Recommendations for Hot Tea without Caffeine & Tea Bags

[turbo]

I love the espresso bars in Italy. You walk up to a counter, there are no chairs, they hand you a little plastic cup (like a Nyquil dose cup) with about a tablespoon of thick syrupy coffee, and you down it in one gulp. At least the hard core neighborhood bars in Sicily are that way. Good stuff. You walk in, get a shot and leave. My Sicilian fiance thought it was funny to find out that I had expected to sit and linger over a cup of coffee.

I linger over mine in the morning because it's in a mug and I have a newspaper to read. I guess I could get used to slugging a demitasse a few times a day instead, but I love my morning espresso.

 

[Astronuc]

We manage to control our spearmint and peppermint, and we've cut most of it back. We have number of herbs in raised beds.

Yep, sounds like Astronuc, turbo and I would enjoy drinking coffee together.

Yep, we'll have to get you up to turbo's place one of these days.

I have one of those plastic pint mugs from Krispy Kreme. I drink 2 pints of coffee in the morning to get going, and then several 12-oz cups during the day. I linger over PF while drinking coffee. I add a few teaspoons of cocoa powder and a few table spoons of ice-cream.


I've always enjoyed the coffee in Europe and even Japan, and basically anywhere outside of the US.

My favorite teas are plain old sarsaparilla root steeped in hot water and vervain.

I wonder where one would get sasparilla root these days. I made it a long time ago from roots I found in the woods. Evo, did you or your mom buy the root or did you grow it yourselves? I am not familiar with vervain.

 

[Evo]

I wonder where one would get sasparilla root these days. I made it a long time ago from roots I found in the woods. Evo, did you or your mom buy the root or did you grow it yourselves?

I used to buy it an apothecary at Westbury Square in Houston.

I am not familiar with vervain.

It's been used in Europe for ages as a stomach tonic. http://www.zooscape.com/cgi-bin/maitred/GreenCanyon/questc100992

 

[Math Is Hard]

I'm not too picky about tea, but I like interesting tea pots:

You shouldn't have done that. Now Evo is going to steal your fish teapot!

 

[Math Is Hard]

You guys have given me a lot of good ideas for things to try. Thanks!

I did try something unusual last week - Aveda brand tea. pleh! Pretty yucky, I thought.

Tonight I am settling for a big mug of cocoa - with marshmallows on top! Can't go wrong with that.

 

[zoobyshoe]

You shouldn't have done that. Now Evo is going to steal your fish teapot!

I thought she was into Hippos, not fish.

I've never actually used that one. I bought it because it was odd, and only two dollars.

 

[Astronuc]

I used to buy it an apothecary at Westbury Square in Houston.

I think I know the one you mean. I used to go to Westbury Square quite often during the 70's, especially the Indian shop. I lived not to far from there.

I liked the old world charm and the relative quiet. The family used to go to Rumplemeyer's old-fashioned ice cream shop. Unfortunately it when into decline when the Galleria opened.

It's been used in Europe for ages as a stomach tonic. http://www.zooscape.com/cgi-bin/maitred/GreenCanyon/questc100992

Ah - Verbena! I'll have to try it.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I wonder where one would get sasparilla root these days. I made it a long time ago from roots I found in the woods.

It grows like a weed in my yard. I tried to make tea from it, but it didn't work out. What's the secret?
edit - sorry, what I have is sassafras. I got them confused.

 

[Moonbear]

I love the espresso bars in Italy. You walk up to a counter, there are no chairs, they hand you a little plastic cup (like a Nyquil dose cup) with about a tablespoon of thick syrupy coffee, and you down it in one gulp. At least the hard core neighborhood bars in Sicily are that way. Good stuff. You walk in, get a shot and leave. My Sicilian fiance thought it was funny to find out that I had expected to sit and linger over a cup of coffee.

Hmm...my view on espresso is similar to that of hard liquor. If it's good, you can sit and sip it neat, if it's bad, you have to do a shot of it so you don't taste too much before it goes down. I'm still shocked when I see people adding sugar to their espresso. If you need sugar in it, you should be drinking something else. But, then again, it's rare to find a coffee shop that makes a really good, creamy, smooth espresso. Most are like Starbuck's swill (though, oddly, years ago, Starbucks did make good espresso...that's where I used to like it, but that was probably 10 or 15 years ago now, and as the chain has grown, the quality has gone out the window...they also used to take a little more time to make your coffee and if you had it in the shop, you'd get a real shot glass for espresso, or mug for coffee, not a paper cup...I prefer sitting in a cafe that still uses glass or ceramic mugs...paper cups are for "to go").

Oh, that reminds me, there's a cafe downtown I've been meaning to try. I just found out they are smoke-free, so really want to try it now (I had previously heard they were regularly filled with smoke, so don't know if I was told wrong or they changed their policy, and hadn't bothered trying it before because I avoid places where there's smoking).

 

[Astronuc]

It grows like a weed in my yard. I tried to make tea from it, but it didn't work out. What's the secret?
edit - sorry, what I have is sassafras. I got them confused.

Yeah - it is apparently a common confusion between sassafras and sarsaparilla. I spelled it incorrectly.

Sassafras
Order: Laurales
Family: Lauraceae
Genus: Sassafras

Sarsparilla
Order: Liliales
Family: Smilacacea
Genus: Smilax
Species: S. regelii

Both are from Division: Magnoliophyta, but that is all they have in common.

Sarsaparilla is the one used to make Root Beer. Sassafras has a somewhat similar taste, but it's definitely not the same. I am trying to think of how to describe the difference.

 

[Evo]

I'm not too picky about tea, but I like interesting tea pots:

When it comes to kitchenware, any animal shape works.

I want your fish tea pot!

 

[brewnog]

PG Tips. If not, Ringtons.

 

[Moonbear]

So I decided to go ahead and plan a Mad Hatter Tea Party for the folks in my lab...I'll do it the weekend before Halloween, and am encouraging them to either come in costume or to at least wear a goofy hat. We may not limit ourselves to just tea though. So, now I'm going to have to scour the food thread looking for all the little suggestions for finger foods that have been listed in there.

If any of you will be in the Morgantown, WV area (it's about an hour south of Pittsburgh) and want to come to a Mad Hatter tea party on Oct 27, send me a PM and I'll provide details. (I'll be celebrating my UN-birthday too, since my actual birthday is a few days before that.)

 

[Math Is Hard]

So I decided to go ahead and plan a Mad Hatter Tea Party for the folks in my lab...I'll do it the weekend before Halloween, and am encouraging them to either come in costume or to at least wear a goofy hat. We may not limit ourselves to just tea though. So, now I'm going to have to scour the food thread looking for all the little suggestions for finger foods that have been listed in there.

If any of you will be in the Morgantown, WV area (it's about an hour south of Pittsburgh) and want to come to a Mad Hatter tea party on Oct 27, send me a PM and I'll provide details. (I'll be celebrating my UN-birthday too, since my actual birthday is a few days before that.)

That's so cool, MB! I found a website that had a few ideas for a mad hatter tea party:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2057310_plan-mad-hatter-tea-party.html

I liked this one:

Tie small cards around stems of glasses that say "Drink Me," and ones that say "Eat Me" next to each plate of food.

Maybe you could paint a big grin on Ember -- ha ha!

 

[Moonbear]

That's so cool, MB! I found a website that had a few ideas for a mad hatter tea party:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2057310_plan-mad-hatter-tea-party.html

I liked this one:

Cool ideas!

Maybe you could paint a big grin on Ember -- ha ha!

I'm not sure if she'd go along with it, but her personality at parties would fit with the elusive Cheshire cat...about all anyone gets is a brief glimpse before she's gone again.

 

[zoobyshoe]

When it comes to kitchenware, any animal shape works.

I want your fish tea pot!

OK. Drop by some time and pick it up.

 

[Evo]

OK. Drop by some time and pick it up.

:!)

 

[Astronuc]

Are You Easily Distracted? Try Some Tea
By Matthew Shulman
Posted September 27, 2007

Tea as a treatment for attention deficit disorder? If the beverage's other health creds aren't impressive enough—a host of studies have suggested it shields against heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, and possibly some cancers—now comes the news that it may also focus jumpy minds. "We have reports going back thousands of years that drinking tea makes people feel relaxed," says John Foxe, a professor of neuroscience and an expert on the mechanisms of attention at the City University of New York. "But it also seems to make them more alert."

The bulk of the research on tea till now has focused on the antioxidants it contains, the flavonols, catechins, and lignans that appear to arm the body against disease. It's thought that they improve blood vessel dilation, for example, and lower the risk of aortic atherosclerosis. "We know that the more tea one consumes, the stronger the cardiovascular protection will be," says Lenore Arab, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of California-Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. By inhibiting damage to dna, some researchers theorize, the antioxidants may also slow tumor growth.

Green Tea May Brew Up Healthier Skin
In mouse study, it eased psoriasis as it lowered inflammation
http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/070820/green-tea-may-brew-up-healthier-skin.htm
Posted 8/20/07
MONDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Green tea may hold promise as a new treatment for psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions, including dandruff and lupus-related skin lesions, according to a U.S. study

 

[hypatia]

I drink Oolong tea, and my comfort tea is Red Rose. I started collecting these teapots about 20 yrs ago, the one I use most is the windmill, makes a perfect 2 mug serving.

 

[Evo]

I drink Oolong tea, and my comfort tea is Red Rose. I started collecting these teapots about 20 yrs ago, the one I use most is the windmill, makes a perfect 2 mug serving.

Agenda: trip to hypatia's to steal teapots and dogs.

Those are great hypatia! I would love to come visit you and take a closer look.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Green Tea May Brew Up Healthier Skin

I've had friends tell me they use warm tea bags on their eyes to get rid of swelling and dark circles. This was just plain old Lipton, though.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I drink Oolong tea, and my comfort tea is Red Rose. I started collecting these teapots about 20 yrs ago, the one I use most is the windmill, makes a perfect 2 mug serving.

What a cute collection!

 

[waht]

I drink two or three cups of green tea a day. It's good and rumors have it's healthy.

 

[sas3]

I enjoy catnip tea here is a site that sells bags.

http://www.evitamins.com/product.asp?pid=4823

Catnip (Nepeta Cataria) may be helpful for gas pains, promotes therapeutic perspiration during fevers, calm the central nervous system, relieves colds and flu, indigestion, dyspepsia, nervousness, restlessness, sleeplessness, nervous headache, persistent crying and menstrual maladies.

Wow, Is there anything Catnip Tea can't do?

 

[Math Is Hard]

I forgot - I have some catnip tea, too. But I just give it to the kitty.

I have never gotten into green tea. My grandmother wore face powder and lipstick that smelled like green tea, so to me, it tastes like make up!

 

[Margaret]

Margarets Fine Imports in Pittsburgh sells tea. They have a web site. They sell empty tea bags you can fill them with loose tea and brew the tea just like a store bought tea bag. You might like the camomile or bingo blueberry "teas." They don't have any tea in them so they won't keep you up at night.