Friday Favorites: Hot Tea

It used to be said of me that I did not drink coffee. It's still true that I don't like the taste of coffee without some sweetener and yummy creamer, but I have traveled over to the "dark side" and can enjoy a coffee beverage here and there.

But lately, I've come back to my first love of hot beverages (wait, maybe my first love was that homemade hot chocolate mix that my mom used to make). Anyway, lately I've been back on a hot tea kick. I'm not sure why, but it may have to do with the fact that I can enjoy flavored, decaffeinated tea without needing to add creamer (i.e.: calories) to make it palatable. It hasn't been very cold in Tennessee lately, but I've still been enjoying a nice mug of tea at work or in the evenings at home.

My thoughtful friend, Gwyn, shares my love for tea and likes to bring me surprises when we meet for community group. This week, she brought some decaf French Vanilla tea bags and suggested that I might want to add a little milk and honey, and it would "taste like dessert." She was right! Gwyn shared some of her tea bags (that she had to buy in bulk because she couldn't find them at the grocery store this year), so the next day I found some sugar-free vanilla creamer in the fridge at work to add and had a little morning treat with my snack.

In case you want to try something new, here are some of my other recent favorite tea flavors:  Vanilla Chai, Chai Spice, Apple Cinnamon.

My sister also made up a tea blend that rivals the tea you can get when you go to an Aveda salon. I often learn new tricks from my smart sister and this time she combined the following in her brew basket to make the tea:

1 bag licorice tea
1 bag peppermint tea
1 T. fennel seed

1 T. dried basil

Hope you can find some time to relax and enjoy a cup of hot tea (or coffee) this season, and feel free to call me to join you!