Tap-dancing, singing, romance- oh yeah, and (of course!) tea! This is the original 1950 trailer of Tea for Two, starring Doris Day, unearthed for your viewing pleasure:

Tea Art lovers rejoice!

The Fowler Museum, part of the UCLA campus, announced today that they will soon be featuring a comprehensive exhibit of our favorite beverage, tea! As tea has been (and still is!) immensely popular across the globe, the exhibition tells story of tea through artistic celebration from Asia, Europe and America.

Everything from Chinese tea bowls from the 8th century to Japanese scrolls for their tea ceremony (Chado) to American oil paintings to English tea adverts.

“Steeped in History: The Art of Tea” is on display Aug 16–Nov 29, 2009.  If you are in the area, definitely worth checking out!

Besides instilling an aberrant affinity to pipettes, my molecular biologist mother taught me to always understand the importance of finishing the prescription of my antibiotics.  If the cycle is not complete, she would say, the result can be that some bacteria from your infection will survive.  These survivors then will go on to replicate themselves in such a way to form a resistance to the prescribed medicine.  This infection then spreads to more and more people, and the power of the bacteria grows.

These drug-resistant microorganisms can cause major problems, as eliminating them with the usual antibiotics can be quite difficult.   Those that prove extraordinarily problematic are dubbed Superbugs, and the only way to destroy them, it was thought, was with quite powerful medicine (which usually took a major toll on the human body as well).  That is, until Egyptian scientists, tired from all those pipette parties, reached for their favorite tea and decided to add it to the regular antibiotic regimen.

They shared their findings recently at the 162nd meeting of the Society for General Microbiology.  In their research, they went on to say, they were surprised to find that in almost every case and for all types of antibiotics tested, drinking tea at the same time as taking the medicines seemed to reduce the bacteria’s drug resistance, even in superbug strains, and increase the action of the antibiotics.

This would’ve been a pretty staggering accomplishment for any drug that they’d developed, but the fact that tea is a natural product makes it even more amazing.  I hope this discovery helps tilt the spotlight a little more in tea’s direction!

So, to conclude: to prevent the creation and dissemination of a nasty Superbug, finish your pills - and drink your tea!

While not my favorite tea on the market, I have to admit that the below Twinings commercial is pretty creative- it uses tea leaves (ahem, tea dust, really) to create split-second pieces of art.

The real art of tea, though, is in the taste.

Have you found your Mona Lisa of tea yet?

Leave it to my friend Lindsey, aka “Vee” from the Vee Tea Blog, to find this bizarre, Quentin Tarantino-esque Japanese tea commercial.  Tea really does help you lower your blood pressure, though!

WARNING: while quite hilarious, this is also a little gross.  Don’t press play if you have a weak stomach!

Most tea lovers are familiar with Lu Yu’s famous Ch’a Ching or Tea Classic, but this is just one of several ancient texts covering the art of tea.

Another interesting ancient tea scholar was Zhang Yuan, who lived hidden away in China’s Dong Ting mountains.  There he devoted his life to  studying the simple enjoyment of tea. Through his reclusive research, Yuan wrote Tea Notes, a meticulously comprehensive guide to virtually every aspect of tea.  In fact, it was through the publication of this work that Yuan was granted access to the imperial court.

However, it was never translated into English and could’ve easily drowned in the murky waters of Lethe - that is, until the tea-loving gentlemen over at The Leaf graciously did us the honor.

Among my favorite passages is a particularly salient interpretation of what a true tea ceremony embodies:

“When tea is produced, precision is essential.  When stored, dryness is most important. When brewed, purity is crucial.  Precision, dryness and purity - the tea ceremony is complete.”

Still rings true today, and Yuan said it in 1595!

Looking for an easy, healthy, deliciously refreshing summer treat?

Look no further! I give you my newest recipe, frozen moTEAjos!  Time to chill…

Frozen moTEAjos

Ingredients

2 heaping tablespoons moTEAjo mix
6 cups 180 degree water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
6 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lime juice

Preparation

Place tea in a large bowl. Pour less-than-boiling water over tea; steep 5 minutes. Strain and discard tea leaves.

Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and light corn syrup in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Add sugar mixture and lime juice to tea; stir to combine. Let cool to room temperature. Pour cooled tea mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; cover and freeze for at least 6 hours or until firm. Remove tea mixture from freezer; scrape entire mixture with a fork until fluffy. Spoon into a container; cover and freeze for up to 1 month. Garnish with lime slices and springs of mint, if desired.

(And, if so inclined, top with a shot of light rum!)

With Father’s Day just behind us (Happy Father’s Day, Dad, by the way- oops!), this report couldn’t come at a more appropriate time:  according to a new study carried out by researchers in Philadelphia, tea may actually be able to slow the progression of prostate cancer.

The study consisted of a group of 26 men in total between the ages of 41 and 72-years old.

All of the men had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and all had to go through prostate surgery. When some were given a routine intake of tea, researchers found was that those who took the tea had a major reduction in terms of the progression of their prostate cancer.

While this particular study focused on green tea, but the main ingredient responsible for the tea’s health benefits, EGCG, is found in abundance in all teas.

So, Dad, do yourself a favor: drink some tea!

This guy is actually pouring tea (and not all over the place!) - kids, don’t try this at home!