Black tea with mint: recipe and benefits
The black tea is, together with the Green Tea or the Red tea one of the most popular and popular tea varieties, precisely not only for its different qualities and benefits both nutritional and medicinal (and preventive), but for its organoleptic virtues, to be a variety of tea with a stronger aroma and with a higher caffeine content.
The reason for these qualities is found in other teas have a lower level of oxidation, since after being harvested the leaves wither through a drying process with air. Then the leaves are oxidized under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity after being rolled, to finally be dried, which attenuates the oxidation process.
This results in precisely that it is a type of tea with a much more powerful aroma and a higher content of caffeine, while its leaves acquire a darker shade that is ultimately what gives it that name.
Nowadays it is common Mix the black tea with different plants, which allows to enjoy a wide variety of aromatic drinks. We can mention for example the popular Earl Gray tea, which consists of combining black tea with bergamot oil. It is also common to mix black tea with various citrus fruits, such as, for example, orange or lemon. Or with tremendously aromatic spices, like the wonderful cinnamon.
However, it is not so usual to prepare a mint black tea, since it tends to be more habitual its preparation with Green Tea (as is the case in most Arab countries, where we can also find the popular peppermint tea).
How to prepare black tea with mint
The preparation of black tea with mint is quite simple, since in the end you should follow the same steps that we usually follow for the preparation of any variety of tea, with the unique difference that we add some mint leaves.
Ingredients you need:
- 2 teaspoons of black tea
- 5 mint leaves
- 1 cup of water
Steps to prepare black tea with mint:
First put water in a saucepan, and heat without letting it boil. Before, add mint leaves and black tea in the indicated amounts to a teapot. Just at the moment when the water almost begins to boil, pour it into the teapot. Cover and let stand for 3 minutes. Then strain the drink, serve and sweeten to taste.
The benefits of black tea to mint
- Stimulant drink: black tea, like most teas, stands out as a natural drink with a stimulating effect. But this time it is for its greater amount in caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system.
- Diuretic and detoxifying: precisely for its contribution in caffeine black tea with mint is a diuretic drink, useful in case of fluid retention and slimming diets. It also helps when it comes to detoxifying our body and eliminating accumulated toxins.
- Rich in antioxidants: it is a drink especially rich in polyphenols (such as catechins, anthocyanins and phenolic acids), antioxidant compounds useful to reduce the action of free radicals.
- Prevents cardiovascular diseases: for its richness in antioxidants it is useful in the prevention of different cardiovascular diseases, at the same time as it helps to stimulate and take care of the heart in a natural way.
- Reduces cholesterol and triglycerides: its antioxidant content makes this drink an excellent natural option when we need to decrease the high levels of both cholesterol and triglycerides.
Images | ISTOCKPHOTO / THINKSTOCK TopicsTea
