Red
Full Member
*** On An Indefinite Trip **
Posts: 162
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Post by Red on Mar 9, 2018 5:13:14 GMT -5
This thread is the continuation of the 2+ year long idea-sharing and storytelling between the friends who love tea and everything tea-related. New members are welcome. There's no firm topic of conversation at tea time, only a firm belief that we all need every bit of niceties in our lives and we all should practice it daily.
Coco, DG, Goldie, Yana, and Savmor, I hope you guys are here. I'm on a trip within our indefinite trip, but I'll stop by as often as I can. Have all kinds of scratches on my legs and arms from the unexpected hike today, so I need a hot soak, then will write about the elephant riding on my blog later tonight. I've learned of several incredible stories during the ride, and I need to jot them down very soon lest I forget.
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Post by teafortwo on Mar 9, 2018 15:55:41 GMT -5
Did some one mention tea? Having a cuppa as we speak ;0}
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Post by dirtgirl (TwinCities,MN) on Mar 9, 2018 20:06:53 GMT -5
Hi Red, I'm going to have some diet Peach Snapple later...either that or lipton ice tea. Oh wow, I had no idea that typing in a semi colon and a close parenthesis automatically translates into an emoticon.
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Post by Yana on Mar 10, 2018 2:52:57 GMT -5
I am here! But when I put in my GB name, it says the name is already taken. Yes, by me!
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Post by yanarich on Mar 10, 2018 2:53:49 GMT -5
Oh, OK.... I guess, it helps to sign in first. :-)
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Red
Full Member
*** On An Indefinite Trip **
Posts: 162
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Post by Red on Mar 10, 2018 6:34:50 GMT -5
Haven't had time to write down yesterday's adventure, and here are two new ones for today: attacked by dozens of red and gold guard ants (yes, there are such things as guard ants) in a cocoa farm and immediately had swollen arms and legs, then sprained my ankle trying to cross a manmade brook on the ground of a "coffee village". Another hot soak is needed. The only tea I can find in this hotel room is two bags of jasmine scented tea from an unknown (to me) tea company. I'm making a cup to take to the bathtub. Coco -- A post dedicated to you will be up soon (in a day or two) on my blog. You should understand why from reading the comment above. DG -- Of course, dear, have all the iced tea that pleases you. Coco can grumble if she wishes; we'll raise our cold and refreshing glass to salute her. DG and Yana -- "Oh wow, I had no idea that typing in a semi colon and a close parenthesis automatically translates into an emoticon." "I guess, it helps to sign in first. :-)"You both are hilarious. Do I need to send you guys to a computer class? TeaforTwo -- Welcome to our tearoom. Stay for a while and be zany with us.
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Post by dirtgirl (TwinCities,MN) on Mar 10, 2018 12:18:16 GMT -5
Red, No, just not familiar with a high tech social site. lol
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cocopaz
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Cat Slave Extraordinaire, Santa Barbara edition
Posts: 1,126
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Post by cocopaz on Mar 10, 2018 17:04:33 GMT -5
And I will CONTINUE being horrified by iced tea, ESPECIALLY Lipton's. How did I end up with these people...?
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Post by dirtgirl (TwinCities,MN) on Mar 10, 2018 21:19:47 GMT -5
You're just lucky I guess.
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Red
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*** On An Indefinite Trip **
Posts: 162
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Post by Red on Mar 11, 2018 0:39:51 GMT -5
I didn't drink iced tea until we moved to the South, then it was a requirement. I stopped when we moved back to CA. Then I picked it up again here. If I don't have 3 - 3.5 liters of liquid in me every day (including iced tea as hot tea doesn't work in 90-degree heat), I would be dehydrated.
DG -- The iced tea that many people drink daily here is infused with chrysanthemum and without sugar. Maybe you could try something similar to see if you like it.
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cocopaz
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Post by cocopaz on Mar 11, 2018 1:20:33 GMT -5
I didn't drink iced tea until we moved to the South, then it was a requirement. I stopped when we moved back to CA. Then I picked it up again here. If I don't have 3 - 3.5 liters of liquid in me every day (including iced tea as hot tea doesn't work in 90-degree heat), I would be dehydrated. DG -- The iced tea that many people drink daily here is infused with flowers (mostly chrysanthemum) and without sugar. Try it to see if you like it. So "infused with flowers " would make the tea decaffeinated ? The Earl Grey Creme tea that I had a week ago tasted like I think flower-infused tea would taste, and I didn't care for it. However, I have an open mind and would try a chrysanthemum infusion if it was offered to me. Without sugar = good. I save my sugar for dessert.
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Red
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*** On An Indefinite Trip **
Posts: 162
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Post by Red on Mar 11, 2018 1:43:23 GMT -5
Earl Grey should not be infused with anything because everything would interfere with bergamot. It's so wrong when people mess with perfection just to give their product a new name. New doesn't mean improved when it comes to Earl Grey (they should've learned that lesson from Coca Cola.)
Infusion doesn't decaffeinate tea. Decaffeination is done with chemical before tea is ready for the market. Herbal tea is naturally decaf, so why putting more chemicals in the body?
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cocopaz
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Post by cocopaz on Mar 11, 2018 1:55:44 GMT -5
Earl Grey should not be infused with anything because everything would interfere with bergamot. That's so wrong when people do that. Infusion doesn't decaffeinate tea. Decaffeination is done with chemical before tea is ready for the market. Herbal tea is naturally decaf, so why putting more chemicals in the body? Ok, let me re-phrase: does having flowers in a tea, mean that it has no caffeine? Or does one take black or green tea and add flowers to it? I was saying to a friend tonight (a dark and stormy night, no less) that after 6pm I like to have hot water, which I consider to be the ultimate decaffeinated drink. Ditto hot lemonade, hot limeade, etc. Yes, so very wrong to infect self respecting Earl Grey with anything. When I couldn't taste or smell the bergamot, I asked the server if it was, in fact, Earl Grey. I thought she'd made a mistake, as I've been drinking Earl Grey since I was a teenager, so for 20 years ...cough cough.
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Red
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*** On An Indefinite Trip **
Posts: 162
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Post by Red on Mar 11, 2018 2:54:04 GMT -5
Either way. If one adds flowers to tea then the level of caffeine already in the tea would stay the same. If one pours water over dried flowers, then it's caffeine free.
For the second option, you should pour slightly hot water to the dried flowers until they're soaked, then add boiling water. Brew for at least 3 minutes. Add honey (optional, but a cup of warm chrysanthemum tea with honey in the evening is supposedly the best way to calm your mind and helps with natural sleep.)
For iced tea, don't add boiling water.
My own experience with chrysanthemum tea (with or without honey) is that it does help with sleep. After several decades being a night owl and having sleepless nights very regularly, I've been falling to sleep before midnight every night since the beginning of Nov. Before moving here, I had to listen to music/audiobooks until sleep took over; now a few minutes after my head hits the pillow and I'm gone.
I could credit chrysanthemum tea for that positive change, or maybe this new chapter in our lives is good for me and it has nothing to do with what I drink. One important thing: the tea is homemade (either by me or a gift from someone I know). IOW, not Bigelow Constant Comment or any commercial brand. Could that be the difference?
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Post by Goldie on Mar 11, 2018 6:54:59 GMT -5
And I will CONTINUE being horrified by iced tea, ESPECIALLY Lipton's. How did I end up with these people...? Nooooooooo......... I tried to post and it crashed my firefox and I lost the whole post. For now I'll just say to Coco, however it happened, you're stuck with us now.
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