What I Do Not Know

The list gets longer and longer every day, but it might be possible for me to sum up the categories of what I don't know about tea.

What Tea Is Healthiest for You: Is caffeine better for your cardiac system because it speeds up your heart rate? Does white tea have more anti-oxidants? Does caffeine actually dehydrate you? The answer to all of these is "Yes" and yet I still have no way to tell what's best for your body. It's almost certain, however, that drinking tea is better for you than not drinking tea, because all those "oldest people on earth" folks come from Japan, which is one of the top three nations in the world for per capita tea consumption. (I don't know that either, but it sounds good.)

How to Properly Brew Tea: I've had the same tea with different brewing times, water temperatures, rinsing techniques, and vessels, and they all turn out differently, but I can't tell what corresponds to what. Sometimes hotter water is better, sometimes not -- for the same tea! I think you just have to figure out a method that works for you.

Why Ritual Is Important: I've become very interested in the Chinese tea ritual, not that I know much about it. I've been wondering why ritual matters for drinking tea -- or in any arena of your life. Any suggestions?

How to Proceed

Well, it's been awhile since my last post, partly due to moving, and partly due to my increased knowledge and increased intimidation about tea. My increase in knowledge is directly proportional to my increase in awareness of precisely how much I do not know about tea, which is a lot.

The blogs I've found and made friends with take this a lot more seriously than I do, as do the tea mailing lists to which I subscribe. As a result, my endeavor henceforth is not to provide you with valuable information, but a qualitative account of my journey and slight bits of knowledge about tea. This will take place on a far less regular basis, but should provide a far more enjoyable result for any readers I may have acquired, or might down the road.

Next time: What I Do Not Know (Part 1 of ?)

The Diet Debacle

It's the ultimate question on every tea-drinker's mind, even if they don't want to admit it. Are the rumors true? Is this tea helping me lose weight?

No! say the naysayers, insistent that there is no easy diet solution, and there is no way that anything commonly available could hold such an important property.

Yes! cry out the believers, ready and willing to buy into (literally) whatever hope they have left for shedding those last five, ten, or hundred and fifty pounds.

I'm no scientist, and I've done no careful studies, but since I've stopped drinking tea regularly in the past five weeks (It's hot down here in the Bible Belt in August!) I've gained five to ten pounds! Whatever weight loss properties tea does or does not have, I'm almost certain that the hydration was good for me, and the fact that I had been replacing sweet, salty, and fatty snacks with a zero-calorie treat kept me from gaining.

Exercise helps. A healthy attitude towards food helps. Tea is no miracle formula, but if you stake out a middle position somewhere between the naysayers and the believers you're likely to end up in a darned good place.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that last part is true for most things in life. What do you think?