Soda does NOT burn calories, stupid

The Coca-Cola Company teamed up with Nestle last year to release Enviga, the third canned green tea to be featured on this blog. What's the big deal? First, it has sparkles. Second, in their very own study, healthy 18-to-35-year-olds who drank three cans a day showed an increase in calorie burn (on average) by 106 calories a day. Enviga was 'the only ready-to-drink green tea' proven to do this.

Whoa, that sounds like an easy way to drink off the pounds! Until you realize that two classic Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are 260 calories alone. (Imagine that 400ml Mint Chip Mocha you had this morning--or, GASP, THANKSGIVING!) It's true that green tea boosts your metabolism, but honestly, claiming that the 5 calories in Enviga are "effectively cancelled out" by green tea's calorie-burning powers (in effect, you're drinking 'negative calories') reminds me of those old Subway commercials that implied you could get away with God knows what because you had Subway today. (Not to mention the people involved in the study had healthy lifestyles anyhow, and didn't seem to be in any urgent need to shed pounds in the first place.)

If you don't like calories, drink something that doesn't have them--plain, ordinary tea. This looks like just another good chance for all of us to NOT give Coke our money.

Sources:
http://www.enviga.com/#CalorieBurning
http://www.hersheys.com/reeses/products/detail.asp?name=pb-cups

ps. This actually wasn't the reason I decided to write this post, though I'd wanted to write about Enviga for a while. No, I was researching hockey for a few scenes in a story of mine, and came across this buried in Wikipedia's 'hat trick', the term used when a player scores three goals in a game. It apparently came from magicians who pulled three rabbits out of a hat, one after the other, but that's not the funny part. Here is an actual quote from the article:

If a member of the home team in ice hockey scores a hat-trick, fans acknowledge it by throwing their own hats from the stands onto the ice, often causing a delay in play. This custom was started in Guelph, Ontario with the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters, sponsored by Biltmore Hats. Mr. Biltmore would throw his tophat onto the ice for the player that scored 3 goals. Fans soon followed his lead and offered their hats to the player as well. In 1996, the Florida Panthers fans celebrated goals (not just hat-tricks) by throwing plastic rats onto the ice, which were then cleaned up by men dressed in Orkin exterminator outfits. The history of this goes back to an incident in December 1995, when Scott Mellanby scored what teammate John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed a "rat trick" after ridding the Panthers' locker room at Miami Arena of an unwanted rat with his stick on the same night he scored a pair of goals. When Mellanby scored a hat trick in a later game some fans threw plastic rats on the ice, mimicking the octopus thrown by Detroit Red Wings fans, and the practice soon became universal for Panthers home goals. The NHL later responded by banning the throwing of objects onto the ice by fans at the cost of a penalty for the home team, but specifically allowed the traditional throwing of hats to continue. There appears to be some leeway with regards to what can be thrown onto the ice following a hat trick, as witnessed after the Nashville Predators' Paul Kariya scored a hat trick on April 18, 2006 when two catfish were thrown on the ice and no penalty was given.

They let someone into a sporting event with a pair of catfish, and when I was a kid I couldn't take fresh fruit into the movie theater with me? It probably has half the calories of popcorn, or something.

Webcomics + Tea = OMG teh INTERNETS is magic!!!11!!1

I like webcomics. I like tea. But I never dreamed they would go together. Enter Tea Club by Phuong-Mai Bui-Quang; a story of a--catgirl--college freshman who joins a club devoted to GT's favorite drink. Did I mention that the president of said club is a bear?

Milk isn´t just for English Breakfast - Tokidoki`s Moofia Blind Box series

Honestly, all of us should know better than to buy a three-inch-tall plastic milk carton for $7. Apparently, I don`t. Each of Tokidoki`s milk-themed Moofia toys comes in a cute milk-carton ´Blind Box´ the point being that you don`t even know if that hard-earned cash is going for something that´s already in your collection. I bought one thinking I would get Soya, which is after all my perferred milk, but I had to settle for whatever the kanji on THIS LITTLE GUY says. I know I should be ashamed of myself, but I like Milk-kun for some reason. I actually feel like wasting even more money on these silly things when I get back to the States.

What is Chai?

Chai is a cool word. I love saying it, because it reminds me of something really sweet. Before I tell you what, though, you should take a look at what Chai actually means:
1. It´s the Russian word for any type of tea.
2. It`s the name of a very specific and unusual type of drink from India. Chai.com describes said drink as "the perfect blend of freshly ground spices (chai masala) like cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom and pepper, added to a boiling pot of loose leaf tea and milk to make a delicious, satisfying and healthy beverage."

Now, down to why I just love that darn word. A bit ago I was traveling with my mother into the States. The fun thing about this trip was that we kept getting these delays. First off, the day we set out to the big city with an airport, the plane turned out to be full, so we went all the way back with our own private chauffuer and didn´t bother unpacking. (Have I mentioned this was my first time having a chauffuer?) Next day, bright and early another car picked us up from the gate, and we had an air-conditioned ride to the airport, came to Philly, trucked our 5 or so suitcases through the metal detectors, and at the gate were promptly told Burlington Airport was having a storm and we`d have to go tomorrow. (Awesome!) Well, my mother made a fair reek about how the airline already delayed us one day, and next thing we knew we were packed in an SUV with our pockets full of vouchers for a hotel in New Jersey. Gloucester, to be exact.
It had a fine Indian restaurant, a bar with a real pool table, and that roadside-America charm, not to mention a hair dryer and tub in the bathroom (neither of those things I have at home). The weather that afternoon, as we came fresh from looking at the smoky industrialness of the place, was my favorite, and when we came down for dinner it had started to rain. I think I had a spicy soup with either corn or coconut--and my mom ordered a curry that she didn´t like--but what I really remember is checking out the drinks at the back of the menu and thinking, heck, this is free?
"Hey, I`ll have one of these."
By now there was a storm out the covered window by our table, and the waiter brought a low cup that steamed of spices. Beside it was a small metal pitcher of warm milk. I added the milk to the chai slowly and finally it was just hot enough to not burn yourself drinking, but I shouldn`t have waited; the peppery, gingery heat was just as strong as boiling water.
Chai is an unusual tea, and the good kind reminds me of spicy coffee because you add milk. It`s a very adventurous one too, at least for me--if I was going to climb Everest, the first thing I`d throw in my bag would be chai masala because it warms you right up. Then, of course, a hot plate and soymilk.
The point is, that night was a perfect example of what makes tea superior to coffee, Red Bull, whatever your elixir is currently--the smell, the taste, the warmth brings you back to something you like, whether it`s a day the thermometer let you off school, or that first love story you finished at a WiFi cafe. Everything else just gives you a jolt forward, which isn´t all bad, but there are times when you`re better off looking over your shoulder, smiling, and thinking something happy for about ten minutes. Those times are made for tea.


For 2 cups of chai:

1. In a pot, heat 1 cup water & 1 cup milk.

2. Add 1/5 teaspoon Chai Masala

3. Add 2 teaspoons Tea Leaves. (Darjeeling are good, any black tea is cool too)

4. Stir occasionally & bring to a boil.

5. Strain & add sugar or honey to sweeten and enjoy!

Prepared chai will have a golden brown hue.

Flavor Trip - Four O´ Clock Organics

Owies! Tea is expensive now that I`m back home. Since I recently worked from 5PM to 4AM Photoshopping some of my artwork for a contest deadline the next day, however, I decided to splurge on $6 worth of Fair Trade Pomegranate Echinacea from the Four O´Clock series by Trans-herbe. It was a deliciously unusual blend, and I think I´m going to stick with Four O´Clock no matter the cost, because Ginkgo Ginger and Licorice Spice are also some pretty badass-sounding herb teas. Something about drinking something both Fair Trade, Organic, and yummy makes you feel awesome.

Completely Off-Topic - Parkour and Free Running

Yes, this is a complete lapse in topic consistency. Forgive me. But tea is a thing in a world of things, and two of those things are so awesome I have to give them some space alongside the hot mug that usually graces this blog. Those things are Parkour and Free Running.

Some people use the terms interchangeably; both, after all, can be found on Youtube as clips of incredibly brave individuals doing gymnastics in an urban environment. However, closer inspection shows a difference in style; Free Running is when they leap from roof to second-story-balcony-across-the-street, do triple wall-breakdance flips, and generally look scarily amazing. Parkour comes from the French term for 'obstacle course' and can be defined best as a training method to move efficiently and naturally and overcome obstacles; rolls, vaults, and rhythm are key points in the discipline. Both stemmed from what these two guys named Sabastien Foucan and David Belle did in Paris a while ago for fun with a couple of friends. However, I've been watching about a million videos, and then did some reading, and then watched some more videos, but tutorials this time--and I WANT TO DO THIS.

I'm a wimp though, so I'm just building up my stamina and reflexes for now, and practicing rolling on the soccer pitch because it's the most harmless move you can learn. I guess I caught the bug--or just poured another new cup of tea. We now return to your previously scheduled topic.

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Tonic Tea - Organic India

Is it any surprise that India--birthplace of yoga and, in a sense, vegetarianism--takes health benefits into consideration with its most popular drink? Today I got two freebies from Organic India at the local Co-Op; Red Mango and Sweet Rose, both caffeine free and containing Tulsi, a medicinal herb revered as "The Holy Basil" by the Hindus. (Tulsi is an adaptogenic herb, proven to support the body's immune system and relieve the negative effects of stress.) Sweet Rose had a strong sense of chamomile, but was just a tad sweeter. However,what really got me was the smell of the tea--a pleasant aroma of roses that lingered after I was done with tea for the night.
I'm really looking forward to Red Mango now!