How much tea do you drink in a day?
I drink a lot of water throughout the day and have noticed that over time my tea consumption has decreased. Mostly because my beloved blacks give me heartburn if I drink too much. Took a couple years for that to happen, but still makes me sad. I drink more at work than home, averaging 2 or 3 10 oz mugs. At home we often end up being busy or just forget to make tea.
“my beloved blacks give me heartburn if I drink too much.”
Do you drink tea on an empty stomach?
“my beloved blacks” “makes me sad” – I completely understand!
Have you found a remedy for your black tea-induced heartburn other than limiting your enjoyment of it?
Not really. I noticed that re-steeps bother me less and that some teas are more likely to cause it than others. I guess maybe the tannins are responsible, but I don’t know. If I have been having heartburn recently I limit my tea consumption (and also avoid mint, which I love but bothers me sometimes). Most of the time it is not a worry but if I’ve been eating poorly or am really stressed, the triggers combine. I have been trying to pay closer attention to what I am eating and doing when headaches and heartburn come on so I can minimize the occurrence. It’s not awful by any stretch but I’m fairly young and would like to avoid trivial pains as much as I can. For now!
If I already am having heartburn/acid reflux/irritation, rooibos and honeybush cause it to become worse.
I’ve noticed that my heartburn has been worse lately but hadn’t correlated it with the tea. I’ll have to try to move toward less tannic teas.
Do oolongs bother you?
Uniquity
“… if I’ve been eating poorly or am really stressed, the triggers combine. I have been trying to pay closer attention to what I am eating and doing when headaches and heartburn come on so I can minimize the occurrence.”
Excellent points! Do you have migraines?
I do but not very frequently. I have poor eyesight that developed rapidly when I was a child so I had migraines for about a year when I was 9/10. They happen infrequently since but I try to avoid triggers.
Green tea and green oolongs both turn my stomach a bit so I don’t tend to drink them. It seems roasted oolongs don’t bother me but I don’t drink them often enough to be sure if they did. It’s tough to be sure if one thing is causing a problem until you’re sure the other factors aren’t to blame, heh.
Depending on the day I drink 5-8, but on average it’s 7 or 8 – of 8oz mugs. When drinking gong-fu style I total however many 5 or 6oz cups I drink to see how it compares the total of 8oz cups. I drink much more in the summer because I dehydrate easily, and cold-brewed teas go down really fast.
I typically have a minimum of three 8-oz cups in the morning. I’ve found if I have tea late in the afternoon, I sometimes have difficulty getting to sleep at night. The earlier I get up, the more tea I can enjoy!
I’ve considered decaf tea. However, most decaf teas I’ve tried taste wimpy – not full-bodied. Thus, why bother!
Can anyone recommend an exceptional smooth & full-bodied decaf or low-caffeine tea?
Well, my favorite way of drinking decaf tea is as a rooibos Chai. I don’t know what your tea preferences are, but I really like the one by Chai Wallah!
An un-flavored tea that’s ideally: rich, smooth & full-bodied with a full-mouth feel that lingers long on the tongue.
My favorite decaf is Harney’s Vanilla Comoro, but that gets much of its flavor from the vanilla. For a pure decaf tea, PG Tips decaf is at least medium body in an English Breakfast style.
Thanks DigniTea! I enjoy a great Assam. Is it as full-bodied as Harney’s regular Assam?
Harney has many different Assams. Probably unfair to expect the exact same thing from any decaf (coffee or tea). However, I can say that Harney’s Decaf Assam is very good for a decaf tea. Also Simpson & Vail has several decent decafs.
I drink 10 to 12 cups a day. The only problem I am having is with my Breville tea maker. It makes wonderful tea, but the minimum it makes is 2-3 cups. But then if I want to resteep I end up having 6-9 cups of the same thing all day. Any ideas on how to save my first steeping leaves and change to something else and then go back to my earlier leaves. Can I put them in a small container… closed container… refrigerate ??? I don’t know if I am making this dilemma clear. I just don’t want 9 cups in a row of the same tea but I don’t want to waste my teas.
as long as you don’t live in, like, the tropics, and you plan to get back to those leaves within a day, i’ve been fine just leaving them out in an open container. don’t seal them or they will get moldy faster. i think i heard it’s ok/pretty safe to do this from verdant at some point (tea supposedly has some antimicrobial properties), but i don’t remember where exactly, in a tutorial video of theirs or thread here or what.
the other option, my favorite, is to coldsteep the leaves. throw them in a mason jar or something like the takeya flash chill pitcher in the fridge and enjoy the next day cold. YMMV though if you don’t like drinking tea cold. greens are my favorite this way.
and if resteeping leaves is only a sometimes occasion for you, there’s always the option to use the breville as a variable temp kettle those times—only use it to heat the water the proper temp—and still do the steeping yourself with a vessel and strainer of your choice. when i drink delicate greens and oolongs this is still my preferred method.
Probably 6-8 cups at most… In summertime less… At night I usually drink herbals or rooibos unless it’s a weekend and I’m staying up late, then I don’t care about extra caffeine. All made with reverse osmosis water.
Do you use a re-mineralization filter with your reverse osmosis system?
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
I don’t have a RO system.. I buy water by 5 gallons and re-mineralize it with Himalayan salt.
Himalayan salt?
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_salt
- http://www.americanbluegreen.com/faq_s.html – “One teaspoon of Himalayan Crystal Salt™ Sole contains approximately 411mg of sodium.”
“Tea is a refreshing beverage that contains no sodium, fat, carbonation, or sugar. It is virtually calorie-free. Tea helps maintain proper fluid balance and may contribute to overall good health.” http://www.teausa.com/14655/tea-fact-sheet
Yes, Himalayan pink salt… the healthiest salt you can consume. It’s got all the essential minerals body needs and it’s excellent for re-mineralizing the water and raising PH a bit. I don’t add teaspoon of it to every cup of tea… lol 1/4 tsp for every gallon of water is sufficient. I use this salt for all the cooking and baking too.
Per Wikipedia:
“Himalayan salt is a marketing term for halite (commonly known as rock salt) from Pakistan,…”
“The agency stated that the salts come from Pakistan and can, like all salts, cause hypertension (high blood pressure) if over used.1”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halite
“Halite is often used both residentially and municipally for managing ice”
Per http://www.mistypeakteas.com/#!blog/c24db/post/9/38540881858
“1. Water selection and temperature: selection of pure spring water is best. The Chinese say to drink the spring water that the tree was watered with; this is nearly impossible to do if one is in the West. The next best thing is bottled or nearby spring water, with a balanced PH and low Chlorine levels and low Sodium levels. For information on the best water in your area, or worldwide, and the mineral content of each water, log onto www.mineralwaters.com. Refrain from using any tap water, it will never bring out the potential of the tea.
Remember that water is the main ingredient in tea, the water quality is so vital in brewing a cup of tea."
I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here… that himalayan salt is toxic or that I’m overusing it by adding 0.25 tsp to a gallon of water? I assure you there is more salt than that in my tap water. I think I’ll stick with the system I have currently in place, but thank you for your input.
Two Points:
1. If one has high blood pressure, a family history of high blood pressure, or other cardiac risk factors, minimizing the use of any type of salt is generally recommended.
American Heart Association:
- http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Sodium-Salt-or-Sodium-Chloride_UCM_303290_Article.jsp
-http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/PreventionTreatmentofHighBloodPressure/Shaking-the-Salt-Habit_UCM_303241_Article.jsp
-http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Reducing-Sodium-in-a-Salty-World_UCM_457519_Article.jsp
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/salt/
2. It’s generally recommended that tea is best brewed with low-sodium water.
I drink about 5 cups on the days I work and about 7-8 on the days I don’t. I just have to make sure I don’t have tea after 9 PM as I might have difficulties falling asleep (even if I go to sleep around 3 AM). After 9 PM I usually have rooibos, herbal or fruit blends (and these are included in my 5-8 cups a day count).
I usually drink 1 or 2-14oz of black, green or oolong and 4-16oz of rooibos, white or herbal
The low or decaf teas, plus my tendency to resteep makes sure I don’t over-caffeinate. I’d like to mention also that drinking hot tea has reduced my sinus infections AND my cholesterol so I tend not to worry about it too much.
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