It’s Tea Time with Tea Forté!
With Tea, there is beauty in simplicity.
For those millennial readers, your familiarity with ‘Tea’ may consist of walking past the section in the grocery store stocked with huge yellow cans of Lipton “powdered mix” and multi-colored boxes of unusual Herbal Essences flavors (oh, sorry… that’s a shampoo brand, we meant Celestial Seasonings).
I think most of us can agree that this shopping experience is pretty much the nutritional equivalent of just grabbing a “big bag of sugar” or choosing from an overwhelming selection of awful-tasting cough drop flavors.
These products cleverly utilize our assumptions that tea is a worthy (healthy) beverage, yet they’re marketed with an almost candy-like appeal.
And therein lies the double-edged sword, if you happen to throw one in your shopping cart. When it tastes like jolly ranchers, it’s probably not doing anything “herbal”; and if it doesn’t… well, you’re left disappointed.
Maybe you finished the cup, or maybe you poured it out. Either way — a so-so experience that most likely didn’t have you running back to the cupboards for more the next day.
If that’s your starting point, hey – at least you gave it a shot. And if that’s your bag, literally – cool. To each their own! But as for the silent majority who kindly decline, or obligingly choke it down when our parents pour us a glass, we’ll just go ahead and assume you didn’t quite “fall in love” with it.
Soooo… for the chance to ditch the noise and rediscover something truly amazing, let’s wipe the slate clean and begin with a fresh set of expectations, shall we?!
Origins
Tea has a long and mysterious history, dating as far back as the 28th century BC in China. Supposedly, it was accidentally discovered when these leaves fortuitously drifted into a cup of boiling water — and the combination was found to have a pleasing taste, along with medicinal benefits.
(No, believe it or not, a bottle of Snapple did not slip out from a baby’s blanket and fall to the ground while being transported by the stork.)
Interestingly enough though, a powdered form was developed sometime between 960-1279. It was during this period that the Chinese experimented with fermentation and oxidation of the tea leaves, thereby learning to brew different variations like black, green, and yellow tea.
Today’s innovations have resulted in tea bags (first introduced around 1903) and other vessels of preparation (see Tea Tasting event), as well as more contemporary methods of brewing loose teas. Fact is, this beverage has endured for over 2000 years and still bears all of the same inherent desirable and delicious qualities.
Milk & Honey
For those who’s world starts and stops with the sweetness-factor, let’s try plugging in honey for that part of the equation — an alternative whose natural flavor mingles with the subtleties of brewed tea better in the first place, IMHO.
Sugar cubes also provide a minimalist, and very European approach (in contrast to the American “dumptruck” method of pouring sugar into a bottomless cup).
So here’s our recommendation — start with just a little sweetener… taste; perhaps add a lil more… taste again. And that should hopefully get you there. Include a few drops of half & half or your favorite non-dairy creamer, if you wish — but it’s not at all necessary. Now, enjoy a much happier, guilt-free and deeply soothing cup ‘o tea…. Mmmmm.
Tasting Event at Chef & Shower!
With Tea, there is beauty in simplicity.
And with that, we invite you to attend our upcoming in-store tea tasting, featuring wonderful offerings from Tea Forté — including special introductory sale prices! Check out the details over on our events page!
Thanks for taking the time to read our new blog… feel free to join the conversation by posting your questions and comments below!
P. S. There is much more to discuss when it comes to Tea, such as differences between hot & cold brewing methods, varying caffeine levels, potential health benefits, etc. Look for Part 2 of this featured topic in Early 2017!
Post brought to you by | Nicholas Tindall
