Tea, the beverage, is the second most widely consumed drink in the world, exceeded only by water. The highest per capita consumption in the world happens in Ireland where they consume some 3.21 cups per person per day.

Pairing food with wine or other spirits is something most of us like to leave to the experts — afraid to make "wrong" choices and seem foolish.

Yet the largest difference between the general consumer and a pairing expert is simply experience. It takes time and practice to identify and describe the flavors, textures, and aromas we experience when dining and pair them with complementary items. Every fragrance or sensation — no matter how light — will give you a richer experience and enable you to make more specific choices. Build your knowledge by beginning with broad descriptions and narrowing down to specific observations.

Of course, a good vocabulary doesn't hurt. Use the flavor descriptions in our chart below for with initial suggestions in your food pairings, or create your own based on your own palate's experience. Trust yourself to pinpoint the wonderful aromas and textures of our teas. The broad range of "notes" in any particular tea give you many avenues to explore successfully.

Remember when you select an item for a particular quality, to seek a pair opposite your flavor selection. Similar tastes will not bring out the qualities of either selection, while opposites will give your palate something to identify and savor in each item.

If you're getting our newsletter, you'll have the secret on how to make your own Green Tea Latte. But what if you're not the green tea type? Impress your friends and brew your Chai from scratch!

Essentially, Chai is just black tea brewed strong with a combination of flavorful spices, and diluted with milk and sugar. Think spiced cider. It's pretty similar. When you brew your own for a while, you'll find a particular combination of spices that suits you, but for starters, here's a good basic recipe:

Chai Concentrate:
2-1/2 cups of water
4-inch stick of cinnamon
12 cardamom pods
16 allspice berries
1 tsp of ground ginger (or 2-3 quarter-sized slices of fresh ginger)
6 tsp sugar (or 2 tbsp of honey)
3 tsp of black (Ceylon or Darjeeling) tea leaves

Add:
2 cups of frothed/steamed milk.

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil (water – ginger). Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes. Add tea leaves, and steep for an additional 3-5 minutes. Strain spices and leaves. Stir in sugar or honey until dissolved. Stir in hot frothed milk.

To make single servings, use 1/2 cup milk and an equal amount of chai concentrate. (Concentrate may be stored, tightly sealed, up to 2 weeks.)

You've heard about the number of remarkable properties of tea tree oil: antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal. It's too good to be true. Maybe you've taken it for a condition, or as a topical medication. Is this the same stuff as the tea leaves left over from your steeping? Could you make your own tea tree oil?

Not unless you live in Australia.

Native to — and found only in — Australia, the tea tree that makes this potent medicine is the Melaleuca Alternifolia, a shrub with pine-like needles. Like its homonym, the Australian Tea Tree has a number of health benefits and uses in modern medicine. Aborigines used a number of tea trees to make inhalant medicine for coughs, colds, or topical poultices for various wounds and infections. Today, tea tree oil is used in the development of many modern medicines as well as available in supplement and topical form in specialty herbal shops and organic markets.

You may already have known about using tea leaves in composting or to revitalize your garden or indoor plants (place used leaves under plant/ dirt. But if you've got no plants to worry over, you can still use your leftover leaves for good!

USE THEM TO REMOVE ODORS
Have you had a trouble with getting rid of the smell of garlic or fish from your hands or cutting boards? How about your garbage disposal? Try getting rid of smells this way: 'wash' your hands with spent green tea leaves, then use them to scrub your cutting board. When you're finished, let them sit in your disposal for a few minutes and then grind and rinse.

PREVENT RUSTING
...on your cast-ironware by wiping it with used (wet) tea leaves. Tannin in tea attaches itself to iron, and creates a thin protective coat on surfaces.

COOK WITH IT
Use your previously-steeped leaves in cooking. Dry the leaves, grind them, and use them in recipes calling for tea — green tea coffee cake, ice cream or biscotti. They'll have a mellower taste than the unbrewed kind. Delicious.