The winter months are filled with runny noses, high fevers, frigid conditions and New Year resolutions. However, January is also National Hot Tea Month, which offers each of us a chance to warm up, prevent unpleasant flu symptoms and set our health resolutions on the right path.

Being an avid tea drinker, I decided that January was the perfect time to truly connect with my cups of steaming tea. Instead of just drinking my tea I want to learn about it, care for it, become one with the tea.

First, I would learn how to properly brew a cup of tea, which turned out to be a lot more scientific than I had originally thought. The coffee and tea blog A Nice Cuppa set me on the right path with a tea month post featuring Dave DeCandia, a savvy tea brewer from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The first concern when creating that perfect cup of tea is the temperature of the water. Normally, I would just wait till my tea kettle was screaming at me in distress, DeCandia however points out that this is all wrong. In fact, water for tea shouldn’t be boiled at all. High temperatures leave tea leafs burnt and bitter, an ugly combination that has the potential to ruin any relaxing tea moment.

DeCandia got even more exact when it came time to discuss steeping tea bags or loose tea leaves. Little did I know that different varieties need different steeping times to reach their full flavor potential: three minutes for green, five minutes for black, and a whopping seven minutes for those flavorful herbal teas.

If I had known that brewing a great cup of tea took so much care and precision, I would have changed my ways long ago. Even when adding sweetness and zest to your favorite cup a thoughtful attitude is needed. DeCandia cautions against adding cream to tea and suggests adding sugar before squeezing in some lemon.

Once I had perfected my brewing tactics, I could truly focus on the benefits that my steaming beverage was providing. Tea offers a plethora of nutritional benefits that can keep you healthy during the cold and flu months of winter. Theanine is a naturally occurring tea ingredient that boosts the immune system and combats disease, while Flavanoids are antioxidant compounds that increase body function and overall health.

According to a press release from The Tea Council of the USA, chief of Tufts University’s Antioxidant Laboratory Jeffrey Blumberg has named tea one of the top healthy foods of the New Year. This appointment is backed by studies displaying that tea has the power to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancers of the mouth and lungs.

On top of disease fighting powers tea also aids in keeping waists slim and energies high, two properties that are sure to please those with gut busting New Year’s resolutions. I was happy to discover that my personal favorite, green tea, is especially beneficial in this area according to a Teas Etc. article. The article cites a study by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that says green tea is especially powerful in fighting obesity because of its high catechin content. This is good news to all tea drinkers because catechins are powerful antioxidants found in plants, especially in the Camelia sinensis tea-plant.

Now that I was properly educated, and convinced that my cups of tea were doing more than offering me a quick afternoon caffeine buzz, I felt truly ready to discover the elaborate world of tea flavors. However elaborate and extensive these tea flavors may be I was pleased to discover that each type of tea has a simple, humble beginning.

Surprisingly enough every variety of tea, from the English breakfast to the fair trade chocolate macaroon rooibos starts off with the Camelia sinensis tea-plant. The differences in flavor and caffeine content arise when the tealeaves are processed for different amounts of time in a variety of circumstances. Black and oolong tealeaves are left to ferment to achieve their flavor, while green tea leaves are simply plucked and not fermented at all.

Once you choose which type of tea you’d like, the flavor combinations are endless! Vanilla, cinnamon, and hints of caramel can be added to tealeaves for a sweet dessert combination. While lemongrass, spearmint and citrus create a lively refreshing cup. To experience your perfect tea euphoria visit Adagio Tea’s website. Once you become a customer of the site you can create your own custom tea blends to share with the world. I found the pumpkin gingerbread cookie blend especially appealing with its seasonal mix of pumpkin spice, gingerbread and masala chai!

My last steps in celebrating all that are tea was to seek out tea communities, and to find some fancy tea accessories. Tea worshipers are like members of a secret society that seem to know something that the rest of the coffee induced society is unaware of. Adagio tea offers a tea community for tea lovers to log on to and exchange information and tips from exciting new tea flavors to running your own successful tea business. Adagio, along with Teavana’s website, also offers a tea of the month club that users can join with the anticipation of receiving a new batch of tea on their doorsteps each month.

When it comes to the hottest new tea accessories, a few specific ones really caught my eye. LaPrima’s website has strawberry shaped silicon tea infusers from Trudeau in yellow, orange and red that come with matching tea cup lids for just six dollars. However, I was most impressed by Adagio Tea’s tea TriniTEA Electric Tea Maker, a tea gadget that promises to heat water, steep tea leaves, and keep tea warm throughout the day. It resembles your average coffee maker and isn’t too much of a set back at $99. Hot tea month is in full swing, and with information and accessories such as these I feel adequately prepared to celebrate it to the fullest.