Thursday, October 25, 2007

Tea for you and Tea for me.

I love tea. I know I already said a lot about tea on coffee day, but hey, it's cold, I just scored a coffee-maker for free and I am drinking some hot, caffeinated tea. I feel fantastic.

Tea is made by steeping different bits and pieces of dried plants in hot water to create a beverage that has millions of flavors, but is unique all its own. There is no beverage on earth like tea that isn't tea. Unless its bad, then it's just like tea, but if no one drinks it, then does it make a taste? (I lost myself on that one.) Tea has been around for thousands of years, easily being the most influential drink of all time. Influential on history, not Friday nights... heh, heh. Eh? Yea? Heh.

Tea is water. It has no carbs, sugar, fat, cholesterol, or dopamine. (Aww...) But it does have caffeine the natural way. It may be the healthiest thing you can drink, because its as pure as water but contains many healthy, natural supplements such as the amino acid theanine, methylxanthines such as theobromine, and anti-oxidants if you're drinking green. Or white, but a lot less. All kinds of tea in the world today, from all over the world, have evolved from plants that originate in two distinct locations. Both are in China. One is the Yunnan province. The other is east and southeast China. These early adopters of tea cultivated what was eventually bred all around the world to create the most popular beverage since... well, I guess water. However, tea is much more trendy.

"In one popular Chinese legend, Shennong, the legendary Emperor of China, inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine, was drinking a bowl of boiling water, some time around 2737 BC. The wind blew and a few leaves from a nearby tree fell into his water and began to change its color. The ever inquisitive and curious monarch took a sip of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by its flavor and its restorative properties. A variant of the legend tells that the emperor tested the medical properties of various herbs on himself, some of them poisonous, and found tea to work as an antidote." (Wikipedia, beeyotch)

Yes, tea is good. Sent from the gods if you will. We can all come together in our love for tea. And how good it makes you feel on a cold, cloudy day (today). About that coffee-maker though. I scored a free one from a guy who moved out quite some time ago. Actually it was more I scored it from his former roommate who gave it to me because he found it left in the guy who moved out's closet. Anyway, I didn't coffee or filters. But I had tea. So I just stuck two bags in where the coffee usually goes, and minutes later I had a pot of strong white tea. Hit it!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I myself a large container full of Whittards of Chelsea Lemon tea. It's a personal favorite and I would highly recommend it (though I realize it might be a difficult suggestion as you have to order it directly from England). My one question is, how do you suggest us dorm-livers make it? I was hoping that there would be some way to boil large amounts of water to make myself a nice carafe (single cups just aren't enough for me any more). Since I moved in, however, I learned that the only kitchenette in Meredith is in the basement (my room's on the 3rd floor). So far, I have yet to make myself any tea. Any suggestions?