Some notes from the news and blogs around the web about tea is what I am posting today.
Our first note is from Forbes.com. It’s an article about the founding of Mighty Leaf Tea Co. in California. Mighty Leaf sells “overstuffed, overpriced organic tea bags”. The tea bags are made out of cornstarch and hold 2.5 grams of loose leaf tea along with whatever else makes up the particular tea including flowers, herbs, fruit or cacao nibs. The article states that a box of 15 retails for $8.
Although the founders of Mighty Leaf now sell tea bags, that is not how they started out. This article goes on to tell their story, how Mighty Leaf was founded, and inform us that the higher prices reflect the tea bags as a luxury good. Although Mighty Leaf is doing well and even have their first outside investor, there could be trouble on the horizon With Celestial Seasonings and Lipton coming into the “deluxe tea business.”
Source: http://www.forbes.com/global/2008/1124/044.html
Did you know that Preston, England holds the Guinness World Record for the largest tea bag? It weights 60 kilograms. Tea people in Canada had one that was 48 kilograms. Furthermore, Preston’s tea lovers set the record for the largest cup of tea with 400 liters. For a quick look at that record and others that were attempted yesterday during the Guinness World Records Day, take a look at our source today.
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOOaFVuhLYpIJHUgnPD8ytWDB6qg
For instructions on how to make real Indian chai tea, complete with photos, check out today’s blog source.
Source: http://007inafrica.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-make-indian-chai-tea.html
Lastly, Tea Guy tells us about the remodel of Kalahari Limited‘s website. He also lets us know about a new tea line. The ChocoLatte line includes Cherry Vanilla, Matcha Mint, Raspberry Truffle, Hazelnut Mocha, and Orange Ginger. Apparently there is also a new Red Tea, Safari Lullaby. Red Tea is their second major tea line, all based on the rooibos herb just as the ChocoLatte Tea line contains cacao nibs. Their third line of teas, Energy Teas, are all based on guarana and eleuthro root.
Sources: http://www.teaguyspeaks.com/2008/11/journey-away-with-kalaharis-new-tea.html
http://www.kalaharitea.com/
Filed under Herbal Tea, Tea by on Nov 14th, 2008. 4 Comments. 
I had second thoughts about making a quick post on this as it is not really news about tea but about an herbal tisane. So I just added a category for herbal tea and am making this post. Specifically, this is about a health study done with hibiscus tea on pre-hypertensive and mildly hypertensive adults.
Those in the group who drank three cups of hibiscus tea a day had a 7.2 point drop in their systolic blood pressure compared to the control group which only dropped 1.3 points. Those with the highest pressure readings before the study began showed the greatest response and therefore the greatest drop in points. So if you suffer from high blood pressure you might want to try hibiscus tea three times a day as part of your daily diet like the participants in this study.
One other point to make. This study was funded by the Agricultural Research Service (USDA) and Celestial Seasonings.
Source: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2008/081110.htm
Filed under Health Benefits of Tea, Herbal Tea by on Nov 12th, 2008.