Come and join me for a nice cup of TEA!

Sit a while, chillax, let’s chat, and while we do, let’s talk about that amazing beverage – the one that has been around forever – that can change your mood and demeanour in an instant.

Of course I am talking about TEA or you may know it as:

Teestrauch; תה, tè, 茶, чай, çay, trà, شاي, tee, τσάι, чай, čaj, teh, tae

Who would have thought (well obviously someone did!) that the leaf of a lovely flowering bush could provide refreshment to generations?

Reading the history of tea (as with all research, it depends on whose history you read) it all began in

2737 B.C. when the second emperor of China, Shen Nung, discovered tea when tea leaves blew into his cup of hot water or so the story goes.
618-907 T'ang Dynasty Tea became a popular drink in China for both its flavour and medicinal qualities
1484 Japan's shogun Yoshimasa encouraged tea ceremonies, painting, and drama.
1618 Chinese ambassadors presented the Russian Czar Alexis with many chests of tea, which are refused as useless.
1706 Thomas Twining served up tea at Tom’s Coffee House in London.
1826 English Quaker John Horniman introduced the first retail tea in sealed, lead-lined packages. (for years these Tea Chests were used by us for storage and removal!)
1856 Tea was planted in and about Darjeeling, India.
1908 New York tea importer Thomas Sullivan inadvertently invented tea bags when he sent tea to clients in small silk bags, and they mistakenly steeped the bags whole. (OH NO!)
1951 Vicky was born and had to wait until she was about 8 before she was allowed to have her first cup of tea!
1959 Dr Allan Maruff purchased 320 acres at Nerada in the foothills of the Atherton Tablelands near Innisfail. He commenced planting the first commercial tea plantation since 1884 using seeds from the Experimental Station at Bingal Bay.

2010 Of course I have left out a lot of the history of tea – if you are interested, and it is a fascinating story, please check on the link. You are sharing the wonders of Tea with me on my BLOG!

Today’s post is the first in my series about tea. I would love to hear about your experiences with tea.

While I love coffee – I don’t drink it. For me it was not doing my health any good. I just love the smell of coffee. I always want to be there when a new pot is brewed or a jar is opened.

Now, I am back to being a teetotal! I am very happy with that.

I drink a lot of tea. I drink many different varieties of tea. My choice of tea is dependent on the weather, the time of day, what I may accompany it with, and what my palate is saying at the time.

Buying tea for me is like being in a candy shop! The smells, the boxes, packets, tins, labels, provide me with a veritable smorgasbord of temptations for my senses.

In the next few postings, I will consider:

• The types of tea,
• Making the ultimate cuppa,
• Teapots,
• Teacups,
• Selecting Tea,
• Tea around the world,
• High Tea,
• Tea parties and
• TEAsers!

 Come back and share some more TEA with me next time!