# Help me choose a beverage **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181 "2003-03-10T00:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/21 "2003-03-10T16:26:46Z")
Another vote for rooiboos, the first one I tried was vanilla (from a vanilla tree, not a flavouring) and was delicious. The regular kind does taste quite a bit like mud but I really like it! Also I can recommend Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice flavour: it’s herbal, but neither fruity (which I really don’t like) nor herby (like peppermint or chamomile), it’s more like a Chai but much nicer, sort of a nutmeg/cardamom/cinnamon spicy thing. And with a splash of milk it’s spectacular. No one has said Chai yet … does it have caffeine? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/22 "2003-03-10T16:55:54Z")
I have decaf chai, but again that’s not what the OP is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![GrinnaGirla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@GrinnaGirla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrinnaGirla)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/23 "2003-03-10T18:18:06Z")
Kanicbird, even if you don’t like the rooiboos tea very much, you can throw away the leaves, and save the tin. They are quite nice for storing other things. ---
**Author:** ![noddygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@noddygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noddygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/24 "2003-03-10T22:40:19Z")
I have here a box of powdered mix for something called Salep, “traditional Turkish hot drink.” It is fairly sweet and cinnamon-y, and I believe it fits all your requirements save for the fact that it likely contains a few calories…not enough to ruin your diet, though, unless you drank massive quantities every single day. Google turned up this informative little page: [http://www.atamanhotel.com/kitchen/salep.html](http://www.atamanhotel.com/kitchen/salep.html) ---
**Author:** ![noddygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@noddygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noddygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/25 "2003-03-10T22:40:19Z")
I have here a box of powdered mix for something called Salep, “traditional Turkish hot drink.” It is fairly sweet and cinnamon-y, and I believe it fits all your requirements save for the fact that it likely contains a few calories…not enough to ruin your diet, though, unless you drank massive quantities every single day. Google turned up this informative little page: [http://www.atamanhotel.com/kitchen/salep.html](http://www.atamanhotel.com/kitchen/salep.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/26 "2003-03-11T03:55:42Z")
Where can you get that stuff, **noddygrrl**? It sounds good. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/27 "2003-03-13T01:28:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Kanicbird, even if you don’t like the rooiboos tea very much, you can throw away the leaves, and save the tin. They are quite nice for storing other things. Funny, I just got the rooiboos and though to myself even if I don’t like it at least the tin looks useful. I am drinkig a cup now, sort of tastes like a combo of tea and twigs. It’s not all that bad though, I think I can get into the flavor. **noddygrrl** , an option but I would rather exhaust all no cal options before trying a low cal one. ---
**Author:** ![GrinnaGirla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@GrinnaGirla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrinnaGirla)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/28 "2003-03-13T01:40:22Z")
Wow, you got the rooiboos already? It’s definitely an unusual, but not bad, flavor. If you like tea at all, and have never tried loose tea, I highly recommend trying them. You’ll never drink pre bagged stuff again, unless you have no other choice. Again, Adagio has some good ones. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/29 "2003-03-13T13:03:32Z")
I ordered it on Sunday night, got delivery notification on Mon. and had the tea in my hands on Wed. Very fast, and I chose the standard elcheapo delivery. I have tryed loose teas and find them enjoyable but also actually like that prebagged stuff too. I havn’t vertured too far into the world of loose teas, Recently I have only tryed 3 loose teas, white, green and a blend of blacks (I don’t know the type (name) of tea). The flavor of the loose teas are nice but one thing I have found (with my limited experence) is that loose green and white have a (for lack of a better term) seaweed flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Felonious\_Mink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Felonious\_Mink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Felonious_Mink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/30 "2003-03-13T13:09:12Z")
Hot water and lemon juice does it for me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/31 "2003-03-13T20:13:42Z")
White tea has only an infinitesimal amount of caffiene. It’s at the least-oxidized end of the white-green-black tea spectrum. It does not have a robust flavor–subtle is an understatement. But it has a very refreshing grassy character. In a [recent study](http://www.scienceblog.com/community/article1198.html), they saw a marked reduction in intestinal cancer when they fed mice the equivalent of 3 cups of white or green tea a day for a human. Therefore, we should all be drinking 3 cups of tea a day. It’s science! (;)) You can get white tea from specialty tea shops (like [The Tea Source](http://www.teasource.com) or **GrinnaGirla’s** site.) and I’ve also seen Republic of Tea bagged whites at my hippy-friendly grocery store, including some fruit-flavored blends, which I haven’t tried. Right this very moment, I’m drinking China White Spring Blossom. I also have some Silver Needles" which is also excellent. A cool thing about white is that you can reinfuse the same leaves several times. Each infusion has a slightly different flavor. The same is true of a good green, BTW. Just make sure that you DO NOT use boiling water in your oolong, green, or white tea, or it will be bitter. Ptui! Yuck! ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/32 "2003-03-13T20:18:17Z")
Argh, I missed your post carefully, or I’d have seen that you have already tried white tea. Sorry. I’m a bit overenthusiastic. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181/33 "2003-03-13T20:30:57Z")
Have you tried Postum, or other roasted grain-type things? [Ed Foods](http://www.edfoods.com/tea.html) has a pretty good version of it called Caf-Lib. I rather like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-choose-a-beverage/160181.md?page=1)