Beverly Rorem
Tea is Trendy Your grandmother’s old-fashioned tea has been redefined. Today’s tea is more “with it” than coffee. Tea shops are proliferating everywhere you look.
Tea is Sexy There is nothing more sensuous than drinking an excellent cup of hot tea. Imagine yourself in a bubble bath with a cup of Jasmine green tea. The fragrance, the flavor, and a little soft music will soothe your soul. You will be whisked away from the tensions of ordinary life and return to being the loving and sensitive person you actually are. It’s heaven!
Tea is Good for Business These days both men and women are saying, “Let’s get together for tea next week,” and there is a certain cachet to the suggestion. How civilized it is! Who could possibly cheat someone in a deal made in a tea room?
Best of All, Tea Has Zero Calories and is Good For You Some conditions that drinking 3-5 daily cups of tea may prevent, control or help: Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, Atherosclerosis, ADD, Bacterial Infections, Blood sugar levels, Confusion, Concentration, Controlling cancer cells, Dandruff, Dermatitis, Hearing loss, Memory, Meniere’s Disease, Obesity, Parkinson’s Disease, Psoriasis, Rheumatoid arthritis, Salmonella poisoning, Stress, Vertigo, and Weight management.
Beverly Rorem is a student of tea, having enjoyed it in more than twenty different countries and still learning. Born in Illinois, she lived in San Francisco for twenty years, then moved to Oklahoma City where she is a freelance writer, creative writing teacher, essayist, and slowest-writing novelist in the world.
No Kidding! You can be thinner, healthier, more vibrant, have better skin, and even be in a better mood by drinking tea. Especially if you drink a lot of green tea!
Scientific studies prove that tea calms you while at the same time it makes you more alert. No more coffee jitters! That alone seems reason enough to begin drinking more tea.
Although I was never a consistent tea drinker, I estimate that I have drunk tea in more than twenty different countries. From a waterfront snack bar in Sidney, Australia to a sidewalk cafe in Caracas, Venezuela, the tea was unfailingly very good or excellent.
However, it was a different story when I returned. If I ordered tea in the states I was usually served a small pot of hot water and a teabag, with a resulting beverage that was usually undrinkable. I did not know that good tea must be brewed. Eventually I gave up and more or less forgot about tea except when traveling.
My path to becoming a dedicated tea aficionado is a convoluted one. After twenty years in San Francisco, I moved to Oklahoma to be nearer my family. Having put off being a full-time student for as many years as I could, I enrolled at the University of Oklahoma as a major in Humanities. At one point in my studies I wrote an essay on “the theme of tea in nineteenth century art.” Later, as part of my capstone project for graduating, I chose the subject of the history of tea as seen through the eyes of artists and writers.
To my surprise, the 5,000 year history of tea is absolutely fascinating! Wars have been fought, cultures have been created, economies have thrived, and empires have fallen. All because of tea!
Alexander Pushkin (1799 – 1837) said, “Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth.” Another Russian author, Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), mentions tea in nearly all his stories and plays. Was I missing out on something?
As part of my research I checked Yahoo news, not expecting to find much about this humble agricultural product, but there were dozens of reports on the health benefits of tea. These were reports of scientific research by respected doctors and universities.
The findings are persuasive, as I will report in the last chapter. Although drinking 3-5 cups of brewed tea is the most beneficial, it is also available in the form of extracts and capsules, and tea is an ingredient in various types of skin care products.
I began experimenting on how best to brew tea, and sent away for samples of different varieties. Many tea vendors and websites offer samples for $2-$4, and one sample will make at least 3-4 cups.
Now I enjoy two or three cups of tea a day, sometimes more. Often I drink green tea, although mid-afternoon I enjoy the caffeine in a cup of lapsong souchong, my current favorite black tea with its exotic smoky flavor.
I want to wean Americans from inadequate teabags filled with flavored bits and fragments of tea leaves that have been sprayed with flavoring to appeal to our untrained taste buds. Good tea begins with real Camellia sinensis leaves grown in Asia, not with leftover crumbles. There are some acceptable bags to brew good tea, but unlike flat teabags, these are larger, often in a pyramid shape that allow the tea leaves to unfurl and release their delicious oils. However, even these little pyramids make better tea if you cut open the bag and drop the tea leaves into a tea infuser, which will fit into a pot or even into a single cup. You can find these infusers at tea shops, some Starbucks stores, Target, or online.
Thanks to internet shopping and tea’s growing popularity here in the states, there are now multitudes of tea types and marvelous flavors to choose from.
Think of a soothing chocolate hazelnut blend, a refreshing mango fruit, or a rich Moroccan mint. There are Chinese flower teas and wonderful Indian Darjeeling. The list goes on and on.
When I first began experimenting with various types of tea, I was like a schoolgirl with a secret crush when it came to tea drinking. I enjoyed its company and liked it a lot. Before I realized it, I began looking forward with anticipation to our next tryst. Soon tea and I were going steady, and I had nearly given up specialty coffee altogether. Puppy love has grown into passion, but unlike a romantic lover I want to share my love of tea with others.
That’s the great thing about lovers of good tea, those who have moved beyond the teabag. Tea lovers joyfully share their passion and obsession, and there are a number of excellent tea blogs on the internet to prove it.
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