In this series of articles Iò€™m going to give you a crash course in the rich and varied beers that dot the globe. In case you havenò€™t noticed, microbrew beers are taking off big time. Beer used to be the ò€œugly cousinò€ of the alcohol world. Pretty well everyone drank their fair share, but only a handful of die hard beer drinkers ever really paid it too much respect. Finally beer is starting to be appreciated for its rich history and diversity, and the care and time that goes into crafting a quality brew.
The western world may recently have awakened to the benefits of green tea, but it has been around for centuries in China and Japan as the beverage of choice for the classes and the masses alike. The Chinese and Japanese have always believed that a regular intake of green tea means a longer, healthier life. In the early 1990s, scientists proved this belief to be true when a survey of 3,000 Japanese women showed that those who drank green tea lived longer than those who did not.
Tea is the world"s most popular drink, enjoyed around the world in many forms. True tea comes from one plant, the Camellia sinensis, yet tea production has many forms, with many types of tea derived from this one plant, and an endless variety of blends to suit palates around the world. What goes into making a quality tea? More than you might think.