Thursday 3/21/13 Spring TEADAY

[Chip]

Welcome one and all to another TeaDay.
So filler up and share what's in your cup today...all day.
Be sure to check out what everyone else is sipping as well.
You can also share pictures of your TeaDay, we have not had many pictures posted lately here in TD.

Today, we are asked, why do we drink tea?
Is it love, is it health, caffeine, a combination?
What is most important, what is least important?

BTW, as you have probably noticed, there is an "under construction" forum Tea and Health under the Tea and Teaware category. Look for the opening soon!

I am as always looking forward to seeing everyone on TeaDay.
So, bottoms up...refill...repeat numerous times.

[Chip]

OH, I forgot to mention that Drax's new topic "Too much tea (skeletal fluorosis)', influenced my TeaDay selection.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=18439

[SilentChaos]

....because I'm a hopeless addict

[debunix]

I just like tea. Enjoying some Imperial TGY from Yunnan Sourcing in the office this morning.



(Petr Novak kyusu and yuzamashi, and Seigan Hagi)

[Chip]

Lovely photo, debunix, thanks for sharing.

Started our TeaDay off with Asanoka from NOTTI 2. Tealicious!!!

[victoria3]

I love tea and "it happens to be good for me".... Otherwise I might be drinking wine all day

[GreenwoodStudio]

This was a hard one. I love it for sure, but decided to answer that it's better then the alternatives. Since I started my tea journey I've cut way back on coffee and other sugary drinks and never drink booze. It's a great alternative to other beverages and makes me feel fantastic.

Having a session of pu'pourri now. I have a jar that's a mix of the loose material from many different pu'erh bings. It's actually pretty good.

[AdamMY]

I'm with Silent Chaos, I am a hopeless addict that needs my fix on a regular basis. But I got addicted in the first place because I love it!

[Muadeeb]

I'm with Silent Chaos, I am a hopeless addict that needs my fix on a regular basis. But I got addicted in the first place because I love it!

Me too, I've developed a full blown addiction to pots. I need it first thing in the morning just to feel normal.

I just hope I don't end up like Dave Grohl.

[Devoted135]

Voted for "I love it" because that's why I've gotten so much more into tea in the last couple years. However, it is true that it's way better for me than things I might otherwise be drinking...juice, lemonade, pop... I do still drink the occasional glass of wine though!

[Hannah]

I blame my mother!!!

When I was 11, she took me overseas to China and took me to see tea houses, one of the tea ladies who did a gongfu ceremony for us gave me my first gaiwan! I remember being amazed!!

The novelty and passion still hasn't gone away another 11 years later

[Tadpole]

I love it, period!...includes all the other explanation:
happens to be good for me
has potential health benefits
better for me than the alternatives that I WOULDN'T drink
I can drink it purely for the caffeine
I happen to like the caffeine
Coffee makes me crazy
and other: it's the one social, communal and most inclusive thing I enjoy. Almost every other established social thing-- I roll my eyes at or don't understand the value of spending money on. Yeah, tadpoles can roll their beady eyes.

[victoria3]

I was just reading excerpts from a new book 'The One Taste of Truth: Zen and the Art of Drinking Tea' and it turns out Japan has a great tea tradition today because 400 years after the Buddhist priest Kukai introduced tea seeds to Japan, via Chinese Buddhist practices, a monk named 'Eisai (1141–1215, who is credited as popularizing tea in Japan)', proclaimed;

"drinking tea would ameliorate the people’s health"... "To that effect, he wrote two treatises: the Kozen gokoku-ron, or The Promotion of Zen and the Protection of the Nation, explaining the benefits of establishing this new sect; and the Kissa yojoki, Drinking Tea and Maintaining Health....The latter short book, written entirely in classical Chinese, is for the most part a practical explanation of why tea drinking promotes health. His approach is a mixture of Confucian philosophy, traditional Chinese medicine, and Shingon symbolism, but his main emphasis is this: the heart is the primary organ of the body, and tea is the heart’s medicine. Everyone should drink tea for a more healthy life."

http://www.dailyom.com/cgi-bin/display/ ... cleid=3055

Health is equated with artistry and with life.

[Snooteaperson]

Love it, period.

It's also been a way to connect with my friends when we're all spread out away from each other during college. Nice warm happy feelings all around.