Who wouldathunkit?  Green in BKLYN is on the cutting edge… of tea!

This month we incorporated SerendipiTea’s USDA organic & fair trade loose leaf teas into the shop.  With a lovely assortment of black, green, chai & herbal teas, Green in BKLYN unknowingly became a proud supporter of National Hot Tea Month (as deemed by the Tea Council of the U.S.).  With amazing teas, tea filters, infusers, thermoses & hot drink cups, we’re all about the tea & staying healthy…

Not only is January “National Hot Tea Month”, it’s also the height of the cold & flu season.  If you’d like to avoid being one of more than 200,000 Americans affected by those dreaded illnesses, drinking hot tea may help you stay healthy during this crazy season.

Published research indicates that theanine, an ingredient found naturally in tea, supports the immune system.  In a recent human clinical trial, drinking five cups of Black Tea a day for two to four weeks boosted the body’s immune defense system by four times!  That’s some heavy duty protection.

Tea also contains flavonoids, naturally occurring compounds known for their antioxidant properties.  Those antioxidants, in turn, work to neutralize free radicals, which scientists believe damage the body & contribute to chronic diseases.

Now, if you’re planning on boosting your immune system, or simply like the way tea tastes, there are a few simple ways to make your tea (black, white, green or herbal) even “greener”…

• Keep it loose: Tea doesn’t need to come in a bag for individual cups (and that bag doesn’t need to be individually wrapped).  Avoid the packaging waste by buying loose tea & using a tea infuser.
• Certify yourself: In addition to USDA Organic certification, which ensure that you will not be drinking chemical residue with your hot tea, Fair Trade & Ethical Tea Partnership labels indicate that tea is produced under environmentally sustainable & socially just conditions.
• Be cool: Only heat the water you’ll use for your tea – it will use less energy.  According to the Guardian, Brits “could save enough electricity in a year to run nearly half of all the street lighting in the country” if they only boiled the water they used in their kettles.  A water kettle is the most energy efficient way to boil water & the microwave is still more efficient than the stove top.
• Ground it up: Whether bagged or loose, tea grounds can go directly into your compost bin or directly on your plants or any number of other uses.

Tea.  Amazing & magical in so many ways…

PS – Come on in for one (or more!) of our great organic & fair trade SerendipiTeas:

• Bard’s Tempest: Ceylon Black & Chinese Black
  
• Cha Cha Chai: Cloves, Cardamom, Ginger, Pepper, Cinnamon, Assam & Indian Black Tea
• Earl Grey: Bergamot & Ceylon Black
• Gen Mai Cha: Japanese Green Tea
• Once Upon a Tea: Peppermint, Chocolate Bits, Vanilla, Mint & Rooibos
• Passion & Envy: Passion Fruit & Chinese Green Tea
• Rooibos: South African Rooibos
• Ruby Slipper: Blood Orange Fruit Blend
• Zzzz: Lavender & Chamomile