Tea. Green Tea, Black Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Oolong Tea, or my personal favorite, old fashioned Southern Sweet Sun Tea. Where you take the giant glass jar, load it up with water, Lipton Tea bags and sugar, and set it out in the sun to brew. Once it is good and strong, you add ice cubes and stick it in the fridge. That takes me back to my childhood. Ah, a Carolina summer and a big glass of sweet iced tea…

Wait. Sorry about that Gentle Readers. I got distracted a moment. Today we are talking about tea. The origins of Tea are shrouded in Chinese history, with accounts dating back to at least 2700BC where it was a touted as a medicinal drink. Several legends, a couple thousand years, and the introduction of European traders to the region and we have an explosion of all things Tea.

Many people find Tea to be a relaxing beverage, something to calm the nerves and get you to settle down and just exist. A coworker at my day job enjoys several cups of hot tea throughout the day. He’s a little funny about his tea but he is a good guy. I don’t drink much hot tea, but my wife likes a cup every now and then, not so much right now. She is pregnant and the caffeine is not completely good for a developing baby so she has had to give up most of her herbal teas. Good trade off though in our opinion. We have been trying for so long.

GAH! There I go again, off on another tangent. Where I am going is that having a cup of tea can be very relaxing. Green and Black tea in particular are shown to have many benefits in fighting carcinogens, high blood pressure, arterial problems, and helping to lower stress levels. Sip a cup of your favorite tea and let the benefits soak into your body, pushing out the negative. Check out this blog that gives some suggestions for teas to try. Once I went to this little new age shop (I am sure you can find them in any largish city) where you could blend your own tea ingredients. I was having trouble sleeping so I took a little Chamomile and Lavender, threw in a little lemon for flavoring. Take a cup of really hot water and steep it until the water is cool enough to drink. I had one of those tea ball strainers like this one below I found on Walmart.com

Was a great blend, but I never could duplicate it a second time sadly. It was very relaxing and helped with my sleeplessness I was dealing with at the time. Regardless of your feelings about new age/neopagan religions, if you want to find a good tea, you should check out their shops. In person is great because you can see for yourself the freshness of the ingredients and perhaps even try a sample. Online shops would due in a pinch if you know what you like.

Until next time Gentle Readers, I raise a cup to your health and well-being.