Tuesday, June 11, 2002
This evening I found myself out of tea, a common occurence, I know. BUT, I noticed today when I was making more, that the name on the little tag on the tea bag read "Orange Pekoe Tea." What the hell is "Orange Pekoe Tea?" So the next thing I know I find myself on a new mission, to answer my question. Well, much to my suprise, the answer was not as earth shattering as I expected!
The term "Orange Pekoe" originally referred to the size of the tea leaf, but over the years Canadian Marketers have used it as a synonym for a fine quality blend of black teas. Each Canadian Marketer has his own "recipe" achieved through blending up to 20 different varieties to obtain the distinctive flavour represented by this brand name. WOW, most interesing I think not. However, I did find out some interesting facts about tea that I, as an educated individual, was totally unaware of. Such as, a 6oz cup of tea has almost the same amount of caffeine in it as a 12oz cola (37mg), as compared to a 6oz cup of coffee, which has
99mg of caffeine!
Despite our national reputation as coffee drinkers, America takes its tea seriously. The Tea Act of 1897 established the U.S. Board of Tea Experts whose 7 members are appointed by the FDA Commissioner. They inspect and test shipments of tea imported into the US to prevent importation of unsound or substandard tea. The program is funded by the tea industry which requested the law in the first place to enable them to reject unsuitable teas.
Who knew there was a "U.S. Board of Tea Experts!?!?!
♥Oh, so vintage... 12:08 AM
