Relax and enjoy ‘Tea for Two Tuesday’ on March 19

From the Planning Ahead Department:

Circle Tuesday, March 19, on your 2024 calendar. It’s “Tea for Two Tuesday,” a relatively new holiday being celebrated all across America.

Bob Matthews of Rochester, N.Y., creator of the Holiday Insights website, said his team invented Tea for Two Tuesday in 2016 and determined that the holiday will be celebrated each year on the third Tuesday in March. 

So, that makes it one of those “tricky holidays” with a date that moves around a little each year – like Thanksgiving. 

“Tea for Two Tuesday invites two or more people to simply enjoy a cup of tea together,” Matthews said. “Tea is a very relaxing and soothing beverage”…and tea drinking is an even more pleasant experience when shared with others.

 

“We encourage you to have ‘a spot of tea’ with any number of people. Go ahead…make it a tea party. The more, the merrier.”

 

The song “Tea for Two” was written in 1924, so bring out the fine china this year to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the tune, composed by Vincent Youmans with lyrics by Irving Caesar, which was featured in the Broadway musical “No, No Nanette.” (One of the premier covers was released in 1955, sung by artist Doris Day.)

 

“The older we get, the more we turn to tea over coffee and other drinks,” Matthews added. “We encourage you to try different types of tea. There is no shortage of tea flavors, some have caffeine, and some are caffeine-free, the latter of which is best for evening consumption.” 

Matthews even offers a “Tea for Two Tuesday” quotation attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She commented: “A woman is like a tea bag – you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.” 

That could surely ignite a lively “tea leaves” conversation. 

The Holiday Insights website offers a wealth of information about the origin of tea as a beverage that is quite healthy and good for you. Tea contains no calories, sodium, fat or sugar. Tea has a bunch of antioxidants that help to lower the risk of cancer, heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Tea evens helps fight cavities. 

People in China began drinking tea 5,000 years ago. More than 3 billion tons of tea are produced commercially each year, with China accounting for about half of the total production. Trailing China in volume are India, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. 

There are four general categories of tea, with black tea being the most plentiful, followed by green tea. White tea makes up a small percentage of the total along with Oolong tea. (The name “oolong” comes from the Chinese words “wu long,” which means “black dragon.”) 

The leading countries in tea consumption are Turkey, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Pakistan and Iran. The United States is 35th on the list. 

But the biggest tea party the world has ever seen occurred on Dec. 16, 1773, in Colonial America. 

On that night, all the fish in Boston Harbor, Mass., had to dodge 342 chests of imported tea from the British East India Company that were dumped overboard – approximately 45 tons of tea leaves, which would carry a value of well over $1.7 million in today’s dollars.

 

The “Boston Tea Party” was the first blatant act of defiance to British rule by the colonists who vehemently opposed “taxation without representation.” 

The rebellion was organized by the Sons of Liberty faction of revolutionists, who included prominent patriots such as Samuel Adams, Benedict Arnold, Patrick Henry, John Hancock and Paul Revere.