Celebrating Tea: It’s not just a beverage, it’s a way of life

Tea is universally accepted as a longevity beverage and we all know its life-long benefits; the list can stretch far and wide when it comes to the advantages of this comforting and power-packed drink. Blue Zones Nicoya has a variety of herbal teas. The herbs used are native and authentic of the centenarian’s gardens in Guanacaste – Costa Rica. The majority of these plants are seen as bad weeds that grow unintentionally in our gardens. Little do people know is that these herbs are full of positive benefits for our health. The Nicoya Peninsula isn’t the only Blue Zone that is “tea oriented”, let’s find out to see the history of tea traditions in the different Blue Zones Cities.

Greece is home to over 8,000 different herbs and people in Ikaria have adapted the lifestyle of drinking this antioxidant beverage into their daily lives. When it comes to tea traditions in Greece; the herbal teas were only consumed when somebody had a cold or flu – they were strictly only consumed for improving health quality.

 “Tsai” as they call it in Greece comes in two different variations. In particular, Chamomile tea, a tea particularly known to promote sound sleep to the westerners, is the most and popular tea consumed throughout Greece. The daisy-like flowers bloom throughout Greek Countryside and this mild tea is not only soothing, but having a glass filled with chamomiles is not an uncommon sight in a Greek household! The other one called as a “mountain tea”, also called ironwort or Sideritis has earthy characteristics of the mountains and is a popular cure-all tea.

Tea and Japan are pretty much synonyms’ and there is no denying that Japan’s tea ceremony are some of the most fascinating aspects of the Japanese way of living. Not only Okaniwans have an “Igikai” way of living, their tea culture plays an important role in their daily lives.

Japanese Tea Ceremony dates back to 9^th Century and Zen Buddhism is known to have played a primary influence in the development of this significant ritual. Tea gatherings could be informal or formal known as chakai or chaji and depending on the ceremony and the meals, a thin or thick tea is served to the guests. Nonetheless, the heart of the ceremony always is matcha, also known as green tea.

The details of the tea ceremony include various etiquettes, proper equipment, flower arrangements and everything that needs to be performed in a chronological order. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to call it “The Way of Tea” and even a way of life, or a lifestyle in devotion of preparing the best possible bowl of powdered green tea for the guests.

And Okinawans, sure do know how to celebrate this way of life!

While Italy might still have votes on coffee-drinking, they haven’t discarded the herbal tea or tè as they may call it. Most Italians prefer herbal tea as a winter drink and today because of exposure to Japanese restaurants in Italy, the young generation has adapted to sipping on green tea. In Sardinia, a type of tea known as Milk Thistle, a native wild plant known for cleansing the liver is being consumed by Sardinians for many centuries. Every country has its own simple way of celebrating this humble beverage. Whether it is green, herbal, or black; there is no going back once you adopt the tea lifestyle.