What's the Tea?

I have always been obsessed with coffee, just like most of us are, not only for the taste but for the caffeine kick. Though recently, I have found myself drifting away from making myself coffee or ordering it at a coffee shop. Now, I am particularly excited about tea! So, I wanted to talk about some teas that I have found most interesting and can have some nutritional benefits with your caffeine needs.

Tea has become one of my go-to ways for either getting my day started or winding my day down. That is because there are so many different types of teas with different properties that can make them an all-day treat.

I have replaced my morning coffee with a matcha. Matcha is a type of ground green tea that is relatively high in caffeine at around 18.9 to 44.4 mg/g. Coffee beans usually will range from 10 to 12 mg caffeine per gram. That is all depending on the type and preparation of course, but that is still a huge difference. You might be saying that more caffeine isn’t always better. Of course, it is recommended to get a maximum of 400 mg/day of caffeine so we should always be aware of that. But matcha also has something called polyphenols which are antioxidants that can have similar effectiveness of vitamin C and E, which is something amazing for this powerful morning kick.

Learning to make matcha at home is possible too, especially with how expensive it can get when ordering it at a coffee shop every day, but this article “Here’s the Tea” explains the process so well!

Another tea that can be enjoyed in the morning or afternoon, that is less known but just as amazing as matcha is Houjicha. It is roasted green tea that can be ground down like matcha or bought as a loose tea. The flavor turns out to be roasty and rich with some nuttiness. It can be served latte style or as a straight tea. Houjicha is made mostly of the small branches compared to just the leaves as other green teas are usually, because of this, it has relatively low caffeine levels.

During the day or at night, if I am looking for something casual to drink or wind down from my day, I usually try to look for corn or barley tea, which is light in flavor but much more interesting than water. With zero caffeine or sugar added or needed, they can help me keep my water intake up by keeping me interested in what I am drinking.

Sobacha, which I only recently discovered, is a type of non-caffeinated tea made from buckwheat. It has a wonderful toasty grain flavor that really keeps you wanting more of the interesting and addicting flavor.

I was able to first try this at Now & Then in Nashville, TN. It is a coffee and tea experience that slows down the coffee shop experience to a chill environment that explains their selection fully and allows you to explore it for yourself. If you are looking to learn more about coffee and tea or just love visiting amazing coffee shops, I would highly suggest going there.

Now & Then in Nashville, TN

If you are a first-time tea drinker, don't let any of this information be intimidating. If you are looking to take a couple of baby steps into the tea world from coffee drinking, Earl Grey or black tea is the way to go. Black tea is what I would consider the black coffee of the tea world. Earl Grey, however, is slightly more interesting with some bergamot infusion added. Both can include the addition of sugar or cream if that is how you traditionally like your coffee. But they can also be served as is!

Black tea not only has antioxidants that decrease your risk of several chronic diseases, but it also contains around 71 mg of caffeine per 12 oz cup. That is slightly lower than a 12 oz cup of Starbucks black cold brew at 195 mg of caffeine. Switching to tea can be a way to reduce your caffeine intake overall.

I could talk about this all day, as there are so many more available teas out there beyond this, which you can read more about here!

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