Why Tea Beats Coffee
Recipes | Karla Mercado | September 25, 2009 at 6:51 am
Photo by zoyachubby.
It would take me an entire day to write an ode to tea. I love it so much that I start and end each day with a version of this fascinating beverage. While I’m sure you’re all familiar with its health benefits, don’t forget that the curative elixir is as practical as it is healthy:
Tea goes from morning to night. Tea is so much fun that I sip on it all day long. It’s refreshing in the morning and relaxing in the evening. Coffee can be a great pick-me-up but I find that I crash after a strong cup of good coffee in the morning. I find that tea is a much more laid back source of caffeine and its affects on my body are much more gradual. Tea helps me sleep better, too. A nice herbal mixture like chamomile and jasmine helps soothe and warm up my body for a good night’s rest.
The Starbucks substitute. Tea is cheap and reusable. Once you’ve brewed those coffee ground can you reuse them? Well, maybe if you’re really desperate but it’ll probably taste gross. Those grounds are ready for compost. You can re-steep those tea bags for up to five times before you compost them. True story!
Tea in your backyard. You don’t have to work too hard to cultivate your own tea. You’d be surprised to find some flavor-rich, edible leaves and flowers in your backyard or kitchen counter. There are only three things you need to remember when making your own tea: flavor, appearance and aroma. For flavor, choose bold, savory leaves, such as parsley, basil or sage.
If you like fruity flavors like I do, cherries, apples, strawberries and lemon are great flavor choices as well. For appearance, find edible flowers like rose petals, hibiscus and jasmine to add texture and color. Remember, you eat, or in this case, drink, with your eyes first. And finally, for aroma, look into your cupboard for chives, cinnamon, mint, or marjoram. Depending on your taste, combine each of these together, steep, and enjoy!
My favorite combination is ginger (for flavor), hibiscus (for appearance) and lemon zest (for aroma). It’s spicy, pink and smells like summer. Learn more about the superfood ginger here.
So, what’s your cup of tea?
Karla Mercado lives in New Mexico and is the author of Balancing Tenderfoot. She is passionate about human medicine, nutrition, and writing.
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I love tea, though I doubt I could give up coffee. Tea is easy and so useful.
Your favorite, ginger tea, is tasty, and it’s supposed to be good for circulation, digestion, cramps, and nausea. Admittedly, my coffee can’t do all that.
“Tea is easy and so useful.” You got that right, Laura! It’s so much faster to make than waiting for the coffee maker do its thing, but you have a point–it’s hard to give up coffee. I’m a coffee lover too, but eventually learned to love tea more when I saw how it has helped in things like digestion, relaxation, even saving money! Tastes good too, ey?
Have you tried roasted dandelion root tea? Its very similar to coffee, it has that same dark, rich, nutty goodness AND its very good for your liver. Not to mention its all over the place.
Awesome tip, Dr. Nishant! Will RT on Twitter.
Awesome tip, Dr. Nishant! Will RT on Twitter.
OH! You’re my new favorite blogger fyi
Dont forget you can bring a few teabags to boil in a large pot/dutch oven. Add sugar to taste then transfer to a container, let cool and put in the fridge (dont forget the lemon if you like). Make your own home-brewed Iced Tea, much cheaper than buying it at the store and much better than the powered kind.
Cool tip! I’ve never tried making homemade iced tea before. Sounds like a great idea and I definitely prefer that over the powdered kind.
Have you ever tried sun tea? My mom used to put a few teabags in a large jar/bottle and put it out in the sun in the morning. By the end of the day, you have a nice strong bottle of tea to which you can add ice, your choice of sweetener and lemon to taste. Somehow the sun adds it own flavor to it too…