Facts About Tea

Introduction to an Ancient Brew - Facts About Tea ...

Tea, as a beverage is older than coffee, older than wine and maybe even older than beer. Some may argue about the beer, since some types of beer may be 10,000 years old, while tea has only been around for about 5,000. Fair enough, let's not quibble. Tea is old.

It's a fact that Tea is also enormously popular. That much is obvious at a casual glance. But just how popular is it?

Annual tea leaf production today is in the neighborhood of 2 billion pounds. Yes, billion.

Considering it only takes an ounce or so to make a cup, that's a lot of tea. And that's the annual production. Annual, as in every single year.

Some state one fact about tea is that, tea has less caffeine than coffee ... Well, Yes and no. Tea leaves have about 1 to 3% caffeine by weight, more than twice as much as a similar weight of coffee beans. And, it's true that a prepared cup of coffee will have about 100mg of caffeine and tea only about 60mg.

But, people drink tea and coffee much more than they eat the tea leaves or the coffee beans. So, that actual fact about tea should read -- a cup of tea has less caffiene than a cup of coffee.

The facts about tea speak for themselves ...

The current largest producer of the world’s tea is China, with 1,257,384 metric tons produced in 2008.

There are six varieties of tea, with the four most popular being white, green, black and oolong. All of these are made from the same species of tea plant. The variances come in the way those plants are grown and processed.

• It's a Fact, Tea contains catechins, which are antioxidants. It also contains theanine, caffeine, theobromine and theophylline, and fluoride.
• Although dry tea has more caffeine by weight than coffee, more dried coffee than dried tea is used to make the same amount of drink. Therefore, a cup of brewed tea contains significantly less caffeine than the same amount of brewed coffee.
• Another fact about Tea, is it has no fat, protein or carbohydrates. Tea leaves are complex in that they are made up of over 700 chemicals. Among those compounds which seem to be closely related to human health are flavanoides, amino acids, vitamins C, E, and K.

Some of the health benefits that are allegedly derived from drinking tea are:

• preventing dental decay because of the fluoride component
• reducing risks of coronary disease
• and helping to control blood pressure.

Benefits seem to be derived from drinking large quantities of tea, although what constitutes a large quantity has not been officially determined yet.

Some studies have shown that there may be minimal negative effects from drinking tea, but it is believed that the positives outweigh the negatives.

Other facts about tea show it has proven health benefits..., some of which are the result of the very same compounds present in wine and coffee.

Antioxidants are present in both wine and tea. and the caffeine in tea and coffee, consumed in moderate amounts, has been shown to have health benefits.

But, let's face it. For most people it isn't the history, the economics, the science or the medicine that creates the huge, centuries-old and present-day, demand for tea. Tea is simply a wonderful refreshing drink.

Whether you want a robust pick me up in the morning, or a relaxing hot cup at night, tea is, dare we say it, perfect.

Tea clears out the cobwebs and relaxes at the same time. Iced or hot, green or black (or Oolong, which is in between), or even red or white (yes, they exist), tea tastes great and makes you feel wonderful.

Throughout history and up to the present day, drinking tea has been both a delightful experience and a social ceremony. Yes, people will certainly sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or a mug of beer or glass of wine together, but in very few cultures is there anything like a beer or coffee ceremony.

So wherever you are, you can now have a Wu Yi in a Yixing clay pot, or a Rooibos in a Danish glass cup. You can enjoy a lemon grass tisane or even a blueberry vanilla Ceylon.

Final facts about tea ... What you can't do, if you are among the over one billion tea drinkers in the world, is resist a perfectly brewed cup of the world's finest drink ... Tea.