Ommm, no, more like Ummmm....

I was at Whole Foods and they have a pretty stellar tea selection. Today's choice was HEAVENLY LEMON TULSI from Honest Tea. It's a caffeine free tea, and I'm usually hurting myself with the amount of caffeine I drink, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. I did not read the back of the bottle till I started to drink it, and started wondering what herb farm fell into my bottle. Looking at the small print, Tulsi means "Holy Basil", and the clever folks at Honest Tea put a quick disclaimer on the back that says "Basil in tea? Don't worry..." with a long explanation that it's not really basil, yadda yadda, likening it to meditation (hence the Ommm reference).

My personal tea preference is a good strong black tea with lemon, so this does not fit that bill. Every so often, I'm up for a more herb-based tea, which is usually a 50/50 herb to tea taste. This tea does taste nice, but it's quite aromatic and not strong enough in the tea camp for my taste.

That note aside, for those who are into herbal teas, it is somewhat refreshing. I was hoping for a go-to caffeine-free tea option, but I'll pass.

On the flip side, I did start drinking Sweet Leaf Tea last week. I was at CVS on the 101 degree day and ran to the fridge section to find something good for my hour long ride home in my husband's jeep without AC. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was because I left work early, but boy, this tea went down fast and joyously. It had a nice hefty tea flavor with a hint of sweet that was fantastic.

Earlier this week on a Whole Foods salad run, I grabbed another bottle and, not finding the ORIGINAL flavor pictured here, found a blue label that was LEMON. Also good. I do like the Original best so far, and they had many other flavors to try. I used to drink Lori's Lemon Honest Tea the most, but I dare say that Sweet Leaf has bumped Honest Tea out of my top spot. There are lots of Iced Tea's out there, which is YOUR favorite?

Would you like a cup of REAL TEA?

Hot tea is something that, as a child, you only have when you’re sick. As you get older, it reappears as a drink alternate and this is when people’s tastes begin to change.

In my teens, I drank black tea with honey. In my 20’s it was black tea with a spoon of sugar and a lot of milk. In my 30’s it was black tea with 16 grains of sugar and a big splash of milk. In my 40’s (as in ‘still 40 for one more month’, thank you) it’s 16 grains of sugar and a medium to small splash of milk. My current reasoning is that the sugar shaves off the bitter high points of the tea, and the right amount of milk provides a nice body to it. That is the way I normally take my tea.

As a ‘tea person’, I also can drink tea with honey, herbal tea, and the only tea so far I couldn’t handle at all was Lapsang Suchong, which tasted like a hot wet ashtray. I love iced tea in its various forms (sweetened and unsweetened home made), the only brands I like in a bottle are real brewed with lemon Snapple and the Assam Black Honest Tea.

As far as hot teas, these are MUST HAVES in order of favorites:

Yorkshire tea – I prefer the red box

Canadian Red Rose tea – Red Rose Brand tea in Canada is MUCH better than the US version, can only be ordered from Canada

PG tips - they have the triangular tea bag

King Cole (they also carry THE BEST black decaf I've had to date)

Barry’s Tea - I've been drinking the Irish Breakfast but I hear it's all good.

If you are a REAL TEA drinker, I strongly encourage you to try these teas! Please comment on your personal favorite teas, we’re willing to try anything if it’s good!