The comfort of tea

Although I've been drinking tea almost my whole life, until recent years, I'd been more of a coffee person.  I don't know why the switch happened, perhaps it was an attempt at being healthier and reducing my caffeine intake, but now I drink tea more than any other drink.

With the holiday season is approaching, I'm looking forward to the reappearance of one of my favorite tea varietals: decaffeinated peppermint green tea.  This tea tastes great, and it's comforting and soothing.  That's what I love about tea: it's a great way to unwind, and it also has health benefits.

I've read that peppermint tea is supposed to be good for stress relief and stomach issues.  Green tea is rich in antioxidants and is said to improve blood flow, lower cholesterol, and help prevent heart-related issues.  Because peppermint tea is herbal, it is already decaffeinated.  Green tea usually has caffeine, but I try to find decaffeinated varieties so I can stick to my goal of reducing caffeine intake.  The health benefits of tea are a great bonus, but mostly I just love the taste and how it makes me feel.

The first peppermint green tea I tried was Trader Joe's.  Their "candy cane" description made it sound delicious, which it is.  But I soon discovered Celestial Seasonings' peppermint green tea which I feel has a stronger flavor, so now that's my preferred choice.


Since I started drinking so much tea, I've also had to find a way of efficiently heating a lot of water.  My brother introduced me to a great system of an electric kettle and a thermos.  Most electric kettles these days are pretty quick at heating water, and some allow you to set the temperature of water you want.  I just use a simple one by SPT.  But the best part of this system is the thermos because we found one by Zojirushi that does a great job of keeping water hot.  If I fill the thermos with just-boiled water before I go to bed, it's still piping hot when I get up in the morning and want to drink my first cup of tea.  The thermos lets me drink tea with less wait because I always have hot water waiting for me.


If you're not as frequent a tea drinker as me, the approaching holiday season might put you in the mood.  The ready-waiting hot water is also great for hot cocoa!  Just thinking about it is putting me in the holiday spirit.