Tea Party for Two

photo by Janine

Watching the movie Alice in Wonderland recently made me think back to the time when I was still a little girl and I'd have tea parties with my dolls and stuffed animals. Now that I'm older, my tea parties have evolved, but it still is a great way to catch up with old friends. My tea parties are now in one of the local coffee shops (yes, they do serve tea!) where I get to enjoy lots of different kinds of teas. I particularly like chai tea lattes but nothing really beats dipping tea bags or tea leaves in a pot of hot water and pouring it right out of a teapot to a little matching tea cup. I remember that when I was younger, I wanted to start collecting tea sets because of the cartoon Beauty and the Beast. Remember Mrs. Potts and Chip? They were so cute!

A popular trend nowadays are the instant green teas that come in all different flavors. It definitely is a refreshing and healthy alternative to the carbonated soda craze that was the norm for most of my growing up years. Compared to sodas, green tea is known for it's health benefits that can help lower cholesterol. It is also known to be helpful for many diseases such as cancers, diabetes, and other diseases. It can also help with weight loss.

With tea becoming a popular beverage nowadays, people are surely becoming more aware not just of the benefits of tea, but also the different kinds of teas out there. There are tea stores now where you can get an assortment of leaves and the like. These are great gift alternatives, in fact. Rather than Over the holidays, my cousin made a lot of hand painted tea chests that she gave out to our aunts. It was a big hit! I kinda wish she gave me one too. I'd fill mine up with mint teas. What about you, what's your type of tea?