The Tea Scoop

Star Chimps

We knew the Brits loved their tea. And now, British citizens have voted a tea commercial as their favorite commercial, starring a family of tea-drinking chimps.

For some very British humor, follow the link!

AnySoldier.com

Regardless of your political beliefs, many soldiers on the ground in Iraq and Afganistan need the support of the people back home. They joined the military to defend this country, so that the rest of us don’t have to. So, no matter how you feel about the war, contributing to the soldiers is always a good idea.

Now that I’ve stated my philosophy, I’d like to tell you about a great site: AnySoldier.com. It allows care packages to be sent to soldiers overseas who will then distribute the contents to soldiers who don’t get mail. Remember being at camp and how great you felt when those care packages came in?

Of course, this is a tea blog, so you’re probably wondering how this ties in. Well, being that a close family member is in the Navy, we did a search of sailors who were requesting tea. I found requests from CTR1 John H. Yzenbaard and Jessica La Budda, so tomorrow I will be sending them the tea I purchased today. Since our sailors are just as likely to appreciate a good cuppa as the next person, I tried to find something that would be practical and delicious, so I’m sending three boxes in different flavors of Revolution Tea’s infuser bags. These have whole leaf tea, but I figured bags would be easier than try to mess with an infuser. But just in case, I’m also sending a tin of Twinings’ Earl Grey. For those who love the classics, I’m sending a box of assorted Bigelow teas. I’m also going to write a letter to include, as I’ve heard that is one of the things that they are most grateful for.

If you would like to make sure these brave men and women are getting good cups of tea, visit AnySoldier.com today. Don't forget, soldiers, Marines, and airmen are probably also looking for tea, so check out the individual sites!

Autobiography as Haiku

One of my favorite columns in the Washington Post is the "Autobiography as Haiku." Not strictly haiku, these are 100 word essays regarding a theme each week.

Here is a teaser from this past week's:

"Sorry, we're out of World Peace. You can have anything else."

Click here for the full essay, about a tea shop in Olney.

Author Ellen Lent

National Tea Month

So, I'm a little late finding this out, but according to the Tea Council of the USA, January is National Hot Tea Month. What do you know?

So what if the month is more than halfway over? It just snowed in Northern Virginia, and there's snow on the ground many other places as well, so what better beverage than hot tea to warm you to your toes? No calories, lots of health benefits, and full of comfort.

So go on, celebrate!