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Not many of my friends drink tea. I think it must be a generational thing - we were brought up to eat cereal in the morning and dash out the door. Who has time for tea? Well, to help introduce your friends to the world of healthy and delicious tea, there are a few things I have learned to do.

1) Fun Coffee Shop Options: When you and your friend are in a Starbuck's (or Peet's, etc), have them try a hot Chai Tea Latte. This is a personal favorite of mine, especially on a cold day, because it's so warm and spicy. On a hot day, Green Tea Frappuccinos (AKA Freddos), or Iced Green Tea Lemonades are extremely refreshing, and lighter than an iced coffee. Even though these beverages aren't very healthy, at least your friend will get a taste of the delicious potentials of tea.

2) Tea at Work: Many of us have access to a microwave at our jobs. Microwave + water + mug + tea leaves = hot tea in minutes! It's so simple, what's to stop you from bringing an extra mug and extra tea leaves for your co-worker to share? In a small store with a slow pace, you can expose them to all your favorite teas during your downtime.

3) Iced Tea: Who can resist iced tea with lemon? It's always tasty, especially if it's homemade. Any party you are invited to - bring some iced tea in a pitcher and witness what a hit it is. It's such an easy drink to make in bulk, I just keep a container of cold, lightly sweetened tea in my refrigerator and invite my roommates to take as much as they like.

4) Pearl Drinks: Another fun way to drink tea is via Pearl Milk Tea, AKA Bubble Tea, AKA Boba Milk Tea. Originally from Taiwan, this drink is a hit in Asia, and has since spread internationally. Pearl Tea has milk, sugar, ice and chewy tapioca balls, "pearls", at the bottom. I enjoy the tapioca balls because they deter my urge to drink most of the tea in one sip. They also offer a multitude of flavors and different options instead of the tapioca balls.

And remember that small steps towards a goal are better than none at all! Hardly anyone becomes a die-hard tea drinker overnight. But, for instance, one exposure to green tea at work, might lead to several Green Tea Frappuccinos, which might lead to a whole obsession and the more sophisticated consumption of green tea!

I read this joke today: What is the tea leaf's favorite form of literature? Poetea.

I was quiet, unchanged, laughless. It is a terrible joke, after all, and i was inspired to form this gem (and source of undue pride): Who is the tea leaf's favorite poet? Tea S. Eliot.

My first addition to the tiny world of tea humor spurred a hunt for classic T.S. Eliot verse concerning tea or tea leaves or cups, any semblance of tea culture in the influential work one of the most important English-language poets. I came to a few lines near the end of "Hysteria." The image Eliot presents is an elderly server spreading a cloth over a rusting green table. The server says to the narrator and his laughing female companion, "If the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden," and repeats once, "if the lady and gentleman wish to take their tea in the garden," an echo. This server's trembling hands and advanced age date the tea service. The insinuation of an echoing sounds gives the narrator a distance from what Eliot may have felt was only dusty ritualism. Published in 1915, Eliot (27 years of age at the time) presented a young, progressive voice that was distracted by things more visceral than the tired convention of high-brow tea drinking: the raucous laughter of a woman, her movements, and her shining teeth.

I imagine this is commonly felt by young people growing in a society that values tea the way the English did during Eliot's youth. Appreciation of tea both in and out of social constructs takes time and attention. I value my coffee house years (in which I am still shoulders deep) and the tea experiences they have given me.

So who really is the tea leaf's favorite poet? Probably not T. S. Eliot. Allen Ginsbergamot? I'll have to read into it.

Sustainability, describes a lifestyle in which resources are used to their fullest and not depleted or permanently destroyed. Sustainability is a wonderful philosophy as it can be practiced in almost every daily activity and anyone, regardless of age or living situation, can begin to practice it at any point. Whether you drink tea for health, for flavor, to wake up or to fall asleep, you can begin a sustainable practice simply by choosing and using your tea wisely!

Love the earth with loose tea:

Tea is already considered by many to be a sustainable crop since tea leaves used are only cut off of the top of tea plants. Unlike other crops, tea does not have to be harvested from the earth and consistently replanted. Loose tea further supports sustainability long after tea leaves have been cut.

It may seem like an obvious concept, but loose-leaf tea drastically reduces the amount of packaging, resources and environmental impact seen in packaged tea bags at a typical grocery store. Tea bags, even those marked 'biodegradable', can take a very long time to break down once thrown away. In addition, staples are often used to seal the individual bags and larger cardboard boxes package the ten or so bags purchased. Wasted packaging material combined with shipping thousands of cardboard boxes of bag-sealed tea, it turns out tea buyers may be biting off much more than they can chew...or drink.

Loose tea not only requires less packaging material and shipping energy, but often loose teas are more often organically grown, meaning no pesticides or chemicals are used on the tea plants contributing to cleaner air and a healthier environment, not to mention healthier consumers!

Composting with tea leaves:

Creating sustainable habits with tea can extend to after the buying and drinking of loose tea. High in nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and other minerals, steeped tea leaves are a valuable addition to your compost or alone as mulch. Tea leaves are superb at holding moisture and can be used on soil or exposed areas of your garden to prevent the area from drying out!

Early on in my romance with tea, or looking at it now it was probably an inseparable facet of that budding love-story, it occurred to me that tea was one of those rare "universals" in our world. One that, with regard to the place of importance it holds across cultures, sits in the company of those other great tenets of humankind- love, anger, sorrow, birth, death... Wait, come again? How is it that tea might be equated to the strongest and most translatable of human experiences? Well, that's what this post is about.

As I've gathered little bits of tea knowledge here and there, I've really come to see how this universal beverage is connected to our human experience. First and foremost is that "universality" I keep referring to. There are not many things that are regularly enjoyed throughout the world, from the farthest reaches of Tibet to the inner cities of the U.S., but tea is one of them. Yet, tea isn't just something merely consumed throughout the world--it's something that is revered. It seems that every culture that enjoys tea, enjoys a culture, or many, surrounding tea. And often, within those cultures are links that connect tea to our most pivotal life experiences.

For example, in Persian culture a traditional way for a young woman to indicate her response to a marriage proposal is through tea. A cup of sweet tea indicates a yes, and the bitter taste of a cup of strong and unsweetened tea is a visceral, but subtle, refusal. Traveling halfway around the world to Japan and their famed tea ceremony, one might be inspired by their gorgeous and intent-filled enacting of the prescribed event, without knowing that the ceremony origininated as a peaceful escape and a lightening of the soul for samurai warriors struggling to escape their bloody and dangerous way of life. The Boston tea party showed American's rejecting the cultural tenets of their British roots and embracing their unique Americanness (among other things... lol!), but even then, it didn't take too long for us Yanks to return to the tea fold in our own way through the invention and the wholehearted embracing of iced tea (and if you think that simple iced tea is not connected to our important moments, take a trip to the American south and try to find an important event without sweet tea!). In another place and era,  were the "Tea Revives You" posters, which although perhaps not quite so famous as the ubiquitous "Keep calm..." Advertisements of WWII era Britain, reminded the war fatigued and struggling English citizens that there was at least a reprieve from their daily bombardment and terror.

I've only touched on a few of the multitude of examples of the connections between tea and our human realities from around the world and already I've written waaayy too much! I wish I had more space, because I could write an entire encyclopedia on tea traditions and cultures! From Russia to Chile, tea is everywhere where there are people experiencing life. What are some of your favorite examples?

Long before globalization was a popular term and conference calls connected continents, arduous trade routes were responsible for spreading product and cultural traditions from one people to the next. Fragrant teas and spices traveled across oceans and lands spawning new customs in new worlds. Along with aromas, flavors and health impacts of teas also came rituals such as the reading of tea leaves, or tasseomancy. Tasse comes from the French word for tea and the Greek suffix, mancy, indicates the Greek word for divination.

 A fun parlor activity between close friends and family, or a more serious event hosted by a seer of sorts, reading tea leaves is a way to enjoy your tea even after you've enjoyed it. Before you begin, you will need a teacup, a saucer and plenty of loose-leaf tea...simply choose a flavor you love! The tea is prepared as usual except this time you will not use a strainer when pouring into your teacup. The person having their fortune read will need to hold the teacup in their palms and focus their thoughts while drinking until about a fourth of a tea spoon of liquid is left in the bottom with the tea leaves. The cup is then swirled around a few times by the reader and tipped upside down on the saucer to drain remaining tea while the leaves stick to the bottom and sides of the cup. Now, peer into the cup now and check out the pictures, numbers and letters that may have formed!                                                                                             

 Symbols read in the tea leaves are very open to interpretation and glossaries may be found in books on tasseomancy or on the internet. Some symbols are more common than others; I've included a short list of these:

• Anchor:  At the top of the cup, an anchor can mean career or romantic success. In the middle, it symbolizes health and at the bottom an improvement in health or wealth.
• Bell: The bell means unexpected news is coming! The news is good when at the top of the cup and several bells may mean a wedding.
• Eye: This can mean a warning of caution or an overcoming of trials or difficulties.
• Hourglass: The hourglass represents a decision that must to be made.
• Mushroom: A mushroom symbolizes growth or setbacks unless it is flipped and then it may mean frustration.
• Spoon: Generosity.
• Umbrella: Annoyances and a need for shelter are foreseen by an umbrella