JeffCo Winter 2016-17 web

TEA - A Warm Cup of Cheer
This Time of the Year!
With temperatures recently dipping
into minus digits here in Colorado there
is no better way to combat the cold
winter weather than by enjoying a hot
cup of your favorite brew. Ah, while
the statement seems to ring true; the
real question is: What is your favorite
hot beverage of choice? Most people
would obviously say coffee, without
even thinking twice about their answer.
But, I guess that depends on who you
ask and when you ask; because at any
given time surprisingly, or not, the
answer might change as quickly as the
“weather.’’
Case in point, Stanford University
geographer Martin W. Lewis notes on
his GeoCurrents blog, “the geography
of hot drinks has changed markedly
over the centuries. Places once so
famous for coffee that they gave their
names to it (Java, Turkey, the Arabian
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peninsula) now favor tea or other
stimulants, as do most of the tropical
countries that grow the world’s
joe (with a few exceptions, such as
Colombia and Brazil).”
There are health benefits associated
with both coffee and tea, which contain
various antioxidants, phytochemicals
found in plant foods. Antioxidants
protect our bodies from oxidants/freeradicals
consisting of an atom, or group
of atoms, having one unpaired electron,
which, because of instability and high
reactiveness, can damage cells and
cause disease.
Tea leaves, all of which contain a
group of antioxidants called flavonoids,
come from only one evergreen plant
called Camellia sinensis. But what
determines whether the leaves become
green, white, black or oolong teas
depends on when the leaves are
plucked and the processing methods,
which changes the leaves’ character,
chemical composition and appearance.
Further, while, tea is a broad, allencompassing
term, “herbal teas”
produced from a wide range of plant
and herb leaves, floral infusions, seeds,
and/or roots, all offering enticing tastes
and aromas, are actually referred to as
“tisanes” (pronounced in French as:
tee-zan and in the U.S. as: ti-zan, or
ti-zahn).
Although more green coffee is
produced globally than tea — 8.5
million metric tons versus 4.7 million
metric tons of tea in 2011, according to
the Food and Agriculture Organization,
“it takes only about two grams of tea to
make a cup, compared with 10 grams
of coffee.” As such, British geographer
David Grigg calculates “three cups of
tea are drunk for every one of coffee.”
http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2013/12/20/chart-of-the-weekcoffee-and-tea-around-the-world
“The U.S. is the third largest importer
of tea in the world, after Russia
and Pakistan, and the only western
country to grow in tea imports and
consumption... In 2015, Americans
consumed well over 80 billion servings
of tea, or more than 3.6 billion gallon.
About 85% of all tea consumed was
Black Tea, 14% was Green Tea, and the
small remaining amount was Oolong,
White and Dark Tea.” (Visit: www.
teausa.com/14655/tea-fact-sheet for
more tea facts.)
Coffee or tea? We may never get
to the bottom of either beverage cup
to determine which drink is more
popular—or why, but statistics indicate
that “tea is the second most consumed
beverage in the world, next to water.”
— continued page 14
6 JeffCo Living • Winter 2016-17 • www.JeffCoLiving.com