Tea Time: Which Tea at What Time?

Christopher Blome
Jun 10, 2016
3 min read

Which tea do you drink in the morning for waking up, which one occasionally during the day at work or at home and which one - if at all - in the evening after dinner? Surely we all do have our favorite kinds of tea that we like to drink predominantly. In the West especially green tea is well known for its positive health effects. However, while green tea indeed is a must-have in your tea collection, actually every kind of tea has its own value and is suitable to another time of the day as it has different effects on your body.

If you like a particular kind of tea that is your all time favorite, you still should not be drinking it exclusively during the whole day. So if you are looking to bring some variety into your daily tea drinking habit, here we have some suggestions for which tea to drink at what time of the day:

7:00 am - 12:00 pm

As your body's metabolism works for the whole night, it continuosly consumes liquid even while sleeping. Thus the blood is thicker early in the morning when waking up. Drinking a cup of light tea can not only provide the organism with liquid, but also dilute your blood. Having a light tea in the morning can also contribute to reducing blood pressure, which is especially beneficial for older people. Just make sure to avoid drinking strong tea on an empty stomach to prevent harming your gastric system.

When getting up and before having your first meal of the day the gastric system might be comparably sensitive. When drinking tea on an empty stomach, your intestine is likely to absorb too much caffeine which can lead to nervousness and other side effects on a long term.

After having slept the whole night, your organism needs some time to wake up, so drinking black tea can promote your blood circulation. Usually green teas and lightly oxidized oolongs are too strong to drink them in the morning. To go easy on your stomach and avoid nervous sight effects you can drink a cup of black tea every morning during breakfast and even add some milk if you cannot resist. ;-) Black tea is fully oxidized and usually has a lower amount of caffeine than green teas, but still just enough to get you startet in the morning.

12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Drinking tea during the day can have a strengthening effect on your immune system which is good for preventing illnesses and colds. It is highly advisable to include tea in your daily diet, as it helps with lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

During this time of the day green teas and lightly oxidized oolong teas are the most suitable kind. At this time you usually already had one or two meals and having some cups of green tea or lightly oxidized oolong wont effect your stomach while you can enjoy the full health benefits of these teas.

Green teas and lightly oxidized teas generally also have a high level of vitamine E, polyphenols and antioxidants. They help cleaning your digestive system and are even believed to prevent cancer.

6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

While many people think that drinking tea in the evening will affect your sleep and cause insomnia, that is actually not the case. You just need to know which tea is suitable for drinking it in the evening. Green teas and lightly oxidized teas have a higher amount of caffeine and should thus be avoided. Fully oxidized teas like black teas and post-fermented teas have a lower caffeine content and will thus not affect your sleep.

In the evening our body digests all the food and fats that it accumulated during the day. Having a cup of post-fermented tea (Puer tea) after the last meal of the day can help your digestive system to get rid of the accumulated fats. Most suitable is ripe Puer, which also has the lowest amount of caffeine among all. Puer is well known for its digestive effects. One cup of ripe Puer in the evening will help your digestion and wont infulence your sleep.

Have a try and bring some variety into your tea drinking habit!