Tea is most popular beverages in the world, with many kind of tea had been made by people in the world. Every country have more than one kind of tea, one of them is rooibos tea, The tea is made from the leaves of the red bush plant, Aspalathus Linearis member of legume family which growing in south Africa, in first rooibos was harvested by the Khoisan tribe, who harvested the herb for medicinal purposes and for its great taste, and most people in south Africa usually drink rooibos as tea without milk or other additive, natural rooibos taste is sweet.

In the late 1960’s a South African women, Annique Theron published a book about the benefits of the tea which caused a craze for the tea and its medicinal properties. In the last few years, demand for this tea has gone up by fifty percent. Most noticably drunk in Africa, Asia and Europe, it is finding its way into drinkers in the Americas as well. and recently many tea house in Europe and United States modified new taste of rooibos tea. Most popular variant is served and presented in the style of ordinary espresso, This has given rise to rooibos-based variations of coffee drinks such as red lattes and red cappuccino. other variation can also be made using Rooibos steeped in steamed milk with vanilla syrup.

Besides in taste, people drink it for health too, as black and green tea, rooibos tea contain high anti oxidant, a new research have a conclusion that rooibos tea contain 30-50 times more anti oxidant than black tea, as we know that main function of anti oxidant is decrease the effect of free radical to aging and declining immune system. Asian people, mention rooibos tea as “Long Life” tea, they believe that Rooibos seemly Red tea is not only a wealth of health, but also a fountain of youth. Rooibos also containing of several phenolic compound like flavones, flavanols, flavanones and dihydrochalcones. With anti spasmodic content, rooibos tea is very effective to relieving colic in baby or children and also solving stomach cramp, constipation, nausea, vomiting, and stomach ulcers. Japanese scientists had research about rooibos tea and explain beneficial rooibos tea in treatment of acne because containing levels of alpha hydroxyl acid, zinc and superoxide dismutase.

Roibos tea can drink in all times, in the morning after breakfast, to solve thirsty during a day and at the night before sleep it make you relax and help you to sleep well.

Thanksgiving is a true folk festival that finds poetry in the beauty of harvest and seed time, the turn of the seasons, the ripe products of the year and the deep connection off all these things with God. Indeed! Thanksgiving is the one day where the turkey is brought out and a meal fit for a king is served.

Are you one of those people who religiously observe Thanksgiving and go all out on a cooking spree to serve a fantastic meal? Then you need to know that ‘herbal tea’ is the ingredient of the year. But is it really possible to make a delicious, mouth watering meal from an ingredient like tea?

Yes! Deliciously naughty deviled eggs that are partially boiled and covered with a mixture of lapsang souchong and bits of herbal tea are the in thing for your herbal tea theme party. Surprisingly the tea, imparts a beautiful marbling effect on the egg whites, and adds that perfect dash of smokiness.

Broccoli casserole is yet another dish that’s prepared from a blow of rice and green tea instead of plain water. The green tea gives the dish a very natural and earthy taste.

After eating these tea kissed dishes, don’t forget to compliment the chef!

Today, the day of thanks is much more somber. It’s filled with meaning and it is a day where the most nonfunctional families come together to give thanks. The food served, has also undergone a drastic change, although the turkey still holds the coveted spot on the table. For instance, herbal tea themed Thanksgiving menus are gaining a lot of attention. Its easily become part of the holiday tradition in most families that give it a try.

Hors d’oeuvres start off with an organic loose leaf tea that beautifully compliments the baby root vegetables with Lapsang Souchong aioli. Next, mushroom cappuccinos are served in doll-sized tea cups.

The first course usually starts off with herbed yam and sweet onion tea sandwiches that blend in well with any type of herbal tea. Next, the Turkey tea sandwiches and pumpkin dumplings seem to be a great hit in every household. This can be followed by a Persimmon and mesclun salad with slivered almonds and complimented with a tea vinaigrette.

Finally, the main course starts off with a vegetarian stuffing and cranberry chutney, followed by a grilled tea-brined turkey. But it’s the herbal tea once again, that brings out all these delectable flavors.

Overall, this is a menu that will capture your senses, right from the first whiff up to the very last sip.

Art of Tea is a tea wholesaler and importer, that is based in Los Angeles, California. They custom craft and hand blend, some of the world’s finest botanicals and organic teas. But more importantly, their teas are carefully selected and grown and each one seems to offer its own unique story.

To know more please visit http://artoftea.com/

I am an American, and I have never tried milk with my tea. I do take it with my coffee, just a bit for color, but I have never (not even once!) tasted it with black tea. The English would be appalled.

There have been bitter debates over the proper way to prepare and drink tea for nearly as long as the leaves have been harvested. This may sound a little melodramatic, but I’m not exaggerating-the debates have been bitter, and they have been long. People take their tea very seriously. Several years ago, before I started working in the tea industry, I read a brief essay by Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) called, simply, “Tea,” in which he urged Americans to try loose leaf tea. Among his other suggestions, Adams addressed milk: “Some people will tell you that you shouldn’t have milk with Earl Grey, just a slice of lemon. Screw them. I like it with milk. If you think you will like it with milk, then it’s probably best to put some milk into the bottom of the cup before you pour in the tea. If you pour milk into a cup of hot tea, you will scald the milk. If you think you will prefer it with a slice of lemon, then, well, add a slice of lemon.” As a footnote regarding pouring the milk first, he adds: “This is socially incorrect. The socially correct way of pouring tea is to put the milk in after the tea. Social correctness has traditionally had nothing whatever to do with reason, logic or physics. In fact, in England it is generally considered socially incorrect to know stuff or think about things. It’s worth bearing this in mind when visiting.”

Then, after I had been working with Maya for about a year, a customer brought in for me an article written by George Orwell (Animal Farm) entitled “A Nice Cup of Tea,” in which he described his personal “golden rules” for tea preparation, of which there are eleven. His tenth rule opposes Adams’s in regards to milk: “Tenthly,” he says, “one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some very strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument in unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.”

Something you may not know about me: I am a literature buff, a real book-junkie. Douglas Adams is one of my personal heroes, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for George Orwell. Both of these men were English, and both took their tea with milk-in fact they insisted on it. So naturally, I think I ought to give it a try.

This morning I brewed a strong cup of English Breakfast, appropriately I thought. I went to the fridge and looked for milk. The jug on the second shelf had a pink lid, and something in my psyche told me that both Orwell and Adams would object to my using skim, but in all of their directions neither of them made any mention of what type of milk ought to be used, so I put their hypothetical objections conveniently out of mind.

I poured the tea first, and the milk second. My natural instinct is to go with Adams on his milk-first defense, it is an argument that makes natural sense to me and is a method that I have applied to my coffee habits in the years since reading his essay. But today, for tea, I took Orwell’s suggestion to heart. I have never before had milk with my tea, and I wanted to screw it up as little as possible.

I didn’t know how much to add. I poured a little, stirred. I took a sip. I turned to my boss, Manish, absorbed in email across the room-”Does this look right?” He turned his head, his brows twisted in a look of question. Add a little more, he said. I do. I took a sip. “How about now?” He looked at the glass and then at the jug of milk in my hand.

“What kind of milk is that?” he asked. I turned the jug from side to side, showing him that there was no label. “That’s your problem right there,” he said. “It’s skim.” I knew it, I thought.

“It’s all that we have. I think it’ll be fine…” I answered. I took another sip. The color looks about right, I think. Slightly lighter than I usually take my coffee. I’m sure this is about right. I took another sip.

It’s not bad, but is it better than drinking tea on its own? In my opinion, no. Douglas Adams would disagree. George Orwell would dismiss me for ignorance. Manish would insist that I had done it wrong (though he prefers plain tea as well). But amidst these connoisseurs and their bold opinions and arguments, I take solace in the notion that this was a simple experiment. Flawed? Certainly. But interesting.

I take one more sip of English-Breakfast-with-milk and then set the glass on the counter top. I reach for my coffee, ready and brewed, with plumes of milk settling into its layers. This is natural for me, and comfortable-what more could you expect of this American girl?

Sarah Price was born and raised in the Sonoran Desert in Tucson, Arizona. She has worked as a member of the Maya Tea Company for five years, and has recently joined the production crew of Steeping Around, an all-tea podcast. For more information about Maya Tea Company or for a list of available tea blends, go to http://www.mayatea.com. For more information about Steeping Around, visit their website at steepingaround.com.