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Can I turn myself into a regular tea drinker? Time to give it a go

Anna Sandner
30-1-2024
Translation: Katherine Martin

Although I like tea, I rarely drink it. This week, however, it’s time for a change of habit. I’ll be pouring myself a daily pot of tea, tasting my way through chamomile, mint and rooibos.

I have an ambivalent relationship with tea. On the one hand, I’m fascinated by the world’s countless tea varieties and the numerous ways they benefit our health. I also enjoy that lovely sense of cosiness and relaxation that quietly enjoying a cup of tea provides. On the other hand, I rarely drink tea. I couldn’t tell you precisely why.

Maybe it’s down to a combination of pragmatism and impatience – after all, making tea involves boiling water, infusing it with tea and letting it all brew. Or maybe my love of coffee is to blame for relegating tea to second place in my personal hot drink stakes. Perhaps it’s simply force of habit. I never did get into the habit of drinking tea regularly.

A pot of tea every day

This week, that habit’s about to change. Come what may, I’ll be drinking (at least) one pot of tea every day for a week. Either I’ll get sick of the stuff and never drink it again, or I’ll finally manage to establish a tea-drinking routine I can stick to in the future. Or hey, maybe the result will be something in between.

I was doing well at drinking water, until ...

All the more reason to start topping up my missing fluids with tea. To stop things from getting too samey, I’ll be switching varieties each day in a bid to find a favourite I can later enjoy daily.

Day 1: kicking things off with black tea as a coffee alternative

Today, however, I’ll be drinking the tea, not plastering it on my face. First thing in the morning, I make myself a pot of Darjeeling and sip away at it over the next hour and a half. Giving each cup a little upgrade in the form of a dash of oat milk, I really don’t miss having coffee. It’s not even noon and I’ve already hit my self-imposed tea quota.

Day 2: fennel-aniseed-caraway – always a good shout

What I really like, however, is the taste. The blend is easy on the stomach, so I can drink it in large quantities without issue. That’s something I do anyway if I’m feeling unwell. Though I’m perfectly fine today, I get through a whole pot without as much as a twinge in my stomach. I need to remind myself to keep drinking on two or three occasions, but the pot’s finished soon enough. Easy-peasy.

Day 3: plucking rose hips from the snow for my cuppa

Today’s tea is a little more time-consuming than going for a pre-made variety. Before I can brew the tea, I’ve got to pick and chop up the fruit. However, once that’s out of the way, I can relax and savour it. Like most teas, I enjoy drinking rose hip tea cold. For a bit of variety, I give it a boost by squeezing an orange into the cup, creating a delicious, fruity tea packed with vitamins. I don’t have any trouble polishing off the pot.

Day 4: going green

I dig out some green tea (ginger and lemon flavour) from the back corner of my kitchen cupboard, this time making sure I get the brewing time (two minutes) and water temperature (about 80 degrees) right. The taste test that follows proves better than expected. Even so, I’m unlikely to convert to green tea in the long term.

Day 5: a summery mint tea

Today, I’ll be drinking one of my wall decorations. Yep, a while back, I bought some fresh mint, fully intent on cooking it. By the time I got round to using it, however, it was already too dry. I opted to hang it up and let it dry out completely, so it’s ended up as a kind of kitchen wall decoration. But before the leaves start gathering dust, I’m going to douse them in hot water and make day five of my tea experiment a minty one.

However, as is the case with chamomile tea, I always associate mint tea with being ill as a kid. It’s fine once in a while, but the hot version doesn’t exactly blow me away. Even if it’s not the time of year for it, I prefer using chilled mint tea to make iced tea.

Once I throw in a couple of ice cubes, add a squeeze of lemon and some honey, it’s really tasty. Mind you, the drink doesn’t really mesh well with the view of my wintry garden. [[product:6516160,15757357,15757005]]

Unfortunately, not all of our European shops stock these products.

Day 6: chamomile’s my favourite alternative to water

Day 7: rounding things off with rooibos – a novelty for me

I overlooked rooibos tea for a long time, simply because it was unfamiliar to me. I’ve since brushed up on my rooibos knowledge. It’s made from the leaves of the Aspalathus linearis plant, which grows exclusively in the Cederberg Mountains of South Africa.

Verdict: I’ll be upping my tea consumption, but it won’t replace water in the long run

Header image: Mery Ochoa/Digital Life

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Science editor and biologist. I love animals and am fascinated by plants, their abilities and everything you can do with them. That's why my favourite place is always the outdoors - somewhere in nature, preferably in my wild garden.


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