Tea has a nature.
All foods in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have a thermal nature - Hot, Warming, Cooling and Cold. Foods that don’t have a thermal nature are considered Neutral. The thermal nature doesn't refer to the physical temperature of the food, but rather its energetic effect on the body and the sensation our body feels internally after consuming the food.
Some examples.
Ginger is warm in nature in TCM. Ginger has a warm energy, pungent flavor, an ability to clear wind-cold pathogens and stimulates circulation. We consume ginger in hot water as a remedy for colds and to soothe a sore throat. Ginger is a winter staple.
Watermelon is cold in nature in TCM. It is a great cooling remedy for clearing internal heat, dispelling summer heat, hydrating the body and relieving thirst. Watermelon is a popular summer fruit.
The tea plant itself is cold natured.
The craft of processing and making tea - transforms a cold natured medicinal plant into a beverage that has different thermal natures.
A rough guide.
Lightly oxidised and unfermented teas like green tea, white tea and fresh/raw sheng puerh have a cooling nature. These teas are considered Yin cooling teas that clear internal heat, reduce inflammation, restore balance - making them ideal for summer or individuals with ‘hotter’ constitutions.
Fully oxidised and fermented teas like red tea, black tea, ripe/cooked shou puerh, aged sheng puerh and heavily roasted oolongs have a warming nature. These teas are deeply warming, invigorate Yang energy, stimulate the body, soothe digestion - making them best to drink during autumn and winter with the colder external environment.
All tea comes from the same plant and depending on how it's processed after picking - it can be cooling or warming in nature.
Less processing keeps the leaf closer to its natural state - cooler. More processing generates heat through chemical transformation - warmer.
Green tea goes through a kill-green process (shāqīng) to stop oxidation, keeping the leaf close to its natural cool state. Red tea goes through a process of heavy or full oxidation (wòhóng), which generates warmth. Shou puerh is post-fermented using a wet-piling method (wòduī), which also produces a warming character.
Roasting can also shift a tea's nature. A lightly roasted oolong has a neutral to cool thermal nature, but a heavily roasted oolong moves toward warming and heaty thermal nature.
Have you ever thought about what tea you are drinking and its effect on your body, or how it makes you feel throughout the seasons?
Different teas, like different foods, are ideal for different seasons.
In summer we tend to eat lighter, fresher and consume more salad, while in winter we seek the comfort of warming soups and stews.
I try to drink tea seasonally to maintain balance and harmony. In the warmer months - white, green, young sheng puerh - more cooling teas. Yes, I drink hot tea to cool down in summer, because I drink teas that have cooling properties.
It’s winter in Perth, Australia so I am currently drinking more warming teas - red teas, black teas, shou puerh, aged sheng puerh and roasted oolongs.
There is a lot of information about the benefits of drinking green tea everyday and there is currently a big matcha (powdered green tea) trend from layered matcha drinks with fruit to matcha lattes. Green tea is the most popular and well known tea but there is a world of tea beyond green tea - white tea, yellow tea, oolong, black tea, red tea, puerh - within each of these categories of tea, there are many different types/varietals.
Understanding more about the nature of tea, I would not be drinking green tea everyday because of its thermal cold nature. Also because I have so many other teas to drink.
I’m not an expert but a student of tea and always learning. I share my learnings on tea so you can also have more information to understand the nature of tea in your exploration of drinking tea.
