A Christian Woman Thinks (And It's Dangerous)

The Truth About Tea

After typing a lengthy entry about tea for you, I did the usual magic trick, hit my back button by mistake, and returned to an empty entry box!!! So here I go again, I'd like to share a little about tea.

My friends know my preference for tea (I don't care for coffee). Usually when I visit they try to accommodate me. The conversation will go something like this: "What kind of tea would you like?" Me: "What kind do you have?" My friend: "Well, I've got some chamomile, some orange zinger, some lemon soother, and some regular tea, I think it's Red Rose or something like that..."

Stop right there! What you have there is NOT tea (except the Red Rose). You have herbal tea - called tea, yes, but not really tea. There's not a drop of tea in those bags. You have a tisane - a concoction of herbs crushed up and used as a beverage or for medicinal purposes. I use them on occasion - like when I need a sore throat soother, or a stomach settler, or a sleepy time drink. You can buy tisanes in bulk at your local co-op or health food store. But these are NOT tea! So I'll take the Red Rose, thank you - it's the only one you've got with tea leaves in it. Tea, the leaves of the tea plant, either black, green, or white - has to be an ingredient. Otherwise, no thank you!

Now, I know this sounds a bit snobby, but what if I offered you fake coffee? Some kind of herbal tisane with a root of something that's supposed to make a dark-colored drink? You wouldn't like it.

I learned a lot about tea from Pearl the tea lady at a tea at historic Roseland Cottage (The Pink House) in Woodstock, CT, years ago. Turns out later in life Pearl & I attend the same church. Pearl has a tea magazine and even a tea school, if you want to become an expert. Click the tea bag below for information about the magazine and the school.

Tea can have some flavor to it, using either oils or blends of other kinds of teas. For example, I love Earl Grey tea, which contains oil of bergamont, and its lighter counterpart, Lady Grey, which has some citrus to it as well. You can also have varied flavor depending on the "color" of the tea leaf: green and white are younger leaves, and they have a lighter flavor than black tea leaves. Different regions of the world have different flavor teas, too, hence the different types of black teas: Indian teas like assam and darjeeling, teas from China like lapsang souchong, teas from Sri Lanka like ceylon. Other brands: The British have it right with PG Tips, a plain, strong black tea. It is England's favorite tea (or so proclaims the box). Drink it with milk and sugar or a bit of honey, or just straight up! Or try a chai tea with sweetened condensed milk: I don't mean the powdered stuff, either. Buy a chai bag, brew it up, and add the sweetened milk. Yum! Brew a cup by boiling cold water, either in a pot or a tea kettle. Nuking a cup of hot water just doesn't taste as good.

Buy a box of biscotti, or better yet, MAKE biscotti, and dip it into your tea for a later afternoon pick-me-up.

For the ultimate, go to a tea room and have a full tea: endless pots of tea; scones with jam and curd and perhaps even clotted cream; small crustless sandwiches like cucumber and cream cheese, deviled ham and olive with dill, oh, yum; and desserts after all that, cakes and pies and tarts. What a treat! You just can't do that with coffee.

I know all you Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts fans are just bored to tears right now (did you know where we live there is now a Dunkin Donuts about every quarter mile in almost every town? I am not really overexaggerating here, either). But you should try it, you might like it.

Anyone out there have a favorite tea, or tisane? Make your own tea as homesteaders (I hear you can make it from things like dandelions, and other plant roots)? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

Untitled Comment

{ 11:23, Wednesday, January 17, 2007 } { Posted by BlueApple }

I'm a hardened coffee drinker, BUT, I do have a cup of tea every afternoon. I like black tea, have never tried white but would like too, and I like green. I have tried the chai but didn't like it...wonder if I would like it with the sweetened milk better - I may have to try that. My mother just gave me some Wu-Long tea - I have NO idea what it is but I'm going to do a search and see what it says - do you know anything about it? Hate to drink something I have no clue what it is, LOL.

No fair No fair!

{ 11:45, Wednesday, January 17, 2007 } { Posted by Darcy }

You are dangling my past civilized life right in front of my very eyes! As you know, I am a coffee drinker but we are also a tea family. Our kids think a meal without tea is a crime and when Grandma (Sam's mom) visits from the East Coast.......well, it's TEA morning, noon, and night! I remember when we were first married and she was coming to visit for 2 weeks my dad asked me what we would DO for that long of a time. I said, "DRINK TEA"!

That school looks fascinating but $2100? I guess one would have to be pretty serious about their tea! Anyway, I enjoyed this entry. It brought me back to my days of bubble baths, reading Victorian magazines, and visiting tea rooms. The days seem so long ago but they are not forgotten or forsaken!
Darcy

I just loved this post

{ 10:52, Thursday, January 18, 2007 } { Posted by blessingsbaound }

I even read it out loud to my husband. We are both tea lovers and enjoy it all! Thanks for posting and when I gather some extra time over here I will share some of our favorite teas. Earl Gray is one that my 13yo enjoys quite often.

Token Englishwoman Responds

{ 11:39, Friday, January 19, 2007 } { Posted by jackiebridgen }

Yes, lets hear it for PG Tips or Tetleys or or best of all Yorkshire Tea, or the old favourite, Co-op 99.
A little milk, please and no sugar.
Best served with crumpets, around the fireside, whilst reading Miss Read.
Anyone coming over?
jackie

My favorite tea

{ 02:46, Friday, January 19, 2007 } { Posted by texasflute }

My all time favorite tea is Yorkshire Gold. Others I drink frequently are Assam, Earl Gray and one I just received last week Brattle Street Blend from Tealuxe.

There's nothing like a cup of hot tea on a cold afternoon!

I love tea

{ 11:30, Monday, January 22, 2007 } { Posted by zoggypdx }

I'm even considering getting a tea bush for my living room or greenhouse. There are alot of places that sell them, including my favorite local nursery, Raintree.

http://www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/producttype.cfm?producttype=TEA

(I'm not affiliated with them, just a happy customer.)

I can't drink much with caffene in it, but I do love tea.

Blessings,

Raymond