Hello, is it Tea You’re Looking For?

Haley Fox  

Coffee or tea?

As historical as the fight between cats and mice, this internal debate is fought daily by drowsy commuters and students alike. This question often results in a more-or-less permanent siding with one of the two teams.

Those who love tea are fiercely protective of their morning brew. Yet given the prevalence of commercialized caffeine consumption (looking at you, Starbucks) and our nation’s own somewhat… watery history with the beverage (anyone in Boston up for a tea party?), it’s easy to see why a “cup of joe” has become the norm. Even my roommate, with whom I am cohabitable in every other aspect, brought her own mini coffee pot to make sure she starts each day off with a caffeine kick. It sits very prettily alongside my electric teakettle. I often ask if she wants me to steep her a cup, to no avail; she in turn offers me coffee, to which I politely decline.

It’s pretty clear that coffee drinkers like their coffee and tea drinkers like their tea. However, the benefits of tea go far beyond just the taste. Tea has been touted as “liquid wisdom” since its discovery, and extensive research has figured out why.

For all you coffee acolytes, here are a few key reasons to reconsider tea:

• Green tea is loaded with catechins, which are powerful antioxidants that could help prevent cancer.
• Tea may help prevent you from developing type 1 diabetes.
• Drinking three to four cups of tea a day can reduce the risk of a heart attack.
• The caffeine in tea takes longer to affect the body, so you can feel awake without getting jittery or worrying about a crash later on.
• Black tea drinkers were found to have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
• Tea contains fluoride, which is good for your teeth.
• Tea is a zero calorie drink.
• Although tea does contain caffeine, this drink is actually hydrating.
• Tea is high in oxygen radical absorbance capacity, meaning it helps destroy free radicals that can damage your body’s DNA and cause wrinkles.
• Drinking green tea daily could lead to about an inch off your waistline in 12 weeks, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Polyphenols in green tea may help prevent degenerative brain disease.

Although it won’t make you invincible, tea’s benefits far outweigh the nonexistent drawbacks. Be careful, though; bottled or pre-made tea drinks often contain an excess of sugar and very little real tea. Remember, I’m not asking you to cut coffee from your diet completely--coffee has its own health benefits, as well! But the next time you have to make your momentous morning decision, keep these facts in mind. You just might opt to skip the java.

Cheers!

Sources:

• Coffee vs Tea
• 13 Reasons to Love Tea
• The Face-Off: Coffee Vs. Tea
• The Health Benefits of Coffee vs. Tea

You've Got a Friend in Tea

Haley Fox  

“You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy tea, and that’s kind of the same thing.” – Unknown

Ah, tea.

Although it might not seem as “American” as coffee, over half of the United States population drinks a cup of tea on any given day. Worldwide, 3,000 million tons of tea are produced every year. To put that into perspective, you can make about 200 cups of tea from just one pound. Incredible, right? With this many tea drinkers, it’s easy to see why tea has been both culturally and economically vital since its discovery approximately 5,000 years ago. Tea isn’t just your morning jolt of caffeine; it’s a cup of history.

It’s usually best to start from the beginning—legend (and the UK Tea Council) tells us that tea was first discovered in 2737 BC. Shen Nung, the Chinese emperor, was sitting beneath Camellia sinensis tree while his servant boiled drinking water. Some leaves fell into the hot water, and Shen Nung decided to try the infusion that his servant had accidentally created. The resulting drink was what we now call tea.

From China, tea was carried to Japan by Buddhist monks and to England by a Portuguese princess. England introduced tea to India and then America to compete with the Chinese monopoly on the trade; however, unfair taxation practices led to an infamous political protest known as the Boston Tea Party. Americans would go on to invent iced tea at the 1904 World’s Fair and tea bags in 1907. However, some things don’t change—today, the six most consumed types of tea still come from the Camellia sinensis. Because of its health benefits and global popularity, seemingly limitless variations are grown and sold.

On one hand, tea seems like the most straightforward of beverages—put leaves in hot water, drink, repeat. But in reality, tea is ridiculously complex—would you like white tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, pu’erh, black tea, rooibos, herbal, or chai? Loose, bagged, iced, bottled, decaf, blooming, or with tapioca bubbles? Milk and sugar? One lump or two?

With so many options, the idea of becoming a tea connoisseur can be daunting, to say the least. If you have no experience with tea at all, purchasing a box of bagged black tea and a box of bagged green tea is a good place to start. Once you feel comfortable knowing what bagged flavors you like, it’s time to try loose leaf! Loose tea, also called “full-leaf tea,” can be purchased at a specialty tea store, like TeaHaus in Kerrytown, or any number of online shops. I personally love Adagio.com for its plethora of choices, quality product, and no sales tax in Michigan. Don’t forget to buy a tea infuser too, or else you won’t be able to make the loose tea. Already a loose leaf tea drinker? Try something different like rooibos (pronounced ROY-boss), which is red bush tea originally grown and fermented in South Africa. I’m not going to lie; rooibos is my personal favorite due to its antioxidant properties and warm, rounded taste. If you consider yourself a tea expert, you could use your skills to try creating a signature tea blend at Adagio. Search “red fox” on the site to see a personal blend that I created!

No matter what stage of “prosperi-tea” you’re on, there will always be another way to enjoy this timeless drink. In my opinion, the state of being for tea lovers everywhere is best described by Henry James in his novel The Portrait of a Lady: “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.” Maybe I’d even be so bold as to agree with D.T. Suzuki, who once said “When I am sipping tea in my tearoom, I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space.” Either way, I know that tea will always be there for me when my hands need warming. Cheers!

Sources:
Tea Drinking Statistics
Tea History in America
Tea Fact Sheet
Adagio