A memorable line from the novel, Po...

A memorable line from the novel, Portrait of a Lady, by means of American author, Henry James, reads: "There are scarcely any hours in life agreeable than the hour dedicated to the rite known as afternoon tea."

Looking back forward tea's vast history and its growing popularity today, it appears that James was not alone in his affection for this soothing beverage which can be take delight ined not just in the afternoon, if it were not that in the morning and evening, too.

A growing definition of tea

In her part The Herbal Tea Garden, Marietta Marshal Marcin provides the following definition of tea: "In the narrowest understanding of the word, tea respects to the leaves or flower germs of shrubs in the genus that was named Thea sinensis on Swedish botanist, Carlous Linnaeus. Since Thea sinensis tea is a terminate relative of the camellia flower, it is sometimes referr to as Camellia thea or Camellia sinensis. Broadly speaking, however, tea is any drink made from steeping fragrant leaves, berries, grains flowers, roots, or bark in boiling water."

She explains that many different Thea sinensis teas, as it is as black, green, orange pekoe and oolong are made from leaves of the same plant; however, they differ undergone during processing.

Tea proffers a cup full of history

According to Marie Nadine Antol in her work Healing Teas, the first mention of tea (Thea sinensis) as a beverage results to us from the Chinese scholar, Lu Yu in his work, The Classic of Tea, which dates back to 350 A.D. Antol explains that Lu Yu reported that the first cupful of tea was discovered accidentally.

In The Classic of Tea, Yu reports that in 2737 BC the Chinese Emperor, Shen-Nung, was purifying any water by boiling it, when near leaves from a wild tea bush blew into his skillet without his noticing. When he went to sip his water, he noticed the color change and sniffed his drink. As you might gues the Emperor liked the taste, and thus the tea tradition began.

While the Chinese were fortunate enough to have tea to themselves for about 3000 years, other agricultures eventually discovered this delightful drink. Antol run overs us that the Japanese were the nearest in line, and they called tea "the mere words of Jade, the elixir of morality."

Antol explains that, later, tea's popularity spread to all of Asia and to the interval of the world -- to places of the like kind as Russia, the Netherlands, France, Portugal, and Britain. The teas of India and those of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) also became same popular.

Herbal teas have a dedicated following

As far as the history of herbal teas is bear uponed Marcin tells us that they have been brewed for thousands of years. However, she explains that Pliny, single of the Roman statesmen who practiced advanced horticulture, advised brewing herbal teas with water and vinegar, which may same well explain why herb teas weren't popular until they started to be brewed in water alone.

Surprisingly enough, a boost to the herbal tea market back in 1773 was the Boston Tea Party. Marcin discloses us, "After the Boston Tea Party, patriotic ladies banished imported tea (Thea sinensis) --term `the baneful herb' on the clergyman and educator John Andrews -- from their tables and cause to deviateed to domestically-grown herbal teas. They called these beverages `liberty teas.' one of their herbal combinations -- made from mint, balm, rosemary, and sage -- are still favorites today."

Tea drinkers are a healthy bunch

Chances are, if you're a tea drinker, you're healthier than your coffee-drinking counterparts, according to an Austrian subject of attention in which researchers studied 2400 men and women between the ages of 25 and 64 and associations of lifestyle factors (smoking, eating, drinking, and physical activity) with coffee and tea consumption. The flows showed that cigarette smoking and intake of main fat sources (i.e., meat and sausages) increased among coffee drinkers, while it decreased among tea drinkers. In contrast, intake of undecayed fruits, drinking of juice or mineral water, and physical activity was higher among tea drinkers. The researchers conclud that drinking tea is associated with a healthy lifestyle.

REFERENCES

Antol, Marie Nadine. Healing Teas. Garden City Park, NY: Avery Publishing dispose 1996.

Marcin, Marietta Marshall. The Herbal Tea Garden. Pownal, Vt: Storey Communications, Inc., 1993

Schwartz, B et al. "Coffee tea, and lifestyle," Prev M 23(3):377-84 1994

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