I love to throw tea parties. My friends love to attend them, as well. We each grab a chair around the kitchen table and sit and drink our steaming cups of tea while we discuss our children’s latest achievements, our husband’s latest goof-ups, our recent vacation, or our struggles at work.
Not only do tea parties serve to strengthen the bond of friendship and alleviate stress, tea parties actually strengthen our physical bodies, as well.
Tea is prepared from the leaves, leaf buds, and stalks of the camellia senesis, a warm-weather evergreen. The most popular type of tea is green or black, although other varieties include ginseng, herbal, oolong, Rooibos and white teas. The degree of processing these leaves determines if a tea will become green, red (oolong) or black tea. Green is the least processed of all teas. Black and red teas are dried, crushed, and fermented. The length of fermentation determines if the tea will be red or black.
Tea from camellia senesis contains cancer-fighting properties. Tea also contains polyphenols, which are the antioxidant properties found in the leaves of the tea plant. Polyphenols have the following health benefits: prevents blood from clotting, lowers cholesterol levels, deactivates cancer promoters, stimulates our immune systems, and protects our body’s cells from free radicals.
Tea also contains “theanine,” an amino acid, plus vitamins and minerals to help delay our aging process, fight high blood pressure, fight bacterial and viral infections, and aid in our digestive and excretory systems.
Tea also contains fluoride for healthy teeth.
Tea contains half the caffeine as a comparable cup of coffee and has almost zero calories. Note: Decaf teas may not have the same health benefits as regular tea.
Here’s how to make a GREAT cup of tea, and it doesn’t include a box of tea bags from your local grocery store.
First, purchase your tea at a local tea shop. You’ll need an infuser, those little basket-shaped filters that sit on top of the tea cup’s lid. You’ll be buying tea leaves, so make sure they’re stored in an airtight container and kept away from bright lights. Pick out the tea of your choice. You might want to pick up a nifty tea pot, as well, preferably one that will hold heat for the longest period of time.
Use clean, fresh, water. For green tea, you’ll add your tea leaves directly to the tea pot just before your water boils and steep for 2 – 3 minutes. For black tea, you’ll add your tea leaves directly to the tea pot just after your water boils. Simmer for 3 – 5 minutes. The rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon for every 8 ounces of water.
Here’s the most exciting part: pour the tea leaves and water from the tea pot directly onto the infuser on top of your tea cup. The infuser will collect any leaves and the tea will deposit into your tea cup.
Make sure to drink 2 – 4 cups of tea per day, preferably with your girlfriends.
It’s really nice to throw some tea party once in a while. You will have great time bonding with friends.
I believe in the power of tea. It is really a healthy drink. A cup a day gives us a big difference in our life.
Have you heard about Peppermint Herbal tea benefits?Its an old age remedy for many kinds of stomach upset. You can serve it too to your friends.
I can remember giving a teaspoon of cool peppermint tea to my first child to help calm her tummy…it did seem to work a bit, yes. And I know that when my tummy hurts, I tend to reach for the mint flavored teas.