A CAMELLIA IN EVERY CUP

Camellia Sinensis

An Asian friend of mine, knowing my love of green tea and all the different varieties I've tried in search of the best one, gave me the most delicious one I've ever tasted and I went on their website to check out their entire line of fascinating teas. Well, you could've blown me over with a feather when I read that tea came from the evergreen Camellia Senensis ( Chinese Camellia ) and was discovered accidentally by the Chinese . Seems one of the aristocrats was boiling water near a Camellia and some of the leaves fell in the cup. They not only tasted good but had a great fragrance as well. Another great invention from the very wise Chinese.

You would think that the Japanese and English invented tea since they consume so much of it . However, much to my surprise again, the Irish are the biggest tea consumers in the world.

We've all heard about the great benefits of green tea and they keep adding more as research goes on - an anti-inflamatory with vitamines C & E , lowers blood pressure, aids in preventing skin cancer, helps the aging brain, all sorts of cancer from prostate, breast, liver, etc., prevents tooth decay and freshens your breath. Recent research shows promising evidence that it helps arthritis as well. Green Tea was pitched as a weight loss product but no evidence to that effect has been proven, although the Chinese Ooloong Tea was shown to be effective in this regard. The Chinese and Japanese have 80 per cent lower rates of cancer than we do and they attribute that to drinking 3 to 4 cups a day of green tea.

Anyhoo, as an avid green tea drinker I am very impressed with the taste of Hoji-cha Roasted Green Tea made by a California Company http:www.yamamotoyama.com

It is available in some Asian grocers but is difficult to find so the website online shopping is a convenient way to order.