If you are a tea professional, there's nothing worse than having your urologist tell you to quit drinking tea because you've been diagnosed with a kidney stone. That's what happened to me a couple of years ago.I was surprised to find tea on my doctor's list of Foods to Avoid, a list I'm sure is…
The Book of Green Tea
This book offers the authentic poetry of great tea: Let us rejoice and drink deeply. - James Norwood PrattThank goodness! The Western world has once again fallen in love with green tea. For many, drinking green tea has become a new practice spurred by an interest in tea’s healthy attributes, while others consider it a…
The Tea Maestro Learns from The Bourbon Master
Woodford Reserve Bourbon AcademyWhat does tea tasting have in common with bourbon tasting? More than you and I might have expected.Toronto tea master John Chaffey and I have been fellow teaists for over a decade. We see each other no less than three times each year at trade shows where we often vie for the…
The Oldest Tea in Britain
300-year-old green tea from China.British researchers have found what they believe to be the oldest tea in Britain, and to the surprise of contemporary British tea drinkers, the tea is green!The unassuming box of Chinese tea was acquired around 1700 by a ship’s surgeon James Cuninghame. Cunninghame subsequently gave it as a gift to the…
How did tea get its name?
A Country House Teatime in Somerset, England."The thing we call a tea would taste just as sweet if we called it by any other name."How differently would the words of Juliet have sounded if only Shakespeare had known the beverage we call tea? It's too bad that the Chinese beverage would not appear in London…
The Young Face of Tea in America
Could tea be the new fountain of youth?The fact that tea sales in the US are up 20% since 2000 would be reason enough for teaists to be excited about the growing number of converts who are joining our flock. But the bigger news—and the reason that this tea trend will continue for quite some…
Tea Advertisements for Women in the 1950s
Tea advertisements of the 1950s often targeted female shoppers, as seen in these two magazine pages from that era. Sixty years later, women continue to be the decision makers when it comes to buying tea for the home. The first image shows a woman's image brightening as she drinks a cup of brisk Lipton tea. Thomas…
Green tea may lead to cancer treatments without hair loss
18th century tea botanical print.The good news from Penn State researchers last week is that a powerful catechin found in green tea may lead to new treatments for some cancers. The better news is that these new treatments might be accomplished without the debilitating side effects of existing chemo-therapies, such as hair loss.Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, commonly known as…
The Latest Buzz on Tea and Caffeine
Caffeine is the world's most popular drug, easily surpassing nicotine and alcohol, and more than 85% of Americans ingest significant amounts of this legal drug on a daily basis—usually via coffee, tea, cola, or chocolate. While most consumers can easily tolerate 300mg of drug daily, you might want to avoid caffeine up to eight hours…
Recycling Used Tea Leaves in the 18th Century
Print by T. Rowlandson c.1810 British MuseumTea was an exotic new beverage during the 1700s and there were few directions on how to steep the expensive leaves cultivated on the other side of the globe. There were no tea books and steeping suggestions were not included with your purchase because tea would not come in…