TEA, TCM & the art of slowing down

I don’t drink coffee, so perhaps I’ve always had a slightly different relationship with Australia’s café culture. When I briefly worked in the corporate world everyone would head out for their morning flat white. I’d tag along only to pay for an English breakfast tea that I could have made for free in the office kitchen. It wasn’t about the tea, I just didn’t want to miss out on this daily workplace social ritual.

Lately, the tea menu is getting much more interesting at coffee shops, Matcha bars are popping up, Chinese tea chains are opening and Japanese tea shops are appearing. Suddenly there are jasmine teas, fresh fruit teas, matcha, oolong and all sorts of Instagram worthy teas competing for our attention.

I’m not sure Sydney has become a tea city just yet, but I think we are being tempted.

I recently visited the Yunnan region in China. Yunnan is one of the world’s great tea-growing regions. Being there made me think about tea differently.

It made me wonder what we’re actually discovering here in Australia. Are we simply following another food and beverage trend, or are we beginning to develop a different relationship with tea?

One Plant, So Many Teas

Green, white, black, oolong, pu-erh or matcha all come from the same plant, the Camelia sinenis. It is how the leaves are grown, harvested and processed that changes the flavour, chemistry and traditional qualities and creating a variety of teas. Adding jasmine, osmanthus and other flowers and suddenly there’s an enormous world of tea to explore.

🍃 Green tea

Green tea is minimally processed and not fully oxidised, which helps retain many of its naturally occurring polyphenols. It contains caffeine and compounds such as EGCG, which have been widely studied for their antioxidant and potential cardiovascular and metabolic benefits.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), green tea is considered cooling and slightly bitter, and traditionally used to help clear heat and support digestion.

🤍 White tea

White tea is made from young tea buds and leaves and undergoes very little processing. It has a delicate flavour and contains polyphenols and other antioxidant compounds. It has low caffeine content.

From a TCM perspective, white tea is also considered cooling and is traditionally associated with clearing heat and nourishing yin.

🖤 Black tea

Black tea is more heavily oxidised than green or white tea, giving it its darker colour and stronger flavour and more caffeine. It contains a different mix of polyphenols, including theaflavins and thearubigins.

In TCM, black tea is considered warmer than green tea and has traditionally been used to support digestion and yang and warm the stomach.

🫖 Oolong tea

Oolong tea sits somewhere between green and black tea. The leaves are partially oxidised, with the degree of oxidation varying enormously. This gives oolong an incredible range of flavours, from floral and light to rich and roasted.

In TCM, oolong is traditionally considered more balanced in nature, it’s bitter and sweet qualities are associated with supporting digestion and helping move stagnation.

🌿 Pu-erh

Pu-erh is particularly special to me after visiting Yunnan, where it has been produced for centuries. It is a fermented and aged tea, with a distinctive earthy flavour that develops over time.

Pu-erh is traditionally valued in Chinese tea culture as a tea to enjoy with food and is often associated with supporting digestion by strengthening the spleen and drying dampness.

🍵 Matcha

Matcha is also made from Camellia sinensis, but the whole leaf is finely ground into a powder and whisked into water. This means you consume the whole leaf, including its caffeine and naturally occurring compounds such as L-theanine and catechins. Matcha has become particularly popular for its combination of caffeine and L-theanine, which may support alertness and concentration.

From a TCM perspective matcha shares the cooling properties of green teas but because the whole leaf is consumed it delivered a concentrated dose of caffeine and compounds. For some people that can feel stimulating and may not be ideal if you are prone to anxiety or disrupted sleep.

🌸 Jasmine and Osmanthus

Jasmine and Osmanthus aren’t actually different types of tea. They’re flowers used to scent or flavour tea. Jasmine tea is commonly made by repeatedly scenting green tea leaves with fresh jasmine blossoms, creating that beautiful floral aroma. Osmanthus has a naturally sweet, apricot-like fragrance and is often paired with green or oolong tea.

Don’t Put Out The Fire

It seems like iced drinks are the new norm not matter the season. Iced tea and coffee may currently be more popular than their hot version. 

In TCM theory warm drinks are traditionally thought to be more supportive of digestion. In TCM, we often use the analogy of digestion being like a little burner in the middle of the body. Warm food and drinks are thought to support that digestive fire, while regularly putting very cold food and drinks into the system is traditionally seen as dampening it, a little like putting a splash of cold water on a flame.

That doesn’t mean iced tea is off the menu, TCM isn’t about avoiding one particular food or drink but it is looking at your habits, constitution and how you feel. Regular consumption of cold food and drinks can upset your digestion, you may notice bloating, loose stool, fatigue or feeling cold.

I don’t drink an iced tea on a daily basis. I love an occasional iced jasmine matcha, especially when I’m travelling or out with friends. I usually ask for less ice (except in China where due to language issues I get whatever I get)!

Maybe it’s the ritual

Coming home from Yunnan, I found myself thinking less about whether one tea was healthier than another and more about how we drink it. We live in a world where everything is fast. We drink coffee or tea in a take away cup while answering emails, walking to the next appointment or scrolling on our phones. Even when we stop for a drink, we don’t always really stop.

One thing I noticed in China was how naturally tea created a pause. There was time to pour it, smell it, taste it and enjoy it. It wasn’t something to rush through.

From a TCM perspective, we have always paid attention to more than simply what we consume. How we eat and drink, our environment, our digestion, our stress levels and the pace at which we move through our day all matter.

Perhaps the benefits of tea isn’t a particular antioxidant or choosing the perfect tea based on your TCM constitution. Perhaps it’s the ritual of a few quiet minutes in the middle of a busy day to slow down, warm your hands around the cup and actually be where you are.

So, make the tea. Let it steep. Sit down. Take five minutes. Actually taste it.

My simple tea tips

• Try different varieties of tea.

• If you’re buying a flavoured tea drink, try it without the sugar and extras.

• If you’re sensitive to cold drinks, try less ice or have your tea warm.

• If you have low iron levels avoid drinking tea with iron rich meals as it can reduce the absorption of non harm iron.

• And most importantly, take the time to slow down and actually enjoy it.

Curious about Diet and TCM?

In TCM food is more than a collection of nutrient, we consider the properties of food like temperature, flavour and qualities and how these properties interact with your individual constitution and symptoms. The aim in TCM is to understand what foods work best for your body.

At Seven Points Wellness (SPW) we can help you explore how food, lifestyle and Chinese medicine may fit into your individual wellbeing with a personalised treatment plan.

Book an appointment with SPW in St Leonards or Dural.