Black tea and hangovers -- yep, another alcohol thread

In My Humble Opinion
1

Probably because there are a number of threads about alcohol currently, I’ve remembered to ask something I’ve wondered about. I could have put this in GQ, but I really wasn’t sure, since I think the answers may be subjective. At the same time, I am hoping to learn a fact or two in the process.

I haven’t done this in a long while, but when I used to drink more I often had too much and had to deal with the usual aftereffects the next day. But one thing I noticed was that nothing worked like hot black tea to soothe a hangover. Not only did the caffeine help me to feel more alert, but also there was some herbal, almost medicinal, quality in the tea that really seemed to work wonders, making both the headache and nausea less intense. Coffee wasn’t nearly as helpful.

FTR I usually drank wine, whiskey, or martinis, but virtually never beer. I still do, but have a better sense now of when to say when.

Has anyone else noticed this about tea? If so, I wonder if they couldn’t put it into a capsule, because I think it’d be better than any existing hangover preventative or remedy out there.

2

I had a girlfriend who used to give me tea when I was hung over.
Personally, I don’t get anywhere near caffeine when I have a hangover these days. If you’re going to wake up dehydrated, there doesn’t seem to be much sense in making that part of it worse.

Pedialyte is the closest thing to a miracle cure I’ve ever discovered. That, and naproxen sodium (Aleve).

3

That makes sense. Anything that rehydrates you will work.

4

I hit up club soda…the real thing, with sodium bicarbonate–not just “sparkling water”–and Advil.

With a mild hangover this works wonders. It also helps with moderate hangovers.

A truly wicked hangover’s only remedy is time and sleep.

The next time I get one of the latter, though, I may try your black tea remedy. Any port in a storm!

5

We use green tea. Same idea, though. A number of doctors my wife works with also sing the praises of milk thistle taken before you do the drinking.