It may not be found in your grandmother’s breakfast menu. The common impression is that poppy pod tea should not even be considered a beverage. However, despite the controversies hounding it, many still take it regularly for all that makes it different from other beverages. Some would preach it is deadly like all other narcotics. Some, however, continue to insist that it is as harmless as coffee if taken in moderation.

Derived from the controversial poppies, the poppy pod tea is a natural subject of debates.  Its drinkers insist that it should be taken for its medicinal values. Its detractors, on the other hand, find danger in its addictiveness and lethalness when drank in large doses. However, its adversaries, most oftentimes, base their conclusions on the poppy pod tea not on its positive and negative aspects but on prejudice: it comes from opium, is it not?

The poppy pod tea is a natural narcotic analgesic tea brewed from dried poppy pods.  Its earliest drinkers did not have it for leisure. In the 19th century, its curative characteristic had persuaded many prominent people in the field of science and politics to drink it regularly. People also drank it to relieve them of their depression and other mental-related irregularities. In world where doctors are regularly prescribing medical drugs made of synthetic chemicals from toxic origins, the poppy pod tea may be an alternative relief. 

Different kinds of poppies possess an amount of psychoactive alkaloids. The opium poppy, however, has long been known to possess the most substantial of this element; making it the preferred source of poppy seeds for brewing into a tea. Morphine, papaverine, thebein, and codeine, which are alkaloids found in dried poppy seeds also cause light-headedness, pleasurable sensations, and drowsiness. Individuals suffering from serious emotional and profession-related stress have used opium poppies. A ‘downer’, opium eases them from depression and insomnia. This explains why a number of famous people have drunk poppy pod teas to beat stress related to their jobs.

For anyone who has poppy seeds, making a poppy pod tea is quite easy.  You just have to grind the poppy pods into the smallest bits, making it simply dissolvable in boiling water. The seeds are first removed then the dried poppy pods are ground.    If it is just your first time, a small amount of dried poppy pod granules should be enough. When done grinding, pour the poppy pod bits to your boiling water. Leave it boiling for another five minutes. Then pour it to a cup through a filter made from a t-shirt cloth, to keep off the granules of pod.

It is true, though, that you can get addicted to poppy pod teas. This may even kill you if you drink more than your body can actually handle. Practicing a good amount of self-regulation will help you avoid the risks. Drinking too many may only give you the chances that you will no longer drink at all, not even water.

Suggestive Measures For Tea Party Decorations

A tea party is a great theme for a birthday party. Young girls from five to eight years old or even older might enjoy this kind of party. Basically, what transpires in a tea party is a lot of tea drinking, eating of sandwiches and talking. Tea party decorationsplay a big role in making the party a success as these can make or break the ambience of the tea party. What some people guess for a tea party decoration may or may not be different. It is actually in how the host or hostess makes use of the tea party decorations that can help these accentuate the tea party.

Balloons And Common Tea Party Decorations

Depending on the age of the young girl, the use of balloons can still be a great effect on a tea party themed birthday. Since pastel or light colors are usually associated with a formal tea party, balloons of these hues and colors can be of great service as tea party decorations. Light pink, light yellow and other light colored balloons are great bunched together in different colors and anchored to a heavy balloon weight on the floor. It is best to tie these unevenly on the weight so as to make an unbalanced height for the floating balloons.

Pastel colored tea cups that complement a pastel colored tea set can also be used for the serving of the tea. These can also serve as tea party decorations before the serving of the tea when they will actually be used. The pastel colored teacups can also be used as the giveaways for the young girl’s birthday party. These tea party decorations can also be used as loot bags for small candy items and chocolates. Teacups can also be the theme for the tablecloth, the balloons and the general tea party decorations for the birthday.

Teacups can also feature in the birthday invitation. For a tea party invitation or even tea party decorations a plate of sandwiches or a bowlful of sugar cubes can also be great. A bowl of sugar can also be used a centerpiece but children should not have more than one cube since sugar is actually an unnecessary addition to food. Pastel colored roses are also great tea party decorations to add to the formal but festive look of the tea party. They can be placed in a large shallow bowl and stuck in a foam or in long stemmed vases.

Lipton Tea is probably the most available tea product in North America (and maybe South America) today. It has already gained wide acclaim of being a household brand when talking about tea. Its popularity has expanded to other countries around the world. What most people don’t know is that lipton tea is not an American-made product. It is in fact, a product that is developed by the British. Oddly enough, lipton tea is not as popular in its own country of origin as it is worldwide.

Becoming Lipton Tea

Lipton Tea is a British company, founded by the Scotsman, Thomas Lipton. Sir Lipton lived in America from 1865 – 1870 and during his stay, he learned a lot about the distinctively American way of advertising characterized by bold confidence. A story about him goes that the character of the miracle-working Scottish engineer of the Star Trek series named ‘Scotty’ was actually based on him.

The first Lipton tea shop opened in Glasgow, Scotland on the same year Lipton left the United States. The tea shop started as a grocery store, but eventually specialized in tea.This decision came about when Lipton managed to take over five bankrupt tea plantations in Ceylon.

Developing Lipton Tea

Sir Lipton himself came up with the names “brisk tea” and “orange pekoe”.There weren’t actually any specific blend of tea called orange pekoe or brisk, but a lot of customers would ask for these items when buying lipton tea.Other brands of tea in America, list their tea as “orange pekoe” just to let the public know what flavor their tea is similar to.

Lipton Tea became well-known all over the world and particularly in the United States.Sir Lipton known for his outrageous publicity stunts and his travels back and forth to America by crossing the Atlantic which are very well documented. Lipton lived to become a very rich man.Furthermore, his legacy lived on even after his passing. In 1952, the Lipton company acquired patents for a four-sided tea bag. While tea bags had been available since 1903 they were still not so popular.With the introduction of Lipton Tea’s four-sided tea bag, bagged tea became popular very quickly and has become the preferred packaging today.

Lipton Tea is now a part of the mega-conglomerate Unilever (which also owns Dove hair and skin care products, Close Up toothpaste and Vaseline, among others). It still remains as one of the largest tea sellers in the world. The tea line includes herbal teas, decaffeinated and green teas, as well as the classic (and invented) “Orange Pekoe”.