Frequently Asked Questions
How to brew green tea?
- Place 4 grams of TeaVitaL tea leaves (1-2 teaspoons) in a large teacup.
- Fill with 4 dl boiling water and cover*.
- Steep for 20 minutes.
*Preferably use our OX™ Tea Steeper, a covered teacup, especially designed to exclude oxygen.
How to drink green tea?
HOT: drink warm tea within 1 hour.
CHILLED, a convenient option when outdoors: pour tea over ice / refrigerate and drink within 24 hours / in an insulated beverage container the chilled tea can be taken everywhere.
Do not drink green tea on an empty stomach, but preferably with food.
Why does TeaVitaL need 20 minutes steeping time?
TeaVitaL are intact green tea leaves. Because of the careful heat treatment shortly after harvest the EGCG stays inside the tea leaves and remains shielded from all oxygen in the air. Just very fortunate, since during contact with oxygen the EGCG oxidises and looses its antioxidant capacity. For the same reason, the green tea leaves of TeaVitaL are oxygen-free packaged.
Intact tea leaves contain a lot of EGCG and have high antioxidant potency. For a full boiling water extraction of the EGCG out of its protecting leaf into the tea liquid, an extraction time of 20 minutes is required.
With dust size teas the EGCG is largely exposed to oxygen from the air. By crushing the tea leaves into powder the contact surface with air is enlarged. Therefore, dust size green teas in teabags usually have low antioxidant potency. Because of the large cut surface they are easily accessible to the boiling water and only need a 3-5 minutes' steeping time. Obviously, this is not an option for a green tea that is consumed as health beverage.
What makes our OX™ Tea Steeper so special?
For optimal preservation of the EGCG all free air (source of oxygen) must be eliminated from the teacup in which the tea is brewed. For this reason the teacup needs to be covered. You can do this with a teacup of your own choice.
De OX™ Tea Steeper is a patented, covered teacup especially designed to exclude oxygen. The material of the teacup is completely inert so that no undesirable substances will leak into your tea beverage.
Tea should never be brewed in a metallic teacup since leakage of metals such as iron and lead destroys the EGCG. For the same reason TeaVitaL is also guaranteed free of heavy metals. The tea plantations that supply tea leaves for the production of TeaVitaL are carefully selected. They must be located far away from industrial regions to avoid heavy metal contamination.
What goes wrong if my green tea turns brown?
A brown discoloration of your tea points to the oxidation of EGCG, you are losing EGCG. Make sure your teacup is made up of high quality material (porcelain is good, metal is very bad). There can even be oxidizing substances in the dishwashing fluid that you use to clean the teacup.
Moreover, the quality of the water used to brew your tea is extremely important. Chlorine residues in drinking water may already destroy the EGCG. To brew tea it is advisable to use water purified by reverse osmosis or, when not available, use water bottled in glass containers, also for rinsing your teacup before use.
How much green tea do I have to drink for health maintenance?
From a high quality green tea such as TeaVitaL you should drink 4 dl, 3 times daily. By doing so, you will meet the daily quantity that has been pointed out by experts.