Tales of a Tea Fiend

When I moved out, my new place had a surprisingly large-sized kitchen with plenty of cabinet space. When more than half of it became a place to store my wide assortment of boxed teas and I had overflow into a large sized shopping bag, however, I was able to predict the intervention. It is true, I have enjoyed hot teas for a long time, but  after recognizing how much money I was probably spending on bagged tea, I learned pretty quickly there are better and cheaper ways. I recently have gotten into mixing my own mixed loose leaf teas from bulk ingredients mainly collected at The Good Earth in Broad Ripple.

 The Good Earth is a independent health food located on Guilford Avenue just after the river after the fire station. I cannot say enough good things about this store or the people there. With all the tasty goodies, local fruits, vegetables and other foods, farm-fresh eggs, bulk grocery and herbal products, a whole room of lots of natural beauty care products and a wide variety of teas I try and make a weekly trip there.

I try to avoid teas with caffeine and tannins because I can't really handle the acidic content and don't want to live on acid reducing medicine. I still drink small amounts of juice every now and then, but I have to just be more careful. I drink hot teas throughout the day no matter how hot or cold. My mom can't have much acid in her diet, also, so there became a need for me to find some new options other than the common black, green and white teas out there. Black, green and white tea all come from the leaves of camilla sinensis. This leaf gets most of its flavor from tannins, just like red wines, etc. Even white and green tea with little amount of caffeine have these tannins. Decaffeination takes some of the acid content down, but it still leaves the tannins and also kills all the healthy polyphenols of the teas, so if avoiding caffeine, herbals give you more nutrient content because the ingredients don't have to be altered in any way.

I started by getting myself a small ceramic tea pot with a large filter to steep my loose tea in. They come in lots of colors and shapes. I found mine as part of set on clearance at the crazy over-priced trendy tea shop Teavana at the Fashion Mall. We had to listen to a crazy sales pitch to get us to buy a $500 cast-iron set from a girl who even admitted she knew nothing about tea. There are tons of other options, however, like getting empty self-sealing tea bags and little tea filters that can be filled and dropped into mugs of warm water.

It is good when going to somewhere like Good Earth to stick to some of the basics and build from there. I have a few basic blends I drink daily that are made from simple ingredients that are very inexpensive. 

I have a vanilla citrus rooibos blend that I drink after breakfast. Rooibos has been rumored to have vitamin C and lots of other minerals, but most studies show that none of these are found in any great abundance. It does have significant antioxidants like most teas and is very calming. It does not get bitter when brewed for long periods of time and is pretty sweet naturally. Some herbal teas are very bitter, which is not always a bad thing - as often times these herbs and roots have great medicinal benefits, but blended with sweeter teas like rooibos and hibiscus are a good way to make these teas palatable. I normally make a bulk blend with 2 ounces of the red rooibos tea, 1/2 ounce each of dried orange peel and dried lemongrass, and one opened vanilla bean. I just keep the vanilla bean in the jar of loose tea because it scents the whole batch and adds a nice flavor. Many enjoy rooibos as a late with warm milk (or soymilk) and honey. The citrus and vanilla add a nice touch to this preparation. 

My second blend is a fruity and sweet hibiscus tea that when brewed is a rich red color. I get 2 ounces of cut and dried hibiscus flowers and 1/2 ounce of rose hips (known to be a great source of vitamin C) and 1/2 ounce of orange peel. I've also infused this tea with cinnamon bark and dried ginger before. I am in love with Trader Joe's slightly sweetened dried ginger chips because they steep nicely and add a nice bit of spice. I put these in this tea and sometimes with my peppermint blend. This hibiscus tea is a great one to enjoy iced. It is bright and as featured in my Everything but the Kitchen Sink can make a good "Sangritea" with cut fruit in a pitcher. One sunny afternoon and a big pitcher please! 

My third tea is often an after-dinner tea as the herbs are soothing and help with digestion, a good way to end a day and prepare your body for sleep. Peppermint is the main carrier tea and helps balance acidity in the body, more than likely why peppermint is known to help stomach aches and indigestion. I get about an ounce to an ounce and a half of dried peppermint. I then add 1/2 ounce lemongrass and 1/8 ounce of rosemary. Lemongrass is good for respiratory health as well, so it may help  a chest cold. Rosemary is great for skin and has antiseptic properties. This blend is very herbal and fresh tasting. To help boost digestive strength and add a bit of spice add some of those great ginger chips, too.

I keep all these teas premixed in ball jars in my cupboard. When I'm ready to brew I just boil some water, pour about 1 to 2 tbsp into my large 2-cup tea filter and pour the boiling water over. I have been growing stevia to add to the mixes for some added sweetness when I add other medicinal herbs that sometimes leave more of a bitter taste. A little goes a long way with stevia though, even stevia powder. 

Simply put, even if you don't enjoy hot tea as much as I do, it is always a good way to wind down and relax. 

Sometimes when I'm on the run all day with school and work, a mug of hot tea becomes a vacation and a much needed treat. More than anything, mixing your own teas are easy, fun and cheap. The trifecta of excellence defined by most college students.