Tea

Dear Friend,

We are simply obsessed with tea. It's how we start our day, it's how we end our day. Tea is like a little hug in a cup. Coffee is nice too, but tea is a classier version.

Reasons why tea is amazing:
1. Tea doesn't make your shake or feel as weird as coffee does, yet with the right amount of caffeine  it makes the perfect morning drink.
2. Tea has many medical benefits. Studies have shown that tea can help fight heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
3. There is an endless list of tea flavors so you'll never get bored of tea.
4. Tea mugs make the perfect accessory.
5. Tea is hydrating to the body, despite the caffeine (unlike coffee).

Our favorite types of tea:
1. Tazo Zen
2. Republic of Tea Pomegranate Vanilla
3. Yogi Tea Positive Energy
4. Tazo Chamomile
5. Monkey Picked Oolong

Lots of people buy popular store brands like Lipton or Bigelow, because they are cheap. Although they are convenient, once you start really learning about tea, you'll become a tea snob. Kylie's mom is part of a tea club, so the Aberle house gets a shipment of three containers of loose leaf every month.

Tea seems easy enough, but when you actually start paying attention to the way it's brewed, it's freshness, etc, there is endless information and things to learn. For example, many people hate green tea, because of it's bitter taste. This taste most often is due to the fact that the tea is burnt. What you have to do with any green tea, is wait to make sure the water isn't too hot. Amino acids, which contribute to the tea's sweetned, dissolve at 140 Fahrenheit. A good rule of thumb for water temperature is to wait until the water is BARELY drinkable (just a but too hot), but still tolerable. Then put the teabag in, wait for about 4 minutes, and take it out. This will give you a perfect cup of green tea. Bonus points if you "rinse" the tea first. Do this by running water over the tea bag to rinse any of the initial bitterness away.

Happy brewing!

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine