Enjoying some tasty Bigelow Tea with a good friend could be just what the doctor ordered! Numerous studies and articles have touted the health benefits of both – tea and good friends.

Image courtesy of NYTimes.com/Stuart Bradford

An article in The New York Times cites the 10-year Australian study showing good friends can lengthen your life, and reduce obesity. A Harvard study suggested spending time with friends promoted good brain health. Add in some Bigelow Tea Green Tea while enjoying those friends and maybe you can spend more time with friends and less time at the doctor’s office.

Green and Chamomile teas have been studied for their health benefits related to many ailments, from  diabetes to preventing bone loss in women.

Green tea has been linked to health benefits

Cindi Bigelow certainly understands the benefits of sharing tea with friends, as witnessed in this video with “the boys” — Joe Torre, Phil Simms, and Terry Francona – where they discuss tea, friendship, and more.

So, when Friendship Day rolls around on August 2^nd, there should be no guilt in relaxing with some tea and a good friend, or two, or three…for your better health and theirs!

If having a cup of tea sounds like a great way to relax and unwind, there’s a good reason and it’s called theanine. Theanine is an amino acid naturally found in green tea; it’s known to promote relaxation without drowsiness. It also creates a sense of relaxation without shutting down your brain, so all you get is a great sense of well being.

Chart Compliments of www.theanine.co.uk/

The next time you’re feeling a bit wound up, stressed or anxious – go with your instincts and enjoy a cup of Bigelow Green Tea; it is the top selling green tea brand in the country! Since ancient times, it has been said that drinking green tea brings relaxation. Now we know the substance that is responsible for this sense of relaxation is the L-theanine.

Hot or cold – cup, bottle, or on the rocks – your Bigelow Green Tea is ready and waiting to help you relax, and say “ahhhhhh!”

It’s three o’clock on a weekday afternoon. The children are napping. The whistling of the teakettle is my cue to take a deep breath. Contentment fills my soul as the aroma of “Constant Comment®” fills the kitchen. Soon the telephone rings and it is, as I knew it would be, my best friend, Maggie on the line. I hear her deep sigh, almost a purr, as she, too settles in with a cup of the aromatic tea. It is time for our afternoon chat.

We have continued this tradition for years, rarely missing a day. Serendipitously, we would discover years later how good for our health all this tea drinking was. Our friendship blossomed, watered by countless cups of Bigelow’s elixir. Once a week perhaps, our conversations would be held face-to-face as we watched our toddlers form their own bonds, ties that exist to this day. We shared our joys and sorrows, career successes and tragic deaths, our children’s accomplishments, our aging parents’ struggles. Often we would look into our cups, trying to read the future in the amber liquid. A tear might drop, sending out waves of fragrant tea, as comforting and timeless as an ocean tide.

Then Maggie moved to Germany. Communication went from verbal to visual. It was pre-internet days, so we resorted to pen and paper. When the blue aerogram envelope arrived, I would restrain myself from ripping it open long enough to brew a cup of “Constant Comment®.” Some traditions simply have to be honored. We are grandmothers now, our lives full of new babies, second careers and madcap projects. Phone calls are few. E-mail serves, in its impersonal way, as the preferred method of communication. In fact, a recent e-mail from me to my dear friend carried the lament that we no longer have time for a tête-à-tête. All those cups of tea nourished the plant that is our friendship. It is time to feed it again.

By Susan Tornga

Image courtesy of blog.80millionmoviesfree.com

Since the first adaptation hit theaters in 2001, the Harry Potter films have stolen both the hearts of the books’ millions of fans, and non-readers alike. We here at Bigelow Tea love the role that a nice cup of tea has played in the series.

Served as a social drink among Harry and his friends as well as all the instructors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it seems that tea-drinking has carried over into real life for Harry himself, played by Daniel Radcliffe.

Like Emily Blunt, Radcliffe was also looking to pick up some good habits, starting with drinking tea!  He even passed the good practice onto the rest of the people on set, serving tea to anyone who asked. Now that’s service!

Check out the sixth movie in the series Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, out this month to rave reviews!

July is National Grilling Month, the perfect opportunity to get out there, to stoke up the grill, and impress the neighbors with your fine grilling technique! No matter where you live or what you do, grilling is one of the most popular cooking activities.  In fact, The Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association conducted a study showing that 77 percent of all U.S. households own a grill or smoker – a figure that flames up to 89 percent in households with four members or more! Everywhere across the country, in backyards, campsites, parks, and while tailgating, people are grilling. It’s as American as apple pie and iced tea from Bigelow Tea!

Why is grilling so popular? Well it’s easy, fun, fast, and you get that delicious grilled flavor…but more than that, grilling represents something intrinsically pleasing, the gathering with friends and family in the great outdoors. From holidays to family reunions, from farewells to welcome homes, to the venerable company picnic; it’s all about life’s celebrations.

So whether cooking with direct heat or indirect heat, be sure to play it safe by being organized: gather everything needed ahead of time, and don’t walk away from live-fire cooking!  There are lots of great grilling tips and Bigelow Tea grilling recipes available, like our fantastic Orange & Spice BBQ Sauce to help you spice up your July grill.

Bigelow Tea Ice Cubes!

And remember that it gets pretty hot out there while grilling in the July sun – be sure to have plenty of your iced tea favorites from Bigelow Tea – and to double your summer iced tea fun – make your ice cubes with Bigelow Tea using these easy instructions – because iced tea and grilling go together like hot dogs and mustard!

(Courtesy of Gurneys.com)

Some words of wisdom from Bigelow Tea:  When life throws us a curveball and the future seems uncertain, we always gravitate towards whatever brings us comfort, stability, and that ever-elusive gift that we call Time. Whether we need time to reflect, heal or simply just breathe, the meditative ritual of tea drinking is the tonic which puts everything into perspective.

For centuries, people have enjoyed the practice of tea – for social interaction and to heal mind and body.  Ancient cultures engaged in the preparation of herbal tea concoctions from a seemingly endless variety of herbs, nurtured for their exotic flavors and medicinal value. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) not only makes a very flavorful base for a tea but also contains a wide range of healing properties.

Ginger Snappish^TM Herbal Tea with Lemon

Bigelow AriZona Organic Green Tea – Lemon Ginger

Ginger root, the underground stem of the ginger plant, is just as effective dried as it is in its raw form. The plain, brown color of the spice belies its fiery and savory nature.  A widely popular medicinal herb in the eastern cultures of China, Japan and India, ginger is also grown in West Africa and the Caribbean. There is a bounty of evidence of its healing properties, which can remedy maladies of the stomach, asthma, inflammation, motion and morning sickness, blood pressure and circulatory problems. Ginger has also been very effective with eliminating nausea from chemotherapy treatment.

Chicken Noodle Soup with Ginger

Green Tea Ginger Tea Cakes

So, do take time out to breathe, nibble, and sip some of Bigelow Tea’s comfort food and herbal teas, all channeling the healing energy of green tea and glorious ginger!

(Note: Always consult a physician before the medical use of ginger - or any herb, for that matter).

Outdoor tea garden
(Image courtesy of Wikihow.com)

It’s amazing how the simple act of planting a seed and nurturing it as it grows into something wonderfully edible, can fill the soul with such a profound sense of gratification and contentment.  Sustainable living gives new meaning to the expression “you reap what you sow.”  At Bigelow Tea, we’ve been practicing Sustainabili-TEA from day one, by producing only the finest tasting teas, lovingly hand-picked from mountain grown gardens.  So, for the fellow tea lovers who may be wondering how to grow your very own slice of herbal heaven – it’s really quite easy!  The three key elements to a thriving herbal tea garden are sun, soil and water.

Balcony/Rooftop

Indoor
(Images courtesy of Wikihow.com)

You can visit your local nursery to learn what herbs are best suited to your particular garden zone and sun requirements.  Determine your available outdoor space and have fun designing your herbal retreat.  If the area is large enough, consider adding some decorative features like a gate, trellis or arbor. As a finishing touch, place a bench in the garden and appreciate the beauty while sipping a cup of tea.

If space is an issue, consider creating a special area on your deck, balcony, rooftop or even indoors! Herbs make great container gardens, provided they’re located in a spot that gets 6 to 8 hours of daily sunlight. You can fill the space with colorful plant containers and an indoor herb garden will infuse the house with delightful fragrances.

Charleston Tea Plantation

We love our herbal teas – and the land on which they grow. In 2003, Bigelow Tea purchased the Charleston Tea Plantation, America’s only tea garden, as part of our deep-rooted commitment to the practice of what we proudly call “Sustainabili-TEA.”  So, from our garden to yours – happy harvest!!

What a very pleasant surprise to find out that I was selected as one of the top woman in grocery for 2009!  100 women were selected based on a whole series of things.

I guess the part that makes me the most proud is the fact that they focused in on all the greening work we are doing here at Bigelow.  The other part that I enjoy so much about being chosen is how it makes the employees feel.  It reinforces their positive feelings about our company and our family.

Did I deserve the award, not really sure about that….I am sure there are many more women more competent than I am.  However, that does not take away from the fact that I was blessed to be one of the 100 Woman listed in Progressive Grocer this month. Very fun….it put a big smile on my face!

Cindi Bigelow

American Classic Tea for American Heroes

Fairfield, CT, July 20, 2009 – They put their lives on the line each and every day – to protect and to serve. “They” are our American troops who are fighting to protect our freedom far away from home, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bigelow family (www.bigelowtea.com), committed to bringing a little bit of “home” to these courageous men and women, collaborated with their wonderfully supportive employees and friends to produce a special run of American Classic Tea – just for our American soldiers.

“One of my greatest joys at Bigelow Tea is the work we can do to try to make a difference,” said Cindi Bigelow, President of Bigelow Tea. “We wanted to do something to show just how much we appreciate these men and women, so we decided to send them our version of a thank you card.”

For over a week, the Bigelow manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky was buzzing with activity as they wrapped and boxed nearly 2 million American Classic tea bags to be sent overseas and to airports where the troops are either leaving for or returning from a deployment in the Middle East. Bigelow Tea employees were beaming as they worked, at warp speed, on this very special production run. “It’s a lot of work, but we’re very pleased to do it,” said Bigelow Tea plant manager Steve Keys, summing up the overall enthusiasm in a recent clip on local Louisville TV channel, WDRB-Fox.

>The selection of tea chosen for this thank you gift was none other than Bigelow’s American Classic Tea which was 100% grown on American soil. Nurtured in the country’s largest tea garden, the idyllic Charleston Tea Plantation purchased by the Bigelow family in 2003, the American Classic tea was lovingly packaged in a beautiful custom-made box designed by Bigelow family friend, Duke Saltus. Helping to facilitate the shipment of 100,000 boxes of tea to troops overseas was another Bigelow family friend, the USO Regional Vice President (US) Jeff Hill. The Bigelow family, friends and employees are all so excited to send this heartfelt token of thanks to the brave men and women of the American Armed Forces.

To our troops and their families: “We thank you and we are proud of you!”

Watch the WDRB-Fox segment here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akJ56FPh8Ls).

About Bigelow Tea Company

100% family owned Fairfield, Connecticut-based Bigelow Tea pioneered the specialty tea category more than 60 years ago. Bigelow takes pride in its heritage and successful growth from a one-product, entrepreneurial venture into America’s leading specialty tea company. The Bigelow Tea line includes more than 80 varieties of flavored, traditional, green tea, organic, herbal, decaffeinated teas and iced teas– including America’s number one specialty tea flavor, “Constant Comment®.” Also, enjoy the Charleston Tea Plantation located on Wadmalaw Island just south of Charleston, South Carolina which is owned and operated by Bigelow Tea and produces American Classic Tea and products.

Bigelow Tea products are available nationwide and every variety can be found on the company website (www.bigelowtea.com). Tea lovers will also enjoy the company’s blog (www.bigelowteablog.com).

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PRESS CONTACT INFO:
Elizabeth April-Fritz
Bigelow Tea
203-334-1212
eafritz@rcbigelow.com

Valorie Luther
Creative Concepts
866.475.5191 x709
vluther@creative-conceptsllc.com