Read the tea leaves, caffeine lovers. Tea is gaining ground over coffee. Tearooms are popping up everywhere. Even Starbucks is bucking up its tea menu.

The health benefits of tea are one compelling reason: Green and black teas have 10 times the antioxidants found in fruits and veggies, by one estimate.

For jaded coffee drinkers, tea also offers new sensory frontiers, with its roots in Chinese, Japanese, Indian, African, and South American cultures.

When you sip a chai tea latte, for example, you're enjoying a beverage born in India. "All over India, on almost every street corner, vendors sell chai tea," says Joe Simrany, president of the Tea Council of the U.S.A.

"The traditional tea lover won't like chai tea that much," he tells WebMD. "The spices -- ginger, cardamom -- overpower the taste of the black tea. But for American coffee consumers, it's perfect."

In the U.S., elegant tea salons, tearooms, and take-out tea shops are popping up everywhere, says Simrany. "Four years ago, we had one-quarter the tea salons we have today. Even coffee shops are selling more tea."

People find tranquility in tearooms, says Dominique Tanton, manager of the Dushanbe Teahouse, an exquisite traditional Persian teahouse in Boulder, Colo.

"Coffee shops are for the quick caffeine buzz before work or while you're frantically studying for a test," she tells WebMD. "A tearoom is for slowing down, relaxing, admiring the surroundings."

Small Wonder

Studies of humans, animals, and Petri dish experiments show that black and green tea is highly beneficial to our health, says 82-year-old John Weisburger, PhD, senior researcher at the Institute for Cancer Prevention in Valhalla, N.Y.

"I've published over 500 papers, including a helluva lot on tea," says Weisburger, who drinks 10 cups daily. "I was the first American researcher to show that tea modifies the metabolism to detoxify harmful chemicals."

Green tea, black tea, oolong tea -- they all come from the same tea plant, Camellia sinensis; the leaves are simply processed differently, explains Weisburger. Green tea leaves are not fermented; they are withered and steamed. Black tea and oolong tea leaves undergo crushing and fermenting processes.

All teas from the Camellia tea plant are rich in polyphenols, which are antioxidants -- meaning they scavenge for cell-damaging free radicals and detoxify them, says Weisburger.

"Astounding" aptly describes tea's antioxidant power: "Whether it's green or black, tea has about 8 to 10 times the polyphenols found in fruits and vegetables," he says.

While herbal teas may also contain antioxidants, less is known about them, Weisburger adds.

"In my lab, we found that green and black tea had identical amounts of polyphenols," he tells WebMD. "We found that both types of tea blocked DNA damage associated with tobacco and other toxic chemicals. In animal studies, tea-drinking rats have less cancer."

Look at the world's big tea-drinkers, like Japan and China. "They have much less heart disease and don't have certain cancers that we in the western world suffer," says Weisburger.

However, be careful about doctoring-up your tea, says Weisburger. One study found that adding too much milk to can greatly reduce tea's health benefits.

"The scientific evidence about tea is evolving and I think it's compelling," Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy of Tufts University, tells WebMD.

Tea is getting more famous and popular all around the world.It is a much preferable choice over coffee.
It is a most widely used drink all over the world.More tea rooms and cafes are being opened for sipping and enjoying tea.Tea drinking is much prevailing all over.Spices and other additives add more flavor and value to tea making it more spicy and delicious.

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