Put the kettle on

A moment for tea 🍵

This weeks thoughts:

I love 💌 tea, so I decided to do a little deep dive into it.

Why I love tea:

I just think that there’s something so beautiful about having a warm drink that forces u to sit down, slow down, and enjoy it (u simply can not scoff down a hot cup of tea without burning your mouth). It’s also comforting to having a reliable tea routine everyday, like, no matter what, I have a cup of Lady Grey (yeah, not Earl Grey, Lady Grey, I’m so fancy ✨) every morning and every night I have a cup of Peppermint or Chrysanthemum tea while I do work/ read/ watch tv.

  • Tidbit: I highly recommend having peppermint tea 🍵 with dark chocolate 🍫 it’s AMAZING (I specifically like to dunk the dark chocolate into the tea so it melts a bit and goes beautifully gooey).

Origin of tea:

So when u think of tea, u mainly think of quintessential, posh British people, but that’s all kinda a fake lead coz tea wasn’t introduced in England until around the 1600’s, and instead, originates from China. In fact, medicinal tea in China dates back to even before the BCE era (I’m not sure exactly when, some sources say 2700 BCE and some say 59 BCE 🤷‍♀️). Anyway, unknown to the western world, tea spread throughout East + South Asia in the early AD centuries and is now the 2nd most consumed beverage in the world (the 1st is water so tea still wins).

Health benefits of tea:

There are LOTS of health benefits for drinking tea, obviously, benefits depend on the different types of teas but in general tea is a good boost to ur immune system. Also, note that white tea, oolong tea, green tea and black tea are all made from the same plant so there are many overlapping benefits, just that they each have their own perks and differences cos of their varying production processes.

Herbal: Depending on the type of tea, herbal tea has lots of different benefits such as: improving sleep (chamomile), improving blood pressure + circulation (rooibos) and soothing stomach aches (peppermint).

White: Since white tea has many antioxidants, there is research suggesting that it can reduce the risk of some cancers 😱.

Oolong: Oolong tea contains l-theanine (an amino acid), which is mainly good for reducing anxiety and stress. It also has polyphenols, which are good for blood pressure, circulation and sugar levels.

Green: So green tea has a lot of flavonoids (which are found in fruits, veggies + other stuff) which are good for your heart health. It also has antioxidants which have lots of benefits for the body (there’s so many things they do, from brain health, to clear skin, to preventing diseases, u name it, antioxidants probably do it).

ALSO, since unlike most teas (where u infuse water in leaf essence), if u drink matcha (where u mix the leaves as a powder into the water), u get the benefits of green tea at the height of its powers + caffeine (abt the same as black tea).

Black: Black tea’s main difference is that it has caffeine (around ½ the amount in coffee), which can be good for u depending on how much u drink, when and your age.

Veering off a little, I just wanna have a no hate moment for coffee, cos all the adults in the world always say that caffeine is bad and kids can’t have black tea or coffee etc. which yes is true, but I just wanna point out that energy drinks and Coke/Pepsi are never given the same amount of hate (as a kid I was basically banned from having coffee but I was allowed Coke every now and then, which isn’t a critique on my parents btw, just on the worlds perception of caffeine).

For context:

  • 1 can of Coke = 34mg of caffeine

  • 1 can of Pepsi Max = 43mg of caffeine

  • 1 cup of black tea = 45mg of caffeine

  • 1 can of Redbull = 80mg of caffeine

  • 1 standard cup of coffee = 80 - 100mg of caffeine

  • 1 can of Monster Energy = 150mg of caffeine

Fun facts about tea:

  • Tasseography is the art of tea leaf reading. Click here to read a beginners guide to reading tea leaves if u want to enter ur witchy divination era 🔮.

  • Tea bags were not invented until 1908, although fancy tea drinkers will say that the tightly packed tea does not ~ allow the leaves to expand~ when brewing (impacting flavor). Not to hate, but tea bags make things so much easier, so I consider this an amazing accomplishment.

  • Earl Grey was named after the 2nd Earl of Grey (the British Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834) because he liked it.

Side note of some tea (interesting gossip):

Kim K went to the Dolce Gabbana Alta Moda show (a fashion show) in Puglia (a region in Italy 🤌) and her dress really said SPEAK NOW (TV) and u can’t tell me otherwise 💜💜.

(Insert ‘Coincidence, I think not’ meme here)

Hope you have a cup half full (ew, I know that doesn’t really work and is cringy but roll with it) week

C

Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you.

Jonathan Stroud

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