Things I've learned about tea
1) You can decaffeinate it yourself. Just pour the boiling water over it as usual, wait 30 to 45 seconds, and dump out the resulting brew, but keep the leaves/teabag. This will remove some 80% of the caffeine, which ought to be enough to let you fall asleep. Then pour fresh boiling water over the same tea leaves/bag, and brew as usual. Ta-da--decaffeinated tea. Apparently you also get more polyphenol health benefits that way than if you simply buy decaf tea.
2) Here's one Americans don't always learn: really, only brew the tea for a few minutes. 3 to 5 minutes for black tea, 1 to 3 for green, no more than 2 for white. It becomes bitter and harsh after that. I didn't know this for years, and when I went to Scotland in '96, the locals looked at me in incredulity when I left my teabag in the mug for endless minutes. "How can ye drink it like tha'? It's like tar!" They're right, as it turns out.
3) I was going to add, "Don't drink tea with meals, as it can inhibit your iron absorption," but I lately found that the research is not at all conclusive on that one.
I need a tea icon. Hm. That is, assuming LJ is even here a month from now.
By the way, should you want to join in a grass-roots effort to buy LiveJournal out from under the noses of whoever the hell owns it now and is firing everyone, see ljuser_buyout. My brother-in-law kenshi started it up, so I can promise it's not a scam.
Should that fail, technically I do have a blog I can fall back upon. I hardly ever use it now, but I will if it comes to that.
2) Here's one Americans don't always learn: really, only brew the tea for a few minutes. 3 to 5 minutes for black tea, 1 to 3 for green, no more than 2 for white. It becomes bitter and harsh after that. I didn't know this for years, and when I went to Scotland in '96, the locals looked at me in incredulity when I left my teabag in the mug for endless minutes. "How can ye drink it like tha'? It's like tar!" They're right, as it turns out.
3) I was going to add, "Don't drink tea with meals, as it can inhibit your iron absorption," but I lately found that the research is not at all conclusive on that one.
I need a tea icon. Hm. That is, assuming LJ is even here a month from now.
By the way, should you want to join in a grass-roots effort to buy LiveJournal out from under the noses of whoever the hell owns it now and is firing everyone, see ljuser_buyout. My brother-in-law kenshi started it up, so I can promise it's not a scam.
Should that fail, technically I do have a blog I can fall back upon. I hardly ever use it now, but I will if it comes to that.