Many people love to relax with a cup of coffee but tea is fast becoming popular as the beverage of choice due to the delicious flavours now available and the reported health benefits.
The legend of tea maintains that over 5000 years ago in ancient China, an Emperor by the name of Shen Nung required all drinking water to be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day while Shen Nung was out travelling his kingdom, he stopped to rest. In accordance with his rule, the servants began to boil water for him to drink. Dried leaves from a bush nearby fell into the boiling water and a brown liquid was created. The Emperor drank the liquid and found it very refreshing, and according to legend, this is how tea was created.
Whether or not this legend has any basis of fact, tea has played a significant role in Asian culture. Chinese scholars regarded the brew as a cure for ailments, the nobility considered tea drinking as a status symbol and the commoners simply enjoyed its flavour.
As the craze for things oriental swept Europe in the 1600s, tea became part of the way of life. By 1650 the Dutch were actively involved in trade throughout the western world and by 1680 the first reference of adding milk to tea was made.
Tea arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788 and by 1820, tea was the drink of choice and enjoyed by all Australians regardless of their position in society. Early folklore talks of swagmen roaming the countryside, sharing tales beside campfires whilst drinking their "cuppa". Swagmen and soldiers used to carry their tea leaves in their kit and the sundowner was rarely without his billy as he arrived at the stations often at dusk hoping to be granted some free rations.
Tea has also inspired much poetry and song and features in Banjo Paterson's "Waltzing Matilda" written in 1895 as well as in "While The Billy Boils" written in 1863 by Keighley Goodchild. Tea evoked a sense of nostalgia and togetherness, particularly for the Australian soldiers abroad who were mailed packets of tea to remind them of home.
Afternoon tea and devonshire tea is still fairly popular in Australia and due to the diverse mix of races and cultures in Australia since the 1950s, most cultural variations of tea are now available.
As discovered by the emperor and testament to his good taste, tea is now second only to water in worldwide consumption and the word "tea" actually originates from the Chinese word "T'e" pronounced "Tay".
India and China are the actual largest consumers of tea on the basis of total leaf used. The English have the reputation for being huge tea fanatics but the largest consumer of tea per capita is actually Ireland where the average person consumes 2.5kg a year.
In Australia, 83% of households use tea-bags with 600 tea-bags, per household used every year. On average 22 million cups of tea are consumed every day in Australia which equals 44 tonnes each day and it accounts for 18% of everything we drink in Australia.
In the United States, tea typically is served at all meals as an alternative to coffee or soft drink. Afternoon tea is rarely served in the States except on special occasions such as an afternoon out at an exclusive hotel or restaurant. America is unique in its tea consumption habits with approximately 40 billion out of the 50 billion cups consumed each year are over ice.
Iced tea debuted in 1904 and the tea bag was also born the same year. A Boston tea merchant began sending samples of tea in small silk bags for customers to try. Eventually, the convenient sacks came to dominate the tea market.
Prior to World War II, the US preference for tea was equally split between green tea and black tea. The war cut China and Japan off from the United States and its primary sources of green tea, leaving it with tea almost exclusively from India, which produced black tea. After the war, nearly 99 percent of tea consumed was black tea although this has changed in recent years as has the popularity of the loose tea which has increased in the specialty tea sector.
Tea is among the richest natural sources of antioxidants, which have been linked with cancer prevention, decreased risk of stroke and reduced blood cholesterol. Green tea has also been associated with fighting cavities, slowing down blood clotting and acting as an anti-inflammatory agent in arthritis. Green tea has also been shown to increase metabolic rate so that you can burn 70 to 80 additional calories by drinking just five cups of green tea per day.
Coffee usually has two to three times the caffeine of tea. An eight-ounce cup of coffee contains around 135 mg caffeine; tea contains only 30 to 40 mg per cup. Recent research has also shown that tea and other caffeinated beverages contribute to our fluid needs but will have the opposite effect if you drink five or six cups in a short period of time.
Young people, looking to move away from traditional coffee drinks, have started to drink tea and the emergence of bottled teas have brought tea to younger people who would normally view it as a drink for the older generation.
Some people are particularly fussy as to how their tea is brewed. Follow these tips and you are bound to get more enjoyment out of your "cuppa".
• Always use fresh water as water which has been reheated a number of times can give tea a flat taste.
• Make sure the kettle has been fully boiled for black or herb tea and if making green tea, that the water is hot (cooled slightly after boiling).
• Pour the boiling water over your tea or tea bag and steep to the desired strength.
• If possible, use a saucer to cover the cup to retain the heat.
• It is always best to brew tea by the clock and not by colour as some teas brew light and others dark. Try three to five minutes for green and black tea and four to six minutes for herb teas. If you steep too long you'll end up with an acidic taste.
• If using a tea bag, give it a gentle squeeze as it will enhance the colour and the flavour.
For iced tea, brew your tea with boiling water as described above and then chill with ice and keep in the fridge.
Lu Yu (733-804) who is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture and best known to have written the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea adds:
"The best quality tea must have creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap of a mighty bullock, unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine, gleam like a lake touched by a zephyr, and be wet and soft like a fine earth newly."
But Henry Fielding, the English novelist, makes the occasion even tastier when he remarked, "Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea."
So what are you waiting for? Cuppa anyone?
Michelle Sweeney is the owner of Tonic Gifts (http://www.tonicgifts.com) - the online gift store which specialises in selling beauty and bath products, accessories, baby gifts, books, toys and many other great gift ideas.
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