Tea Facts and Quotations

• "I am in no way interested in immortality, but only in the taste of tea." - Lu Tung
• With each sip I taste
  The fire that gives its heat.
  The water that gives its wetness.
  The leaf that gives its spell.
  The pot that gives its emptiness.
  
  With each lingering sip
  I cannot help but see
  all that makes tea
  as well make me.
  
  -The Minister of Leaves
• "American-style iced tea is the perfect drink for a hot, sunny day. It's never really caught on in the UK, probably because the last time we had a hot, sunny day was back in 1957." - Tom Holt

Tea Recipe

Refreshing Fruity Iced Tea

• 8 cups water
• 3 1/2 tbsp Peach and Ginger tea
• 1/4 cup tightly packed fresh mint leaves
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups strained fresh orange juice
• 1/2 cup strained fresh lemon juice
• 1 orange, halved and thinly sliced, for garnish
• Fresh mint leaves for garnish

In a large saucepan heat water to a boil and stir in tea, mint, and sugar. Boil for three minutes, then strain tea with a tea strainer of fine sieve. Stir in orange and lemon juices. Let cool to room temperature and place in large pitcher. Serve over ice. Garnish each glass with an orange slice an a sprig of mint.

Tea and Health News

Regarding Green Tea Cardiovascular Health Claim:

You may have heard recently that green tea was denied a health claim by the FDA. The Tea Council of the USA issued an explanatory response that seems responsible and grounded. Here it is:

Tea Council of the USA
Statement in Response to the FDA's Decline of
Green Tea Cardiovascular Health Claim Petition
May 22, 2006

Recently the FDA denied a health claim for green tea.

Governmental health claims communicate information about reduction of disease state. Therefore to qualify for such a claim, the research must show disease reduction through epidemiological and clinical studies on the disease state.

While there is a great deal of evidence suggesting that dietary flavonoids, including those found in both green and black tea, contribute to cardiovascular health, what is currently missing from the literature is epidemiological research on green tea consumption in the US population and clinical human studies showing that drinking green tea reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing risk of specific measurable endpoints associated with the disease, such as lowering cholesterol or blood pressure.

We anticipate that the research will evolve to support a health claim in this area in the future, since the anecdotal evidence certainly supports this position. Even though the FDA has denied this health claim, we have no doubt that drinking tea contributes to overall health on a variety of levels. The research on this subject has been ongoing for decades. But as always, more research needs to be done and is being done now.

In the meantime, people should still feel good about drinking tea because it's an enjoyable beverage and the research to date certainly suggests that it may contribute to an overall healthy lifestyle.

Tea and Health News provided by: TheTeaTable.com

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