Tea Is Badass and Better Than Coffee

[Squirrel away]

I drink tea, mostly green and herbal but occasionally black tea with one sugar and almond milk.

I used to have the problem of feeling sick when drinking tea on an empty stomach but for some reason I don't get that any more.:)

[JZinCO]

I thought paying about a dime per coffee would've worked so I got some Folger's instant for work. Turns out it's not worth it. blegh.
Never envisioned myself as a tea drinker, until CW brought in Celestial fast lane which is pretty close 1:1 with coffee caffeine-wise and it tastes great.
So I'm about 30/70 coffee/tea for my daily morning beverage. Never done honey,sugar,milk, etc for tea or coffee.

[acinaps]

I currently drink only bagged tea, but I'd be glad to switch to loose tea. May I solicit some help?

1)Where's the best places to find good quality and different types of tea? I was terribly disappointed by the insane prices at Teavana. (and their bizarre flavors) Internet sources would be A-OK. And I'm not looking just for information I can find with a google search - I wanna know who's buying where and if they are treating you right.

2) What's the best way to steep it and not end up with a bunch of tea leaf fragments in the bottom of the cup?

Your expert help solicited.....

I buy my loose leaf tea from Harney & Sons (harney.com). I am on their email list, so I am alerted when they have free shipping offers. That's when I buy. I really like their Organic Assam tea for my everyday simple black tea fix. Their English Breakfast is good too. I probably spend less than $50/year on tea.

I use a plain old tea infuser like this:

[Faraday]

I had to stop drinking my tea with sugar in it because I got cavities :/ and I take good care of my teeth otherwise. So yeah. Consider drinking it straight.

I take my tea plain, but I like almond milk / sugar in my coffee. I have reduced the sugar in my diet significantly over the past few years, so I now use liquid stevia in my coffee. I really like it, but it might not be for everyone :)

+1 to stevia. Just gotta watch out how much, I've overdone that too.

[meadow lark]

I use this tea strainer.  $12.95 at www.stashtea.com .  I drink a lot of tea, and have, over the years, gone through a multitude of the less expensive tea balls and tea spoon infusers, etc.  They last a year or so, then they start leaking tea bits.  This one was marketed as. "For life!  The last tea strainer you'll ever buy."  The sides that hold it over the cup fold down, and I really like it.

[StacheEngineer]

Something I learned recently that there are proven health benefits for coffee consumption: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/upshot/more-consensus-on-coffees-benefits-than-you-might-think.html?_r=0

The evidence is much weaker for tea: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/upshot/what-the-evidence-tells-us-about-tea.html

I hedge my bets and drink both =)

[FurtherJourneys]

I recommend www.rosemountainherbs.com. Really great quality with lots of options for both herbal and true tea varieties, plus many of them are fair trade or organic. Apparently conventional tea leaves contain a fair amount of pesticides. It is pretty much all looseleaf varieties so I use a tea strainer a friend got me at Tevana. I agree that their prices are ridiculous, and apparently they use a sales tactic where the samples are all blends of tea and if you purchase a blend you can only buy a certain minimum number of ounces. The only time I've gone in and thought about buying some tea it was going to be thirty dollars for four ounces, unbelievable. 

[partgypsy]

I use this tea strainer.  $12.95 at www.stashtea.com .  I drink a lot of tea, and have, over the years, gone through a multitude of the less expensive tea balls and tea spoon infusers, etc.  They last a year or so, then they start leaking tea bits.  This one was marketed as. "For life!  The last tea strainer you'll ever buy."  The sides that hold it over the cup fold down, and I really like it.

That's my favorite tea strainer as well! And the benefit if you are camping, you can use it to make coffee as well : )

[lifejoy]

Something I found out by (well let's be honest) being a bit of a tea-snob is that loose-weight tea is a lot cheaper than bagged tea. Obviously: they save on the packing cost. But not obviously is that it's so much more inexpensive that I can upgrade to more fancy tea and still pay about the same per cup as for cheap bagged tea.

Just look at the little tiny writing saying how many grams the packet contains. A same-sized box of loose weight will be from 4-5 times heavier than a box of bagged tea. And it's nowhere near 4 times as expencive (in my area usualy twise the price for 4 times the product).

I currently drink only bagged tea, but I'd be glad to switch to loose tea. May I solicit some help?

1)Where's the best places to find good quality and different types of tea? I was terribly disappointed by the insane prices at Teavana. (and their bizarre flavors) Internet sources would be A-OK. And I'm not looking just for information I can find with a google search - I wanna know who's buying where and if they are treating you right.

2) What's the best way to steep it and not end up with a bunch of tea leaf fragments in the bottom of the cup?

Your expert help solicited.....

I use one of these -

From where? Love it!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Tyson]

I got mine from Teavana several years ago, it's been very durable - http://www.teavana.com/us/en/teaware/tea-makers?nofilter=false

[alsoknownasDean]

I find that I tend to drink coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon/evening. I grew up drinking tea, and coffee was something I started drinking as an adult.

Usually I'll buy regular Dilmah bagged black tea, but often the tea from Aldi is decent as well. A dash of milk, no sugar.

I do have a few boxes of fancypants T2 tea, but I don't drink them regularly.

If I drank coffee all day, I'd never get to sleep.

[meadow lark]

I recommend www.rosemountainherbs.com.

Do you mean www.mountainroseherbs.com?
Looks interesting!

[asauer]

Yep!  I actually bought chamomile, mint and lemon balm seedlings.  I grew, picked and dried the leaves so in the end I paid $10 for 1 year's worth of tea!

[stripey]

I had to stop drinking my tea with sugar in it because I got cavities :/ and I take good care of my teeth otherwise. So yeah. Consider drinking it straight.

I take my tea plain, but I like almond milk / sugar in my coffee. I have reduced the sugar in my diet significantly over the past few years, so I now use liquid stevia in my coffee. I really like it, but it might not be for everyone :)

If you're all for minimising waste, have you considered making your own stevia extract? I've grown stevia in a pot previously. Dry leaves, then steep for a day or so in vodka. And then you're done. Can very slowly simmer off the alcohol then if you'd like, but it reduces shelf life.

[Faraday]

If you're all for minimising waste, have you considered making your own stevia extract? I've grown stevia in a pot previously. Dry leaves, then steep for a day or so in vodka. And then you're done. Can very slowly simmer off the alcohol then if you'd like, but it reduces shelf life.

This sounds pretty awesome - I've made tinctures from hot peppers (Ghost, Hab and Scotch Bonnet) using vodka and it works well for adding heat flavor to almost anything.

Does it work well with the stevia leaves? Can you make a product that's strong enough?

[cborders]

Bought this infuser as birthday gift for my girlfriend: http://www.amazon.com/Adagio-Teas-ingenuiTEA-Bottom-Dispensing-Teapot/dp/B000FPN8TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447442518&sr=8-1&keywords=ingenuitea

She loves it, and I liked it enough to buy one for myself. I bought a few different teas from Rishi and Davidson's and have been drinking a cup or two per day.

Better than coffee? I may have agreed before I discovered AeroPress & pour-over extraction methods and started buying good coffee from places like Ceremony Roasters who don't roast the beans until the day they ship your product.

[stripey]

If you're all for minimising waste, have you considered making your own stevia extract? I've grown stevia in a pot previously. Dry leaves, then steep for a day or so in vodka. And then you're done. Can very slowly simmer off the alcohol then if you'd like, but it reduces shelf life.

This sounds pretty awesome - I've made tinctures from hot peppers (Ghost, Hab and Scotch Bonnet) using vodka and it works well for adding heat flavor to almost anything.

Does it work well with the stevia leaves? Can you make a product that's strong enough?

It works sufficiently well with dried stevia leaves, yes. If you leave the dried leaves steeping too long then it starts to become bitter. There are a few good guides how to make homemade stevia extract out there on the internet. I'm not sure what you mean by strong enough-- if you mean 'able to be used in small quantities such that it sweetens without diluting the rest of the drink', then I suppose the answer is yes.

[dalegendman]

I've been switching from coffee to tea as well. For one thing, tea is simpler to make. Tea bag + hot water = tea vs. getting a filter, grinding beans, waiting for the coffee machine, etc. Also, for me, drinking more than two cups of coffee/day makes me feel jittery, messes with my stomach, and pushes my caffeine tolerance up to the point where I get withdrawal headaches if I go back down. I don't have those problem with tea. I can drink multiple cups without getting the jitters.

[Faraday]

Preach it "dalegendman"! Rock the tea bags!

I've been switching from coffee to tea as well. For one thing, tea is simpler to make. Tea bag + hot water = tea vs. getting a filter, grinding beans, waiting for the coffee machine, etc. Also, for me, drinking more than two cups of coffee/day makes me feel jittery, messes with my stomach, and pushes my caffeine tolerance up to the point where I get withdrawal headaches if I go back down. I don't have those problem with tea. I can drink multiple cups without getting the jitters.

[vern]

Something I found out by (well let's be honest) being a bit of a tea-snob is that loose-weight tea is a lot cheaper than bagged tea. Obviously: they save on the packing cost. But not obviously is that it's so much more inexpensive that I can upgrade to more fancy tea and still pay about the same per cup as for cheap bagged tea.

Just look at the little tiny writing saying how many grams the packet contains. A same-sized box of loose weight will be from 4-5 times heavier than a box of bagged tea. And it's nowhere near 4 times as expencive (in my area usualy twise the price for 4 times the product).

I currently drink only bagged tea, but I'd be glad to switch to loose tea. May I solicit some help?

1)Where's the best places to find good quality and different types of tea? I was terribly disappointed by the insane prices at Teavana. (and their bizarre flavors) Internet sources would be A-OK. And I'm not looking just for information I can find with a google search - I wanna know who's buying where and if they are treating you right.

2) What's the best way to steep it and not end up with a bunch of tea leaf fragments in the bottom of the cup?

Your expert help solicited.....

I use one of these -

From where? Love it!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I'm amazed that somebody actually "invented" Mister Tea!  There was a skit on Saturday Night Live back in the '70s  (when Mister Coffee was a big deal) about Mister Tea. 

The tag line was..."You supply the hot water and the tea and Mister Tea does the rest!"

Maybe Father Guido Sarducci could sue Teavana?

[SeaEhm]

Asian supermarkets have a great deal on different teas.

I suggest trying Oolong tea! 

[Faraday]

Asian supermarkets have a great deal on different teas.
I suggest trying Oolong tea!

Oolong is heaven in a cup and can be had both fresh and inexpensive at asian grocery.