By William I. Lengeman III

For your consideration, a few miscellaneous bits from the tea trivia file. Fire up a cup of tea and enjoy.

Chifir
It’s probably a safe bet that the inhabitants of Russian prisons are made of stronger stuff than most of us. If you doubt it, consider that one of the popular drinks among this crowd is a treat called chifir. There’s no definitive recipe for this delightful beverage, but according to most accounts it’s made with highly concentrated black tea and may be up to 20 times as strong as a regular cup of tea. Don’t try this at home, kids.

Death by Caffeine
Caffeine kills. Yes, it’s true. Of course, it takes an enormous amount of the stuff to bump oneself off, but one should engage in responsible caffeine consumption even so. For a guideline regarding how many cups of tea or other types of caffeinated beverages it will take to do you in, refer to the handy Death By Caffeine calculator located at the Energy Fiend Web site.

A Town Named Tea
Oh, to live in a town called Tea. There is actually such a place, now that you mention it, and it’s located in South Dakota, near Sioux Falls. According to local lore, the town of Tea has no significant connection to tea, the beverage. It was actually named more or less on a whim.

Another Town Named Tea
It hardly takes a genius to figure out what the town of Pu’er – located in China’s Yunnan province – is best known for. The town was once known as Simao, but it took on a new name in 2007. In addition to being the focal point of an important tea-producing region, Pu’er is also host to the annual Pu’er Tea Culture Festival.

Tea with George and his Aardvarks
Though his site is not just about tea, George’s Web site is worth a look even so. It’s the creation of “a Tea drinking Aardvark lover who dearly wants to be Clint Eastwood, but is instead a delicate little englishman with bad glasses.” Among the features, a photo gallery of famous tea drinkers – including the Mona Lisa.

William’s blog, Tea Guy Speaks, is a great place to read more about tea!