Author Topic: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!  (Read 7183 times)

Zikoris

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Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« on: December 30, 2014, 09:44:38 PM »
I drink too much soda. So I'm going to start mostly replacing it with herbal tea. Anyone else?

This could apply to any drink, not just soda - coffee, energy drinks, alcohol, juice, whatever you over-drink that you know you shouldn't.

And share what kind of tea you make. Right now I have spearmint, rooibos, and Lipton summer fruits. Sometimes I also make lemon water with just fresh squeezed lemon juice and boiling water. I finished off some sort of Chinese flower tea from my in laws a few days ago as well.

ketchup

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2014, 09:58:55 PM »
I don't drink too much of anything, but I enjoy herbal tea (and tea tea and kombucha)!

I usually will have either the mint or chamomile that's free at work, but I also enjoy rooibos.  I had a pumpkin spice rooibos from Trader Joe's that a coworker gave me.  My one pumpkin spice beverage of 2014.  It was excellent.

Roland of Gilead

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2014, 10:03:28 PM »
We have recently done this.   We were watching quite a few British shows on Netflix and they always were drinking tea or offering to make tea when something went wrong "Oh, you just lost your brother in a car accident?  How about a cuppa?"

Now we make tea about 3 or 4 times a day.  One time caffeinated toward the mid morning and the rest are some form of non caffeine tea like mint or spice.

Not sure if it is really cheaper than soda though.

swick

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2014, 10:06:37 PM »
I'm in, I don't really have any drinks I drink too much of, I just have a bad habit with not hydrating enough in general.

I make a blend of organic nettle and raspberry leaf which I love.

I also really like anything with rooibos.

Bob W

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2014, 10:23:21 PM »
What about tea tea?  I buy 100 bags for $1 at walmart. Run a couple bags and make 5 cups through coffee maker.  Next day add a bag and rebrew.  Taste great, no coffee shakes, lots of antioxidants,  plenty of fluoride.  Cost like 6 bucks per year.

Lynski

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2014, 12:37:02 AM »
At the end of the "Inside the Actors Studio" tv show the host asks a series of questions including: "What sound or noise do you love?" One of my favorite sounds is that of a can of soda being opened. Suffice to say, when I kicked the soda habit a couple of years ago, it was harder than I expected it would be.

The biggest thing was not letting it into the house. After a week or two, the soda craving went away, and any that did come up could usually be fixed with flavored sparkling water instead for the carbonation. I still allow myself the occasional soda at family get togethers, but now it's mostly tea and coffee for me. The soda habit is a great one to break!

1967mama

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2014, 02:43:07 AM »
I drink a cup or two of caffeinated tea before lunch (Tetley Pure Ceylon Black Tea is my current fave) and switch to herbal or decaf earl grey for the afternoon. I was given a box of Twinning's Raspberry and Pomegranate which is really nice. And I love Celestial Seasonings Sugar Plum Spice at this time of year. The also make an excellent Apple Spice tea which I often eatdrink after dinner -- it totally tastes like apple pie to me!

I find that I often need 2 tea bags of herbal tea to make it strong enough for me. I don't like watery tea. I like a splash of milk and then I use plain stevia drops to sweeten my tea (trying to reduce sugar intake).

Rural

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2014, 05:06:40 AM »
I drink tea all day at work (usually water at home, cola only if I'm I'll, such as this recent stomach flu).


Peppermint and chamomile can both be found regularly at dollar stores, so I drink a lot of both. Other than that, I generally stock whatever's been on clearance at Big Lots. I keep blackberry (loose) and sometimes rosehip and clover with an infuser - those I gather and dry myself. I'll buy licorice and hibiscus for health reasons - can't grow those effectively. The hibiscus turns up at Big Lots occasionally, and I stock up then. The licorice so far has to come from a health food store - never seen it anywhere else, though there are some medicinal blends that are mostly licorice, and I'll buy them on clearance if I find them.


In the mornings, I drink a cup or two of black tea, Earl Grey if I have it, cheap Walmart bags if I don't, lik Bob (Save-a-Lot is cheaper if you have one, Bob).


I don't put anything in my tea, so no worries there, and generally one bag is good for two cups.

Gray Matter

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2014, 06:17:42 AM »
I'm in!  I would like to give up my diet soda habit.  I'm very good at quitting--have done it many times in the past!  Hopefully this time will stick.

mm1970

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2015, 07:58:41 AM »
What about tea tea?  I buy 100 bags for $1 at walmart. Run a couple bags and make 5 cups through coffee maker.  Next day add a bag and rebrew.  Taste great, no coffee shakes, lots of antioxidants,  plenty of fluoride.  Cost like 6 bucks per year.
I think it's great you can find that price!  Our store used to have tea on sale like that for $1 or $1.50, now I can't seem to get it for under $2.50 a box.  Still cheap (and 5 days a week I drink it at work).

I like herbal teas after noon though - don't want too much caffeine.

senecando

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #10 on: January 01, 2015, 08:41:54 PM »
My version of this is going to be: No coffee after 12pm. I drink a lot, lot, lot of coffee and would like to drink less. I've got a nice teapot.

Work has free green and black teas, and we pick a lot of wild bergamot for this purpose. Here we go!

lr

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #11 on: January 01, 2015, 09:15:59 PM »
I'm in on this one! Already got rid of soda, mostly, but found some cheap loose leaf herbal from an asian market and a metal infuser to reduce the juice.

Any thoughts on the most efficient way to make iced tea? Microwave? Electric/stove teapot? Cold brewing? I don't like hot tea, and want to avoid extra kitchen gadgets unless it's really worthwhile. I know it's trivial, but there must be mustachians with centuries of passed down tea wisdom.

Rubyist

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #12 on: January 01, 2015, 10:26:31 PM »
Any thoughts on the most efficient way to make iced tea? Microwave? Electric/stove teapot? Cold brewing? I don't like hot tea, and want to avoid extra kitchen gadgets unless it's really worthwhile. I know it's trivial, but there must be mustachians with centuries of passed down tea wisdom.

I used to keep a pitcher of cold brewed tea going in the fridge. I haven't done this in a while so I can't give precise quantities but I'd put a lot of loose leaf black tea in a big pitcher and brew for at least 12 hours. After that I'd just top it off with water and it would stay at the perfect strength for a while. The leaves mostly stayed at the bottom of the pitcher so filtering wasn't really necessary.

I think I used a English Breakfast type blend, which I don't usually like as a hot tea but was great cold brewed. If you want to sweeten it a squeeze bottle of simple syrup kept in the fridge works perfectly.

Jon_Snow

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #13 on: January 01, 2015, 10:44:47 PM »
My wife has been a long time tea drinker. Coffee and beer have been my things. My post-ER health epiphany has virtually eliminated the beer intake and I'd like to cut down on the coffee. In the past month I've let my wife prepare a cup of tea for me occasionally. I'm enjoying each cup more than the last - I think this new habit may stick. :)

SingleMomDebt

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #14 on: January 01, 2015, 11:14:35 PM »
I'm a big coffee drink, but same with tea. Chamomile, Earl grey, Mint, Mandarin Orange Spice (fave), and green tea is normally what I drink on a regular basis. Especially love a cup before bed. Decaf, of course. However, many times I like a little agave and cream in my tea.

1967mama

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #15 on: January 02, 2015, 03:33:53 AM »

Any thoughts on the most efficient way to make iced tea?

At my local tea shop, they steep hot tea for about 3 minutes (its quite strong at this point; maybe they use extra tea leaves?) and then pour it over a full cup of ice.  Sweeten to taste.

When making iced tea at home, I put 5-6 black tea bags (usually orange pekoe; tastes the most like Nestle Iced Tea mix to me) in a pitcher and fill it to the top with a kettle full of boiling water. I let that steep for 10 minutes. I use a timer because after about 10 minutes, the tea becomes bitter. Then I sweeten it with about 1/2 a cup of sugar. I bring it to room temperature on the counter and then refrigerate the tea. Tastes like summer to me!

Edit: typo

Jon_Snow

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #16 on: January 02, 2015, 11:43:38 AM »
Ah yes, David's Tea... my wife buys it occasionally. Even my tea-newbie palate appreciates that stuff. Like you said Joan-eh, not a very Mustachian choice though.

swick

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #17 on: January 02, 2015, 02:02:35 PM »
I had a gift from David's Tea shop. I hate to report, it's hard to go back to grocery store/bag tea after that. David's tea is very expensive but VERY good. It's like having a meal it's so tasteful. No need for sweeteners or dairy. Maybe I can justify the savings in this way?

mmmm beaver secretions.... (mostly kidding) But David's Tea does use "natural" and artificial flavoring as well as some of their teas have added sugar in them.  I kinda think if I am going to pay THAT MUCH for tea, they should be able to produce a blend without the extra crap in it (and they do, but it is still damn expensive)

Annamal

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #18 on: January 02, 2015, 11:12:28 PM »
This works really well, my personal favourite is lemon, ginger and apple.

getgoing

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #19 on: January 03, 2015, 10:17:38 AM »
We switched to tea about a year ago as a way to get my husband to stop drinking so much pop and fizzy water. He drinks mostly rooibus tea, while I drink a mixture of herbal, rooibus, green tea, and very occasionally black tea or coffee. We buy ours loose leaf from a local store by the oz, usually about 2 bucks an ounce, which makes about 7ish cups of tea, depending on who makes it.

NinetyFour

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #20 on: January 03, 2015, 06:57:04 PM »
I don't drink soda, but during the past month or so, I have been a bit concerned about my coffee habit--too much, too strong.  I was a bit of afraid of going cold turkey, but I had surgery on 12/22 (rotator cuff), and I made coffee on the post-surgery days, but I couldn't really taste it.  (My whole system was a bit off because of all the drugs they had given me.)  And now, it seems that I have quit coffee completely--opting for tea instead.  I buy a few different Celestial Seasonings varieties when they are on sale.

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #21 on: January 10, 2015, 09:58:09 AM »
In the last 3 months I've skipped coffee completely and drink herbal tea instead. I love the different tea's from [urlhttp://www.yogitea.eu/]yogi tea[/url]. My favorite is the sweet chili one (liquorice, cocoa shells, spearmint, fennel, anise, ginger, peppermint, nettle, cinnamon, chili pepper, cardamom, cloves, black pepper). I never thought coffee was a problem for me, and "only" drank 1-2 cups a day. But after switching over to herbal tea my energy levels are much more even throughout the day, and I don't crash on the couch when I come home.

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Replace your unhealthy drinks with herbal tea!
« Reply #22 on: April 24, 2015, 07:59:18 AM »
I have quite a bit of tea at home, including four T2 boxes in rotation, a box of Dilmah English Breakfast for regular drinking, and some Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime (yeah they have some of them here down under) for the winter.

Habit from when I was growing up, when there'd always be tea brewing at home (milk, no sugar thanks).

That said, I drink mainly coffee at work, I need the extra kick that a good double-shot flat white provides at 9am. :)

I do try and avoid coffee after 3pm though.

 

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