In Other News This Week

TEA & HEALTH

• News rolls in each week reminding us that tea is good for you. Heaven of Tea cites the UCLA study of how tea reduces chance of stroke.
• Lainie goes a step further, proclaiming tea is the new wine for several reasons. Not least among those reasons are affordability and health benefits.
• If you have already increased your RTA (Recommended Tea Allowance), why not reward yourself with a Tea Martini?  Tea Guy Speaks shares a solution for combining tea time and happy hour.

BLACK TEA

• James Norwood Pratt starts a new series on teas of India on TChing’s blog, and commenters have already questioned the veracity of India’s role as largest producer of teas. Did Pratt get this one wrong? For bonus points, can you tell what CTC stands for?
• After visiting TChing and familiarizing yourself with India’s tea industry, peek at Tea Escapade for a review of MIM Estate 2nd flush Darjeeling.
• Speaking of CTC, mozey over to Brittiny’s review of Constant Comment. It includes a video of Cindi Bigelow displaying the quality of her bagged tea over other bags. Quality tea & bagged tea? I thought those were contradictions.

GREEN TEA

• Authoritea looks at a Dragonwell that “doesn’t smell like funk.” Good to know- I always  look forward to the toasted rice smells characteristic of fresh long jing. One of the pure joys in life is diving your head into a large burlap sack of dragon well and coming out with a nose full of that rice-lemony-spinach aroma.
• Teaviews provides their take on Shanti, which I also reviewed here. Numi was more generous than I was. The Shanti package has a message in it, and the message is- well, taste for yourself and decide.
• Harney Tea has specials on some of their Japanese greens. 15% off, with an additional 10% off orders over $25. Coupon code: WinterTea2009. Email me (jasonowalker@gmail.com), and I’ll forward you the details on teas and validity.

WEB OF MIS-INFORMATION?

Be aware of the incomplete information that persists in the article (and some discussions) on Chicago Tribune’s  9 things to unlearn about tea. Teaviews had a thread about it, and Teatulia had a blog entry on the subject. One of the points is on de-caffeinating tea at home. ChaDao has an excellent article by Nigel Melican explaining how teas can actually be decaffeinated at home, and what teas have higher levels of caffeine. There’s enough confusion in the tea world- let’s help clear the air.