 How do thou like thous tea? Hot, Warm, Cold, Iced? Sweet or unsweetened? Black, Green, White, Herbal, Oolong, Matcha? No matter how you drink your tea, it's still tea. So what about tea? What's the history behind it? How is it made? Is it good for thee? Let's take a closer look into, Tea!  Green Tea began it's life around 2700 B.C. China. Thou can say that it's discovery was an accident. One day in China, The Emperor Shennong drank hot water that had a tea leaf boiled in it. He found the taste was quite exceptional and became an aristocratic beverage. Green Tea was born. Green wouldn't find it's way to the West until the 1800's A.D. when European explorers came across it. It soon gain popularity to the West and was common amongst the peoples living in Europe. Today, ever so slowly Green Tea is becoming more and more popular and is a favorite beverage amongst many across the world including yours truly. The benefits of Green Tea may also have boosted it's popularity. It is a super food at the truest terms and may be considered the healthiest beverage in the world! It is known to boost metabolism when drank hot and can help one lose fat rapidly if under a healthy diet and exercise routine. Green tea also stunts a person's hunger which helps them eat less i.e. take in less calories. Most Green Teas are zero calories which is also an awesome benefit. One more great thing is that the caffeine levels are not very high so thou won't get wired when drinking a lot of green tea. Some research recommend a person drink 8 cups or Green Tea a day to get the best results.  The Story of Black Tea is quite interesting I do declare. In the Mid 17th century, we head back to China. The military of Jianxi entered into Fujian Province and stayed near a Tea factory. Tea production was delayed due to this unexpected stay and the tea leaves were left out to soak in the solar heat of the sun. The tea leaves became a dark-red pigment. The farmer, trying to speed up the dying process, put the tea leaves over a fire which gave them a smoky flavor. This became the first ever known Black Tea. A new type pf tea was born! Before this only Green and Oolong tea had been consumed. Today many enjoy Black Tea as a breakfast beverage and there is even a tradition known as Tea time which people take time out of their day to sip on some delicious Black Tea. Black Tea is known to be great for heart health and has some anti-oxidants as well. Black is shown to lower cholesterol levels which is most definitely good for the heart. Also if thou hath a headache or aching stomach, Black tea is a great drink to relieve those pains. Three cheers for Black Tea, Yes indeed!  Once again we head to China to the story of White Tea. During the 7th to 14th century AD White tea was created. Consuming tea at this time period was a way of life for the Chinese. How White Tea came about was due to a tea tribute to The Emperor at the time. The Emperor required rare teas and so White tea was born by plucking younger tea buds that were water down and coated in a white powder. Only the Emperor afford this spectacular tea. In the 1700's however, White tea became more available to the rest of world and now most people can afford the marvelous flavor of White Tea. White tea has antioxidants three times higher than other teas and can help protect skin, reduce risk of premature aging and improve oral health. Sounds like a super tea to me.  Herbal tea; also known as Tisane comes from a Chinese Legend that a man called The Divine Farmer who lived through the 27th and 28th century BC discovered an infusion of herbs that fell in his cup of hot water. This story is much like the one of Green tea and one must wonder if this story was inspired by the one about Green Tea. Health benefits from Herbal teas include Anti-Aging, Low blood pressure, less stress in life, skin health and helps with arthritis  Oolong tea is a semi-oxidated tea for China that translate to Black Dragon Tea. Some health benefits are better heart, brain, bone and dental health.  Matcha is a type of Green Tea that originates in China in the 7th and 10th century. It is a powder of green tea leaves that has salt added and is stirred in hot or cold water for a delicious beverage. The health benefits of Matcha are as follows; reduces risk of diabetes, increases energy, reduces stress, helps weight loss, lowers risk of heart disease, helps improve skin health, improves concentration, helps refresh the body and helps improve one's mood. There are many other teas out there that were not dived deep into such as Fruit Tea, Earl Grey Tea, Genmancha tea and many more that all have incredible health benefits. Over all Tea is marvelously spectacular and people should most definitely drink tea more often in life. Many health problems could be helped by adding this beverage more into thou life. In conclusion, Drink Tea!
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 New York City, known as one of the Capitals of The World. Known for Broadway, Skyscrapers, Times Square, Wall Street and many other Big Things. One thing that may not be known though is that there is an urban legend about alligators living in the sewers of NYC. The Urban legend is told that a young boy once had a pet baby alligator. After a while the boy flushed the gator down the toilet to get rid of it. After a few years later, the boy became a man, and one day reached his hand into the sewer and was bitten by that very same alligator, as an adult gator now. An awesome urban legend? Yes, is it real?
So there may be some truth to this Urban legend after all, but this is an article from 1935. There may have been Alligators in the sewers of NYC then, but what about NYC Today? Well according to Snopes the question is presented A thriving colony of large alligators lives deep within the bowels of the New York City sewer system, this statement is presented as false. The Snopes Fact-Check piece actually acknowledges the New York Times article from 1935 but says today no alligators from Florida are being dumped into NYC sewers so there is no thriving population of gators in the NYC sewers.  A sad conclusion indeed one must say, but it is still an awesome urban legend with an even more awesome true story tied into it from the 1930's! So now we know that there aren't any alligators in the NYC sewers these days, but what about turtles in the sewer being smashed by two fat Italian plumbers dressed in red and green who happen to be brothers? The World may never know.
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