Saturday, May 05, 2007

Drinks

Many of you know that I've gotten really into teas in the past couple years (my friend Jen says they all taste like dirty water to her, she obviously hasn't tried many). I grew up drinking herbal teas, my mom loves them.
I only ever liked Sleepytime by Celestial Seasonings and mint teas. I was not and am not a fan of fruity herbal teas.
A few years back I became a big fan of chamomile, even before I found out that it is a natural relaxant and pain killer, which is very handy for pregnancy when you have a lot of aches and pains (and cannot take an anti-inflamatory painkiller like ibuprophen or Aleve) and/or can't sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't like the flavor much anymore during pregnancy.
While living in Hawaii I started making Moonlight Mint and keeping an iced pitcher in my fridge all the time. It was just mint tea which had been steeped overnight (so it was kind of strong) on the windowsill in the moonlight during a full moon (I doubt the moonlight is very important but I like the added mystery factor). You can ice any tea, ya know.
A couple years ago my mom introduced me to Maté, an extremely popular South American tea. It has a slow release caffeine in it (as a warning or bonus depending on your POV). It tastes a bit like grass/hay clipppings, but when you're in the mood it's delicious. The best part about (Yerba) Maté (pronounced Mah-tay) is drinking it with a bombilla (straw/strainer); it just seems cool.
There are two websites I find great teas on:
www.teavana.com (try Mate Vana- I like it with milk & sugar or To Life, my two very favorite teas)
www.dragonwater.com (you can buy a sample size of any tea to try for just a couple bucks)
Other drinks I love:
Flavored steamed milk (you can get it at any coffee shop or make your own if you have a capuccino machine) The best one I ever had was at Starbucks at Christmastime. I ordered a Steamer; half eggnog, half vanilla Silk, pure heaven. Normally I just get hazelnut or almond, easy on the syrup.
Horchata (a mexican rice milk with cinnamon)
Mate Latte (had it once at Coffee Talk in Mesa, AZ)
Herbal Chai (a delicious premade liquid one made of Rooibos (red "tea") is found in health food stores and some grocery stores in a red-orange box. I can't remember the brand name).
Wild Cherry Pepsi
Root beers made with sugar not corn syrup (Goose Island brand is available at Target)
Pineorange banana juice, grape juice, etc. We are big juice fans at my house.
And my new discovery...

2 comments:

Busy Bee Lauren said...

Ted has introduced me to:

1. Horchata...it is tasty. Tastes a lot like rice pudding :)

2. (Mah-tay)...I was a little too afraid to try it though

3. Some herbal tea, I am not sure which one...but he put honey in it and it was pretty good. I think it may be an aquired taste. I have only had it once.

4, Steamed Milk...It is so so so so good!

PS...coffee talk is one of my favorite places!

Annie said...

I'm surprised you didn't add Herbal Geyser to your list of favorites! :)
My grandpa was a huge fan of Mate. Whenever I see a Mate cup and straw it reminds me of him so I kind of had to laugh envisioning you sluping that stuff down. You're a nut!