I came across Abaji in browsing the music section of NPR, and could not resist sharing this video with you. Having been exposed to both eastern and western forms of music (as is the case of most immigrants from east to this country, I suppose) I am a big fan of musicians who introduce me to a different musical tradition. Abaji is an ambassador of world music to all of us being an exponent of Greek, Turkish, Armenian and French music. Here is what NPR had to say about Abaji.

Abaji’s work spans many cultures and languages. With roots in Greece, Turkey, Armenia and France, he’s at home strumming a twangy bouzouki, blowing into a breathy duduk or bowing a soft-toned kamancheh. When recording his latest album, Origine Orients, he played 10 different instruments, many of them simultaneously, with no second takes or overdubs. It took him just two days

Enough said about the musician. If you want to know more about Abaji, please play the Tiny Desk Concert video, and to visit his website (parts of which are in French and unintelligible to me). But there are english language translations in many places.

Weekly Special!

And another thing - we have a sale going on at the moment on Tigerhill Tea - 20% off until the end of the month. We have a small stock of this wonderful tea left which will be gone soon, so order some if you would like to have some. Once its gone, it will be gone! The tea is available in both 100 gm pack and 500 gm pack which at $43, is a great steal!

© American Heart Association

Question: What disease is the largest killer of women?
Answer: A. Breast Cancer, B. Diabetes, C. Osteoporosis, D. Heart Disease

If you answered A, B or C, you were wrong. The biggest killer of women in America is Heart Disease. According to CDC, ~29% of deaths in women are caused by Heart Disease. However the awareness of this is low among women. To raise the awareness of hear disease among women, American Heart Association has started a tradition of wearing Red “Go Red For Women” on Feb 5. But there is no reason we should think of heart disease only on February 5th - we need to raise awareness of the disease everyday. Just look at some of the shocking numbers quoted on CDC website:

Although heart disease is sometimes thought of as a “man’s disease,” … women account for nearly 50% of heart disease deaths. In 2006, heart disease was the cause of death in nearly 316,000 females.

Often the women are misinformed about the specifics of the disease. For instance, there is a misconception that heart disease is an older woman’s disease, which is absolutely not true. In fact, heart disease is the third leading cause of death among women aged 25-44 years and the second leading cause of death among women aged 45-64 years.

Clearly there is a need to raise awareness among women about not only the heart disease, but also about how to go about preventing it. As mothers and daughters and sisters, we owe it to our families to take better care of ourselves including changing our diet to a more heart healthy diet. For instance, one of the largest sources of calories in our diet is carbonated beverages. Simply substituting the carbonated beverages with tea will help you reduce a significant amount of calories from your diet thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.

But drinking tea is just one of many things many things one can do to reduce the risk of heart disease. Look through the links below that will provide you with great information on the disease itself and how to go about preventing it.

CDC webpage on February is the Heart Disease Month
WebMD - Top 5 Health Concerns of Women
Miami Hearld interviewed a cardiologist on Heart Disease
Go Red For Women website

Health benefits of tea continue to mount. A recent study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology seem to indicate that green tea has the effect of reducing overall risk of endometrial cancer.

The combined RR for ever drinkers vs non/lowest drinkers was 0.85 (95% CI, 0.77–0.94). Compared with non/lowest drinkers, the summary RR was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.78–0.98) for low to moderate drinkers and 0.75 (95% CI, 0.64–0.88) for high drinkers. An increase in tea intake of 2 cups/day was associated with a 25% decreased risk of endometrial cancer. In subgroup analyses, tea consumption was significantly associated with reduced endometrial cancer risk in Asian studies and studies using interviewing techniques. Furthermore, the protective effect of green tea on endometrial cancer seemed more evident than that of black tea.

You can read more about this study here.

Dear Customer,

If you are like me, you have probably been deeply affected by the tragedy that struck the island of Haiti just a few days ago. While natural disasters are never a desirable event, when they impact the poorest of poor, the impact is felt many folds more. Over 70% of Haiti lives on less than $2 a day, so when for the average Haitian, this earth quake is nothing short of complete devastation of their life!

While this tragedy is going on we cannot sit on our hands and do nothing. This is why, Jaya Teas is announcing a unique program to help the victims of this tragedy. From now until the end of January, Jaya Teas will donate 25% of all the sales made through our website to American Red Cross, to help the Haiti relief effort.

If you would like to do something for Haitians, one way to do so would be by buying your tea needs before the end of January. We will donate 25% of your purchase value to American Red Cross. If you are not a tea drinker, or if you are well stocked with your teas, we encourage you to help out by donating directly to American Red Cross.

Here is a brief video from our First Lady Michele Obama explaining how you can help.

Please join Jaya Teas in helping our neighbor in her hour of need.

Madhulika Joshi

The 14th Tea & Coffee World Cup Exhibition & Symposium, Europe’s largest and most comprehensive event for the coffee and tea businesses, will be held April 25-27, 2010, at the Reed Messe Wien in Vienna, Austria. Co-sponsored by global journals Tea & Coffee Trade Journal and Tea & Coffee Asia, the exhibition will be the one-stop networking and buying event for tea and coffee professionals worldwide.

Tea & Coffee World Cup Europe and Alles fûr den Gast-Wien will take place simultaneously in adjacent halls at the Reed Messe, April 25-27, 2010. The two leading trade fairs in their fields, serving the same industries but in different sectors, will complement each other and add value to both exhibitor’s and visitor’s experiences.

Are you planning to go to the Tea & Coffee World Cup Exhibition? Please scroll down and answer the poll on the right side.

Our favorite green tea, the Woodlands Estate Green tea from the Nilgiri Hills Green Tea is on sale from now until November 26th. This nice tea is an Organic Second Flush Tea grown at a high elevation of 6100 feet in the blue mountains of South India.

Both 100mg packs and bulk 1lb bags are on sale at 25% off

Upon from the high elevations of Nilgiri Hills comes this delicious green tea, raw in its power, yet smooth as it can be! This tea is certified organic green tea and the longish withered leaf turns in to bright green upon steeping. It produces a light green liquor upon a steep time of 1-1.5 minutes. Recommend upto three steeps out of one tea spoon, with subsequent steep times increasing by 30 seconds each.

The pictures below will tell you just how enticing this tea is!

Grade: Superfine
Season: Second flush
Leaf: Longish black
Liquor: Bright pale yellow
Infusion: Bright green

Please click the images below to enlarge them. Click the right edge to advance to next image

Net weight: 100 gms (3.5 oz)
Typically one 100 gm pack can make up to 100 cups of tea, with each cup costing less than 9 cents. With this sale, your per cup price drops to less than 7 cents! Now that is some savings!