Tea time!!

Drinking tea seems to have become so passe for some reason! Everyone around me prefers to drink coffee and talks about cappuccino, lattes, fancy blends, coffee from some unheard place around the world, iced coffees, eiskaffees and on and on and on. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against coffee! I enjoy it sometimes for sure, a nice cup of Americano is my favorite, but give me a choice and I will choose tea! More specifically an herbal or  a green tea!

I love the legend about how tea was discovered. According to legend, tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor and inventor Shennong in 2737 BCE. The emperor liked his drinking water boiled before he drank it so it would be clean, so that is what his servants did. One day, on a trip to a distant region, he and his army stopped to rest. A servant began boiling water for him to drink, and a dead leaf from the wild tea bush fell into the water. It turned a brownish color, but it was unnoticed and presented to the emperor anyway. The emperor drank it and found it very refreshing, and cha (tea) came into being.

I do wonder though if I would ever drink water that us a funny color with an odd-looking leaf, especially if I am paranoid about having clean water. But, I do have to say I am glad he did drink it and the world was introduced to tea!

I discovered green tea after I read a bunch of articles about how great it is for your health. The first time I tried a cup, I detested it. It’s a taste you do have to get used to. I probably over steeped it and so it was way too bitter for me. I tried having herbal tea when I was studying and I was hooked! My favorite was non-caffeinated herbal tea ‘Sleepy Time Tea’. I love peppermint and any combination with peppermint! 🙂 I enjoy cinnamon and spiced apple, lemon, orange and jasmine tea. My favorite is any mint tea –  peppermint, spearmint or mint!

But to get the full benefits of tea, I started drinking ‘Tulsi Organic Green Tea’. This tea blend has holy basil, which has many medicinal properties according to Ayurveda and green tea, beneficial according to Chinese medicine. Easy to make and is delicious though I do add some honey to mine. I honestly don’t enjoy green tea on its own.

My favorite kind of tea, though, has to be the Indian chai! Its milky, sweet and spiced. It complements a rainy day like nothing else can. If I wasn’t so worried about all the sugar I eat, I would have this tea everyday! Now, I reserve it only for special occasions.

But, nothing can beat the combination of a wonderful herbal tea and a nice book for me. It is so calming and relaxing. I know people who unwind at the end of a hard day with a nice scotch. Give me tea any day!

Here’s to tea! I can’t wait for it to become fashionable again….