Black, Green, White and Fruit Teas

My uncle has the most amazing amenity in his home. The kitchen has an additional faucet that pours out 190 degree Fahrenheit water (near boiling). Guess what that’s perfect for! TEA! And I LOVE tea almost as much as I love Lady Gaga. Well, okay… hmm… maybe not almost… but I do love tea. Maybe more like a deep infatuation.

Anyways, I was bent on writing a blog about tea. About the health benefits and yadda yadda, but you know what I realized? I realized I don’t know anything about that aspect. So I did some research. You know what I found out? I’m lazy. I do not want to do another “research and write about it” type of thing. Too much time and reminds me of having to write essays in school! Plus, I always feel like I’m just repeating everything I just read about.

But I can tell you about the relationship Tea and I have. I drink tea almost every day. I use a little bit of sweetener. I like to drink tea when I’m craving something sweet, instead of eating something unhealthy like cake or ice cream or even when a bag of chips is calling my name (not that any of those things are problems, since I’m in Portland, buying my own *healthy* food). Tea also gives me something to do when I’m bored. There are no calories, so there’s no risk.

Here are some teas I drink and my opinions on them. (By the way, I only drink tea that I brew myself, including loose leaf tea and tea bags. No bottled up stuff. When I do drink the bottled tea like Arizona or Orgeon Chai, I don’t really count it as tea and its not really as healthy. What I like about tea you brew yourself is that you pretty much know what’s in it and you know there aren’t any calories unless you add milk/cream/sugar. I like to use Splenda).

Black tea: I got an assortment of black teas from my mom a while back and had never tried it before. It’s a lot stronger than other teas and has a lot more caffeine, which I like about it because it gives me energy when I’m feeling groggy.

• Chai Tea. Oh my gosh! Did you know our beloved Chai Tea is made with black tea?? I didn’t until today. All the spices kind of cover up the black tea taste. Chai, next to mint tea, is my favorite. With cream or milk, its soothing, and reminds me of the holidays. It it has that “holiday spice” type of flavor to it, with cardamom and cinnamon and other spices. Even without the cream, its soo delicious. I only drink Chai with cream once in a while, as it is quite unhealthy and includes pointless liquid calories.

• Harney & Sons Black Currant Tea. This stuff is amazing. I’m not sure if it would classify as a fruity tea, but lets just go with black tea to keep it simple. Because apparently currant is a berry? So this stuff is just a bunch of black tea leaves “infused with a fruity black currant flavor” (so says the box). I like this box, its very informational. It also contains 40-60 milligrams of caffeine. I’m not too into fruity tea (in fact, I think I strongly dislike most), but this tea is great! I think the subtle currant flavor is a perfect blend.

• Black tea: I did not bring this tea with me to Portland unfortunately, so all I can say is that I’m pretty sure it’s regular black tea. One of my favorites. I left it behind so I had some to come home to, because it is almost gone. The black tea leaves are strong, but with some Splenda, the flavor is really great. If you’ve never had black tea before, you should just try it. Then you would know if it was your thing or not. I had no idea until I tried it. I really loved it.

Green Tea: Its obviously not as strong and not as caffeinated as black tea, but still good.

• Traditional regular Lipton Tea bags. I assume they are green tea. They’re definitely not black tea. My brother loooves these ones. You know why? Because he adds cream, sugar, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and whatever else he can get his hands on. I wouldn’t be surprised if he added peanut butter before. Anyways, its a nice simple tea flavor, warm and comforting. Can’t go wrong with this one.

• Lipton Green Tea Purple Acai and Blueberry. Too strong and funny flavor, in my opinion. But hey, give it a try. It has the mysterious “acai” in it.

Fruity “tea”: So I read that fruit flavored tea isn’t really tea. But it’s still good for you, doesn’t have as much caffeine, and has vitamin C. I’m totally not into fruity tea, but, what the heck, might as well try it out. I just prefer my strong fruit flavors in a juice, or, you know, in the fruit. Not for piping hot tea.

• Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger. Fruity raspberry overload! Its when my tea turns pink that I start to raise the question. Is this really tea??

• Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion. This one is deliciously subtle. I usually don’t like peach flavored things, but this has the perfect balance. It is perfectly fruity and delectable. Definitely could be a favorite for me.

• Celestial Seasonings True Blueberry. Smells like… smells like… smiles like blueberry! And tea! We’re onto something here. Strong, (yet subtle) blueberry taste. It’s right in the middle. I can still tell it’s tea, but it also reminds me of a blueberry pop-tart. Okay, yeah, random. If you’re not into fruity tea, you might still like this one in addition to the Country Peach. Leave the teabag in too long, though, and you start getting that fruity overload taste. And it turns a muddy red-pink. Oops, left the bag in too long… bleagh XP I think that goes for any of the fruit flavored ones. Maybe that’s what I did wrong with the raspberry.

• Celestial Seasonings  Black Cherry Berry. Aha! Gotcha. I pulled the teabag just in time, before it could overload my delicious drink with fruity evilness. Its not that I don’t like fruit, because I LOVE fruit, its just that fruity tea isn’t a good mixture to me. Just like pineapple and pizza isn’t a good mixture to me. Pull out the bag soon enough, and you’ll get a subtle cherry tea flavor. Much better. Leave it in longer if you like the strong fruity taste.

White tea: White tea is the most subtle tea, which I also like. I just love tea in general. I haven’t tried too many of these options.

• Jasmine Pearl Tea. I am not 100% sure if this is a white tea or not. But it would seem like it is. The back only says “tea leaves” for the main ingredient. Smells amazing. Reminds me of roses, as I don’t believe I’ve smelled jasmine before. It kind of tastes like rose petals too. It’s a bit too strong of a “flowery” taste for me, though. I’ll drink it, just not a huge fan. What I do like though, is that the leaves are rolled up into little pearl size balls and they expand in the water. I am easily amused.

• Tazo White Cucumber Tea. Another favorite! Okay, at first, I thought, ew, cucumber?? But I bought it and tried it out. It’s a very soft, soothing, calming tea. It tastes really good. I wouldn’t even say it tastes like cucumber, its just really good. Try it. I heard that white cucumber was starting to catch on and be a big hit. The box said in the description “it will leave a smile on your face.” So true! It just makes you want to smile. Unless you run out. I made my box of white cucumber last as long as possible, but I’m out now.

And mint tea, too! I have my own spearmint plant for my favorite refreshing minty drink. Very comforting and reminds me of liquid candy canes and Christmas.

I will be adding more teas to the list as I see fit (or as I go out and buy different flavors if that ends up being the case). I would really like to try this African tea I saw.

Be Fierce!!

Briauna Mariah (: