Everyone harps on about how great Green Tea is - packed full of anti-oxidants, a great alternative to caffeine, kind to the skin, used in so many great beauty products... we all know the benefits by now. The trouble is that it tastes, to a lot of people, disgusting. I know that I need at least three lumps of sugar to make it seem worthy of drinking, which that means that all that hard work the green tea is doing is going to be cancelled out by the amount of sugar I am clogging my insides with.
I've been drinking teas like this since I was old enough to be trusted with hot drinks. When I was younger I had eastern European Au-Pairs (foreign students that look after children and do the house cleaning in exchange for staying in your home, you paying for them to learn English at a college and paying them a small allowance) around me for a long time. These were the girls that introduced me to infusions and fruit teas. I've been drinking them ever since.
In a bid to still drink green tea and get my dependency on caffeine to a minimum I have been drinking the below alternatives for a while now and thought I would share them with you. I'm fortunate that the pub I manage also sells these teas which makes staying away from coffee and tea a lot easier than it would be for someone that works elsewhere (also I can drink as many as I want for free!).
GREEN TEA WITH...
Other flavours when added to green tea mask and sweeten the overall green tea taste. Its still there, lurking in the back ground, but mostly it's sweeter and more pleasant to drink. I love these five shown here and also green tea with mango (which I haven't shown here as I have that at home - shamefully when I was bored at work I thought up this post and that was when I took the photos). They're amazing alternatives but if you only try one from this selection please try the green tea with earl grey. The bergamot really comes through, especially with a slice of lemon and a lump of brown sugar.
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FOR A QUICK BOOST OF ENERGY...
These two teas don't even contain green tea but they're great for a quick boost in the morning. I use the lemon and ginger to kick start my metabolism first thing as the spice from the ginger makes me feel wide awake whilst the lemon is supposed to be good for waking up the body. Peppermint tea was something I fell in love with in Morocco - it's supposedly the national drink. I was taught how to brew it properly whilst I was in Marrakech but, mostly because I'm idle, I will use these Twinnings ones to create the same taste. Peppermint is also great for after a heavy meal as it feels cleansing (especially after anything particularly spicy).
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FOR WHEN YOU NEED A SWEET TREAT...
Again, no green tea here, but some amazing teas for when you need something sweet but don't want to reach for a cookie or chocolate bar. These are lovely and refreshing whilst at the same time curing that sugar craving. My personal favourite is the blackcurrant, ginseng and vanilla as ginseng is renowned for being a form of stimulant (a natural red bull alternative) so I know that one cup of this is going to make me wide awake and ready to take on the rest of the day. The blueberry and apple tea was the first fruit tea I ever tried back when I was 8 years old so it's got some nostalgia attached to it (if teas can have that?).
I hope I've inspired some of you to try some new teas. None of them need milk adding so they're perfect for the dairy intolerant among us! Let me know what you think if you try one I've suggested! I would love to hear your thoughts on them.
I absolutely adore green tea. I am a little bit of a purist though. I only like pure green tea and no adding sugar or anything. Not keen on the fruit flavoured ones but then again, I'm not keen on fruit teas in general. They always remind me of vomit!
ReplyDeleteI love the peppermint tea selection box though & camomile is lovely too x
Hahah purism is good - I'm just a heathen when it comes to tea I think. How come fruit teas remind you of vomit? I like camomile tea but I may have to try this peppermint selection :) Thanks for you comment :) xxx
DeleteI love green tea and buy it at ridiculous prices from a French company (a hangover from when I used to write a tea blog!) The problem is, people make it with water that's too hot that makes it bitter. What you should do is either- stop the kettle from reaching boiling point (just as the water starts to sound like it's bubbling) or mix boiled water with a little cold before adding the teabag. Then, only leave your teabag in for a minute or two, no more.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is still caffeine in green tea (and less in white tea), but it's a bit less than black tea. I am seriously geeky about this stuff :D I would recommend, in the Twinings range, their green tea and pomegranate. Seriously nice.
I never knew that! I may try it at work with cold water mixed in to see if it's any better that way! Thanks for that tip Steph! Also, I didn't realise there was still caffeine in green tea :0 I will have to hunt out a decaffeinated version! Thank you for all of this information! :) xxx
DeleteI HATE tea, but i like the fresh and fruity ones with a dash of honey, mmm!
ReplyDeleteSophierosehearts x
I like it with honey too - I just never have honey in the house that often! xxx
DeleteI like any tea, but I once tried a green tea with ginger and orange (which in theory sounds like a great combo) , but oh how i regretted it!
ReplyDeletex Joanna @ The Treasure Chest
That does sound nice but with you saying you regret it... I may pass it up! Thanks for commenting :) xxx
DeleteI'd love to like Green tea but it's awful - these might be a better way to drink it! x
ReplyDeleteIf you try any of the above I would love to hear what you think of them! :) xxx
DeleteI used to hate green tea until I found one I love! Bellevue Sencha Green Tea is divine x
ReplyDelete