And here are the links to our December acquisitions. Feel free to contact the library to put your name on the hold list for any you would like to read. You can call us or log in through the catalog on the website using your library card number for ID and PIN. And, as always, let us know if there is a book or DVD you think would enhance the collection.

The aromatic beverage tea is made by pouring hot or boiling water over dried or fresh leaves of Camellia Sinensis, an evergreen shrub from China and other East Asian countries. It is the second most widely consumed drink, after water. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling astringent taste, others may be nutty, sweet, floral, or grassy. Tea is a stimulant to humans because of its caffeine. There are three groups of teas: green, oolong, and black, classified according to their preparation for market.

“Herbal tea” or “herbal infusions” refers to drinks not made from Camellia Sinensis. They are infusions of fruit, leaves, or other plant parts, such as steeps from chamomile, rosehip, or rooibos. Iced tea was invented at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in 1904, because of extreme heat, to compete with lemonade stands! Teabags also came about in 1904 as a marketing ploy by a New York tea merchant.

Tea drinking was first recorded in China in 59 BC, although it is thought to be much older. It is in a medical text written by Hua Tuo in the 3rd century AD. It became a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty. Portuguese merchants and priests brought it to Europe in the 16th century. It became fashionable in England in the 17th century; the English planted tea in India. Tea drinking is very popular also with Russians, the Dutch, and Americans. The French and Germans prefer their wine and beer. Presidents such as Washington, Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Kennedy enjoyed tea.

Coffee and chocolate drinks were already popular in England in the 17th century. Coffee houses, which also served tea, were frequented by men only. Later teashops opened for women. Tea drinking generated crazes such as tea gardens (lovely landscaped gardens for fashionable folks), tea dances in the 1930s, afternoon tea at home, and high tea. Tea has been grown in China, Japan, India, and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) for centuries. Today excellent tea is grown throughout Asia, in parts of Africa, and in Argentina. Tea prefers high altitudes in warm, rainy climates. Tea is sometimes called “cha,” its classic Chinese name. Some countries, such as Japan, have their own tea rituals.

An invention by the English is the tea cozy. It is a knitted or padded cover for the teapot, designed to keep tea hot longer. It may have slits for the handle and spout. Silver teapots are lovely, but china, pottery, or glass give a truer taste to tea. Teabags are a more recent invention; tea balls and strainers were used before with tea leaves. A tea ball is made of perforated metal shaped as a ball. Silver sugar tongs and lovely teapots and china set the stage to enjoy drinking tea.

Time for tea, anyone?