This past week Tea became the state drink of Assam, the first step on its journey to becoming the national drink of India. India produces 31% of the world’s tea and Assam produces 50% of this total.

Amongst the green tea and mint leaves you can clearly pick out the cloves, licorice, ginger pieces and cardamom buds. The fennel and pepper are a little trickier to see but are there.

This tea has a very strong mint smell (which any high quality mint tea should have) that overpowers the other ingredients, although there is a slight hint of pepper and licorice mixed into the aroma.

The taste is surprisingly balanced and not what you would think from the smell. There is just the right taste of mint mixed with licorice followed by a spicy peppery fennel bite with just the right amount of sweetness from the ginger. All the flavours combine in a refreshing minty aftertaste that leaves your mouth (and breath) feeling cool and fresh.

DAVIDsTEA describes Organic North African Mint tea as:

“Explore Northern Africa, from its souks to its deserts, with this intense combination of spices and mint. It combines organic, fairly-traded green tea and peppermint with organic cardamom, ginger, licorice root, fennel clove and black pepper. Deliciously sweet, with all the romance of the Maghreb.”

This tea is available from DAVIDsTEA and can be purchased on their website, here is the direct link to Organic North African Mint.

I give this tea 4 out of 5. I would definitely recommend this tea to anyone who likes mint teas and would like something flavourful and rich. It may be a little too rich to drink regularly though. I will definitely be buying this tea again soon though because I think my stock will be running out soon!

One of the many health benefits of tea is its ability to fight bad breath. According to researchers, from the College of Dentistry at the University of Illinois, bad breath is caused by bacteria that hangs out and grows on the back of the tongue. They proved that the polyphenols in tea prevented the smelly bacteria from growing. So enjoying a nice cup of tea will help freshen your breath.

Just another reason for enjoying tea, the wonder drink of the past and future (I couldn’t help myself).

I didn’t know what to expect, having never been to a specialty tea shop, and I was pleasantly surprised. DAVIDsTEA has a very clean modern feel. There are a few tables in the front for patrons to rest their feet while they sit back with a fresh cup of their favorite tea. The middle and largest section of the shop is the sales counter complete with weighing stations. The entire wall behind the counter is covered with different flavors of tea (quite overwhelming at first glance but very impressive). The back of the shop houses all the tea pots, cups, gift sets, books and other gift wares.

As we (my fiancé joined me) enter the shop and begin looking around we are greeted with samples of some fresh white tea (I don’t recall what kind – memory of a goldfish). The sales staff are very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Having no idea of what to select, the sales staff (I was too overwhelmed by the tea to ask her name, I know, it was very rude of me) shows me about 15 different teas. She explained everything about the teas including the ingredients and different ways of preparing them. It was quite hard making a final decision, the teas all smelled so tasty and delicious!

In the end I settled on david’s starter kit, which consists of  5 teas (North African Mint, Cream of Earl Grey, Coco Chai Rooibos, Sweet Dreams, Japanese Sencha), a tea ball infuser and a perfect measuring spoon. I also purchases 6 other teas (Read My Lips, Rooibos de Provence, Organic Spicy Chocolate Rooibos, Super Chocolate, Genmaicha, Go for the Gold) and some agave nectar. I also received free canisters for the teas and a hemp shopping bag.

After dinner I enjoyed a cup of Super Chocolate tea and it was in fact super (I will have a full review in a future post). I couldn’t be happier with my first visit to DAVIDsTEA and can’t wait to return!

Making the Perfect Cup of Tea with Jonathan Evans

This video is from JamieOliver.com and features their tea sourcer explaining how to make the perfect cup of tea. I’ve never actually warmed my tea pot before making tea, is that something anyone else does?

What do you think, is this the best way to make the perfect cup of tea or do you have any other suggestions?

A variety of teas.

In China it is known as Cha, so why do we call it tea? In the Xiamen dialect, spoken in the Fujian Province of China, it is known as te (pronounced tay). As you can see tea was derived from this pronunciation.  It was the Dutch who first brought tea to Europe and their source originated in the ports of Fujian. So that is why most countries call tea by a name derived from te.

So what is tea called around the world:

Thee – Dutch
Te – Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Hungarian, Malay
Tea – English
Thé – French
Tee – Finnish, German
Teja – Latvian
Ta – Korean
Tey – Tamil
Thay – Sinhalese
Thea to scientists
Cha – Mandarin, Portuguese, Persian, Japanese, Hindi
Ch’a – Cantonese
Shai – Arabic
Ja – Tibetan
Chay – Turkish
Chai – Russian

If you know the name for tea in any other languages add them in the comments. I’ll be happy to put them in the list.

So why is this particular type of tea regarded so greatly above the other varieties? There may be many reasons but the most likely is the almost magical effects this drink can have over our health.

Out of the many health benefits, I believe the top 4 are:

1) Green Tea is an Effective way to Lose Weight

Green tea is swimming with anti-oxidants one to note is epigallocatachen gallate (EGCG). EGCG help to accelerate energy expenditure, which means green tea simulates thermogenesis or fat metabolism. In a study of green tea dieting, the participants showed a 4% increase in metabolic rates.

2) Green Tea is a Cancer Fighter

The anti-oxidant levels in green tea are many times better than vitamin C and vitamin E at protecting our immune systems. Green tea reduces the amount of free radicals in our bodies which helps prevent and protect against cancer. The EGCG anti-oxidants have also been shown to slow down stop the growth of cancer cells.

3) Green Tea Protects Against Stokes & Heart Attacks

Green tea promotes blood circulation and has been found to have great benefits to our circulatory systems. The EGCG anti-oxidants, found in green tea, effectively stop blood clots from forming. Blood clots, or thrombosis, lead to strokes and heart attacks.

4) Green Tea Lowers Cholesterol

Another major health benefit of green tea is its ability to lower both total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. After 3 months in a study, participants that had moderate to high levels of cholesterol showed an average drop of 16% in their cholesterol levels.

Some other notable health benefits include:

• Protecting skin from ultraviolet light radiation
• Regulates body temperature and blood sugar
• Helps stabilize diabetes
• Aids in digestion
• Improves mental processes

For more information check out these articles:

• Health benefits of drinking green tea
• The Complete Guide to Green Tea

What will this site encompass, I’m not sure. I like tea, who doesn’t, there is no better way to relax and unwind. I want to learn everything about it, and I plan to try and document every step of my journey to thebestcupoftea!

Put on the kettle, grab your favorite cup and steep your tastiest blend. The journey to thebestcupoftea has just begun.