My poor neighbor – she had no idea who she was inviting to her tea party! You see, there is no way I can sit at something like this and not photograph it! But I am glad that I got to do so and to share the photos and story about tea.

We just finished an article about tea and its effects on aging for Communicating Food for Health Newsletter. Here is an excerpt:

Epidemiological studies have found regular tea drinkers usually have a reduced risk of lung, pancreatic, hematological [Naganuma T. et al. Am J Epidem 2009;170:730-8], colon, skin, and prostate cancers. There is evidence suggesting tea drinking may help protect against developing type 2 diabetes and possibly Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease as well. CVD, most cancers, type 2 diabetes, and serious brain diseases all increase with age.

It is nice to publish such good news about a beverage that so many enjoy!

The teas and goodies from China were quite interesting – first of all the platter of desserts or goodies was quite different from what you would find in Western societies. There were no fatty tea sandwiches or cookies or petit fours or cakes. Watermelon is served with tea and after all meals in China. My friend just returned from a 6 week trip to Shanghai and she was kind enough to bring all of this back and share her goodies and stories. The cookies were all based on fruit. The one that is wrapped was actually a small jelly candy that tasted like green tea.

The large brick of tea is compressed tea.

Jasmine tea, osmanthus tea and compressed tea appear in the plate above. The buds of jasmine were beautiful! And the jasmine tea was delicious as was the compressed green tea. Flowers play an important part in Chinese life. Osmanthus flowers are said to improve digestion and make the tea drinker live a longer and more healthy life.

You can use one of our postcards to send a friend a cup of green tea via email postcard – click here!