Rainy Day Friday Morning Tea Blogging

As with all things Japanese, this is just cute.




Two leaves and a bud. Por vida.

(Props to Rich for the link, courtesy of Steap.)

I love Erykah Badu

Erykah and daughter Puma (whose father is Outkast's Andre 3000), in the February/March issue of Heart & Soul.


(Photo by Bode Helm, link courtesy of Crunk + Disorderly.)

I share, because I care

My fellow tea drinkers, rejoice:

A surprising study by German scientists has revealed that adding milk to tea stops its ability to dilate blood vessels and give antioxidant benefits, two protective factors for a healthy heart and cardiovascular system.

The study is published online in the European Heart Journal and was conducted by a group of scientists from the University of Berlin's Charité Hospital.

The small research study was conducted on 16 healthy women volunteers who drank half a litre of black tea with and without skimmed milk, or just hot water as a control. Before and after drinking their tea or water, the women were examined by ultrasound to measure the dilation of an artery in their arm.

The results showed that the "flow mediated dilation" (FMD) of the artery was significantly improved by black tea, but this effect was completely "blunted" by the additon of milk.

I'll have another cup of China black, please.



(Props to Eliot for the link. My gai wan found here.)

Taking "Tea Time" to the next level

Charbay, a Napa Valley-based winery and micro-distillery, is coming out with a new vodka flavored with green tea. This news is of particular interest to me, considering the kind of work that I do. Anyway, I'd be curious to know whether this vodka will carry with it more vegetal notes, or if it will be perfumy, like jasmine-scented green teas usually are. In any case, I bet it'll be yummy.

[Owner Miles Karakasevic's] son and distilling partner, Marko, says:

"People can't wait to try it since it's the first Green Tea Vodka produced in the U.S. Our advantage is we have the stills, the know-how and our own bottling line to keep being creative."

Indeed. I can't wait to try it either.

No word yet on whether this green tea-infused vodka carries with it any health benefits, heh heh.