Hello, tea friends! Hoping you all are having a wonderful week & looking forward to some hopefully less rainy days! Today we are going to hit you with some very surprising facts!
First, get this, Gandhi did not drink tea! Who would have thought?!
Usually we associate Gandhi with a very peaceful demeanor & often times tea is has the same connotations so it is very unforeseen that he wouldn't enjoy such a beverage. You are probably asking yourself why such a harmonious man would forgo this delectably delicious & calming drink. He had a few different reasons for averting tea. First he stated that tea, coffee, & chocolate are not needed by the body in his book, "A Key To Health" & therefore should not be consumed. He goes on to explain his take on how tea originated in China in an effort to test the purity of their water and claims that tea contains tannins which are used in hardening leather. This is actually false but quite a common misconception as tea does contain tannins but what's used to harden leather is actually tannic acid. We can forgive Gandhi though, because well, he's Gandhi!
Now, onto the next surprising fact. You know how a lot of tea is associated with the British? Well this proves particularly taboo as they actually stole tea from China! Assam & Darjeeling teas are a result of this larceny! This is such an interesting story that we have written a whole blog post about it which you can view here! Check it out because it is quite the espionage of heist & disguise!
Thirdly, we want to chat with you about chai. Chai is often a misunderstood tea. It is native to India and is a product of a basic black tea being loaded with a variety of spices. Most include things like cinnamon, cardamom, clove, pepper, etc. The surprising twist with this tea is it is actually a symbol for independence for the Indians. This manifested itself as when the Indians were seeking independence from their colonizers of the British they did not want to continue to drink the tea that they had associated with their oppressors. To avoid this, the Indians loaded their black tea with these various spices to make it their own & began to call it chai. It is now a symbol for national unity & identity there! We also have another blog post on all of this if you would like to learn more here!
We have three different chai teas available at Good Life Tea! Our Rooibos Chai is made from the rooibos tea of South Africa as a base & spiced with cinnamon, coriander, & nutmeg. Our Vanilla Chai is absolutely delightful as the spices of cinnamon are complemented by the creaminess of vanilla. My personal favorite chai tea that we carry is our Heaven Sent Chai. This tea is is a base of black tea that dances with the Masala spices of India including clove, cinnamon, ginger, & black pepper. It's always a very fun cup of tea to drink as the flavors are constantly changing with each sip!
If you have any other surprising or unsuspecting facts about tea, we want to hear them! Let us know so that we can update this post! Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day! - Kaytea :)