The Way: Tea

Today I am very thankful for tea. Coffee has not lost it’s place–just love that fructose detox it brings–but tea has firmly cemented itself into the routine as well. The real genesis of this summit push was making the tea that kills oral bacteria, oat straw, chamomile, and raspberry leaf are an excellent combo to start. Then adding cardamom, orange peel, stevia leaf, cinnamon, fennel, star anise, juniper, hibiscus and more…If you’ve been reading you know just why and how!

Now all that tea is decaf, great because caffeine with food is not wise for the nutrient loss–alas there is caffeine to be in the tea too. That comes in the form of both green tea and, maté having more caffeine than coffee, green tea a little less. All in all this allows me to regulate Linda’s activity level based on the caffeine as well as stimulate my own for various tasks.

I find a little tea really does get me up for tasks like I have to do now go see how my latest solution for pee stained clothes is working. This is the first time I’ve tried the full vinegar, oxy-clean, hot water which seems to be the trick. We’re a cleanup day (today) and a sanitation day (tomorrow) away before I’m even going to do a famous big Willie bird on the grill.

Tea is a saving grace though truly. I’m stoked to have found a really cool little market where I get goods from my favs Ortiz Farms and Triple T Ranch.  There’s an excellent, delicious tea seller–tea and trumpets–at the Santa Rosa farmers market at the Veterans building on Wednesday mornings until 1:00. The teas are mainly from India, which at this point I feel safer about than China with it’s nearly totally polluted ground, or Japan with the serious radiation threat. At $3 and 4/oz that’s really not bad for organic teas either. Drinking a jasmine green now that’s delicious.

What’s best about mixing coffee and tea too is you don’t need as much tea. The other decaf herbs make the base, then the green and maté gets added. The tradition of tea is a very worthy one to have as well. I’m now diligent about keeping water hot on the woodstove, two kettles, one for drinking one for washing water, at all times it’s the best on demand water heater I could ask for. Both on the stove overnight–adding some nice humidity to the house–keeping the water at perfect temp for tea, just under 200. Put it on the cook stove with a trivet for a sec to a boil, shut it off, and coffee water is right at 208 for the time it takes me to grind with the manual method.

There’s salient truth to the English tradition of not mixing coffee and tea in any vessel or cup–purest–but I am a total sinner. If there’s a little coffee and solids left at the end of the day I put it in the caffeine pot, which preserves it well, and makes the whole blend like a chicory tea, if I need a quick pick up first thing in the morn that tastes quite good, then I’ll throw it out and start over.

Also stoked to have found a couple old pots, no new China thank you. The brown kettle is an English Stafford, and the yellow is a beautiful Bauer, Los Angeles.