A famous coffee outlet in India has a very interesting-and potentially pregnant-tagline: a lot can happen over a cup of coffee. Some of my friends went over to the swanky joint in the hope that the cup of coffee will trigger something, may be, it will help break the ice with the girl who has not even looked their way, let alone say hello to them. One flamboyant but reckless guy who risked arguing with his girlfriend sat for hours over his cup hoping that the sulking beauty would return and hold his hand. Why did I quarrel with her in the first place, he cursed himself (but not the coffee that implicitly lured him into the outlet and could be held culpable for making misleading promises).

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Recently while browsing the Google Alert that I get for Tea , I came across this and thought share it in the blog as well:

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May the world be a better place for 2010 and for Tea!!! Especially Darjeeling Tea. The serene hills are facing a tremendous phase as hardliners are battling it out for Gorkhaland. Now we are not in the business of politics but we are concerned about the lovely land , the wonderfully hospitable and charming people and of course Darjeeling Tea.

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The origin of the mountains’ name is unknown. Some sources cite the reason as the smoky haze enveloping the area, others say it is because of the kurunji flower, which blooms every twelve years giving the slopes a bluish tinge. The Nilgiri tea seems to take on the atmosphere of its mountain surroundings. It is dark and intensely aromatic, fragrant and flavorful. The tea produces a mild, pleasant and fairly sweet taste with a hint of malt. Due to its rich, subtle flavors, Nilgiri can be enjoyed any time of the day.

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Darjeeling Tea is the World’s most expensive and exotically flavoured tea. The fine quality and flavour of tea has resulted in it having a worldwide reputation for excellence. It can take up to ten years before the leaves are ready to be plucked. The taste of Darjeeling varies with the seasons. Darjeeling Tea is often had in the afternoon.

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Jasmine Tea is a famous tea made from Green or Pouchong (Chinese Green) tea leaves that are scented with jasmine flowers. The jasmine flowers are harvested during the day and stored in a cool place until night. During the night, the flowers bloom with full fragrance. The flowers are layered over the tea leaves during the scenting process. The quality of Jasmine tea is determined by the quality of green tea used as its base and the effectiveness of the scenting.

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Green Tea is produced from various regions like, Terrai (plain lands near Darjeeling), Assam & Kangra (Himachal Pradesh), it results in a substantially different beverage because the manufacturing process is significantly different. Green tea is not served with milk or sugar, but you can decide that for yourself.

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There are four primary polyphenols in green tea and they are often collectively referred to as catechins. 
Powerful antioxidants, catechins have been shown in recent studies to fight viruses, slow aging, and have a beneficial effect on health. Clinical tests have shown that catechins destroy free radicals and have far-reaching positive effects on the entire body. 
Free radicals are highly reactive molecules and fragments of molecules that can damage the body at the cellular level leaving the body susceptible to cancer, heart disease, and many other degenerative diseases.

Japanese history records that in A.D. 729, the emperor, Shomu, served tea to one hundred Buddhist monks at his palace. Since no tea was grown in Japan at that time, the processed leaves must have come from China. The first seeds for cultivation are thought to have been taken to Japan by Dengyo Daishi, a monk who spent two years from A.D. 803 to 805, studying in China. He returned home, planted the seeds in the grounds of his monastery and when he served tea made from his first planting to the Emperor Saga five years later, it is said that Saga enjoyed the new beverage so much that he ordered tea cultivation to be established in five provinces near the capital.
Between the end of the ninth and eleventh centuries, Chinese-Japanese relations deteriorated and so tea, being a Chinese commodity, fell from favor and was no longer drunk at Court. However, Japanese Buddhist monks continued to drink tea to help them stay awake and to concentrate during periods of meditation. In the early twelfth century, the situation between the two nations improved and a Japanese monk by the name of Eisai was the first to pay a visit to China. He returned with more tea seeds and with the new Chinese custom of drinking powdered green tea. He also brought back an understanding of the teachings of the Rinzai Zen Buddhist sect. The tea drinking and the Buddhist beliefs developed alongside each other and whereas the rituals associated with tea drinking in ancient China have died out, the Japanese developed them into a complicated and unique ceremony. Still today, the Japanese Tea Ceremony, cha-no-yu, involves a precise pattern of behavior designed to create a quiet interlude during which the host and guests strive for spiritual refreshment and harmony with the universe. In 1906, Okakura Kakuzo wrote, in his Book of Tea, “Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order.” The Tea Ceremony captures all the essential elements of Japanese philosophy and artistic beauty, and interweaves four principles – harmony (with people and nature), respect (for others), purity (of heart and mind), and tranquility. Ad Kakuzo wrote, “Tea is more than an idealization of the form of drinking, it is a religion of the art of life.” The ceremony, which can last for up to four hours, may be performed at home, in a special room set aside for the purpose, or in a tea house.