herbal or no-caffeine teas?

[kindkit]

It's cold here at this time of year and I often find myself craving a hot drink before bed, but I shouldn't have caffeine at that point. Does anybody have recommendations for herbal or otherwise caffeine-free teas that actually taste good?

The other day I was lured, due to its being on sale, into buying some Yogi Tea "Bedtime" blend. It's . . . okay, but my quick read of the label while in the supermarket made me think it would taste orange-y, and it really doesn't. So I would especially like recommendations for citrus-y teas. I don't want anything that's heavy on the mint or hibiscus, and nothing too medicinal-tasting. Specific brand recommendations are especially welcome, or if you have suggestions for how to make my own blends, that would also be great.

Comments

[mab_browne]

I like Twinings Lemon and Ginger.

[kindkit]

That sounds good. Thanks!

[cathexys]

I like Celestial Seasoning's Honey Vanilla Chamomile tea, but I like chamomile in general.

Slightly OT, I've gotten pretty heavily into white and green teas, which are both lower in caffeine (and I often mix them with caffeine free basic green tea to lower the caffeine content more--but that's mostly for iced tea, which is my main drink these days).

My current treat myself go to tea is Mighty Leaf White Orchard tea (again, white tea, so less caffeine, but not free).

Im' not huge on citrusy tea, so no help, sorry!

[kindkit]

I drink a lot of green tea, and I know it doesn't have much caffeine, but my body is weird about sleeping sometimes, and weird about caffeine sometimes, so I'm trying to avoid any caffeine around bedtime. (It's also because I drink regular tea--sometimes green, sometimes black--in the morning, so I have a certain amount of mental association of real tea with "wake up time.")

I like some white teas, and I know they have practically no caffeine, but it's very hit or miss for me whether I'll like any given white tea. The ones I like I really like, but a lot of them don't quite work for my taste.
Do you have any favorites you'd recommend?

Speaking of which, I have a small packet of loose-leaf White Symphony tea that I don't much care for. Since you like white teas, I'd be happy to send it to you if you'd like to try it. Just PM me your address if you're interested.

[cathexys]

oh, i'd love to. Will PM you. (I got out of the habit of brewing huge pots of tea with loose leafs, but since i'm back in the iced tea business now--20 years in the deep south finally show:)--I should start that up again...

[kaberett]

Huh, I was under the impression that actually green tea had *more* caffeine in because it was less vigorously dried so less of it got broken down? Might be wildly misinformed, though.

[cathexys]

A quick google search brought this: http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/green-tea

I knew it really depended on brewing times, but in general, green tea tends to have less as a general rule.

[kaberett]

I can't caffeine at all these days, alas, and I mostly drink redbush/rooibos. My specific recommendations for interesting loose-leaf blends are unfortunately both based in the UK so that probably doesn't do you much good :-/ but in terms of my preferred citrus-y tea, I mostly go for Earl Grey rooibos. (And sometimes herbal nonsense from Whittards with blood orange in, but mostly Earl Grey.)

--- hah, ACTUALLY my go-to non-caffeine citrusy hot drink goes: squeeze a teaspoon or two of lemon juice into a mug. Add half a teaspoon of sugar or honey or somesuch. Pour on hot water. Drink. (I call it Zitronenwasser, but I'm a heritage speaker from a family that likes messing around with words, so...)

[kindkit]

Hmm, I've never had Earl Grey rooibos--that sounds like it might solve my problem with black Earl Grey, which is that the black tea is so tannic that it overwhelms the lovely bergamot.

Your Zitronenwasser sounds similar to something I make, except that I put some whole cloves in. And, er, a nice shot of whiskey.

[sixbeforelunch]

(Here via my network page.)

I enjoy the blood orange blend from Adagio teas. In general, I've had a lot of success with that website. I haven't had all of their fruit teas, but I've enjoyed the ones I've tried.

[kindkit]

Hi! That tea sounds amazing, but the website's mention of hibiscus and rose hips is scaring me a bit. Does it taste like orange, or does it taste like hibiscus and rose hips? The latter two are ingredients I tend to find overwhelming.

[sixbeforelunch]

Hmm... To me, it's tastes very much like orange and citrus. I've never even noticed another taste. There are nice big chunks of orange peel in the blend. That said, I don't think I'm very sensitive to rose hips or hibiscus. I have another blend from them that lists those two ingredients first, and to me it just tastes generically fruity.

[kindkit]

Cool! It definitely sounds worth a try. Thanks!

have you tried Sage?

[mllesatine]

7 dollars for 15 teabags sounds pretty expensive to me.

I enjoy the Sage tea by "Teekanne" (not sure if you can buy it in the US). I've been disappointed by anything that offers ginger in the title because those dried teas are never strong enough. So I grate my own ginger into hot water and add some sugar or honey.

Re: have you tried Sage?

[kindkit]

Yeah, someone once gave me some green tea with ginger as a gift and I could never taste the ginger in it at all. Crystallized/candied ginger works well in tea--have you ever tried that?

Re: have you tried Sage?

[(Anonymous)]

I had no idea you can make tea with candied ginger. I bought candied ginger once, didn't like it and threw it out after keeping it in a box for a few months. Wish I'd have tried making tea with it.

Re: have you tried Sage?

[mllesatine]

Above comment is mine. I forgot to sign in.

Re: have you tried Sage?

[kindkit]

I don't know if I'd try to make a tea/infusion just with candied ginger, but it's a nice addition to any tea that you'd like to add some ginger flavor to.

[hannah]

I'm going to echo the Adagio recommendations.

[kindkit]

I've spent a lot of time browsing their site since I posted this. I like that you can buy sample sizes and that their shipping rates are reasonable. I'll probably be ordering from them as soon as I have the money, because I'm very unhappy with the tea I can get locally.

[james]

I am partial to London Fruit and Herb teas. They come in tea bags (a plus, for me!) and they have a very definite fruit flavor, a more pronounced one IMO than other herbal teas.

[kindkit]

Cool, thanks!

From the NYTimes: coconut, ginger, turmeric infusion

[executrix]

From Martha Rose Shulman's column in the NY Times:

I love the fair trade teas produced by Zhena’s Gypsy Tea, especially her Coconut Chai. Inspired by the perfume of coconut in that tea, I infused shredded coconut and ginger and added a little fresh lime juice, honey and a smidgeon of turmeric. The idea of making a turmeric and honey paste comes from Heidi Swanson’s 101cookbooks.com.

1/4 cup finely grated unsweetened coconut

2 to 3 teaspoons minced ginger

2 1/2 cups boiling water

Up to 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, to taste

For each serving: 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons honey or honey-turmeric paste (see below)

Turmeric-honey paste:

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons honey

1. Place the coconut and ginger in a large pyrex measuring cup or teapot and pour on the boiling water. Cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes or longer. Strain into another measuring cup, a bowl or a teapot and press the coconut against the strainer to extract all the flavorful liquid.



2. Reheat the infusion and pour into cups. Stir 1/2 to 1 teaspoon lime juice and 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons honey or honey-turmeric paste into each cup.

Yield: Serves 2

Advance preparation: You can keep the infusion for a day in the refrigerator. Reheat and proceed with Step 2.

Nutritional information per serving (Note: Nutritional values refer only to the honey used and in this case to the fat that the coconut releases into the infusion): 41 calories; 2 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 milligrams cholesterol; 6 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 1 milligram sodium; 0 grams protein

Re: From the NYTimes: coconut, ginger, turmeric infusion

[kindkit]

Huh, that sounds like it might be very good. Not sure about the turmeric, but it's hard to go wrong with coconut and ginger. Thanks!

Re: From the NYTimes: coconut, ginger, turmeric infusion

[executrix]

I'm not sure how much stuff non-subscribers can access on the Times site, so I C&Pd but that was part of "infusions week"--basically, not-conventional-tea stuff you can put in a teapot. Sort of like "put THAT in your pipe and smoke it."

[executrix]

Also: don't know how you feel about soymilk, but hot chocolate or vanilla soymilk. Or a nice cup of miso soup.

[magnetic_pole]

Sorry, nothing helpful since I'm a black tea type myself, but I'm reading these suggestions avidly! M.