Like beer and wine, tea is an ancient beverage. Yet in some countries that are strongly associated with it, such as Great Britain, it was introduced only recently on the historical time scale. No one knows with certainty who first had the odd idea of taking leaves from the Camilla Sinensis plant and adding them [...]

You’ve gone to great lengths to find a great tea. You’ve spent two to five times or more what it would cost to get an ordinary tea from the grocery store. But even fine teas can go stale, like any agricultural product. In fact, finer teas often have fewer or no artificial preservatives and can [...]

What could be more important than preparing a fine cup of tea the right way? You’ve spent the time to find and the money to buy a good product. It should be prepared as it, and you, deserve. But most don’t have time for a Japanese tea ceremony. A full ritual, with food and drink, [...]

Herbal tea or tisane, which isn’t actually made from the tea bush Camilla Sinensis, has been consumed for at least as long as the genuine article – over 5,000 years. Made from a variety of plants, and prepared in a similar way (infusing hot water through the substance), herbal teas provide many of the same [...]

It is not always that we are so fortunate that something we enjoy is good for us. How lucky we are that green tea fits that role so well! The role of green tea in promoting health has been much in the news in the last few years. There is ample evidence that, consumed in [...]

Cornucopia: ‘A symbol of prosperity and affluence, dating back to the 5th century BC.’ In modern parlance, ‘a great many very good things’. And that exactly describes the flavored teas that are available today. Though counting them could be difficult, the variety of flavored teas to be found could quite possibly exceed those of coffee. [...]

Decaf tea is a great addition to the tea tin. There are times when you don’t need a pick-me-up, just a great tasting cup of tea. In fact, having tea often means the very opposite – taking a few minutes to relax, clear your mind and let the cares of the day flow away. A [...]

In traditional Westerns at the movie theater, the good guy wears the white hat. Here, black is definitely ‘the good guy’. All true tea is the product of the leaves of the Camellia Sinensis plant. But, ah, what a difference a little oxygen and sunlight makes. Green tea is very lightly oxidized, Oolong moderately so [...]

A modern dilemma. You’re busy. You don’t have time to perform a Japanese tea ceremony, carefully preparing each component, then drinking the result in a leisurely way. (A full ceremony, including food and drink can take five hours.) But you do enjoy a truly fine cup. What to do? The dilemma may never be fully [...]

Tea, as a beverage, is older than coffee, older than wine and maybe even older than beer. Some may argue about the latter, since some types of beer may be as old as 10,000 years, while tea has been around for ‘only’ about 5,000. Fair enough, let’s not quibble. Tea is old. Tea is also [...]