In my Tea Season is Year Round blog I illuded to our country's complicated history with tea. With the Independence Day holiday happening next week, I thought it would be appropriate to look at the complexities more in depth. Many may recall learning of the Boston Tea Party in high school history class. This historical event, where tea was dumbed into the Boston Harbor, is often described as being the "powder keg" that ignited the American Revolution. While this may have been the straw that broke the camels back, this simplification of events glosses over nuances that defined the political climate of the time and minimize the cultural importance of tea. During our country's infancy tea was consumed widely across the 13 colonies. Afternoon tea was common in cities and throughout the countryside. So much so, that by the 1760's colonists were consuming over 1 million pounds of loose leaf tea a year. This is somewhere around 160-180 million cups of tea for an estimated population of 2 million. Not an insignificant amount considering the challenges of import and distribution at the time. So what happened? The American Revolution was preceded by a series of taxes levied on the then colonies by Great Britain, leading to the popular phrase "no taxation without representation." The taxes were placed on everyday goods, such as glass, oil, paper . . . and tea. The tea tax began in 1767 with the passage of the Townshend Acts. This made tea less affordable and lead to tea smuggling. Even with the smuggling of tea, it became unattainable for some colonists. Lin-Manuel Miranda expresses the sentiment of the day best in the musical Hamilton, "why should a tiny island across the sea regulate the price of tea?" Things came to a head in 1773 with the Tea Act. The East India Company had 17 million pounds of tea stored in reserve and begun selling this tea to the colonists, making its tea cheaper than the colonial importers and smugglers could, thus creating a monopoly. However the tea tax remained. Later that year members of a grassroots political group called the Sons of Liberty boarded 3 ships sitting in Boston Harbor and poured 340 chests of tea (roughly 92,000 pounds) into the harbor. As a consequence, tea drinking became unpatriotic. Boycotts of tea led to an increase in consumption of other beverages, such as coffee, thus changing the course of our beverage culture. Happy Independence Day! —— Heiss, Mary Lou; Heiss, Robert .J (2007). "A History of Tea: The Boston Tea Party". The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide. pp. 21–24. Modianot-Fox, Dina (2007). "Tea’s Time." Encycolopidia.com. Populations Of Great Britain And America Labaree, Benjamin (1964). The Boston Tea Party. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 7. KitchenAid. "Steeped in History: The Rise of Tea in America." Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. "The Tea Act." Wikipedia. American Tea Culture.

I like tea. I like to drink tea, look at tea, and talk about tea. I talk to a lot of people about tea. What types of tea they like, what flavors they prefer, when they drink tea, how they drink tea, why they drink tea. I enjoy learning about how people incorporate tea into their life. Something I hear fairly often is "I only drink tea during the winter." Leading me to believe there is a large segment of the population who view hot tea as a cold weather beverage, and as an extension iced tea as a hot weather beverage. Cafe's and tea companies alike perpetuate this with seasonal menu's and an plethora of social media posts letting us know what seasonal beverages we should be drinking, "Iced Tea Season in Here," "Cold Weather = Tea Season," "Warm up with a hot cup of tea." (by the way, when is "coffee season?") In other countries, including sub-tropical countries where tea is grown, tea is drank hot year round. Tradition and culture play a role in this, but there may be another reason hot is the preparation method of choice. Conventional wisdom states that drinking warm beverages in warm weather can have a cooling effect on our bodies. Research conducted by the Scandinavian Physiological Society tested whether or not drinking hot fluids on hot days helps people to cool down. The study concluded that drinking a hot beverage can result in feeling cooler provided the additional sweat that’s produced when drinking the hot beverage can evaporate. So the conventional wisdom may not be true in every climate. Oh, well. As with most studies, more research is needed on the topic. The United States' history with tea is... complicated, to say the least. But I'll save more thoughts on this for another time. The point is, don't let your tea drinking habits be ruled by the weather. Tea season is year round! I drink hot tea year round becuase I like it. Not becuase it will keep me cool (though aren't tea drinkers already the coolest? 🙂 ). References: Does drinking hot drinks on a scorching summer's day really cool you down? Why you should drink hot tea and eat chillies in summer to cool down The benefits of hot tea in the summer

Mayday, mayday. . . May Day! I vaguely remember making May Baskets for May Day when I was a kid. The memory comes and goes. It re-surfaces when May 1st rolls around each year and quickly fades. Like a dream. Search for May Day on the internet and you'll find a variety of results. Did you mean Mayday definition? Do you mean the International Workers' Holiday? No, I actually meant May Day - May 1st - the day people make May Baskets. May Day has a long history in Europe. Rooted in astronomy, May day was the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Early traditions were agriculturally based. While the holiday itself made its way to America, the traditions for "bringing in May" transitioned to dancing around maypole's and gathering wildflowers. Eventually, May Day came to be celebrated with baskets of flowers, candies and other treats being hung on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones. Sing a song of May-time. Sing a song of Spring .Flowers are in their beauty. Birds are on the wing. _____ Sources http://www.enidporterproject.org.uk/content/cambridgeshire-traditions/annual-events/may-1st/may-1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day https://www.almanac.com/content/what-may-day

Many of you may be familiar with the saying "April showers bring May flowers." But what does it mean? The obvious and literal meaning is that the abundance of rain during the month of April will lead to an abundance of flowers in the month of May. The saying originates from a poem written by Englishman Thomas Tusser in the 1500's. Since Michigan is at a latitude closer to that of England than some of our southern counterparts, the saying rings as much literal truth for us Michiganders as it does for Brits. "April showers bring May flowers" also has several secondary, more figurative meanings. The saying alludes that unpleasant things (like rain) can bring about pleasant things (like flowers). Similar to "every cloud has a silver lining." It may also be a reminder in patience, or at the very least delaying today's gratification for tomorrow's even better reward. Similar to "good things come to those who wait." By patiently enduring the grey skies and dampness of April, you will find yourself taking in the sights and smells of May. Rain, however isn't the only adverse precipitation that plagues us Michiganders in April. It is not uncommon to experience an April snowfall. According to Current Record weather and science facts, the average snowfall for southwest Michigan and the "thumb" ranges from 1 to 2 inches. Though it's likely not enough snow to have much of an effect on those May flowers, it certainly puts a damper on spring spirits. So, my fellow Michiganders, hang in there! Even if a little snow falls this month, look for that sliver lining and May flowers. Happy STEAPing, Samantha

Many people are surprised to discover that Decaffeinated Tea is not Caffeine free. Though the terms are often used interchangeably, they are no synonymous. Decaffeinated refers to teas that have gone through a process of decaffeination. It is important to note that the decaffeination process eliminates most of the caffeine, but not all. Decaffeinated teas still contain a minimal amount of caffeine, usually 2 mg of caffeine per cup. Caffeine-free refers to herbal teas that are naturally free of caffeine (and not really tea at all!) — for instance, chamomile. Watch for future posts where we'll examine caffeine content in tea further!