January is Hot Tea Month: Warm up with some tea facts and make some tea plans!

Hot tea month - perfect time to warm up with a cup, although the tea garden in January can also serve it up iced!

January is the perfect time for Hot Tea Month:  cooler outside temperatures welcome a tasty warm-up in a cup and - it being the start of the new year with resolutions -  an opportunity to lay out some tea plans to "ink" in our calendars.

But, before we get too far into the future, let's take a  look at past and present in the world of tea.

According to The Tea Association of the US, the estimated value of the tea industry in America is "nearly $13 billion - up almost $11 billion since 1990."  While we drink that in - and that's a lot - a few other "tea-bits" to consider with respect to tea consumption in America:

• US is the third largest tea importer, after Russia and Pakistan
• On any given day, half our country's population drinks tea
• Regionally, the South and Northeast have the greatest number of tea drinkers
• Approximately, 75 - 85% of tea consumed is iced tea
• Eighty-seven percent of Millennials drink tea (this group is okay, says a Boomer!)

Reasons for this upsurge in the past three decades is largely attributed to health benefits and lifestyle changes. 

87% of Millennials drink tea, and that's okay with this Boomer

So, if the tragectory continues, and we here at BTS are sure it will, we have some suggestions for planning out your "tea year" during "Hot Tea Month":

• Try a new tea room
• Visit a favorite tea room and write a new or updated review
• Text an old friend and set up a tea date
• Set a tea table at home with your own heirloom/vintage tea pots, tea cups and assorted accroutrements 
• Make a fresh pot of loose leaf tea and start a new book

Full disclosure, we've already got these on our calendar. We'll update as we check off our list.

If any readers would like to share one of these activities with a picture, please send to barb@barbsteashop.com and we'd love to share them on our blog.

In the meantime, Happy Hot Tea Month!