The news that tea lovers everywhere have been waiting for. Okay, I put my hand up straight away, it’s not just tea that has this effect but any hot drink. Even a hardened tea drinker like myself considers switching to iced drinks (tea, of course) in hot weather but according to this study carried out in 2012 at The University of Ottawa and published in Acta Physiologica, that might not be the quickest way to cool down [1]. It does all depend however on the humidity of your environment. Cold drinks versus hot drinks The paper’s authors compared the effects of drinking ice cold (1°C), body tempe ..read more

A little background I launched Drink Tea Hub in July 2019 based on a long-held nagging feeling that I should be writing about tea and making it more accessible to people across the world. I started off just wanting to provide good quality information about tea and its health benefits, plus promoting some of my favourite teas, tea suppliers and tea products that I’ve used and loved. Quite early on I realised that for us tea drinkers there are two major concerns that have an impact on the tea choices we make. Firstly, I believe we have a responsibility to consider the hard work, often extremely ..read more

If you want to make the perfect cup of tea, loose leaves are superior to tea bags but without a tea infuser, things can become messy. If you are after that perfect cup of tea, or if you already thinking about gifts for Christmas 2019 and wondering what to buy the tea lover in your life, read on to find out all about the different types of infuser available and our top pick in each category. Find out everything you need to know here: What is a tea infuser? Why use a tea infuser? What types of tea infuser are available? Our top picks by category: Best teapot Best ball infuser Best (novelty) s ..read more

It’s nearly Christmas again so it’s time to discover a world of lovely new teas. A Christmas tea Advent calendar makes a wonderful gift for the tea lover in your life and is the perfect way to sample interesting, exotic and exciting new teas and blends without having to commit to a large quantity, as well as being a healthier alternative to a chocolate Advent calendar. Unlike most of the reviews on this site, I have not had the joy of using any of these products in their full form yet because it’s not the first of December and we all know that Santa doesn’t visit people who open their presents ..read more

In an earlier article, I delved into “what is green tea” and outlined the main different types of green tea. Like anything, there are different levels of quality and even more than with black tea, choosing a quality brand is really important to ensure not just the best flavour but also the best of its health benefits. Having tried and tested a lot of different green teas over my lifetime, I’ve decided to put together a list of my top five recommendations. If you’re looking for information specifically about Japanese green tea then read my Complete guide to Japanese green tea. In this post: W ..read more

Background More than a year ago now, in my first post about plastic in tea bags, made in July 2019, I shared my shock at finding out that most tea bags are more than just tea and paper: they contain plastic too. In that post, I listed the responses given to the question “when will your tea bags become plastic-free?” by the biggest brands in the UK, that is, PG Tips, Yorkshire Tea and Tetley. The answer when this article was first published in September 2019 was mostly “we’re working on it”. In March 2020, Yorkshire Tea which, at the end of last year, overtook PG Tips as the most popu ..read more

Japanese green tea is a wonderful drink but there are so many varieties that we have put together this guide to help you better understand and enjoy it, plus our recommended suppliers for starting your tea journey. In this post: History Regions Growing and producing tea in Japan, season by season Varieties Our recommendations Favourite suppliers History Photo by Bagus Pangestu from Pexels The history of tea in Japan begins in around 805 AD when Japanese monks brought it with them from China. However, Japan was reliant on China for its tea supply until around the start of the 13th century w ..read more

A few weeks ago, Claire at Twist Teas contacted me via Twitter and asked if I’d like a sample of their tea. I said “yes please”, obviously, because I would never turn down the offer of free tea. A couple of days later I received a lovely box containing no fewer than twelve tea bags, all of different sorts of tea. Looking at their website, this is is only a small fraction of their range of over 40 different teas. Some of their blends are really original and it’s nice, after forty-something years on the planet drinking tea, that I can still be surprised by innovative blends. [Declaration: I have ..read more

Black tea is the most popular tea in the world. There is a huge variety of blends such Darjeeling and Earl Grey but this article will focus on your basic good strong black tea. Find out: What is black tea? Why drink black tea? Black tea and health Grades of black tea Tea bags or loose tea? Brewing black tea Choosing a good quality black tea: our recommendations A changing drink What is black tea? Outside of the United Kingdom, black tea is often marketed as “English Breakfast Tea” but here in the UK it is usually just called “tea”. In China, the original home of tea it is called “red tea ..read more

Oolong tea is, like black tea and green tea, formed from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. “Oolong” is the Anglicized version of the Chinese name, which translates as “black dragon”. In this post: Origins and history Oolong tea vs. black tea Varieties of oolong tea Brewing or steeping oolong tea Choosing and buying oolong tea: our recommendations Origins and history The origins of oolong tea can be traced back around one thousand years to the Fujian region in the time of the Song dynasty. Production continued and expanded through to the end of the 14th century with the Ming dynast ..read more