Tea Time

I could possibly be a teaholic. Tea is by far my favorite drink, and I consume a rather large quantity of it. Yesterday, my sister sent me an email to tell me that she's decided to drink more tea, and asked me for a list of my favorites. So, I thought I'd pass it along.
Right now, my favorite caffeinated morning tea is Tropical Green from Harney & Sons. It has a light pineapple flavor to it. I drink a couple of cups of that each morning, particularly on winter mornings. Sometimes I'll also have an Earl Grey, especially if I'm not at home and don't have my own tea bags with me, or don't want to use them. (I generally carry a few in my purse.)
Then, in the afternoon, I usually switch to flavored teas. A couple of favorites are Bigelow's Lemon Green Tea and Blackberry Sage from the Republic of Tea. The Republic has several good ones, including Mango Ceylon and Ginger Peach. The Blackberry Sage is also good as an iced tea.

Ahhhhhh. Iced tea. Nothing better on a warm summer day. Anyone who dines with me on a regular basis knows that iced tea is not iced tea is not iced tea. Iced tea can be ruined. It can, in fact, suck. It has to be fresh. It has to be brewed. Freshly brewed. It cannot be sweetened, and it must have a sufficient amount of ice. I don't know where the food industry got the idea that tea can be a fountain drink. No. Sorry. It can't.
It's interesting how iced tea can vary across the country. When traveling, finding good iced tea often becomes a quest. And, often, a disappointing one. Truly, there are some states in which it simply isn't safe to order an iced tea. It's putrid. One state that gets it is California. Yes, one more thing to like about Sunny California. They know how to make iced tea. Some of the best iced tea I've ever had – with flavors of apricot and passion fruit – has been in California.
Oh, a quick note on flavored tea. Flavored tea is made when there are bits of organic flavoring in the loose tea or tea bag. The flavor is released as the tea is brewed. Let me repeat that – as the tea is brewed. Flavor is not a syrup that is poured into a cup of tea. Ugh.
My very favorite tea for making iced tea was introduced to me several years ago in Colorado. It's called Tropicana from Xanadu. I used to be able to get individual tea bags, but for the last few years, it's only been available as loose leaf. A bit of a pain. But, in this case, worth it. A little goes a long way, so I combine one bag of Tropicana with a couple bags of regular Lipton decaf. Pretty darn yummy.
So now you know why all of the characters (the women, anyway) in my stories tend to prefer tea to pop or coffee. I'm a bit of a tea snob.