Tea, being the second most popular drink in the world, serves various benefits to a person’s health. And with its increasing popularity all over the world, so is the increased used and demand for its finely designed and well crafted pots.
When tea was first discovered by Shen Nung, the second emperor of China in 2737 B.C., he was just then boiling his water under a tree. When Camellia sinensis fell to his cup (the common tea plant), that was when the wonders of tea was first tasted. It evolved through many years, now coming in many forms, green, black, ginseng, herbal, oolong, rooibos, and white tea, served hot, or because of taste differences, even cold. And no one can definitely remove this warm-weather evergreen drink from our culture anymore, given all these benefits it gives us: the chemical polyphenols protecting our body cells from oxidative stress, preventing blood clotting, lowering cholesterol levels, neutralizing enzymes, deactivating cancer promoters and stimulating our immune system. There is also theanine, an amino acid unique to tea, and other vitamins and minerals that are known to help fight against mutagenic agents, delay our body’s aging, help fight high blood pressure, help fight against viral and bacterial infection and help improve the functions of the digestive and excretory systems. Not bad for a few cups of tea every day, right? And of course, tea will always be complemented by the wide ranged and reinvented teapots.
These nifty china kitchen furniture can now be found made in porcelain, glass, ceramic, and stoneware. Although these are very popular nowadays, tea was served very differently when it was first discovered. Then, people will roll the tea leaves by hand, dry them and have them grounded into powder. The powder is then mixed with salt and then dropped hot water, forming a thick mixture. The mixture is whipped until it turns to froth. This method, introduced very early in China during the 9th century was actually used as a form of medicine by the Chinese and Japanese for 500 years. The earliest form of kitchen furniture used to serve tea was introduced in the beginning of Ming Dynasty which were made from the zisha, or "purple clay”, of the YiXing region of China. The YiXing tea drinking vessels were then very favored by tea lovers because these gradually season and the unglazed clay eventually absorbs the flavor of brewed tea. These pots then influenced the invention of the hard-paced porcelain typed pots in the western world, and now constantly reinvented in different countries.
In some countries, tea denotes a meal time, which can be an afternoon or high tea. It is often served with sandwiches, fruit cakes or pastries. Some of these tea meals though are now only served in restaurants and hotels, mainly in Asia. Now, modern tea parties are still adapted in various cultures, whether in Japanese or Chinese homes or in the big hotels and restaurants. These are served in conventional kitchen wares and tea kettles, in different designs, all to serve the taste and purpose of a modern tea-drinker. Now, knowing all the benefits and different ways you can drink and enjoy tea and in its attractive pots, wouldn’t you want to see some of these in your kitchen rack?
