Tea!

[Michele]

Ok I'm cutting down my diet coke addiction....I'm replacing it with hot tea...and hopefully I can ice these teas in the summer. (I'm down to only two cans of DC a day!!!!! It was embarrassingly bad.)

I am currently drinking a White Tea and Wild Orange Herbal blend from Teavana. It's a loose tea and I only have a single cup/screen combo thing.

I'm looking for recommendations of tea and tea pots. I'm looking for sweeter teas but no added sugars or calories. . I've only tried a couple (don't like white tea with Asian plum - don't like the blue berry one from Teavana - like the Salada pomegranate berry green tea ok).

I want to get a pot because I drink two to three cups at a time and usually twice a day....but I also want to be able to brew a batch to ice. I guess a pot is only important if I use loose teas?

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I like jasmine tea. I would go into Teavana and sniff around for new flavors They have a few cool options for ice tea brewing, too. You can buy a diffuser ball to steep your tea one cup at a time.

[Deebs]

Go to Teavana and sample whatever they have available. Also, tell them what you do and don't like. sometimes, they'll even do a quick cup of something new or you to try.

[MsSassyBaskets]

Ok I'm cutting down my diet coke addiction....I'm replacing it with hot tea...and hopefully I can ice these teas in the summer. (I'm down to only two cans of DC a day!!!!! It was embarrassingly bad.)

I am currently drinking a White Tea and Wild Orange Herbal blend from Teavana. It's a loose tea and I only have a single cup/screen combo thing.

I'm looking for recommendations of tea and tea pots. I'm looking for sweeter teas but no added sugars or calories. . I've only tried a couple (don't like white tea with Asian plum - don't like the blue berry one from Teavana - like the Salada pomegranate berry green tea ok).

I want to get a pot because I drink two to three cups at a time and usually twice a day....but I also want to be able to brew a batch to ice. I guess a pot is only important if I use loose teas?

I have a great little teapot with a removable infuser insert from Le Creuset. It fills about 2 medium-sized mugs, but I think they come larger too. I usually boil water in the morning and put one teabag in one of my huge mugs, and another in the teapot and fill both to take to my desk. Then I do it again an hour or so later. I almost never use the loose tea diffuser in the pot, I just throw a teabag in there. I think it's handy anyway. When I do iced tea in the summer I just throw 5-6 teabags into my large Le Creuset pitcher and fill it with boiling water and leave it on the counter. I fish out the teabags and put it in the fridge when it's done.

DH has excessive tea-drinking habits too, but lately he's in his renal unit and learned that black tea contains a lot of oxalate, which binds with calcium to form kidney stones. So now he's afraid of kidney stones. Not that either of us have a family or personal history of kidney stones.

Also in terms of sweeter teas, there are a couple from Good Earth that I think have stevia in the teabags. Their Chai and I think the one called "Sweet and Spicy Herbal Tea". I'm not a fan, they both have way too much cinnamon for me, but I'm thinking that others by the same brand might also have stevia.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

DH has excessive tea-drinking habits too, but lately he's in his renal unit and learned that black tea contains a lot of oxalate, which binds with calcium to form kidney stones. So now he's afraid of kidney stones. Not that either of us have a family or personal history of kidney stones. .

Learn something new every day

[ides]

I'm still drinking coffee but I have a cold herbal tea addiction. I have a glass 1/2 gallon jug that I fill with filtered water at night and toss in 8 tea bags. I use a mix of celestial seasonings red zinger, berry zinger, lemon zinger, orange zinger - you get the idea. In the morning I fish out the bags and stir in a little agave (though you probably don't need it). I can go though a jug a day but sometimes it lasts me two days. In our house we call it "bean juice". Not sure why we came up with that name but it stuck!

[Sheherezade]

If you want a sweet tea without adding sugar, try the any variation of rooibos. They are all naturally sweet. We have several tea pots. I usually make tea for the kids in the morning with our electric kettle and pour the boiling water in to the largest traditional tea pot with a two tea bags. If I'm doing loose tea, I have a ball infuser and the big mesh tea bags that you can fill yourself. Both can be a pain though when you are tired in in a rush. Usually, the kids each get a cup and then I ice the rest of the tea for later in the day after it has cooled.

My favorite teavana tea is the blooming peach momotaro that comes in a pressed ball .....costs a fortune. We don't buy much of it! It's also sweet and very fragrant. You need to make a whole pot though with the balls.

World Market has some nice tea infusers and pots for reasonable prices. We have a set of four of the pot, infuser, cup combos that we use for family breakfasts. There about two cups of tea per pot. The infusers are mesh metal with small holes though and work very well, easy to clean, easy to load.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

If you want a sweet tea without adding sugar, try the any variation of rooibos. They are all naturally sweet. We have several tea pots. I usually make tea for the kids in the morning with our electric kettle and pour the boiling water in to the largest traditional tea pot with a two tea bags. If I'm doing loose tea, I have a ball infuser and the big mesh tea bags that you can fill yourself. Both can be a pain though when you are tired in in a rush. Usually, the kids each get a cup and then I ice the rest of the tea for later in the day after it has cooled.

My favorite teavana tea is the blooming peach momotaro that comes in a pressed ball .....costs a fortune. We don't buy much of it! It's also sweet and very fragrant. You need to make a whole pot though with the balls.

World Market has some nice tea infusers and pots for reasonable prices. We have a set of four of the pot, infuser, cup combos that we use for family breakfasts. There about two cups of tea per pot. The infusers are mesh metal with small holes though and work very well, easy to clean, easy to load.

Can I come live at your house? All that tea sounds delightful

[MsSassyBaskets]

This is making me want a larger teapot and some more fun tea flavors!

[scrub-jay]

We have every type of teapot known to man: various sizes of the classic Brown Betty, glass pots for flowering teas, a various sizes of cast iron Tetsubin pots, french presses, etc. I could go on for hours. For practicality as a beginner, I recommend a glass french press. Yes, the discerning tea snob *cough* might scoff at brewing a green at xx temp or in such-and-such pot, but let's be real here. Pretty easy to clean, just watch your brew time because that will make a bigger difference in extraction and flavor. Tea shops can help you figure out what you like - type (black, green, herbal, rooibos, white, floral, fruity, etc), and whether you like it with milk or not, are both good questions to start narrowing it down. Some teas "hold" milk better than others. Good luck!!

Mmmm... I love me some lychee tea...

[Michele]

I have a French Press! I tried googling about French Press and tea and found those snobs!!! I'm glad you said it's ok to use it!! . I can make a lot of tea with it!!! (If I can get the lingering coffee out.....)

[MsSassyBaskets]

I have a French Press! I tried googling about French Press and tea and found those snobs!!! I'm glad you said it's ok to use it!! . I can make a lot of tea with it!!! (If I can get the lingering coffee out.....)

You might try soaking it with some vinegar and hot water to get the coffee smell/taste out.

[HouseofWool]

My favorite herbal tea that doesn't need sweetener is Republic of Tea's Orange Ginger Mint. Delish!

[Michele]

French press success! Brewed two pots that way. I went ahead and just bought a ton of the Youthberry Wild Orange Blossom blend because I like it so much (had my sister buy it, so I didn't get to taste test). I like it hot or cold.