And You Thought Our Golden Flower and Ralph's Blend Were Only For Cholesterol...
Let's take a closer look at what they have said in China for centuries...
When it comes to Golden Flower...we need to think of Three-High...
Three-High? Yep Three-High!...but who knew? I think it is because of the amount of positive results we have gotten and continue to get about the influence Golden Flower Tea has had on tea drinker's cholesterol test results that we have not given the other attributes of Golden Flower their due.
As it turns out, there is more to this wonder tea than help with cholesterol...and you want to know about it.
Happy with success...
We can't be anything else but gratified by the response we have received from those that have adopted our Golden Flower Dark Tea Brick because they heard it might help with controlling their cholesterol and decided to give it a try.
As wonderful as that is, over time I'm increasingly feeling remis about not stressing enough the additional attributes of Golden Flower Tea, that the Chinese call Three-High.
My Golden Flower awareness...I stumbled upon Golden Flower...
Wow, it brings a smile to my face. Thinking back to my early trips to China in the 80's and where I was in my understanding of tea...
Even though I had become infatuated with tea since the early 70's, at that time I was convinced that green tea was the only healthy type of tea and that is where my interest was...antioxidants and health benefits. Although I have to admit, early-on as I learned about varities of green tea, my tea-world had opened to the nuance and variations in different green teas and the cultural significance behind them.
Walking through a desolated airport terminal in the middle of the night on my first trip to China my tea world changed. Slightly paranoid, tired and dragging my bags, tentative and not knowing where I was going or who I was going to meet, a discovery came to light before me.
With hardly a person in sight, in the quiet of the airport I see on both sides of the aisle kiosks loaded with tea...more tea than I could have ever imagined...and so many unusual but instantly impressive teas appeared before my eyes, all without a word of English in sight!
Truth be told, I was overwhelmed to the point of trembling, I now think with joy and intimidation. I wanted to know and understand it all...this was the beginning of the next phase of my Tea Journey...and along the way, I would find Golden Flower Tea.
A mystery to me...how could it be?
My first China trip officially had nothing to do with tea. In '77 I had started a manufacturing company that was the actual reason for my trip so the tea epiphany was completely unanticipated and unexpected...but after my airport arrival tea surprise, as is said, the horse was out of the barn.
That initial trip became dozens over years...all for manufacturing but with every spare moment learning about tea. Tea-discovery after tea-discovery led to notebooks filled with tea-notes, suitcases jammed with tea and the formation of tea-friendships the likes of which I could have never imagined.
Change in my tea awareness was advancing, and with each trip I became more humbled with vast amount and significance of the world of tea I was venturing into.
Without the help of a still non-existent internet I was piecing together a gigantic tea puzzle, determined to understand how it all fit together and worked. As I encountered so many unique teas from whites, to oolongs, darks & blacks, my tea understanding was starting to come into focus...an understanding of the relationship between all of these vastly different teas, and one of them was this strange Dark Tea Brick I now call Golden Flower...it's wellbeing reputation?...how could it be?
A paradigm shift...
After several years of trips to China, still pursuing wonderous green teas I find myself in a tea-market in south China to sample teas. As typical of my experiences in south China, my host opens with this rather fowl-smelling dark-amber steep known as Pu'er tea.
I see her taking great care when preparing it, doing the utmost to provide a great experience for me, but knowing what was going to be in my cup and thinking why would anyone want to drink this?...just please give me the green tea.
I am thankful...and appreciative of her efforts to please me, so on my best behavior, I show gratitude and sip.
I did not see it coming. With that sip, my tea-world changed again as I tasted, savored, and thought to my self...I love this...what is wrong with me, I have to pay attention to all of these teas...not just green teas. It was a complete paradigm-shift and made me realize that my tea-puzzle just got bigger, more important to me, and the amount I had to learn was so much more. ( I now love that no-longer fowl-smelling aroma...)
Trip after trip tea-encounter after tea-encounter a new-to-me tea keeps popping-up...a Dark Tea...but different than Pu'er tea and with a reputation of historical wellbeing...Golden Flower Tea...what is the story and significance of this tea?...of course, I needed to know.
Fitting legends together like pieces of a puzzle...
Older generations of Chinese base their tea knowledge on history and China's history of curing or I like to think of preventing diseases with tea, some being diabetes, dysentery and cold-immunity while modern medicine and scientific studies are discovering the polyphenols, pigments, polysaccharides, saponins, amino acids, alkaloids and inorganic elements in tea have healthcare functions in humans.
To the global scientific community these discoveries make Camellia sinensis (the tea plant), of great interest in strengthening immunity, resisting oxidization, preventing cancer, reducing blood fat & cholesterol, and adjusting metabolism...and what's more, studies now support these discoveries.
In China it is a long-standing belief the Golden Flower Tea's greatest wellbeing attributes arise from the polysaccharides that can adjust sugar metabolism, reduce blood fat, reduce thrombosis, and improve immunity.
The formation of cultural beliefs...how it came to be...
By the Tang Dynasty tea had made it's way from its development in southwest China to the Southeast, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze river, and the custom of drinking tea spread north.
During the Song Dynasty tea had become an indispensable beverage of the nomadic nationalities in the Northwest and aristocracies of the Imperial Palace.
In the cold harsh climate in the Northwest of China and in Mongolia produce is difficult to come by so diets are rich in meats, fats & oil including primarily beef, mutton and cream cheeses. Dark tea became part of daily life improving digestion and leading to awareness of dark tea's effect on weight, cholesterol and blood sugar.
Since climate prevented the growing of tea in the vast grasslands of the Northwest tea was carried by man and animal on year-long journeys encountering severe weather which influenced the chemical composition of the tea through additional oxidation and polymerization. The tea changed from green tea at the origin to what was then called dark tea with mellow flavor and a deep amber broth by journey's end... vastly different from the yellow-green broth and strong vegetal flavor that it began the journey with.
In Chinese tea history it is during the Ming Dynasty in 1524 when the dark tea or Hei Cha first appeared in the earliest records.
Benefits beyond cholesterol...Three-High...
When sharing Golden Flower Tea attributes with customers, I explain that the name comes from a human-friendly filamentous fungus with bright yellow fruiting bodies that form during the fermentation of the tea...I.e. the name I've given the tea to make it easy to remember is Golden Flower Tea.
Important to know is that of the many legends about this type of tea in China, they all agree that the golden fungi is produced naturally during tea fermentation with no additives.
Legend and science both support the China narrative of Golden Flower Tea wellbeing effect which gives the tea it's ability to decrease the Three-High: High Blood Sugar, High Blood Pressure and High Blood Fat.
About the science...
The remarkable pharmacological effects of Golden Flower Tea comes down to plant genetics, climate/environment and processing technique. What makes perhaps the most notable variable is the processing.
It is the pile-fermenting that is the foundation of the tea's uniqueness, contributed by pine-wood smoke-baking and fungus-development. These variables put Golden Flower Tea in a unique class of it's own.
The pile-fermenting results in the breaking-down of large molecular-compounds into smaller molecular-compounds helping them metabolize with microbes. Drying by smoke-baking contributes to tea quality and cup character while great attention to detail during pile fermentation creates perfect incubator conditions for formation of superior fungus.
How it happens...critical to desired results...
Fungus development is influenced by optimal pile-fermentation conditions. More obvious is the requirement for controlled humidity and temperature, but less obvious is the significance of the leaf material selected.
Rough or crude leaf material is intentionally selected as the peduncles create air space during pile fermentation and precise brick compression allowing the presence of sufficient oxygen for formation of the fruiting bodies.
The fungi which is non-poisonous to humans produces a series of functional active enzymes that contribute to Three-High. Complicated chemical change occurs in the presence of Golden Flower tea.
What to expect in the cup...Three-High + One...
For a moment, think of Three-High as one not three. That is the cumulative effect of improvements in all three of these critical factors at the same time...How does that sound?
Hyperlipidemia is bad news and we want to avoid it. Symptoms of cerebral infraction, coronary heart disease, renal hypertension/kidney failure, lower-limb artery thrombosis are all things we want to avoid.
Blood sugar, blood pressure and blood fat are are all related and doing all we can on the Three-High is what will improve our longevity if we focus on them.
But...there is a + One. The processing of Golden Flower Tea with Pile-fermenting and pine-wood smoke-baking yields a thick golden-amber mellow sweet broth...Three-High + One.
Drinking this tea often leads to a discovery of the beauty and cultural-historical significance of this tea with a greater appreciation for both the drinking and the collection value of Golden Flower Tea, as with time-aging of this tea continues to enhance its cup character and drinking experience.
The processing tea wisdom developed over many generations combined with the primitiveness of the process yields a flavor like tasting history with its fullness, rich broth color and tea wisdom steeped-in.
Then along came Ralph...
There is now a Ralph's Blend...Golden Flower Tea...with a hint of Orange...
After drinking Golden Flower Tea for quite some time, (Ralph was an early-adopter that has been instrumental is helping spread the Golden Flower story), Ralph fessed-up that he loved the tea, but missed his old favorite, our Orange Sunset herbal.
Thanks to Ralph, there are now two to choose from! Golden Flower and Ralph's blend (blended with the original Golden Flower Tea).
How to experience Golden Flower Tea...
On our Golden Flower page you will see Golden Flower Tea in it's original brick shape, in pouches broken into pieces, and packaged into sachets for travel or convenience...some customer's tell us they love breaking up their bricks!...others just want the health benefits...
On the Ralph's blend page there are options for loose or sachets in various quantities.
Important to keep in mind...
Golden Flower Tea may be an important piece in your long-term wellbeing strategy puzzle, but it is just that...a piece. Drinking the tea in combination with other mindful choices on managing wellbeing makes your approach comprehensive and increases the likelihood that the tea can contribute to positive results.
Lastly, a disclaimer...this post is not medical advice. It is about the historical reputation this tea has gained over a long time by people that have consumed it for years in Southeast Asia.
Visit our Golden Flower page here...
Learn MORE About Golden Flower Tea here...
Visit our Ralph's Blend page here...
For tips on Steeping Perfection click here...
Shop All Teas here...
See what Healthline says about Hyperlipidemia here...
See more Blog Posts here...
