Did you have tea parties when you were growing, as my sister and I did with our dolls? I still have a few of these odds and ends of tea sets we used. Do you still have a fascination with tea pots and tea cups and trying various types of tea?
As writer Amy Palanjian says, “With a charming pot, teatime can be as magical as it was when you were six.”
Women who drink tea may be protecting themselves from a build-up of artery-clogging plaque, so lowering their risk for heart disease and stroke, findings from a French study suggest.
Dr. Mahmoud Zureik and colleagues found that older women who reported drinking at least three cups of tea a day were less likely to have plaque in the carotid arteries in their neck than those drinking less tea.
The investigators, all with INSERM, France’s national institute for medical research, report their findings in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
Since the rise of the humble teabag which was introduced to the UK by Tetley Tea in 1953, the art of making a real cup of English tea has been on the decline, with many ‘tea drinkers’ choosing to mash their tea in a mug. This article tells you how to brew a real cup of English tea, and urges people to dig out their teapot and engage in the social function of tea drinking. We also address the controversial issue of when to add the milk.
From the time porcelain arrived in the West from China during the 15th century, Europeans fervently sought the expensive Asian ceramic, and even attempted to fashion their own versions in different, less expensive mediums. In England, these attempts quickly evolved to ceramic production on an industrial scale, supplying markets throughout Europe and the Americas. Though many of its creators are long forgotten, English pottery from the 17th through 18th century is today valued for its idiosyncratic potting and often whimsical decoration. More than 50 ceramic works of delftware, salt-glazed stoneware and cream-colored earthenware lent by a handful of local Philadelphia collectors comprise Turned and Thrown: English Pottery, 1660-1820.
Q: I am planning my kitchen garden for this year. Can you recommend plants that I can grow for making herbal teas?
– Elena Ruiz, River Forest
A: Garden plants with leaves that are commonly used to make herbal teas include cowslip (Primula veris) and lemon verbena. The flowers of German chamomile also make delicious herbal tea.
Other plants to consider include those that should only be grown in containers (they’re rampant growers). Catnip, peppermint, spearmint and lemon balm also make flavorful teas.
Mali Hsu gazed into her china cabinet, which holds nearly two dozen dollsize, clay Yixing teapots. She was looking for the one that would be best for a tea ceremony to usher in the Chinese New Year, which begins Thursday. She settled on a terra cotta number adorned with a design of bamboo stalks around the circumference of the pot. “I love this teapot that is surrounded with this bamboo design, because bamboo means good fortune, and long life,” she said.
India’s tea production in 2008 is expected to rise 4.79 percent to 985 million kg on higher acreage, a senior Tea Board official said on Monday.
Tea output in the country saw a fall of 1.67 percent in 2007 to 940 million kg as drought and excessive rains damaged plantations in the eastern states, Gangan Boriah, director of tea development, Tea Board, told Reuters.
“We had planted more teas between 1998 and 2002… That is coming into bearing. Those teas are maturing now. So, we have factored that into it,” Boriah said.
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