Have another cuppa tea

Tea in the morning, tea in the evening,

tea at supper time,

You get tea when it's raining,

tea when it's snowing

tea when the weather's fine,

You get tea as a mid-day stimulatnt,

You get tea with your afternoon tea

For any old ailment or disease

For christ sake have a cuppa tea

(The Kinks)

On a recent visit to London I took my Irish friend Eileen to one of my favorite London haunts - the Tea Palace on Westbourne Grove.  Heaven I thought for an Irishwoman, with over 100 different teas to choose from.  After perusing the extensive tea menu, Eileen looked at me a little confused and asked "do you think they have ordinary tea?".  What the heck was I thinking - that an Irishwoman was going to stray from tradition.

Growing up in Ireland, the teapot was a big part of our daily life.  I knit tea cosies as a child to keep the brew warm. On a winter's evening we'd sit around the fire and drink tea.  There was no such thing as what kind of tea - there was simply tea.  Fortunately for Eileen, my Tea Palace was able to satisfy with a nice black tea with milk and sugar.

These days there's such a range of teas to choose from and every time I go shopping there's even more.  I confess to having strayed from the purity of my Irish roots and embraced a whole new world of teas.  I've even tainted my mother who never starts her day without her two cups of green tea and swears it's the fountain of youth.

Black, white, green and oolong teas all come from a warm weather evergreen tree called Camellia sinensis.  As the leaves are processed, they become darker, so white and green tea are less processed and have lower levels of caffeine.  Darker teas are dried, crushed and fermented.

Studies have shown that teas are high in the antioxidant Polyphenols, which have anti-carcinogenic properties among other health benefits such as lowered cholesterol levels. 

I like to jumpstart my day with a tea that has a little caffeine like a white, green or jasmine tea. Anything more than 5% caffeine and I get a little over excited.  White tea has about 2% and green and jasmine 5%, black tea between 10 and 20%. I always have a bag of dried rosebuds among my tea collection as it adds a lovely flavor and aroma when combined with my white or green tea.  My favorite combination is silver needle white tea and rosebuds.

These days I occasionally start my day with a cup of chai made from black tea, a squirt of a wonderful liquid chai spice mix that I found recently, a spoonful of honey or agave syrup and some warmed hemp milk or soy silk creamer (I'm not a soy milk drinker but the hazelnut or vanilla  silk creamer is quite a delicious treat in tea).  If I'm having my chai later in the day, in order to avoid the caffeine I'll use a Rooibos tea instead of black tea. Rooibos, also known as African Redbush tea has become very popular recently.  It was traditionally used in Africa to treat various health problems, including infant colic, digestive problems, athsma and allergies.  It is also said to be high in antioxidants and it is completely caffeine free, so can be enjoyed at any time of day.

Yerba Mate, a tea native to the rainforests of Brazil and Argentina, is another tea which has gained popularity recently, again because of it's high antioxidant properties and other nutritional benefits.  It has naturally occuring caffeine, so it's a good coffee substitute.  I enjoy it's smoky flavor, but do find it a little over stimulating, so I only have it occasionally when I'm ready to rock and roll.

Throughout my day, I enjoy a range of teas for their therapeutic benefits.  These days I'm drinking an Ayurvedic concoction made from a range of spices, to which I add fresh ginger. 

I prefer to use loose leaf tea and particularly enjoy when I can pick fresh herbs and flowers from the garden and whip up a magical brew.  Tea to me is alchemy - a way to transform my moods, lift my spirits and share with friends.  What's better than a good cup of tea?