What's the difference between Green, Black and White Tea?

(This photograph is from Andrew McRobb, RBG Kew, at Kew Gardens)

 

Humans have been using tea leaves for some 4,000 years, and making hot tea for at least 1400 years.  I've been drinking tea for slightly less than that.  But I have no idea what the difference between green tea and black tea and white tea is.  Perhaps you don't either?

 

Let's sort this out.

 

Most tea is either from China or India, but both are the same Camellia sinensis plant.  Green, black and white tea are all from this same plant.  It's how they are processed that makes them different.

 

To make white tea, farmers pick the leaves from the tea shrub early in the year while its buds are still closed.  The leaves are dried, and sometimes baked, but otherwise not processed.  This makes a very light tea.

 

Green tea leaves are pan fired or steamed, but not allowed to ferment.  Although this process means less caffeine, green tea has the advantage in that it contains the super antioxidant HGCG.

 

The most processed version is black tea, where the leaves are allowed to ferment, then are dried and packaged.  Black tea is also the strongest of the teas in caffeine. 

 

Tea (hot or cold) is one of the most popular drinks in the world, and is safe and healthy when used in moderation.

 

Want to learn more? Kew Gardens in the UK has a good site, and here are helpful explanations at Tazo Tea and Tea Laden.

 

(If you find this article useful, please support this blog by purchasing one of my novels.  Thanks.)

Book Review: HOSOI by Christian Hosoi

Actually, the full title of this biography is HOSOI: My life as a Skateboarder Junkie Inmate Pastor.  That's an accurate summary of his life progression, and like the multiple descriptions in the title, this book is a window into several different cultures--skate culture, the California party scene, drug culture, prison culture and Christian life (including some hardcore outreach).

In the book, Hosoi details his journey from a kid who liked to skateboard and smoke weed, to turning pro at age 13 and later becoming the highest paid skater in the world.  Like so many young sports stars with a sudden flood of money, he went wild and partied his way into eventual addiction.  The cool club kid and athlete became a middle-aged junkie on the run from the police, and from himself.

The sheer excess in the early chapters of the book may make you want to quit reading, especially because it's so obvious that he's wrecking his life and rushing toward doom.  By the time Hosoi ends up in prison, you're as tired and depressed as he was.  But the way he embraces Christianity and how it transforms him is amazing.  You have to hang on to the end of the book to realize the full story of his redemption. 

Although the book examines a specific time (1980s and 1990s) and scene (skateboarding culture and its unnecessary connection with drugs), the story of how God turned a man's life around is inspiring and timeless.

(The book cover is from Harper Collins publisher.)

Seed Vaults and Food Security

When we see terms like 'security' and 'strategy,' we might think of armies and navies or missiles and satellites.  But what about seeds?

If people can feed themselves, they make a big step towards their own security.  They don't have to rely on imports of food, or trade partners raising prices, or shipments of food being hijacked.  However, crops suffer in the same situations that humans do.  When there are droughts, or wars, or flooding, crops can not only be damaged, but totally wiped out.

A seed vault is a safe storage area where seeds can be preserved for future use.  It's like putting your money in a bank rather than under your bed.  One of the best-known examples is the Svalbard Seed Vault in Norway.  This vault is a simple, sturdy underground facility carved into the permafrost.

Svalbard's location, design and temperature make it an almost ideal place to store seeds.  It houses over 750,000 different types of seeds from countries around the world.  This is a significant percentage of the estimated 2,000,000 total types of distinct seeds held in the world's 1,400 seed banks.

If, for instance, a war in a country destroyed its rice crop, seeds from the vault could be used to start over.  However, storing only one type of rice would limit what farmers can do because different types grow better in different climates.  Some plants handle lack of rain better, or grow in sandier soil, or resist insects and diseases.  The more choices farmers have to work with, the better they can adapt to changing conditions and even tastes.

Maybe you have an apple tree or a fig tree in your yard that you enjoy.  Wouldn't you like to be able to grow a new tree if a storm knocked your favorite tree down?

If you could preserve a certain seed, what would you pick?

(Here's the site for the Svalbard Seed Vault.  I got the idea for the story from an article in the February 2013 issue of Popular Mechanics.  The pic is from the Svalbard site.)

Try a steel water bottle.

A few years ago I ordered a steel water bottle because I'd read about them, or seen a cute girl at the gym carrying one--maybe both.  Anyway, last week I ordered another.  Not because the original is worn out, but because I wanted a larger bottle for when the hot weather gets here.

You should try a steel bottle.  Here's why:

Whether you're taking it to work or taking it on a hike, steel bottles are sturdy.  Like 'drop it off a cliff' sturdy.  I'm pretty sure if a bear attacked, I could wedge my steel bottle in its mouth and then run.  On Tuesday at the park a duck attacked my shoe laces, but I didn't use the bottle trick.  The duck might have flown off with my bottle.

In the past, I used disposable bottled water and recycled the bottles, but energy wise I think a single steel bottle is more efficient.  At a rate of four bottles a week multiplied by 52 weeks, I used 208 bottles per year (which is 6.5 of those 32-bottle cases you buy at the grocery store). 

I've tried special plastic bottles that aren't supposed to leach toxic chemicals into your stomach, but plastic sometimes picks up a weird taste and are easier to break.  They make aluminum bottles that are cheaper (and lighter) than the steel ones, but the aluminum ones have a plastic liner because aluminum isn't good for you.

A good stainless steel bottle is sturdy, your water won't taste funny and you won't need to make as many trips to the recycling center.  So try one.

(I use Klean Kanteen steel water bottles, but there are lots of manufacturers.  Pick what's right for you.)

Don't Multi Task

The idea that doing several things at once is somehow better than doing one thing at once continues to spread.  I guess people think if they're doing three things, they must be working harder.  And we all want to be hard workers--we especially want others to acknowledge us as hard workers.  So we do three things at once.  We multi task.

When you do three things at once, are you doing any of them well?

Seriously, stop and think about it.  You're checking your email and your co-worker is asking you a question.  Which one are you focused on? Maybe both, but then you're only giving each half your attention.

Computer science teaches that computers don't truly do three things at the same time.  They do Task A, then jump to Task B, then Task C.  Computers switch back and forth very rapidly, giving the illusion that they're multi tasking.

Most people don't realize this.  Instead they see their computer running three apps at the same time and figure they can do, too.  But we're not computers.

Pick one task and focus on it.  Do it to the best of your ability.  Focus is key, especially if it's a creative task or something you're still learning to do.  Don't stop to answer the phone or check Twitter.  Finish the task, or if it's a big job, take a break and walk around.

Consider quality over quantity.  Doing something well versus doing ten things poorly.  Now go try it.

(The term multi tasking probably wasn't invented when Joe Hyams wrote ZEN IN THE MARTIAL ARTS, but this little book is full of lessons on being in the moment.  Lifehacker Tim Ferriss has also addressed the problem of multi tasking in his books and blog.)

What is Bitcoin virtual currency?

Bitcoin is a virtual currency.  It is also a concept and an experiment.  Here's one way to think of it.  If you go into a local store and buy a cool watch, you can pay cash.  But if want to order a watch from a catalog or online, you go through a trusted third party.

Maybe you use your Visa card to buy the watch on Amazon, or you buy it from someone on eBay.  Either way, the buyer (you) and the seller have to trust someone (a bank, a credit card company, an online vendor) to carry out the transaction.

What if there was a way to skip the middleman--skip the trusted third party and deal directly buyer to seller? Bitcoin is an effort to bring this idea about by using cryptography to timestamp each Bitcoin and build a chronological record of its transactions.  To me, Bitcoin is also interesting because it isn't a national currency like the US dollar, the Chinese yuan, and the Indian rupee.

Bitcoin is controversial.  In October 2012, the European Central Bank issued a paper titled "Virtual Currency Schemes," and Bitcoin was one of their case studies.  Because the Bitcoin system allows a person to be anonymous and to set up multiple accounts, there is the risk it can be used for money laundering or drug sales.  And like any other currency or object, Bitcoins can be stolen.

Finally, there is the question of whether Bitcoin really functions as a currency.  Are Bitcoin users saving their money (or hoarding it), and are they able to use Bitcoins in enough places to make them worthwhile? The Central Bank report also asked whether Bitcoin is simply an elaborate pyramid or Ponzi scheme where early adopters see a return but rely on a constant stream of new investors.

I think that as we watch governments around the world make poor financial decisions, and banks fail from reckless greed and ineffective management, we will see more virtual currencies like Bitcoin. 

What do you think? Would you use a virtual currency?

(Here's the Bitcoin site so you can see what they say.  And a link to the TerraNova blog, which has addressed this issue.  And the European Central Bank report in PDF.)

DEAD GIRL 2: FADER BOY

Dead Girl is back!

DEAD GIRL 2: FADER BOY is now available on Amazon. 

While recovering in Our World, Dahlia Grove must find a way back to the Shadow Lands to save Fader Boy and their Tribe.  Together with Mike, a bad-boy wrestler from her high school, she returns to the Shadow Lands to find her friends on the run from ruthless assassins, a scheming war lord, and the lethal hunter Leopard.

If you read fantasy and horror, try this series while DEAD GIRL is on sale for .99.

And be sure to click the buttons below to share on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.  Thanks!