Tea has been around a long time. Myth has the beginning of tea as a beverage dating back to about 2737 B.C. in China. Although long thought to be older than beer and wine, recent research shows tea to be about as old as beer but wine, as a fermented beverage, is older. Tea is, however, older than coffee.
Not only is tea old is it a widely consumed drink. While it may not be number one is the U.S., it is the major drink in much of the rest of the world in one form or another. The amount of tea produced worldwide in 2006 was better than 3.64 million tonnes. As very little is used to make a cup of tea, you can see there was plenty to go around.
Does that tea you are drinking have less caffeine than coffee? Well, that depends. A 6-ounce cup of tea can have a lot or a little. It varies based upon what kind of tea you are drinking and how long you let it steep. The most seems to be about 110 milligrams in a cup of black tea. Black tea generally has more caffeine than green tea but not always.
Vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, and polyphenols are among the benefits you get from drinking a cup of tea. These help fight off the effects of our daily lives by getting rid of free radicals and also boost our bodies’ defenses. Some studies show positive effects in preventing cancer and warding off the dreaded disease Alzheimer’s. All from drinking a simple cup of what I would argue is the world’s favorite drink.
Certainly most people don’t care about all the many benefits to tea, even if that is why they first started to drink it. After a time, it simply becomes a way of life because it is simply a wonderful beverage. There are so many wonderful types of tea and if you add in herbal teas, or tisanes, the varieties are almost endless.
Tea drinking has been the focus for several social ceremonies and social commentaries over the years. The Japanese tea ceremony and the English afternoon tea are two examples of the social events that have arisen from the drinking of tea, though one could argue strongly that the Japanese tea ceremony is a spiritual ceremony that involves many aspects of Japanese life.
Even though East and West can seldom agree on anything, one thing we all do agree upon is that wonderful cup of tea. It is savored both in the northern and southern hemispheres of the world and is the center of many social gatherings all around the world. It is even way of life in some places.
You can brew your tea in a clay pot or a floral Staffordshire teapot. You can use tea bags or loose tea. You can serve it in glass cups or the finest china., But one thing the many, many people around the world who drink tea know. Tea is irresistible.
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