Tea gift ideas

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Here are some interesting gifts for the tea lover on your holiday list

The holiday gift-giving season is literally on the corner of our busy doorsteps and caffeine and the holidays have always provided the perfect stimulation! Shopping early for tea-related gifts and tea ware is one way to avoid the rush and hassles that are so associated with the seasonal shopping surge. Tea gift ideas, which might include a favorite beverage beautifully packaged in a basket, offer special ways to pamper that hard-to-shop-for person on your gift list.

Tea has been around for almost 5,000 years, and according to legend, was accidentally discovered by a Chinese emperor when some leaves from a nearby plant blew into a pot of boiling water. Teapots became valuable personal possessions. By the seventeenth century, tea had seeped its way to Europe and from there to the American colonies where it played a major role in the famous Boston Tea Party. In 1904, iced tea was introduced at the St. Louis World Fair and a few years later, a New Yorker introduced tea in a bag. The rest as they say, is history.

Tea is an extremely versatile beverage. It can be consumed at any time of day, hot or cold, whether the sipper is feeling ill or couldn?t be feeling better. Tea is rich in antioxidants, fights infection and can even help in weight reduction.

Some tea gift ideas

There are literally thousands of varieties of tea to choose from although there are four basic types. These include: white, green, oolong, and black, all of which derive from the same species of plant. If you have a tea lover on your gift list, consider pampering him or her with a tea gift idea that will impress. Go gourmet! Here are some tea gift ideas that might work well.

1- Box of loose tea tins
No matter how diverse the taste buds, almost every true lover of tea will agree that loose tea tastes far superior to tea-bag tea. Loose tea is also known to provide more health benefits as well as a more rounded aroma and flavor. There are so many varieties of loose tea to choose from that even tasting each one could be a lifetime endeavor.

2- Tea-room passes
Tea rooms are becoming more and more popular and even though their functions may vary depending on respective cultures, tea lovers enjoy each other?s company and there?s no better way to do so than attend an event sponsored by a local tea room. Do some research, as there might well be a tea-room in the neighborhood of your tea-lover gift recipient. A pass to an up-and- coming event would be one of the best tea gift ideas you could come up with.

3- Books about tea
There are almost as many books written about tea in all of its delicious aspects as there are varieties of the beverage itself! Take a look at what is out there and what suits your pocket book. There are many books to choose from and they range from paper-backs to heavy, beautifully illustrated tomes on the noble subject of tea. For lovers of the beverage, a book about tea will always treasured and appreciated.

4- A gift basket of tea foods as well as the beverage
You can transform your tea gift ideas into special packages by preparing your own basket of favored teas and the foods commonly associated with them. Get as gourmet and specialized as you can afford. Consider crackers, unusual biscuits, scones, cheese and cakes.

The beauty of tea-related gifts is that they are selected with care. They may not last long on the tea-lover?s shelf, but their memory will remain forever in the heart of the recipient.