Tag: green tea

food

Green, chai or herbal? Enjoy the clinic tea menu at home.

Sarah J. George
Tea pot clinic
Organic Hojicha (Japanese popcorn green tea)

It’s no surprise to many of you who visit my clinic that I am a big fan of tea. I love it. Often when you visit the clinic, until recent times, you’ve been able to sip away at a nicely brewed cuppa before or after your acupuncture appointment. I see this as a really lovely moment to reflect and just be; to enjoy the moment. You can also do this at home or work.

And although I love most tea, my favourites are good quality loose leaf teas. One reason I love loose leaf teas is that they are more environmentally friendly, with less waste created due to the lack of a tea bag. The other thing I love about loose leaf tea is that you get to see the herbs unfurl as they ‘dance’ in the hot water within your cup.

Each of the teas in my clinic are chosen by me, because I like them enough to drink them myself. I also like to choose high quality, organic, ethical or wild crafted teas where possible.

The Clinic Loose Leaf Tea Menu

To place an order call 0448 128 858 or email me. Collect in clinic at your appointment or I can express post to you for $12.

Teas healthwise herbal teaHerbal teas

HealthWise Clinic (organic, medicinal grade herbs formulated by qualified herbalists)

  • Cold & Flu Tea: A feel-good blend of echinacea, yarrow, elder flowers, thyme, licorice and ginger. ($15/50g)\
  • Cool, Calm & Collected Tea: A relaxing, non-sedating blend of chamomile, passiflora, vervain, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon myrtle and cinnamon. ($15/50g)
  • Detoxification Tea: A purifying blend of burdock root, nettle, oregon grape, clivers, peppermint and ginger. ($15/50g)
  • Digestive Tea: A delicious blend of peppermint, chamomile, ginger, cinnamon, aniseed and chen pi (mandarin peel). ($15/50g)
  • Kidney Tea: A cleansing blend of buchu, echinacea, couch grass, uva ursi and licorice. ($15/50g)

Thrive by Nature (hand-blended in small batches from organically grown and/or wildcrafted ingredients by a naturopath)

  • Reviver Tea: A refreshing, warming and zesty brew of lemongrass, ginger and calendula flowers that packs a punch of antioxidants. ($16/55g)

Teas the steepery green and oolong teasGreen and Oolong teas

The Steepery Tea Co. has curated a selection of exceptional pure leaf teas from a variety of the world’s tea producing regions, identifying those teas that are characteristic of where they are produced, showcase the skill of the tea maker and exhibit remarkable flavour profiles to allow you to experience the diversity of single-origin tea.

  • Tokujo Sencha: A pure and clean green tea. A delightful and uplifting green tea that has a delicious savoury liquor and semi-sweet finish. This is a great introductory Japanese green tea as it is very well balanced. ($17/50g)
  • Organic Genmaicha “popcorn green tea”: An aromatic combination of organic first flush sencha with the nutty aroma of roasted kernels of organic brown rice. ($14/50g)
  • Organic Hojicha “roasted green tea”: A rich and rounded infusion with a sweet biscuity aroma reminiscent of roasted nuts and toast. Produced using the first flush of sencha that is delicately roasted. ($14/50g)
  • Jasmine Dragon Pearls: Delicate Fuding Spring green tea has been scented traditionally with Guangxi jasmine flowers. This scented green tea is creamy, luscious and refreshing with a long sweet finish ($17/25g)
  • Oolong tea “da hong pao – big red robe” A rich, full bodied and complex oolong tea. Spice, wood, mineral, floral and tobacco notes combine to leave a lingering creamy cocoa sweetness in the mouth. ($19/25g)

Thrive by Nature (hand-blended in small batches from organically grown and/or wildcrafted ingredients by a naturopath)

  • Afternoon delight: This is a delicate and relaxing blend of green sencha tea, chamomile flowers and rose petals that naturally supports concentration, focus and adaption to stress. ($16/55g)

Teas Thrive by Naturre herbal green chaiChai teas (caffeine free – herbal blends without camellia sinensis ‘true’ tea leaves)

Thrive by Nature (hand-blended in small batches from organically grown and/or wildcrafted ingredients by a naturopath)

  • Dandy-tum: An aromatic and detoxifying chai blend that will warm your belly and leave you feeling balanced and inspired. Contains dandelion root, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, aniseed, cloves, turmeric and black pepper. ($22/140g)
  • Rooibos chai: This exotic, spicy blend is based on the authentic Indian masala chai and is high in antioxidants. Contains cloves, cardamom, rooibos, ginger, cinnamon and star anise. ($22/140g)

To place an order call 0448 128 858 or email me.

There are just so many reasons to love tea, including these:

Tea quote

To book an appointment online at the Launceston acupuncture clinic or for further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture).  Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), Chinese Medicine and natural health.

Diet, Traditional Chinese Medicine

Coming up: The Delight of Tea workshop

Sarah J. George

This Sunday I’m presenting a fun workshop on tea.

In this workshop, you will learn exactly what you need to create a great cuppa from loose leaf tea to accompany a nice sit down and a mindful moment.

The delight of tea instagram

We’ll be discussing mostly green and herbal teas.

  • There are many different types of green teas – so you’ll get to taste my favourite selection of them and learn the secrets of brewing green tea.
  • Taste a selection of organic herbal teas (formulated by herbalists), learn how to brew them and what health benefits they may have.

You’ll leave with the knowledge you need to select good quality tea, brew it to perfection and enjoy each cuppa for it’s unique style and health benefits.

Here’s a little more information:

The Delight of Tea workshop will be held on Sunday 1st December, 10.30am-12.30pm at The House of Prana in Launceston. See event on Facebook.

Tickets available through Eventbrite.

To book an appointment at the clinic or further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture).  Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health.

Diet, food, food allergy, health, recipe, Traditional Chinese Medicine

New Launceston workshop: Cook Healthy Japanese Food

Sarah J. George

Hello! It’s been a little while since my last post (I’ve been busy) but I’m here to say that the great Sam Seghers from Mindful Menus and Redcliffe Yoga & Massage is coming to Launceston (from Redcliffe, QLD) to team up with me for a fun and informative workshop!

Cook Healthy Japanese Food – Saturday 11th August (1pm-3pm)

Header Cooking Healthy Japanese Food

So Sam is a whizz with Japanese cookery (having lived there for 14 years). She is going to take some great Tasmanian fresh produce and create several tasty Japanese dishes. And she’ll be able to answer all those tricky questions you have about ingredients like:

  • the seaweeds (e.g. wakame and kombu – what on earth do you do with them?)
  • tofu (how do you cook it so it doesn’t taste like a sponge?)
  • mushrooms (e.g. shiitake, king oyster – what do you do with them?)
  • green tea (e.g. what to look for in a good Japanese tea and how to brew it)
  • miso (everyone is talking about it – what is it and what do you do with it?)
  • And many more…

All food prepared on the day will be gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegetarian and vegan although we are also happy to discuss substitutions for other diet styles, food allergies and intolerances.

My job in all of this is to introduce you to the exciting world of Chinese Dietetics. This will change the way you think about food in a very healthy and balanced way.

In Chinese dietetics we talk about the thermal nature of a food (e.g. cold, cool, neutral, warm, hot), the flavour (bitter, sweet, pungent, salty, sour) and the organs that each food has an affinity with. You’ll discover that no wholefood should be considered good (eat tonnes of it) or evil (avoid it at all costs) for every person in the same way. We’ll talk about balance of thermal nature and flavours in your meal. And we’ll go through the Chinese dietetic properties of each food we use in the recipes on the day and the over all benefits of the dish (including the cooking methods) so that you know which ones will benefit you most.

During this time you’ll also enjoy the most amazing healthy Japanese afternoon tea banquet of all the dishes we have created on the day.  Having been lucky enough to have attended several of Sam’s Japanese banquets in the past I assure you that these dishes are delicious!

If you’re interested in learning a little more about Chinese Dietetics here’s a post I wrote a while ago on balancing the five flavours in a meal.

To book tickets to Cook Healthy Japanese Foods visit our Eventbrite page.

For further information on the event visit the event on Sarah George Acupuncture on Facebook.

To book an appointment at the clinic or for further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture).  Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health.

Diet, health, nature, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Uncategorized

How do you make tea?

Sarah J. George

Sri Lanka Tea Pedro BOPHow do you make tea? Well not how do YOU make tea, but how is tea actually made?

Firstly I have an image warning! You are in for some damn fine images of tea porn here – hot, steamy, bushy and breathtakingly gorgeous. 😉

I love tea in pretty much in all its forms (well maybe except for the black tea bag variety with cow’s milk poured in – but that’s mainly because I don’t tolerate dairy and didn’t ever develop a liking for it).  In fact it’s probably the beverage we love most in Chinese Medicine. I’ve been to China and learnt a lot about the various forms of green teas, I’ve even done a tea appreciate course but I’d never seen how this delicious, medicinal and incredibly popular drink was actually made to give us those medicinal qualities (from bush to cup that is). Just so you know whatever research says I don’t believe a microwave forms part of the tea making process. So I trotted off to Sri Lanka, where some would say is the source of the best black tea in the world (Ceylon tea anyone?), to find out. I visited no less than four tea plantations and their factories to try to get an understanding of how the cammelia sinensis leaf is transformed to make a delightful cup of tea. (For those not in the know, all true tea comes from the leaves of just one plant – cammelia sinensis – be it black, green or white. (Herbal and rooibos teas are made from different plants altogether.)

So here is a photographic journey of the tea making process from the Handunugoda Tea Estate, at Ahangama in the south, where they produce their tea with beautiful, old machinery. They are also famous for their virgin white tea and a range of flavoured teas.

Sri Lanka Tea factory 1 picking
Tea leaf picking
Sri Lanka Tea factory 1 drying
The moisture is dried from the fresh leaves – smells good
Rolling the leaves
Rolling machine

Rolling the leaves in the heavy rolling machine.

The rolled leaves further ferment and then are heated as part of the firing process (the leaves turn black at this stage).

Ungraded leaves are put through the grading machine. Four grades are produced – from small pieces to large pieces. Small pieces are used for tea bags and large for the loose leaf tea. The small pieces produce a stronger black tea and the larger pieces a lighter black tea. The size does not indicate quality. This tea making process is followed to maximise the medicinal benefits and flavour of the tea.

The finished product – black tea ready to be sold at the Colombo tea markets to the big brand names.

I mentioned earlier that I visited four tea factories. Handunugoda Tea Estate was the first. Later, I visited the towns of Ella and Nuwara Eliya which are in the high country. The area is famous for tea and the scenic railway that shows off the tea plantations.

Enjoy these images from the  Newburgh Estate Green Tea Factory (Finlays) (Ella), Uva Halpewatte Tea Factory (Ella) and Pedro Tea Estate (they pride themselves as an ethical tea producer) (Nuwara Eliya) and the railway trip between.

Newburgh Green Tea Factory (Ella) – the process is similar without the ‘firing’ part of the process that black tea goes through. This factory was small and cute; it smelled fantastic!

Halpe Tea Factory (Ella) – these images do not do this factory justice. It is the largest tea factory (or so I was told) and has sweeping views of the local tea plantations. They have a lovely variety of flavoured teas also.

Pedro Tea Estate (Nuwara Eliya) – This factory produced my favourite cup of broken orange pekoe of the trip (the gorgeous orange cuppa pictured above as the very first image of this blog). The factory tour was interesting and the plantation is incredibly beautiful.

And here is one of the most beautiful railway journeys you might take (from Ella to Nuwara Eliya and just beyond) and those magical leaves:

To book an appointment at the clinic or further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture).  Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health.

emotional health, food, mental health

Tea and happiness

Sarah J. George

double happiness teaI do love a cup of tea. Especially good quality green tea (none of that supermarket stuff). And as an extra special treat I love the handwoven tea balls that burst into flower when immersed in hot water. A double happiness tea ball, like this one, has an extra blossom. They make lovely gifts and I was lucky to be the recipient of this one from a gorgeous friend.

“Meanwhile, let us have a cup of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.” – Kakuzo Okakura, The Book of Tea (1906)

For further information on Chinese Medicine contact Dr Sarah George (Acupuncture).  Sarah is a practitioner of acupuncture (AHPRA registered), massage therapy and natural health at her Broadbeach clinic and is the Chinese Medicine Senior Lecturer at the Endeavour College of Natural Health Gold Coast campus.