TEA: the most consumed beverage in the World!

Evidence about the healthy benefits of tea has been known for centuries.  This year (2012) has witnessed several studies and reviews confirming these assumptions about the positive effects of tea drinking.
A Japanese study has found that green tea drinkers have a lower risk of fraility and disability as they grow older.  In the study of 14000 people over three years showed green tea drinkers were shown to suffer less from functional disabilities in performing everyday tasks like bathing or dressing.
But green tea was not the only variety in the spotlight.  A study from Australia and a review from the United Kingdom lent further credence to the notion that black tea is just as healthy as its green cousin.  According to research, black tea was found to lower blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of heart desease.  It may also cut levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and blood sugar. [from Tea Trends]

Most of us know that sweet tea is a mainstay in Southern homes.  I have drunk tea my whole life.  But it wasn't until the mid-seventies that I began to cultivate a taste for un-sweetened tea which in turn led me to leaf tea.

The most daunting task in learning about tea is getting past the mythology of tea (i.e., Tea Ceremonies of the East and West).  In reality the vast majority of the world drinks tea much as we do.  They boil a pot of water, pour it into a teapot, let it steep, pour it into a cup - and drink it.  In the United Kingdom and Ireland they have tea around four o'clock in the afternoon (much as Americans have a 'coffee-break' at around three), they sit down with a cup of tea (they may have a scone or a biscuit) and relax.

Here at The CURIOSITY Shop, a member of the Speciality Tea Institute, we have over twenty-eight years experience with teas.  Our prices and selection of teas and tisanes is the best in the South East.
We offer the Dickens Cafe as a site for a cup of tea (or other beverage) and a respite from the world.