A Nice Cup Of Tea to Warm Up Your Christmas Holidays

I do love drinking tea, especially during winter time when it's cold(er): it warms me up. And, when I need a break, there is nothing better than a nice and warm cup of tea.
There is a very wide variety of teas, and if you include herbal teas your choices increase even more.
Many studies show the benefits of drinking tea. Every tea, black, white, green, oolong or herbal tea, has its own properties. So drink tea and try the different varieties.
Moreover, there's more than just the pleasant taste and warmth of tea: it's relaxing and makes you feel content. And the process of making tea also brings this feeling.

Speaking of the tea making process, here are some tips:

• Find a good quality tea, possibly from a specialized tea shop. I do not know of any such a shop here in Rome, but I would appreciate if some of you woul let me know if you have ever come across one. Alternatively, there are web sites offering a wide selection of very nice tea. The disadvantage of course is that you cannot smell them or try a cup of the tea you would like to buy. However, some of these sites are worth trying. One I personally shopped from is www.republicoftea.com: they offer a nice selection and ship fast. I would suggest the use of loose tea rather than tea bags; however tea bags are handy sometimes, especially if you are travelling.

• Use good, well oxygenated water. Oxygen is crucial for the tea to develop its flavour. The following do not have the right oxygen content: bottled water, distilled water, water that has boiled for too long or previoulsy boiled water.

          If your tap water tastes good, definitely use it. Otherwise, use a filter.

• Heat the water. To do that you have a number of choices: a kettle (the electric kettle enables you to warm the water very fast), a saucepan on the stove, or a microwave oven.

• Preheat the teapot. This is essential otherwise some of the heat from the boiling water that you pour for your tea will be absorbed by the teapot and your tea may not be as hot as you woul like it to be.
  

• Teapots are generally made of cast iron or ceramic and porcelain. I personally prefer and   recommend the latter (no wonder, right?). Not only because I make them, but because they can be very colorful and pleasant to the eye and I really want to enjoy my tea with all my senses, including my eyesight.

• Put your tea infuser or tea bag into the teapot and gently add hot water and then steep for the appropriate amount of time: for green teas, 2-3 minutes; for black teas, 3-5 minutes: for herbal teas, 5 minutes or longer. If you want darker teas, increase the quantity of tea (usually 1 teaspoon for 125 ml of water), don't let it steep longer: if you let it steep longer, it becomes bitter.

• Warm up your tea cup with warm water and then pour the tea and enjoy it.

If you like a second cup of tea, you should keep your teapot warm, shouldn't you. To do that, I use a teapot warmer like this one that is on sale at a very convenient price at Italian Art & Design .

This could be a very useful and fancy idea for your Christmas presents.