I jumped right in, creating a store for my products. Finally, after so many years, all the work and planning and it is about to come true. One of my great loves is tea and the tea plant. Many different teas come from this one plant. Found hundreds of years ago by accident, tea has become the staple drink for so many countries. For so many people.

Tea comes from China, Taiwan, Formosa, Japan, India, Darjeeling and even America has their first tea plantation off the East coast in S. Carolina.

I have added times and temps for making the different types of tea. Oolong is my fav, with it's ability to make 4-7 cups of tea from just one measurement of tea. Drain it each time you make it and the leaves will be ready to make another cuppa from the same leaves.

Health Benefits of Tea: Green, Black, and White Tea. Tea is a name given to a lot of brews, but purists consider only green tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea the real thing. They are all derived from the Camellia Sinensis plant, a shrub native to China and India, and contain uniqueantioxidants called flavonoids. The most potent of these, known as ECGC, may help against free radicals that can contribute to cancer, heart disease, and clogged arteries.All these teas also have caffeine and theanine, which affect the brain and seem to heighten mental alertness.The more processed the tea leaves, usually the less polyphenol content. Polyphenols include flavonoids. Oolong and black teas are oxidized or fermented, so they have lower concentrations of polyphenols than green tea; but their antioxidizing power is still high. Nature and tea goes together. Relax with your favorite cuppa tea and listen to the birds calling out to each other, the frog chimming in and the sounds of laughing children playing.

Here's what some studies have found about the potential health benefits of tea:

Green tea: Made with steamed tea leaves, it has a high concentration of EGCG and has been widely studied. Green tea’s antioxidants may interfere with the growth of bladder, breast, lung, stomach, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers; prevent clogging of the arteries, burn fat, counteract oxidative stress on the brain, reduce risk of neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, reduce risk of stroke, and improve cholesterol levels.

Darjeeling is considered the champagne of teas.

Black tea: Made with fermented tea leaves, black tea has the highest caffeine content and forms the basis for flavored teas like chai, along with some instant teas. Studies have shown that black tea may protect lungs from damage caused by exposure to cigarette smoke. It also may reduce the risk of stroke.

White tea: Uncured and unfermented. One study showed that white tea has the most potent anticancer properties compared to more processed teas.

Oolong tea: In an animal study, those given antioxidants from oolong tea were found to have lower bad cholesterol levels. One variety of oolong, Wuyi, is heavily marketed as a weight loss supplement, but science hasn’t backed the claims.

Pu-erh tea: Made from fermented and aged leaves. Considered a black tea, its leaves are pressed into cakes. One animal study showed that animals given pu-erh had less weight gain and reduced LDL cholesterol.

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