This National Hot Tea Month, begin the herbal tea habit

Tea-drinking wasn’t a habit at our house until we relocated to the Upper Midwest. Bitterly cold days and nights hang on endlessly, or so it seems. For generations, coffee, not tea, was our family’s beverage of choice. We haven’t ditched the coffee — never! — but we have invited all kinds of tea into our lives. Mornings/early afternoons are dedicated coffee-drinking times; mid-afternoons and beyond belong to herbal teas.

Why the about-face? A heavy chest cold significantly relieved by a pot of herbal tea with honey and fresh lemon awoke me to tea’s healing powers.

Some of our favorite teas

Now that we’re among the universal society of tea-lovers, the question begs to be asked, What’s not to like? Herbal teamakers like Traditional Medicinals, Yogi, Choice Organic Teas all formulate countless tea combinations that speak to certain symptoms – colds, sore throats, PMS, insomnia, stress, and other maladies too numerous to mention. (As home remedies. For serious stuff, get thee to a health care professional!)

Teabags were our preferred method of enjoying tea. Loose tea, the alternative, just seemed so…messy. Can be. Exercise a little TLC and voila! a whole world of exciting herbal teas opens up. At the moment, I’m sipping anise tea brewed from crushed seeds in that darling glass teapot you see below. Anise is a good choice to help with digestion and congestion (Source: Earl Mindell’s New Herb Bible). Dr. Mindell suggests drinking one to three cups per day.

Delicious anise tea is brewing. Tastes like licorice.

Our Asian friends have been devoted tea-drinkers ad infinitum.  Americans of whatever background have become pretty faithful tea-drinkers, as well. That’s such a smart move! Lots of good things await us when we head to the teapot for warm comfort. Like stronger immune systems. So says Dr. Jack F. Bukowski of the Harvard Medical School in his study in 2003, published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

And this. The Tea Association of the USA blew me away recently—and maybe you, too—with these numbers: Americans drank 65 billion servings of tea in 2011, well over half from teabags. Pretty astounding, don’t you think? They say loose tea use is also on the rise.

How to pick a tea

Ask yourself what you want the tea to do for you. A couple of the benefits of Tulsi tea (also called Holy Basil, and, in India, it’s known as the “queen of herbs”)  are to reduce stress and balance energy levels. It tastes pretty good, too.

To help melt away extra body fat, our go-to is oolong. We like it with a bit of honey added.

Chamomile is light and soothing, good to drink before bedtime, and very tasty. Dr. Mindell writes that it has traditionally served as a remedy for rheumatoid arthritis. It has other bennies, as well. Anciently, Egyptians enjoyed chamomile, and, 400 years ago, Europeans got into the chamomile tea-drinking habit.  BUT Dr. Mindell sounds the warning for ragweed sufferers. You might want to skip the chamomile.

A couple reminders and a tip…

• Trap in the tea’s volatile oils – they’re what make the tea so beneficial – by covering the cup with a saucer while the tea steeps.

• Herbal teas are made from the roots or flowers of herbs. Green and black teas, and those in between like oolong, come from tea leaves and are not herbal teas.

• Any time of the year, herbal teas make great hostess gifts, or teacher gifts. Or, for just about any occasion when you’re gifting a tea drinker, make a gift basket of a couple kinds of tea, a jar of honey, and a honey dip.

There’s much to know and love about tea. Start by educating yourself with this very informative glossary of terms. Then pick your tea, and start sipping!

January 19, 2013 | Categories: Beverages | Tags: Earl Mindell, how to drink hot tea, National Tea Day, tea with honey, types of herbal tea, ways to drink tea | Leave a comment