International Tea Day has been celebrated every year on December 15, around the world, since 2005.
Now if you know me, you know that I love tea. I start every morning with a cup of green tea, I end each day with a hot chamomile blend (Celestial Seasoning’s Sleepytime Extra is a favorite), and depending on the day there can be up to 3 or 4 other cups of tea between those two.
I love tea. It never fails to start my day off just right. A cup of tea drank between tasks, or while I’m reading, is the perfect way to refresh my mind, destress, and put me in a good mood for whatever lies ahead of me.
To celebrate International Tea Day I have compiled a list of fun tea facts that you may not have known. If you’re looking for further information on our favorite drink (or simply want an interesting read) I highly recommend the book How To Make Tea by Brian Keating and Kim Long. I recently read this book and thoroughly enjoyed all the information it gave from the history of tea to how each type is grown and processed to the best ways to brew them. I’ll post a link to it, along with some of my favorite tea paraphernalia, at the bottom of this post.
11 Facts for International Tea Day
1: Green tea, black tea, white tea, and oolong tea all come from the same plant, Camellia Sinensis. The difference is in when they’re harvested, how they’re harvested, and the drying/preserving process they go through all.
2: December 16 (the day after International Tea Day) marks the anniversary of the 1773 Boston Tea Party which was just the first of many similar “parties”.
3: After water, tea is the most popular drink in the world.
4: While water for black tea should be allowed to fully boil, the water you heat for green tea should be stopped just before it reaches a “rolling” boil (about 170-180 degrees). This will keep your green tea from taking on the bitter flavor that is often associated with green tea.
5: 4 cups of tea a day is the recommended dose to get the most health benefits from your tea. That is black tea, green tea, white tea, or oolong tea. Herbal teas (tea not produced from the Camellia Sinensis plant) are not technically considered tea, but still have loads of their own benefits.
6: Legend has it that tea was accidentally invented by Emperor Shen Nung in 2732 BC. As the story goes, the wind blew tea leaves into a pot of boiling water. Intrigued by the scent of the brewing leaves, the emperor drank it and thus tea was discovered.
7: A cup of mint tea after a meal is said to aid with digestion. (I’m a believer! I have experienced these digestive benefits myself.)
8: Of the chests of tea dumped into the Boston Harbor during the Boston tea party of 1776 265 of them contained black tea and 75 contained green tea. In today’s dollar value, approximately 1 million dollars worth of tea was tossed into the Boston harbor that day.
9: There are many health benefits to drinking tea daily. For example, it helps fight against diabetes, cancer, and heart diseases; supports digestion; lowers cholesterol; improves brain function; aids in weight loss; etc.
10: Tea brewed from Red Raspberry Leaves is high in calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Pregnant women are often encouraged to drink this tea, it is known to strengthen the reproductive system and encourage a healthy pregnancy, birth, and recovery.
11: a cup of tea (any kind of tea) counts towards your daily water intake as it’s just as hydrating. In fact! Drinking tea is more beneficial to your body than just drinking water.
Were any of these facts new to you? let me know in the comments!
Some of my favorite tea products
Quick disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. All that means is that if you click a link and make a purchase off another website, I may receive a small commission. And at no additional cost to you! Cool right? Thank you for your support!
- I have been using this infuser for years! It’s easy to use, easy to clean, and the holes are nice and small so a lot of tea particles don’t get out and float around in your cup. And guys! It’s like $3.00! can’t beat that!
- How To Make Tea: Here’s that book I mentioned before. It really is an interesting and worthwhile read.
- Whistling Kettle: This is a CLEAR glass kettle! But let me warn you before you get too excited, this kettle only works on gas stoves. I have used it on both gas and electric, trust me, an electric stove will crack the glass. It does come with a little wire thingy that’s supposed to make it work on electric, well, it doesn’t work. BUT if you have a gas stove you seriously should get this kettle and wow all your friends at tea time. It’s so cool to be able to see the water heating up through the clear glass! plus it whistles. Literally my favorite tea-making item!
- If you are looking for an electric kettle, THIS is the one I have. It’s really nothing special but it has endured daily use for 4 years and is still going strong. Super straightforward, no fancy settings, and the temperature is easy to adjust if needed.
- Red Rose Tea: this is my favorite basic black tea. Such good flavor. Nothing like that Lipton crap (was that out loud?)
- I was given This Pitcher as a gift and I use it all the time! It’s perfect for making a pitcher of iced tea to keep in the fridge. The weather here in Okinawa gets HOT and it’s so nice to come in to a nice, fresh glass of iced tea already in the fridge. My only negative review on this, however, is that the base is too tall to fit in my dishwasher… but that’s just me being lazy.
In conclusion: Have a Happy International Tea Day. Drink up!
