Some of you may have a habit of drinking tea once in a while or every day. Some of you, tea enthusiast, may already know or even drink a lot of tea variants. But have you ever heard of a ceylon tea? If you haven’t, then you should read on to gain insight about ceylon tea.
The Past and The Present
Ceylon is an old name of Sri Langka, until it was colonized by the British Empire in 1972. So, ceylon tea is a tea from Sri Langka. Eventhough Sri Langka has officially changed the name of the country, the tea is still named ceylon tea to this day.
In the beggining, the British Colonization introduced tea plantation in Sri Langka for non-commercial purpose. Coffee was the main crop at plantations in Sri Langka at that time. However as the popularity of tea increased rapidly, almost all of coffee plantations changed to tea.
Ceylon tea is one of Sri Langka’s leading commodities today. Sri Langka has exported 327,8 million kilograms of tea in 2014. The export value is about $1,64 billion. Tea plantations provide employment for over one million people, both directly and indirectly. Tea is considered so important that Sri Langka established the Tea Association of Sri Langka in 2002. The mission is to transform the century-old industry to be a global force and to provide a greater platform for private sector in strategy formulation. Sri Langka has become the third biggest tea producing country in the world.
Products
There three types of ceylon tea products:
- Black ceylon tea
Black ceylon tea is the most common and the speciality of ceylon tea. It is more oxydized than other types and it has an aroma similar with citrus;
- Green ceylon tea
Green ceylon tea is made from unfermented leaves and contain high level of antioxidants. The original green teas from Sri Langka have their own traits. They have fuller body, pungent malty or nutty flavour. (Read : Benefits of green tea)
- White ceylon tea
White ceylon tea has a higher price than the rest of the types. The tea is grown, cultivated, and rolled by hand with the leaves dried and whithered under the sun. It gives off a delicate flavour with notes of pine and honey. White ceylon tea is also known as silver tip tea.
Health Benefits of Ceylon Tea for human body already have real evidence. Tea is popular for  being one of the best sources of natural antioxidants. It has been used since the Chinese Empires era for medical purposes. Does ceylon tea provide the same benefits? Yes, it does. Here are 10 benefits of ceylon tea for human’s health:
- Ceylon tea contains theaflavins and thearubigins which are antioxidants that help to fight free radicals that may damage DNA. In short, the ceylon tea helps in reducing the risk of cancer;
- Ceylon tea contains caffeine so dringking ceylon tea can help in increasing acuity and mental alertness. The good thing is ceylon tea only has half to a third of the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee. Thus, the effect of caffeine is more gentle and soft to the body;
- Ceylon tea may improve the skin’s appearance. The antioxidant properties reactivate dying cells to rejuvenate and slowing the loss of collagen;
- Ceylon tea reduces the chances of catching influenza since it boosts immune system;
- Being rich in antioxidants, drinking ceylon tea can help improve the body’s ability of preserving healthy cells;
- Dringking ceylon tea also helps in speeding wounds recovery;
- Dringking ceylon tea can also help to reduce glucose levels for people with diabetes; (read: Is Tea Good for Diabetes Patient ? )
- If you have a weight issue, you might want to consider drinking ceylon tea. It is known to help with weight loss by stimulating metabolism. So with this effects, health benefits of tea for liver also have good evidence.
- If you happen to have an orthostatic hypertension or dizziness when standing up, you have to consider drinking ceylon tea;
- Since ceylon tea contains potassium, it may help in keeping normal blood pressure.
Non Health Benefits
Ceylon tea, like any other tea types, is also used for other purpose especially in beauty industries.
Serving Tips
Here are some tips to get the best experience of drinking ceylon tea:
- Make sure you use a quality warm water to brew ceylon tea in order to enhance the taste and the flavour of the tea;
- Some say that using good-quality porcelain also can enhance the taste and the flavour of the tea;
- You can add lemon and honey to ease the strong taste of the black ceylon tea;
- You can add warm milk together with green ceylon tea;
- You can also serve it with sugar if you prefer a sweet taste, preferably brown sugar;
- If you want to reduce the caffeine content in you tea, steep the tea bag or natural leaves for 45 seconds to one minute;
- Do not stir the tea while it is steeping to strengthen the tea;
Side Effects
Here are some side effects of ceylon tea that you need to know:
- Pregnant woman should not drink ceylon tea due to its caffeine content. Caffeine intake is strongly not recommended during for many reasons. It increases heart rate and blood pressure which are a big no-no during pregnancy. It can also increase the frequency of urination. Studies show that caffeine can change the unborn baby’s normal movement;
- Try not to drink ceylon tea more than two cups per day as excessive caffeine can cause headache, irregular heartbet and even insomnia.
Read More :  Health Benefits of Licorice Tea – Health Benefits of Kombucha Tea – Health Benefits of Hibiscus Tea
Conclusions
Ceylon tea has so many good things to offer for us, health or non-health wise. It can improve the quality of our life. However, ceylon tea also come with side effects. We can minimize the risk with enough information. Now shall we continue to brew and sip the goodness of ceylon tea?!