My Herbs 1

– Teapots made of aluminum or cast
iron taint the tea flavor. The best
teapots for making tea are made of
porcelain, glass, or enameled clay.
– If you want to remove older tea
marks from your teapot, soak it in
hot water with baking soda or vinegar
for one hour.
FUN FACTS:
– After water, tea is the most popular
beverage in the world.
– Until the 4th century A.D., the
preparation of tea was much different
from what is considered tradition
today. People used to add onion and
ginger, and this potion was used as
a medicine.
– In Tibet, people still drink tea with
dissolved yak butter and salt. In the
inhospitable and cold environment of
Tibet, this way of preparing tea is
well-founded, because it contains fat
as well as carbohydrates and salt.
– Tea made its way to Russia in 1618
when the tsar received several boxes
of Chinese tea as a present from
a Chinese ambassador.
– Traditionally, it’s women who harvest
tea (with the exception of Africa).
– One tea picker can harvest up to 40
lb (20 kilograms) of tea levaes a day
(yielding approximately five kilograms
of dried tea leaves).
– Without doubt the most typical
British tea is Earl Grey tea, but not
many people know that the recipe
(black tea with bergamot oil, served
with milk to mellow the flavor)
comes from China! An Englishman
called Charles Earl Grey received
this recipe from a Chinese mandarin
when visiting China.
– The tradition of afternoon tea was
established by Anna, the Duchess of
Bedford, around 1800. She wanted
to keep her figure slim and fought
her hunger between lunch and dinner
by drinking hot tea.
– Tea has always been a part of
magic practices – leaves are often
used by fortune tellers. In the past,
people placed tea leaves on their
doorsteps, because they believed the
practice would protect them against
evil spirits and poverty.
– The discovery of tea bags was just
a coincidence when Thomas Sullivan,
a tradesman from New York,
sent some samples of tea wrapped in
silk bags in 1904.
– The tradition of adding lemon to
tea was established in Russia and
later brought to England via Prussia
by Queen Victoria's eldest daughter,
Princess Victoria, who became Empress
of Prussia. The princess
learned it from her husband, Frederick
III, the Emperor of Prussia.
– The tea-production paradise lies
in the Assam region, which stretches
from the Himalayas down to the
Bay of Bengal. India exports thirty
percent of all the tea available on
the world market.
– The British consider themselves
among the biggest tea lovers in the
world. They consume an unbelievable
175 million of cups of tea
a day, which means that every
Briton over ten years of age drinks
on average three and a half cups of
tea a day.
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