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Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Beverages: Tea

The older I get, the more I enjoy beverages. I think it's because 1) beverages are good fillers for on-the-go lifestyles and 2) old people get dehydrated all the time.

There's this tea house that's been in Houston's Montrose area for a while, and I kept wanting to check it out but never got a chance, until recently. It's called House of Te (with an accent over the e in Te) or something like that. Me and my boyfriend Tad went there the other day, in the midst of our xmas shopping. Not only did they have eight jillion kinds of tea on the menu, but they had food, too. And tango nights on Fridays.

But all we wanted was tea. So we stood and stared at the white-boarded menu for a while. Tad loves Earl Grey, so he tried Earl Grey with Lavender. I normally like green tea, but they had an oolong called Iron Goddess of Mercy, and how could I resist that?

We flouted conventions by requesting big glasses of ice with our tea pots. (I don't know why British and Asian people don't drink iced tea more often.) I was a little bit sad when I saw that this tea place didn't have Splenda. But then I was happy when I saw that they offered liquid stevia, instead. In four different flavors! With powdered Stevia Plus on the side!

We're gonna go back again and try the food. For this time, though, it was nice to just sit there drinking our iced teas and looking out the window at the balmy December Houston weather.

Beverages: Wine

Later that night, we went to a party, to which Cathy brought the only red wine I've ever loved in my life. (Not counting brachetta or Manischweitz.) (I spelled both of those wrong.)

She brought Red Diamond merlot, and it was pretty awesome. To me, at any rate. Your mileage will probably vary. But if, like Cathy and me, you like Reislings and other sweet stuff, you might very well like Red Diamond, even though it's not really sweet.

In white wine (very local) news, I'm laying off on the moscato di asti because it's starting to taste like Sprite. Which means, it seems, that my palate is maturing. Yay! Nyarly turned me on to Two Faux Frogs chardonnay, and I bought Goats Do Roam on Mike's recommendation, but haven't had time to try it yet. Probably because I've finished all my recent writing deadlines and therefore haven't yet needed it. Ha, just kidding. Okay, no, I'm not.

Here's a fun wine game that I'm sure some of you already play. One person should smell and taste the wine, then guess what flavors it's supposed to contain. The other person should hold the bottle and check the label to see if you're right. I'm pretty good at this game. Behold a recent episode of it, done on a chardonnay that someone abandoned at my house:

Me: [Sniff, sniff. Slurp.] Uh... Pineapple, butter, and gasoline!
Tad: [Reading label.] "Apricot, butterscotch, and smoke." That's good, baby! You guessed it.

Beverages: Other

The other thing I like to drink lately is Swiss Miss No Sugar Added Hot Chocolate with copious amounts of cinnamon. Because that's the best sugar-free thing my office has to offer. And, remember, cinnamon is good for your insulin levels.

And, as long-time readers may remember, we were going to try power smoothies with whole avocados dumped into the blender. And we did. And they're good. Yay!

That's all for now. Feel free to share your recently discovered awesome beverages in the comments.

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11:17 AM #

Comments:

 This is recent as of the last year or so -- I love Pimm's. You just pour a little in some ginger ale and it's sooooo thirst-quenching.

Is cinnamon really good for your insulin levels? That's awesome!


# posted by Blogger Lisa : 12:58 PM  

 I am not a tea drinker (which makes me a real freak in England), but I love it when a restaurant will bring me a big, glass pot stuffed full of fresh mint leaves and boiling water. I can drink that all damn day.

I also don't go for coffee, but I love Ristretto Roasters coffee. My friend Nancy's husband, Din, roasts it in very small batches his own self. I've turned many friends into Ristretto addicts, which should get me into heaven for services to beverage sciences.

I get thirsty in the middle of the night (which I swear I never used to do until a few months ago), so we keep a huge pitcher of Crystal Light next to the bed. I don't normally like raspberry flavoured stuff, but the raspberry lemonade variety of Crystal Light is good.

--Jackie D (using my guy's Blogger login)


# posted by Blogger Antoine Clarke : 1:02 PM  

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# posted by Blogger Antoine Clarke : 1:02 PM  

 NB Re Pimms - mix it with 7UP and add tons of apple slices, cucumber slices, fresh mint, and lemon. You will have a drinkgasm, I swear.


# posted by Blogger Antoine Clarke : 1:03 PM  

 Jackie D, I swear I read somewhere that getting thirsty in the middle of the night is a symptom of something.

Sorry, I'll take off my hypochondriac hat now.

I've recently fallen in love again with the chemical taste of Diet Coke. I'm sure it's draining all the calcium out of my body even as I type this.


# posted by Blogger Nyarly : 4:05 PM  

 My trainer told me that the thirstiness was probably just a reaction to increased activity levels (it started when I started seeing her three hours a week). It hasn't been as bad since I've been slacking lately. Thanks for the tip, though - I may allow myself to dwell on that if life gets to peaceful this week!

--Jackie D


# posted by Blogger Antoine Clarke : 5:04 PM  

 I remembered what it's a symptom for. It can be a symptom of diabetes (file under "excessive thirst").

It sounds like in your case, though, it's a symptom of working out. :)


# posted by Blogger Nyarly : 6:24 PM  

 Gwen,

One of my favorite wine moments was when I was in Napa Valley, one of the servers asked what we tasted in the particular glass of wine she had just poured. My friend from Alabama (who has possibly the thickest drawl I've ever heard) responded with a straight face, "Hints of a turkey sandwich. With gravy."


# posted by Blogger Jeffytown, USA : 11:09 PM  

 Drinks, one of my favorite topics, as I am always the girl at the table in the restaurant with like four beverages in front of her. Yeah, it's a little weird, I know.

Anyway...Old staples:

I LOVE V8 juice, love it. I try not to drink it more than three times a week because it is a little higher in sodium than I like

Cranberry and soda water. More soda than cranberry if it's at a restaurant, because their cranberry has way too much sugar.

Soda Water with lime, or if I'm being wild I'll add a little rum and mint to that and turn it into a mojito! My favorite cocktail.

New things:

Bubble tea from China town, Lychee with pearls or pineapple with lychee jellies. Love it.

Green tea with jasmine, or any green tea. I'm on a kick lately.

And a wine my Boyfriend introduced me to, close to a Riesling I think, called Two Towers. I believe it's German and I love it. It's sweet, but not to sweet.


# posted by Blogger lisal : 9:44 AM  

 Man, you're going to be happy with Goats Do Roam. Very drinkable, no headachy, highly affordable.

Also, when you up your activity level you go through water like a maniac. I probably drink about 4 liters a day, which is 1/10th of my gas tank on my car.

That might not sound like much, but you have to remember gas tanks are really big.


# posted by Blogger Mike : 4:12 PM  

 You'll probably enjoy this blog:

www.knowledgeforthirst.com


# posted by Blogger Lisa : 6:00 PM  

 Since I moved to Peru, I've found several new drinks. First of all, Inca Kola - yum, soda with the flavor of lemon verbena, tastes like cream soda, sort of. Also, lemon verbena infusions are very popular and delicious. Lots of herbal infusions, actually. Finally, I've finally learned to love chicha morada, a drink made from purple corn, boiled with cinnamon, cloves and a bit of apple and pineapple thrown in. It's really delicious.


# posted by Blogger Spudbutt : 11:35 PM  

 Hi Gwen,

I didn't know that about cinnamon? A friend told me that lemond juice from a fresh lemonds will lower insulin levels.

My mother-in-law boils cinnamon sticks and calls it mexican tea, and for some reason I have been craving it lately.

When I or my daughter have a cold I'll mix orange juice with seven-up, it makes the O.J. taste smoother and we can get it down our sore throats easier.

My daughter makes smoothies with my smoothy blender with just squeezed blood oranges, grape fruits, lemonds, with lots of ice and sugar.

Janice~


# posted by Blogger Janice : 2:25 AM  

 Lisa: I didn't know what Pimm's was, so I googled it. And now I want to try it. It sounds awesome.

And I read about the cinnamon thing on some medical web site. So, you know, take it with a grain of salt. Not literally.

Jackie: They're starting to sell bottled mint water here, and I think that's nice. I made some at home, but need to by a better strainer before I try that again. Do they strain yours like tea?

The fruited Pimm's sounds like English sangria. Actually, it sounds very sexy. I'm totally going to try it.

Jeffytown: Funny. I love your friend vicariously.

Lisal: You rock. Re: the lime/soda: My bf taught my kids to do that, but with sugar added. They sell it like that at the Vietnamese restaurants here.

Y'all already know that me and my kids are obsessed with bubble tea. Our bubble tea place has green tea flavored with jasmine, with rose, or a couple of other kinds of flowers that of course I can't remember now. They taste like I imagine those little bath beads we used to give moms for xmas taste. In a good way.

Two Towers: It's on my list.

Spudbutt: Oh my gosh. You just blew my mind. Central Market here carried Inca Cola, but I've never even heard of chicha morada. Dude.

Janice: I've never tried the Mexican tea thing. I'm gonna do it.

Anybody here ever had that party punch that Southerners make with juice, Sprite, and rainbow sherbet?


# posted by Blogger Gwen : 9:00 AM  

 Gwen...I sometimes read things and then remember them wrong.

The wine is called BLACK TOWER, not Two Towers, I checked last night because it sounded too much like a Lord of the Rings movie to me when I re-read it.


# posted by Blogger lisal : 9:48 AM  

 Gwen, the mint leaves are whole, and so tend to stay in the teapot when I pour it out. (At home, I make mint-flavoured green tea or peppermint tea by Jackson's of Piccadilly, both of which are great. My therapist tonight was really pushing me to start drinking more hot tea, as he said the comfort it can bring is surprisingly high. My guy - who goes through about two cups of tea an hour - is all, "Told you so.")

Also, I've had that punch, and it always makes my throat feel scratchy. (Did your parents every buy that really, really cheap orange drink or lemon drink that came in milk-like gallon jugs? Mine did, and I hated it, because it always made my throat feel scratchy. Never did understand it, though.)

--Jackie D


# posted by Blogger Antoine Clarke : 9:18 PM  

 I had that southern drink at my wedding! it was 7-up and serbert ice cream, and I didn't know it was southern? Oh well my family is from the south so that figures!

Janice~


# posted by Blogger Janice : 11:06 PM  

 This tea spot sounds great! I will definitely go check it out! I love that they offer so many varieties of teas and healthier options to sweeten it as well, stevia is great! Thanks for sharing!


# posted by Blogger eve : 5:40 PM  

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