Mostly drinking the tea these days. Other than being fairly convinced that teas may bring a few more things to the table from a health perspective than coffee (I didn’t have like an EFF YOU - COFFEE moment or anything, so I am not sure where the decision came from), I just kinda switched things up and am enjoying it tremendously. I don’t order tea out much, though, or on vacation/when traveling, so I do get myself a little good old fashioned coffee boost every now and then as well. I still can’t stop myself from ordering a ridiculously sweet caramel spice flavor-of-the-season latte once in a blue moon as well. Sprinkle some nutmeg on that shit and I’ll toss it back like nobody’s business.
What I’m drinking now:
Matcha
There’s something about the ritual of making matcha that feels like the right way to start the day. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve really stared to take my start-of-day and end-of-day rituals pretty seriously. Some people go to church or pray to something or do some yoga or whatever, but I make my fucking teas. The temperature of the water (I shoot for around 175F), the movement of the whisk, the sipping of the finished product… When I’m home, I start every morning with a little matcha. I don’t have a go-to brand, but I don’t do anything sweetened and I do like “ceremonial” matchas. This one pictured is from HEB but I also like this one.
Greek Mountain Tea
At some point a few years ago I read a piece about all these really, really old people in Greece, and how in addition to their base Mediterranean diet, they all became really, really old people by drinking Greek mountain tea every day. I can’t find the exact article, but you probably know how to Google so maybe you can find it. That was during a little stretch when I was Googling things like “longevity secrets” and “really, really old people” and while I am not doing that so much now, I am still drinking Greek mountain tea. I boil up some Greek moutain tea every couple of days and then put it in the fridge and drink it as ice tea throughout the day.
I like this brand and company. I tried a Rishi variety, because it was less expensive, but it was also a blend with a bunch of other mints and flowers and crap so I’m back to Klio. Might as well skip all the fluff and mainstream the shit if you’re like me and just want to get really, really old really, really fast. Or something like that.
Oolong
I like the Oolongs a lot - there’s something nostalgic for me because they kinda taste like and remind me of when you get a little white teapot of tea at a Chinese restaurant. It’s like not green tea and not english breakfast tea and feels really mellow and soothing. Probably has antioxidants and some polyphenols and shit, too.
This one I just tried because WTF are they even talking about? What’s 80 years old? The leaf? The duckshit? they guy who picked it? Is it real duckshit? And if so, does it grow in the duckshit or just have the duckshit mixed in? Either option sounds like a really bad idea, but what the hell do I know.
Pu-erh
The very first pu-erh tea I tried a few years ago was like a shot of adrenaline to all my organs at once, so I stayed away for a while. Looking back, I may have steeped it too long, or got a hold of some bad shit, or drank too much or just been at a bad, stressed-out place in my life (most likely the latter). But now I’m back into it and have run across some really good varieties. If I have to ONLY have two teas a day, it’ll be the matcha and a pu-erh. This Nat Geo article turned me on to JingMai mountain pu-erh, which is really rich and full-bodied and delicious.
Given all this tea-talk, will probably write a little something something about teeth-whitening next.