Links for tea drinkers and introverts and whinos (or tea drinking introvert whinos)

In my searches I came across this very old article from the Atlantic regarding “Caring for Your Introvert.” In 2003 (March) Jonathan Rauch wrote about Introverts or “people who find other people tiring.”

Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."

Now, I’ll be the first one to tell you that I’m an introvert, but I do think everyone needs a little alone time sometimes, especially with a book…and perhaps with a cup of tea. Although you had better watch out because apparently tea makers have been lying to us! A recent i09 article states: “High school scientists discover "undisclosed ingredients" in tea.”

What did they find? A kettle full of deception! Although the teas that were not flavored mostly kept honest, with only about four percent having extra plants mixed in, over a third of the herbal teas had unlisted ingredients. The main additives were bluegrass, which grows on lawns, and white goosefoot, which is a relative of spinach. There was also parsley, and a lot of extra chamomile.

That’s right, there might be newspaper lurking in your green tea and undisclosed bluegrass in your chamomile! The article prompted the following conversation with my roommate:

Roommate: …all the more reason to avoid herbal teas

Me: yep. I'm sure some of the paper could be from the tea back itself. I expect a little paper dust because of the bags

 Roommate: yeah. I would want to read their paper and evaluate their methods

 Me: but damn it, would have totally done that for a high school science class

 Roommate: did they choose high quality tea or blah tea? did the herbals declare themselves a blend, or claim to be pure

 Me: J, those teas were ladies. of course they were pure. whatever are you implying?

 Roommate: and if they examined 33 companies, how many were black teas, so the 4% that had contaminants is probably only one company

Me: yeah, I would like to read the paper, but good on them for doing something different

 Roommate: no kidding. I'm impressed at the idea and follow-through, even if I might want to critique their actual methods*

Me: god, we don't have degrees in science or anything

Oh, science nerds…Without them I wouldn’t be able to justify my wine drinking habit. That’s right, according to a new Spanish study, a glass or two of Sauvignon blanc might help fight sunburns and protect your skin.**  A license to drink more? Of course! I have to have something to protect me from the evils of tea.

And while I’m having that drink, I’ll take the Daily Beast’s quiz and see if I can tell the difference between lines from Taylor Swift’s songs and Jane Austen’s books. At least I won’t be operating a motor vehicle right?

*Seriously though, if someone could get me a copy of this paper I would love to read it. I want to see how they went about attaining their data and what their margin of error was. 

**Thanks to Nate for the link.