours of the day without affecting your sleep schedule. Rooibos is also is anti-inflammatory, which are known to reduce the risk of heart disease as well as adding a boost to your immune system. 

One of the highest praised benefits of rooibos tea is the benefits for your skin and hair. Rooibos is a natural producer of both alpha hydroxy acid and zinc. If you've ever dealt with skin issues, including moderate to sever acne, rooibos might just be your savior. Both of these ingredients, alpha hydroxy acid and zinc, are commonly found in cosmetic and acne products, due to their proven track record of healing the skin. Both drinking the tea and applying it topically to the skin has been proven to create a clear and glowy complexion. Let rooibos make your skin glow!  

We love roobios tea here at Everyone's Cuppa. Our traditional rooibos has a delicious, almost nutty flavor that is yummy cold or hot. We also have over a dozen of blended rooibos varieties that are beyond delicious. Cremé au Caramel, Paradise and Sunshine are a few of our most popular blends. Stop by Tea Lady Teas to find your perfect cuppa of this amazing tea! 

Tea Highlight: The Benefits Of Green Tea

Here at Tea Lady Teas we clearly believe in the power of tea. We believe that tea does much more for the mind and body than simply being a delicious beverage. We plan on highlighting a new tea every week and sharing the benefits associated with each. This week we are starting with the powerhouse of all the teas, green tea! 

For centuries it has been globally known that drinking certain teas can work wonders on one's health. It comes at no surprise that green tea has been labeled "the healthiest beverage on the planet", arguably excluding water, with its countless antioxidant properties and power of increasing one's metabolism, green tea is a power house among the different tea varieties. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should add green tea to your daily routine, green tea is proven to:

1. Boost Your Metabolism

The antioxidants present in green tea is truly what makes green tea a standout among other beverage choices. These antioxidants help your body flush out toxins and free radicals that can wreak havoc on one's body. This is a great reason to enjoy a cup of green tea first thing in the morning to get your metabolism active and moving throughout the day. 

2. Enhance Your Memory & Cognitive Function

Throughout the years there have been many studies in how green tea effects cognitive function and the association to memory and general brain development, and the numbers show that when one drinks a cup of green tea, their brain moves quicker. This means better memory, quicker thinking and overall increased connectivity to the body and the brain. 

3. Burn Fat 

Due to the increase in metabolism and quicker flush of toxins, green tea leaves your body ready and willing to burn fat. It's proven that caffeine alone helps with weight loss, green tea goes beyond your typical cup of coffee with the boost of antioxidants, plus it doesn't leave you feeling quite so jittery. 

4. Keep Your Mouth Clean

Due to its anti-bacterial properties, green tea is great for oral health and care as well. Given that cavities, inflamed gums (gingivitis) and bad breath are caused by an over production of bacteria, green tea's anti-bacterial properties step in to fight all of the above. While we don't recommend substituting your daily oral care (keep brushing please!), if you commonly suffer with mouth problems, try adding green tea to your daily routine! 

5. Calm You Down 

Despite the boost of caffeine from a cup of green tea, it has also has the ability to reduce anxiety and calm the body. Green tea is full of I-theanine, which is known to calm and reduce stress. Green tea can help calm you down without making you fall asleep, due to the boost of caffeine. Next time you feel stressed, sip on a cup of green tea! 

Green tea has even more benefits than simply the five listed above, which makes it such a great beverage to add to your daily routine.

Here at Tea Lady Teas, we have a wide variety of green teas to choose from, between our pure green teas or our blended varieties, you'll be sure to find your perfect cuppa. Fan of a full-bodied green tea flavor? Try Lucky Dragon or our Gunpowder Pearls. Interested in more of a fruity vibe? Try our Ginger Peach, it's delicious hot or cold!

Stop by our shop to test a sample of one of our green teas, we hope to see you soon!