The weather is getting colder; autumn is leaving and winter is about to arrive. Winter is dry and can easily cause heatiness. To avoid this, please drink more tea. The greatest function of tea is to reduce heatiness and detoxify the body.
Tea is essentially a medicine, all herbal books record the properties, taste, and effects of tea. All these texts consider tea to be cold in nature and bitter in taste. According to Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea, “the use of tea has an extremely cold taste.” In the Newly Revised Materia Medica – Section on Wood, it states, “Tea, bitter tea, is sweet and bitter in taste, slightly cold and non-toxic.” Chen Cangqi's Supplement to the Materia Medica says, “Tea is bitter and cold, breaking hot qi.” Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica: “Tea is bitter and cold, best able to reduce fire.” The “extremely cold taste” in The Classic of Tea actually refers to its “extremely cold nature.”
Ranking of Teas for Reducing Heatiness
1. Unfermented Green Tea: Being the coldest in nature, when the body has excessive heat, based on the principle of generating and overcoming, green tea is best at reducing heat.
Green tea is made from unfermented leaves, preserving the natural substances found in fresh leaves. It contains a high amount of catechins, chlorophyll, caffeine, amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients. The natural nutrients in green tea have special effects in preventing aging, cancer, and bacterial and inflammatory infections, which are unmatched by other types of tea. Green tea is produced from suitable new shoots of tea plants, typically processed through withering, rolling, and drying.
There are many varieties of green tea, including Zhejiang Longjing, Anji White Tea, Anhui Mao Feng, Suzhou Biluochun, Xinyang Maojian, and Laoshan Green Tea, among others.
Chrysanthemum Tea, though not technically a tea, also has excellent heat-reducing properties.
2. Slightly fermented teas, such as fragrant Tieguanyin, white tea (especially silver needle), yellow tea, and raw Pu'er.
Compared to green tea, these teas are milder in nature but still possess the functions of green tea. They remain very effective for reducing heatiness.
For those with less robust digestive systems who wish to reduce heatiness, it is recommended to consume these types of tea.
Note:
1. Not all teas can reduce heatiness. For example, semi-fermented and fully fermented teas are less effective in this regard.
2. For those teas that have been roasted, they cannot reduce heatiness and may even increase it. Therefore, these should not be consumed.