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Unlike its popular siblings Green and Black teas, Oolong tea is the quiet child sitting side by side with white tea from their parent plant camellia sinensis, where all tea comes from. The word Oolong roots from China which is originally worded as “wu long” meaning black dragon. Oolong is also known for its several health benefits. The main difference of Oolong from green or black is that it is semi-fermented.
The production of oolong requires processing the leaves directly after picking which includes wilting, bruising, oxidizing, drying and firing. First the leaves are wilted in the sun for a brief period. Then they are bruised by placing into baskets and shaken. This allows the leaves’ juices to be exposed to air, thereby starting oxidation. The leaves are then dried by spreading them out. After a period of time roughly around 2 hours, the tea is fired upon to stop fermentation. Traditionally, hot woks are used for firing, resulting in crisp and dry leaves. 
What makes Oolong tea stand out and unique from other healthy teas such as Green tea or Black tea? Here are the 5 unique health benefits of Oolong tea and reasons why you should add Oolong to your daily routine:
- Not only does Oolong have a rich texture and can endure multiple full-bodied steeps, it also reduces blood pressure and is a stress reliever. A 2004 study published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, had found out that those people who drink half a cup of oolong tea per day may lower their risk of high blood pressure. They further found that men and women who drank tea every day consistently for a year were less likely to develop hypertension.
- Another study conducted at the Japan Research Institute states that Oolong contains polyphenols which is a known effective de-stressor, which is key for a healthy heart and mind.
- Oolong is linked to improving eczema or atopic dermatitis. In 2000, a study conducted at the Shiga University of Medical Science in Japan found that 63% of people who drank oolong tea at least 3 times a day showed improvement within one to two weeks.
- Oolong is great for burning fat. A Japanese study published in the Journal of Medical Investigation in 2003 compared the fat burning rate of oolong tea with green tea and found that it has almost double the effect. It attributed oolong’s success over green tea by the double amount of polymerized polyphenols it contains. The study concluded that oolong increases energy expenditure by its polymerized polyphenols.
- Drinking Oolong tea reduces the risk of mortality due to Cardiovascular disease, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health in 2011.
Make sure you try our super popular Peach Tree Oolong made with gourmet Formosa Oolong and blended with preserved peaches and citrus rinds!
Rooibos, or Red Bush in Aficans, is rapidly growing in popularity throughout the world due to it's great taste and the amazing health benefits. The source of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) is a native of the Western Cape of South Africa. The needles of this shrub turn red when when fermented, and the brewed needles were first drank by the native Khoi people of the Cape.
The Khoi's magic cup of tea is no longer a secret. There is currently a boom in the popularity of Rooibos that is spreading around the world. This naturally caffeine-free cup is most popular in Germany, the UK, the US and Japan with more than 15,000 tons of Rooibos leaves brewed each year. The health conscious world has made this simple red bush a 23 billion dollar a year industry and still growing. Where else can you get the antioxidant equivalent and possibly even more so than green tea in a caffeine-free, smooth cup? 
Here are the top 5 benefits of Rooibos:
1) Rooibos contains quercetin. A powerful antioxidant that helps prevent heart disease, many forms of cancer and is an anti-inflammatory.
2) Rooibos contains aspalathin. A rare antioxidant that reduces stress and helps regulate blood sugar, protecting against diabetes and slows fat production.
3) Rooibos contains nothofagin. Another rare antioxidant that is an anti-inflammatory that helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
4) Rooibos is very popular with pregnant women as it is an anti-spasmodic. Drinking Rooibos while you are pregnant soothes the stomach and lowers stress which is key for proper neurological growth for the fetus. It is also given to infants with colic to help reduce symptoms.
5) Recent studies in Japan show that drinking Rooibos help reduce the symptoms of many seasonal allergies.
Rooibos has a delicate, sweet taste. We've found that it blends very well with spices and preserved fruits and we use Rooibos as the base of several of our super popular tea blends such as Gingerbread Chai and Lemon Meringue Pie.
Are you looking for some natural beauty tips? I've been an educator for a cosmetics company for the last few years, so I'm always interested in what's on the ingredient panel. We carry a number of products that contain red, black, green, and white teas. Tea is always a great addition to cosmetics-they contain tannins that naturally tighten pores and antioxidants that protect the skin from aging.
While using tea as part of one's beauty regime goes back millennia, I've done some research for you and found some inexpensive, modern ways to keep you Beau-TEA-ful from head to toe. Here are some natural beauty tips using tea:
 Looking for a lightweight hair conditioner to improve shine and feel? Green tea to the rescue! Check out this simple recipe from Squidoo.com: www.squidoo.com/Hair-Conditioner
Puffy, dark, tired eyes? Sooth them with used tea bags. Check out the Livestrong website for instructions: www.livestrong.com/article/22062-use-tea-bags-under-eyes/
Spend a little too much time out in the summer sun? Find pain relief in some tea-soaked gauze pads. The burn will be relieved in no time.
Is your skin acneic or is your complexion just plain dull? Looking to bring large pores back down to their natural size? Twingodesses of San Diego has the cure for what ails your skin:
www.twingodesses.blogspot.com/2011/02/acne-remedy-apple-cider-vinegargreen.html
(Tip: In general if your skin is oily, exfoliate 3-4 times a week. If you're more dry or sensitive, 1-2 times a week is appropriate.)
Beat on your feet? Not only is a soak in tea relaxing, but tea also has anti-fungal qualities. Add tea leaves to your tub for a super relaxing, aromatic soak.
If you're a regular reader of this tea blog, the past month's posts have taken you to Spain, Hawaii, Britain, and my grandparents' dining room table. Next up: Israel.
I spent several months living and traveling in Israel last year. and I came home hooked on Middle Eastern favorites like just-baked pita, falafel (deep-fried balls of mashed chickpeas, usually served
with hummus), and halvah (a melt-in-your-mouth sesame candy). But if there's one thing that can transport me to that foreign place in the blink of an eye, it's the tea that I drank almost daily: Rooibos with cinnamon and vanilla.
This tea blend is not a notably Israeli one, nor is it particularly popular (as far as I know). I saw it on a shelf, tried it, and got hooked. It's created a quirky memory highway which I consider wholly mine - there just can't be many other people who also happen to associate this unassuming tea with this ancient, beautiful, and long-disputed land.
When I small this tea, I instinctively breathe it in deeply, slowly. My shoulders relax. When I sip it, I smile. This tea is unhurried. It doesn't conjure up hammocks and palm trees specifically, but it clearly brings me to the mellow mindset of a lazy, blue-skied afternoon.
Israelis, if you're wondering, usually drink stronger stuff, like mud-thick Turkish coffee. And the tea drinkers are crazy about black tea with mint - which is available bagged, but is best if you grab a fresh "nana" (mint) sprig or two for your mug. (Now there's a delicious idea I'm suddenly itching to revisit...)
When I arrived in Israel, my carry-on contained a small bag of can't-travel-without-'em teas (my longtime favorites). When I left, it was with a soothing new go-to. This magical tea is every bit as sweet as the memories I made while I was away.
I really enjoy mornings like this. I'm having a cup of Easter weekend tea, Peach Tree Oolong, and thinking about some great Easter memories of old times that in so many ways I wish had never left.
When I was little, we would always head to Rosebud, Texas to my great grandmother's house for Easter. Rosebud is one of those simple, innocent southern towns where neighborhood kids are friends and there are no fences between properties. There are no curbs along the roads through the town, so the storm water flows to the road-side, dirt bottom swales like nothing I've seen except for in small towns in Europe. These swales have their own ecosystems of grasses and the source of lots of fun for my cousins and I, crawdads (crayfish if you're from Louisiana). When we had our fill of crawdad fishing, we would head down to the 5 and Dime to pick up a very deadly watergun and bag of water balloons to spend the rest of the day playing games around the huge Magnolia trees in the yard. Meanwhile, our great grandmother would cook up the crawdad tails or she would be busy making us some big glasses of Bluebell vanilla bean ice cream covered in Big Red cola.
On Easter morning, we would wake up to Easter baskets by our beds filled with candy eggs and on many occasions, an Easter pet of some kind like an albino bunny or a blue duck. With three brothers each getting bunnies, our house was filled with screaming and running around chasing our new pets. We would all get in our matching Sunday clothes and walk to church. After church, we would pose for photos in my great grandmother's backyard, hunt for Easter eggs through the iris beds, then play croquet across her always lush, thick bladed Saint Augustine lawn.
How can I compete with times like that for my kids?
*image by bbcgoodfood.com
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