Tea Story: The Origins of Tea
Have you ever wondered about the origins of that tea that you are sipping? Have you ever wondered how it is grown and processed? Have you ever though about the different kinds of tea? Well, avid tea drinkers will certainly ask this questions especially those who made tea drinker a regular part of their day. Tea is indeed the better alternative to coffee. One is due to the fact that it has more healht benefits and two is that it contains only the right amount of caffeine that will keep you stimulated and awake through out the day. Tea has been around for thousands of years but the people in the west have just discovered it just recently. But how is tea made? Well that is the question the tea story is aiming to answer.
The tea story is actually the story of the origins of tea. However, since there are different types of type it is safe to say the their origins may differ. Tea in general do come from one plant an that is the tea shrub. Green tea, white tea, black tea are simply types of tea, the term is usually based on the color that is produced once the tea leaves are immersed in hot water. The tea story also includes tales on how tea was traditionally brewed which is unlike the present wherein tea leaves are already placed in tea bags and are ready to drink. The tea story also mentions that the tea originally came from China.
The famous Lipton Tea Company also has its own tea story to tell. Believe it or not the Lipton Tea Company was originally a convenience store. It only began selling tea when the owner bought five tea plantations. When the product was first introduced it was warmly welcomed by the people and they become fond of it since then the Lipton Tea
Company has never stopped making tea. Up to the present the Lipton Tea is a household name and people believed that there is no better tea than Lipton Tea. The tea story of this company is rather simple and humble. In fact it is even safe to say that the the intial plan of the owner didn’t include producing tea not until he was able to buy those plantations. Whatever his plan was he surely gave the world the healthiest drink one can ever drink.
Each tea company have its own tea story. The Lipton Tea Company is just one of the many tea companies that produce tea. However, hearing a tea story can certainly help us gain a better understanding on how and where the tea we are sipping came from. In addition to that the tea story can also help us appreciate more the benefits we can get from drinking tea everyday.
Shopping for Tea Kettles
Tea is and has been one of the most popular beverages around and is definitely one that calms the nerves best. So, if you are interested in brewing your own tea at home, then one of the first things you need to get are paraphernalia. The essential item is the tea kettle. You can find tea kettles very easily and for a very reasonable price you just have to know where to look.
Where to Shop
If you are looking for tea kettles, one of the first places you will want to check out is the Espresso Zone Company, which is online and is for sure one of the best companies available when it comes to teapots, kettles and such. They recognize that drinking tea is a tradition or social ritual in virtually all parts of the world and that it exists as an important cultural component.
There are so many options that you have available to you here which is truly great, and helps to make the tea making and drinking process that much more enjoyable. It is therefore important that you find a quality tea kettle that will suit your specific tea making needs. No matter if you need a smaller or larger kettle, one that is portable or not, and so on.
The Espresso Zone Company has a huge catalog of tea kettles for you to pick from. The more popular choices include: Assam Cast Iron Tea Press, Blue Willow Tea Pot with Infuser, Bodum Assam Tea, Bodum Ibis Electric Water Kettle, Bodum Ibis Electric Water Kettle in stainless steel, Chantal Classic Stainless Steel tea kettle, Chantal Loop Stainless Steel tea kettle, and the Chef’s Choice Stainless Steel Electric Kettle and the list goes on.
Another great company that you can go to is the Teavana Company. Teavana is known for selling fresh, high quality teas and the products to serve them. Every of their retail stores posses a different, unique tea experience by encouraging a positive and healthy outlook for all those who enter a Teavana.
They feature all various sizes of tea kettles, and also run those which are specifically designed for a particular type of tea. Ranging from green and black to oolong and white they have the perfect kettle for it that can unleash the flavors fully.
There are so many interesting tea kettles on the market that you can choose from. So, by putting in a bit of time to browse around in different stores and check out your options, you are sure to find the perfect tea kettle mode to get the full tea taste.
Great Recycle Ideas For Old Tea Pots
Why chuck those old tea pots or pitchers that have been lying around since forever, neat trinkets can be made out of them, especially if they only have minor damage. Tea pots that are completely shattered of course are better off being swept up into the bin. It always seemed a shame to me whenever one of my tea pots develops a crack or the spout breaks off or the shellac wore down and damaged the design. Tea pots/pitchers represent coziness and the comfort and safety one can find in a home. Considering all the joy they’ve brewed for me, seems the least I could do is find a retirement home of some sort for them.
As Indoor/Outdoor Ornament
It’s a belief that water fountains require large space. However, it is not always so, and a fountain can be small yet beautiful. In fact, you can make a teapot fountain yourself that can be decorated anywhere inside or outside your home. Logically, a teapot water fountain will require less space and time since you can make it in an hour.
You can beautify your patch of land use old tea pots/pitcher as cute alternatives to flower pots or ornaments in your garden or in your house. Depending on the kind of vegetation, you might want to drill a few holes in the bottom so any excess water can drain or you could use your old tea pot as vases for real or artificial flowers. You might want to half-bury one and stick a fairy or butterfly figuring on top to add color to a garden in winter, or just simply to make your garden look unique and inviting.
As A Coin Bank
This is an especially good retirement job for animal shaped teapots or tea tops that are relatively small. They can be pretty little keepers for all the loose pocket change that rolls around in handbags, coats and lies around counter tops. Some people like to keep rubber bands or paper clips, pins, or any loose odds and ends that you don’t know where to place. Try to place any old tea pots used for coin banks low enough so you don’t have to lift them up or handle them. Picking them up when full might completely shatter them. Try to use old teapots/pitcher with a mouth wide enough to stick your hand in.
As A Spell Component
Those who follow a pagan faith like Wicca make use of spell components to help make effective spells. You can practice magic without having to be of a particular faith or use it as party game or toasting game when you entertain. You might use an old tea pot to “brew” a wish into fruition, such as when you start a new business or relationship. Old tea pots are full of associations of good times and nourishing, comforting tea, so those associations will make the old tea pot a magnet for positive vibes.
As A Collectable
A teapot collection should not be hidden away in a closet. You should display your teapots/pitchers in a way that shows their delicate lines and beautiful patterns. The Teapots should be repaired if you choose to make them part of your interior design, but you can always hide chips or fine cracks by only showing the “good side” of that particular item. Old tea pots can blend in any room. Many teapots are like small works of art, and should be enjoyed for more then brewing tea. There are many ways to display your teapots that will highlight their charm.
Little Girls And The Popular Tea Party Game
Giving gifts to a young girl can be pretty challenging but you can’t go wrong with a toy tea party set. A Tea set has many aspects to interest that most girls use as a learning tool of social rituals and decorum. The small size of the toy tea party sets fit into little hands perfectly, making the set more “theirs” rather than the cumbersome kettle and cups of the adults. Doll Tea sets made especially for dolls as part of the collecting world, are often made with more care and detail adult sets.
How Old Is The Doll Tea Set?
1600’s when tea was not only becoming fashionable in European society, but also more easily available the first recorded toy tea sets were in Germany. Porcelain or china was what the first toy sets were most likely made out of. It is not known if children from Orient played a child’s version of the elaborate tea rituals of their respective countries, but since children are so imitative, there probably were. The sets either were a mismatched hodge-podge of materials found anywhere to serve as props or no one bothered to save the toy sets.
The Faience Museum of Sarregumines in France put on an exhibition of toy tea party sets, “Marvelous Dinettes”, in 2000. They displayed good over 80 sets in porcelain and faience which is a kind of tin-glazed pottery. These sets were often hand painted with intricate designs of figures and scenes. There is no room for an identification mark, signature or brand name since the sets are so small unlike other collectables. The highlights of the exhibit were of course the silver and gold toy tea party sets.
The Industrial Revolution And The Era Of Plastic
Before the industrial revolution in the late 1800’s it was very expensive to get a tea set for a child or a child’s doll. After the revolution, the price of toy tea sets became more affordable. At the 1855 Universal Exhibition, the toy tea sets caused quite a sensational demand and soon every kid had to have one. When plastic entered the picture of everyday living in 1865, the prices of sets went down even further.
Today, a toy tea party set is considered a classic children’s toy that almost all children, especially girls, grew up with. You learned coordination, decoration and how punish any hyperactive boys who were forced to play with you after losing a game. It was also something you could play with your dolls or stuffed animals and sometimes imaginary friends that really looked like the toys appreciated. You also got a chance to play grown up when the adults had their own tea parties.
Favoring Iced Tea
If they are giving out awards for the person who loves iced tea the most, they would probably choose my mother. An image of my mother doesn’t seem complete if she is not holding a tall glass of one of her favored iced tea recipes in one or even both of her hands. The tea glass becomes her scepter. She holds it very elegantly and takes dainty, little sips. Whenever I go home, watching my mother drink her iced tea is the one thing that makes me feel that I am home indeed. And my Mom isn’t the only one who favors iced tea recipes – you probably know of one or several others.
An American Favorite
Iced tea recipes began appearing in American cookbooks in the late 1860s. These cookbooks however, were not widely distributed. Iced tea became an official hit when it was served during the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. It has grown in popularity ever since, especially with the advent of developments in refrigeration. Iced tea recipes have become especially popular as a summertime drink.
The popularity of iced tea recipes in the States never caught on in other countries. English and Irish children are generally raised on hot tea, so the taste of watered down cold tea may be unappealing for them. The United States and some parts of South America are really the only countries that have actively embraced iced tea recipes as part of their daily lives.
Cold Vs Hot
To make iced tea, you make a pot of regular tea, add a sweetener (this being the optional scenario), mix it in a pitcher and fill with cold water. The usual ratio of tea to cold water is about one to three. Since served over ice, iced tea does not give you the full flavor of cooled off hot tea. While some may say that iced tea recipes create only tea-favored water, it is however, incredibly refreshing. Lots of people who favor iced tea recipes like my mother like to add fresh slices of lemon or lime in their tea. Still others like to add a fresh sprig of mint as well. While some cold tea drinkers may prefer it, most people who love iced tea never put any milk in it.
Iced tea powders are quite inferior to the taste of the real thing, although they are easier to find in supermarkets. The disadvantage of powdered tea mixtures is that you have no control over the amount of sweetener, and the artificial flavorings or preservatives added into it. But if you love Kool-Aid, however, you will most likely enjoy instant tea mixes. A real iced tea gourmand like my mother would never drink instant tea, but always cooled off real tea mixed with water. If you try to fool them with instant iced tea recipes, you will never succeed. They always know the difference.