Tea is freakin' amazing... page 3

[Knifegill]

It's not just the caffeine. I have imbibed oceans of both coffee and tea, and there is a drying, tightening effect in green tea that is NOT found in coffee. Tea does purge the bloat, and reduces or prevents skin puffiness/redness in the face for me. Also, it seems to whiten the skin, leaving it looking healthier - whether or not it is actually an increase in health by any measurable means is up to interpretation. Coffee does no such thing.

[Drumroll]

It's not just the caffeine. I have imbibed oceans of both coffee and tea, and there is a drying, tightening effect in green tea that is NOT found in coffee. Tea does purge the bloat, and reduces or prevents skin puffiness/redness in the face for me. Also, it seems to whiten the skin, leaving it looking healthier - whether or not it is actually an increase in health by any measurable means is up to interpretation. Coffee does no such thing.

This, totally this.

Whether it's an actual increase in health, I have no idea. But whatever causes it, I feel amazing after drinking tea. This is as much a reason to continue drinking tea as any I can think of. If it makes you feel good, why not?

[Gadsie]

Tea helps my hunger signals very well. When I can't figure out whether I'm hungry, I drink a cup of tea an if I was hungry I will now feel it and if I wasn't hungry I will feel full . Also it helps with nausea

[palebluedots]

I'm a huge tea snob, and routinely buy teas that cost around $200 a pound. It's not a cheap habit at all. But the hubby and I love going to Chinatown (or to China when we have the chance) to go tea tasting and choose our favorites. There's nothing like a good cup of green tea in the morning.

At Teavana, I like their Huangshan Maofeng and the Dragonswell (both green teas, the Dragonswell being much less expensive). I am not really a fan of flavored teas, which is a good thing, because I found out that Teavana has dairy in a lot of their flavored teas, and I don't tolerate dairy well.

I also enjoy the occasional cup of Oolong. I love Feng Huang Dan Cong, and Ali Shan. But there's something about Oolong that gives me a super strong buzz, where green tea just gives me a stable feeling of energy.

[Englishman in Oz]

I'm a huge tea snob, and routinely buy teas that cost around $200 a pound. It's not a cheap habit at all. But the hubby and I love going to Chinatown (or to China when we have the chance) to go tea tasting and choose our favorites. There's nothing like a good cup of green tea in the morning.

At Teavana, I like their Huangshan Maofeng and the Dragonswell (both green teas, the Dragonswell being much less expensive). I am not really a fan of flavored teas, which is a good thing, because I found out that Teavana has dairy in a lot of their flavored teas, and I don't tolerate dairy well.

I also enjoy the occasional cup of Oolong. I love Feng Huang Dan Cong, and Ali Shan. But there's something about Oolong that gives me a super strong buzz, where green tea just gives me a stable feeling of energy.

Good stuff. I love Oolong too. I wonder if you've tried Pu'erh tea. I found that......interesting.

There's a great company for Chinese tea in the UK called Attic Tea, their website has some awesome quality teas from China, and they ship worldwide. But its worth checking out just for their teablog, which has interesting musings on tea, including the most recent entry which discusses why caffeine in tea doesn't affect people in the same way as coffee.

I must declare a personal interest here - my girlfriend is the designer and web developer for this company, so I'm in no way plugging them or encouraging you to purchase any of the delicious fine Chinese teas. She's paid by the hour though so neither of us stand to benefit either way!

[noodletoy]

i'v e been a tea drinker for years. used to have 2 shots of espresso around 5:00 at work, in the restaurant, and after awhile realized i was getting headaches from it. gave that up.

we have teavana here and i get their early grey blue flower. i used to buy black litchi tea in chinatown, but they changed owners and changed the formula. i haven't found it since and that brings me sads.

i like strong black tea, always straight, no sugar, no milk.

after all the drugs i did in my 20s, this seems a harmless indulgence.

[JudiPurple]

Did someone mention tea? I, too, imbibe in the leaf nectar...

Make green iced tea - 3 gallons a day - for the family (I probably drink close to a gallon myself) - adding crushed fresh mint from the garden in season, along with a bit of lime juice and stevia. I have a question regarding the caffeine issue being discussed - I am using 7 green tea bags and one black tea bag per gallon of cold water, steeping for a minimum of 5 hours, sometimes over night if I start it right before bed. Would you say that it is an excessive amount of caffeine developing in the liquid? I saw the numbers being discussed, but the assumption is that the tea leaves are being steeped in near-boiling water, one tea bag per 8-12 ounce cup.

Any thoughts on the caffeine load? I had severe caffeine addiction in a previous life (pills), and find that (in this life) a couple diet cokes get me wired for sound, whereas all this tea doesn't seem to affect me - no grinding of the teeth or sleepless nights.

And I am delighted that there are more places to get people into the wonders of teas - so many types, so little time!

[Gilleh]

Judipurple, why cold water and not hot?

[Englishman in Oz]

Did someone mention tea? I, too, imbibe in the leaf nectar...

Make green iced tea - 3 gallons a day - for the family (I probably drink close to a gallon myself) - adding crushed fresh mint from the garden in season, along with a bit of lime juice and stevia. I have a question regarding the caffeine issue being discussed - I am using 7 green tea bags and one black tea bag per gallon of cold water, steeping for a minimum of 5 hours, sometimes over night if I start it right before bed. Would you say that it is an excessive amount of caffeine developing in the liquid? I saw the numbers being discussed, but the assumption is that the tea leaves are being steeped in near-boiling water, one tea bag per 8-12 ounce cup.

Any thoughts on the caffeine load? I had severe caffeine addiction in a previous life (pills), and find that (in this life) a couple diet cokes get me wired for sound, whereas all this tea doesn't seem to affect me - no grinding of the teeth or sleepless nights.

And I am delighted that there are more places to get people into the wonders of teas - so many types, so little time!

I wouldn't worry about it too much if it doesn't affect you. There's more to it than just caffeine levels in raw numerics, take a look at the teablog I linked to in my previous comment for a piece that sums it up.

[Drumroll]

Tea helps my hunger signals very well. When I can't figure out whether I'm hungry, I drink a cup of tea an if I was hungry I will now feel it and if I wasn't hungry I will feel full . Also it helps with nausea

I know what you mean! If I was hungry, I still will be. If not, then I wasn't really hungry at all to begin with.