Tea

茶 (Chinese); شاي (Arabic); թեյ (Armenian); Te (Danish); Thee (Dutch); Teo (Esperanto); Thé (French); Tee (German); Tσάι (Greek); चाय (Hindi); Tea (Hungarian); Guinness® (Irish); Tè (Italian); 茶 (Japanese); Chá (Portuguese); Ceai (Romanian); Чай (Russkij); Té (Spanish); ชา (Thai); Çay (Turkish); Trà (Vietnamese); Te (Welsh); and U (Polish)[1]

Stupid, useless etymological/cunning linguist pointer of the 'blog-entry:

The English word for "tea" comes from the Chinese word "茶", pronounced either "cha" or "teh", depending on which part of China you are from. It is a pretty universal word, and, as can be seen above, most other languages have a similar sounding word derived from it.

I have done a separate 'blog-entry on coffee before, so I felt it was about time to do one dedicated solely to tea(s). Half of the World drinks coffee, half of the World drinks tea, and the rest are all Mormons, Mitt.

According to our knowledgeable friends at Wikipedia:

"Tea plants are native to East and South Asia and probably originated around the point of confluence of the lands of northeast India, north Burma and southwest China. Although there are tales of tea's first use as a beverage, no one is sure of its exact origins. The first recorded drinking of tea is in China, with the earliest records of tea consumption dating back to the 10th century BC."

Somewhere along the line, the British adopted and perfected the art of drinking tea as not only a refreshment but as a ritualistic meal and time of day. "Tea time" in England does not refer to the time of day when Tiger Woods and his friends are practicing their trade. Even as I am typing up this 'blog-entry, I am enjoying one of England’s best tea manufacturers: Bettys/Taylors of Harrogate, Diamond Jubilee Tea ~ a blend of the finest Assam, Kenyan, and Rwandan teas. Bettys Café Tea Rooms are a small chain of the finest tearooms located in (North and West) Yorkshire. Taylors of Harrogate is the actual tea company. They both joined forces back in the 1960s.

http://www.bettys.co.uk/

http://www.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

Now I really couldn't tell an Assam from Kenyan or Rwandan teas (I guess you could say I don't know my Assam from a hole in the ground), but I do like all sorts of teas. I have had many other excellent styles/blends of tea in the past: Earl Grey; Herbal; Chamomile; Thai Iced Tea (which not only goes great with the spicy main dishes at a Thai Restaurant, but as a light dessert, too); and I have even had Tibetan tea, which is served with (salted) butter melted in it instead of cream/milk (it's worth trying… once, Dolly).

Bettys/Taylors make one of the best tasting teas that I have ever had (and seeing as this is my 'blog, that makes it one of the best in the World): Ceylon Blue Sapphire. As I have stated many times in the past, this tea is the Marilyn Monroe of teas and all others are Norma Jean Bakers in comparison.

For any of you jittery jerks out there who are trying to watch your caffeine intake, it is good to note that the caffeine content of most tea is 30-90mg per 8 oz cup (depending on the type and how long it is brewed); whereas, the caffeine content of coffee is 80-175mg per 8 oz cup (however, this jumps up to about 400mg per 8 oz serving if prepared as an espresso).

So, the next time you total your tea and your insurance company refuses to pay for a new cuppa, it will be on me…


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Bettys/Taylors in general (and their food is every bit as good or better as their teas) ~ 7.5; Diamond Jubilee Tea ~ 7.5; Ceylon Blue Sapphire ~ 8.5


[1] Okay, maybe that was an awful lot of languages utilized just to get to a corny punch line.  The actual word for "tea" po polsku is "herbata" (they just pronounce it as "coffee"). And here is the stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer that goes with it: this word simply comes from the Latin "herba thea".