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Tea basics

Are you a tea enthusiast or just a beginner?  Tea basics are all the same even if you have been drinking tea for years or just found that tea is now your drink of choice. Learning about tea and its origin, quality, what makes it taste the way it does and what herbs, leaves and buds makes the best teas is an ever growing process. And what is fun is to find the tea from the country and culture you love the best, and then learning how to make that particular tea the best cup of tea ever!
Tea has been around for centuries and in ancient China and Japan it was used as medicinal purposes and the claims made back then are the same as today.  Tea has been known to cure anything from cancer, arthritis, allergies, skin problems, sleeping problems, eyesight and much more. Tea can be drunk for pleasure and for healing.
25 countries plus around the world produce top quality tea.  The main countries being: China, Japan, Sri Lanka, the Middle East from Indonesia and Turkey and of course parts of Africa and South America. Tea grows best in warm humid climates; however some of the finest teas come from cooler climates.  Harvesting times for the leaves and buds are depending on the climate with the warmer climates being April – June and the cooler climates can harvest as early as February.
For centuries tea leaves and buds have been blended to form the perfect tasting tea.  Each tea bush gets it flavor and characteristic from the region and climate.  That’s the fun part of deciding which tea you like best and believe me each one will have a distinct flavor. Do you want loose tea so you can experiment with blends or do you want a prepared tea in a bag?  Learning about tea is fun and brings so much pleasure.
There are guidelines on low long to boil the water to how long you want to steep your tea.  But the fact is even though these guidelines exist to get you started the final decision is yours and it will come purely from taste.  After you experiment with times and amounts you will find the perfect cup for you and that are what it is all about, you enjoying each and every cup.

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