Tea Time

I realize it's the holidays, and people are talking about much more exciting things, but I've got 8 days and 16 hours (but who's counting) of finals left.  Thus, it's the little things that help me get through the days.  In particular, I have consumed ridiculous amounts of tea and raspberry-flavored Emergen-C over the past weekend.  My reasons for doing so, I think, are fairly clear.


I don't drink coffee very often, and if I do, it's in the form of Dunkin' Donuts, half coffee, half milk, lots of Splenda (basically, melted coffee ice cream). So, I drink tea in the morning on most days.  However, when it gets colder, and I find myself sitting in the same place for long periods of time, I tend to drink tea at all times of the day.  To me, tea is very calming and helps me focus, or at least, somehow indicates to my brain that I need to focus.  As for the Emergen-C, I think I've tricked myself into thinking that it energizes me and fights off illness that seems to be lurking (I was feeling iffy last week and Charlie felt crummy this weekend).

Here's a rundown of some of my (and not-so favorite) favorite teas:


Favorites:

• Twinings Earl Grey Tea: for me, the gold standard -- you can't beat the bergamot flavor in twinings -- it's how I start most of my mornings
• TAZO white teas: berryblossom, vanilla apricot, and cucumber lime -- good for early afternoons
• Harney & Sons Chinese Flower: I got this for my birthday and have really loved it
• Bigelow Darjeeling: love darjeeling -- I always get this flavor when I get tea after dinner
• Trader Joe's Lady Duchess Grey: earl grey with lemon -- at first, I thought it was too fruity, but it's starting to grow on me
• Bigelow Sleepy Time Tea: peppermint and chamomile -- the perfect bedtime tea
• Dunkin Donuts Tea: yes, I know, there is nothing special about this -- I just like the mouthfeel of this tea, for lack of a better description

Not-So Favorites

• TAZO Passion Tea: just too bitter and fruity -- weird combination
• real green tea: Charlie loves the woodiness of legit green tea, but I'm not wild about it