Anywhere you go in the world, You can always find a shop housing these wonderful beverages. Be it a large country, a quiet city, or even a small island rarely visited. You can always find tea.

Herbal tea has been imbibed nearly as long as written history extends. Also known as a tisane or herbal infusion, an herbal tea is simply the combination of boiling water and dried fruit, flower or herb. Documents have been recovered dating back to as early as Ancient Egypt that discuss the enjoyment and uses of herbal tea.

When you pour that lightly colored brew in your cup and lift that aromatic drink to your lips it is hard to imagine that you are continuing a five thousand year old practice. Tea is indeed one of the oldest drinks in history. The tortuous long path that tea has taken from China to reach the cup in your hand parallels the twists and turns taken by early processes of globalization.

Exploring a tradition over 5,000 years discovered accidentally by a wonderous Chinese Emperor, Sage, and Philosopher when some tea leaves blew into a his pot of boiling water. He claimed its wonder and the rest is history.

All tea comes from an evergreen plant known as Camellia sinensis, which thrives in the highland tropics and sub-tropic regions. There are hundreds of varietals of the tea plant grown with four main types: China, Assam, Cambodia, and sub-varietals of China and Assam types.

Most tea or Camelia sinesis plants that are harvested are kept at an ergonomically sound level of about 3-4 feet in height. There are over 2500 unique varieties of tea. Like wine, tea comes from one bush, and depending on the region, weather conditions, soil, and particular crafting of farmer and artisan the tea will deliver varying finished results with a desired category fitting into one of five major categories: White, Green, Oolong, Black, and Pu-erh Tea. While herbal select botanicals and/or fruit infusions are refferred to as tisanes.

Tea helps create an atmosphere, whether for contemplative solitude or for great conversations.

Regarded for thousands of years in the East as a key to good health, happiness, and wisdom, tea has caught the attention of researchers in the West, who are discovering the many health benefits of different types of teas.

Tea is a name given to a lot of brews, but purists consider only green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea the real thing. They are all derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, a shrub native to China and India, and contain unique antioxidants called flavonoids.

The benefits may go beyond those gained from adding more plant food to your diet. The research presented at a symposium covered the gamut of health benefits attributed to tea — from reduced risks of gastrointestinal cancers to improved mental acuity in older adults.

From the Texas Tech University Health Science Center came a take on traditional Chinese medicine. Postmenopausal women — who are at an extreme risk of osteoporosis — were prescribed regimes of green tea and Tai Chi. Six months later, and with a high compliance rate, those who had consumed 4 to 6 cups of green tea daily, with or without the Tai Chi, had “improved markers for bone formation, reduced markers of inflammation, and increased muscle strength.”

Herbal tea has been imbibed nearly as long as written history extends. Also known as a tisane or herbal infusion, an herbal tea is simply the combination of boiling water and dried fruit, flower or herb. Documents have been recovered dating back to as early as Ancient Egypt that discuss the enjoyment and uses of herbal tea.

Scientific research confirms what Asians believed for centuries – that green and black tea contain powerful natural antioxidants which can protect regular tea drinkers from many degenerative diseases.

Revelations on the therapeutic qualities of tea have been overwhelming. According to research, there are not many of mankind’s ailments that are untouched by its therapeutic qualities. No other natural or synthetic substance comes even close to tea in terms of benefits across such a multitude of fronts. A panacea it may not be, but there is no denying that in this health conscious era, science is excited by what tea has to offer and has placed it under their microscopes like none other before.

In religion the Future is behind us. In art the present is the eternal. The tea-masters held that real appreciation of art is only possible to those who make of it a living influence. Thus they sought to regulate their daily life by the high standard of refinement which obtained in the tea-room.

In all circumstances serenity of mind should be maintained, and conversation should be conducted as never to mar the harmony of the surroundings. The cut and color of the dress, the poise of the body, and the manner of walking could all be made expressions of artistic personality. These were matters not to be lightly ignored, for until one has made himself beautiful he has no right to approach beauty. Thus the tea-master strove to be something more than the artist,–art itself. It was the Zen of aestheticism.

 Perfection is everywhere if we only choose to recognize it.

There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea, which makes it irresistible and capable of idealization. Western humourists were not slow to mingle the fragrance of their thought with its aroma.

Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its noblest qualities. We have good and bad tea, as we have good and bad paintings–generally the latter. There is no single recipe for making the perfect tea, as there are no rules for producing a Titian or a Sesson. Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality, its special affinity with water and heat, its own method of telling a story.

The truly beautiful must always be in it. How much do we not suffer through the constant failure of society to recognize this simple and fundamental law of art and life; Lichilai, a Sung poet, has sadly remarked that there were three most deplorable things in the world: the spoiling of fine youths through false education, the degradation of fine art through vulgar admiration, and the utter waste of fine tea through incompetent manipulation.

Tea Philosophy is the civilized solution for living within an often chaotic world. It is the forum where harried people gather to pause, relax, and share conversation over tea. Via Tea Philosophy, we all learn how to breathe again. And this is good.

Live and Learn. We All Do.

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