Can a hot cup of tea really cool you off?
The answer to this question is steeped in science–it all comes down to sweat. If you have a larger amount of sweat, this means more cooling for your body, and this cooling counteracts the small amount of heat contained in a hot beverage relative to your body. The bottom line is if you are experiencing a hot, dry day and you’re wearing loose clothing that allows your sweat to evaporate easily, then drinking hot tea will cool you down.
However, if you find yourself in a humid location with your hot cup of tea, the tea will not cool you down. The cooling of a hot beverage combined with sweat only works if you’re in an arid climate
One wonderful summer day, I chose to cool myself with a tealicious Gong Ting Pu’erh. Let the summer simmer as you enjoy a reddish brown liquor that tastes like raw, sweet chocolate. Steep Gong Ting Pu’erh for 2-3 minutes at 95C–do not over steep this one. Enjoy up to three infusions.
Gong Ting Pu’erh was acquired from SpiceTrekkers.
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I always value and applaud science however my personal experience – dry or humid, I love drinking hot tea year round. Truth is, nothing is better than hot tea on a cold morning or evening however I very much enjoy hot tea 360 days a year – and I mean that literally. I’m not an iced tea drinker so I don’t really have that option.
Cheers Michelle, I too enjoy hot tea year round. Many people have pondered the benefits of hot beverages as a coolant in summer heat. I experimented with Gong Ting Pu’erh :) Thanks for the comment. Keep sipping on your hot tea! :)
I live in Bangkok so there are no cool days to enjoy a hot cup of tea on, so I just keep drinking hot tea anyway. I’ve ran across the idea that warm water cools you better than cold water before, tied to the same line of thought, that cold water actually tricks your body into thinking that it’s cooler than it really is, so isn’t as effective as it would seem. But who knows. I can relate from personal experience that drinking hot tea on hot, humid days isn’t ideal but it all just seems normal after awhile. Related to Michelle’s comment about not drinking iced tea, it can be nice to try cold-brewing the last infusion of some tea you drink hot (like a lightly oxidized oolong), and the effect is much different than cold black tea or RTD versions. If the tea has nice natural sweetness it works especially well. Or maybe all that is just common knowledge, that some use such an approach.
I’ve heard great things about cold brewing. I keep promising myself to try. My next oolong will definitely be cold brewed. Thanks for the encouragement.
Cheers John,
Love your atTEAtude regarding hot tea. Lovely that you and Fiona both pointed out cold brewing. I love that too. It’s lovely and refreshing to have your comments here :)
Jennifer
Well cold brewing is the way to go if you can not stand ice cold tea like me. At work we have the worst kind of tea bags, so now that I have a tea flask with filter in it I’ll take that to work. I put some black tea, oolong or a nice green tea in the fridge with some water the night before work. Then just drink half of it after that you can either fill it with hot water or cold depending on what you like or have available.
Cheers Fiona,
What a TEAlicious idea, thank you for commenting. Cold brewing is a wonderful thing. I am happy to read you found a way to enjoy cold brew at work :)
Jennifer
I savor, cause I found exactly what I was having
a look for. You’ve ended my four day lengthy hunt!
Godd Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye