College Students! aka the Procrastination Thread
Who here is a college student? (Me!) How, when, and how often do you normally drink tea? While studying? To stay up at night during an all-nighter? As a reward? To relax? Lots during finals, or none at all?
I drink a TON of tea during finals, though, at that point I’m so stressed for time that I generally don’t make high quality tea. It’s a reward as well, I’ll have a cup of tea as an in-between lunch and dinner snack, cause I’m usually too cheap to purchase real food. ;) I’d say I normally drink tea about three times a day—once with breakfast, once with snack, and once with dinner or in the evening, depending. But as far as finals goes, I might take a cup of tea five or more times during the day, to keep my morale high. Nothing like blasting through gender studies projects and painting homework with a warm mug by your side. :)
my minor is gender studies, I’m majoring in painting. But I’m still writing the papers and I have a thesis at some point later on—which means incredible amounts of tea shall be made. Oolong is my ‘paper-writing’ tea. :)
“Nothing like blasting through projects and homework with a warm mug by your side.”
Yesss. Staying up late is when I need food that makes me happy, and since chocolate isn’t so good calorie-wise, tea wins that one.
i agree. Tea has saved my grades, lol. Especially a good chai—that usually equals an A for a project.
Try Mighty Leaf Chocolate Chip Truffle tea… tea + chocolate:) And yes, tea is definitely the only reason I can study and write papers.
Also, you might try Chocolate Black Forest, from Tea Vitale. It’s great.
yum—both of those teas sounds really good. I have GOT to get some money so I can buy some tea. :)
Haha that’s another downside to being a college student—no extra $$ for tea!
Yup, I’m currently “studying” for two finals tomorrow. The water is a-boiling!!
I find that during finals (now!), I hardly drink any tea at all. I get so stressed out that I make myself believe that I don’t even have 5 minutes to spare to boil water and steep some leaves. It’s ridiculous, I know.
Take the 5 minutes – it’s totally worth the de-stressing, not to mention the caffeine – haha
agreed—you’ll be chilled out from the tea. It’ll help you concentrate. :) Best of luck!
That’s when you find true purpose for high quality sachet teas that don’t require fussy temps! And a roo mug so you have somewhere to put the bag between steeps is always nice. Matcha is supper convenient too- no steep time:)
Yeah tea and studying totally go hand in hand. I generally don’t do both at the same time more like I use it as a reward. I probably drink tea 2 or 3 times a day. My favorite is getting a large cup of tea from my schools student center for 85 cents on the way to class/work.
nice, that’s pretty cheap, considering! They charge me a buck fifty for mine—so I usually bring a mug, ask for free water and drop in a tea bag from home, for the sake of travel. sniff I miss loose leaf….
Yeah traveling does cause you to make tea sacrifices, but I think that makes the good stuff all that much better when you finally have time to enjoy it.
agreed. In fact, tonight I’m gonna take some time for myself and make some loose leaf tea. I’m just hung up on what kind—not sure what to make, because I have a lot of loose leaf…
so true. I know my roommates are angry at me though because I clog up our cupboards in our apartment with my tea. I think maybe 1/3 of the cupboards in the apt. are my tea. Ha ha…
Haha – yeah I have a whole tea cabinet at my house and at my apartment it’s stacked in my cabinets and room, but it’s totally necessary.
@Caitlin Agreed, completely necessary.
At one of my apartments, I’ve got the classic large chest of tea, plus a cupboard for all my teaware.
At my college apartment, I have a dresser drawer in which I store my tea. Teaware is stored on a shelf made out of the frame from a computer tower. Hehe.
nice, your setup sounds a little bit more systematic than mine—I still find boxes of tea all over the apartment.
It was created out of paranoia, as I used to have it all stacked on open shelves and became afraid that one day the fire sprinklers might go off and ruin all my tea.
Haha – I was always paranoid about that in my dorm room last year.
Tea is perfect for late-night programming sessions. I’ve actually taken my electric kettle and loose leaf tea and infuser basket to the computer lab with me when I know I’m going to be there until 3 or 4 in the morning.
There’s a local tea house & art gallery at which I write papers, with a pot of tea by my side. Low-distraction environment, good quality tea, and infinite hot water refills. Well worth it.
nice! I’m so jealous. I wish I could drag my kettle into the art studio—but they’d kick me out, what with all the really hazardous chemicals…
Well, I have to keep it off to the side, away from the banks of computers. And, recently, with all of the security cameras being installed, I’ve had to set up on a table away from the computers. The crack-down on not having food or drink in the lab is really hurting my tea-drinking!
aww that’s no fun—don’t they know tea is a fabulous concentration enchancer?
Oh, and I’m glad that you’re paper-writing tea is oolong as well. :) That stuff is the best for when you’re slaving over a glowing computer screen—brewed well, that is.
Heh, they’re more worried, and rightly so, about computers getting ruined by tea.
Hmmm, last paper I wrote was actually a statistics study…managed to knock out a ten page paper/study in three hours, thanks to about six small pots of Tung Ting Oolong. It’s quite a good tea. Very dark, for an oolong.
I don’t think I’ve ever had Tung Ting Oolong—I’ll have to keep my eyes open for it. I like dark teas, and I like oolongs, so I’d probably enjoy it.
It almost has notes of cocoa in it, and it’s definitely a strong tea.
ooo yum. I’m gonna have to look into that—some of my favorite flavors!
I found that caffeine (at least in tea—and I’ve even tried coffee) fails to ACTUALLY keep me awake. It’s not a developed immunity, I’m sure, and I haven’t tried energy drinks, but I can’t drink tea to keep awake. However, I still drink it during late-night homework sessions (especially all-nighters). Having something hot to sip on is relaxing, and being relaxed helps me concentrate.
so true. It’s really good for concentration. What’s your favorite ‘studying’ tea?
Hmm. I don’t think I have one. Sometimes something strong/bold, just so I FEEL like it’s helping keep me awake. But I’ll just as easily choose something light, or sweet.
Caffeine also has little to no effect on me, at least not from soda or tea since I don’t like coffee. I find that spicy teas do the trick. It’s kinda like having a little poke every few minutes or so. The only thing is they can smell kinda strong so I go with a good breakfast tea when my roommate is sleeping.
So, after stopping by a cafe on campus today and paying $1.45 for a cup, hot water, and a crummy tea bag, I decided I need to make a change to drink better tea more regularly and save my wallet.
So here is my question to you…how could I transport a small amount of loose leaf tea (or a couple teas) around safely, without the risk of them getting damaged in, say, a backpack?
I’m thinking if I have my own tea with me, not only is it better tea, but buying a cup + hot water should be really cheap.
What about packing your own teabags with those t-sac things, and then putting them in ziplock baggies? Or a little tupperware container?
yeah I agree & I would add put the tea in a smaller pocket in your backpack so the ziplock doesn’t get all torn up
Good ideas. I think I might try to find some small tupperware container, since I’m worried about the delicate leaves getting crushed up in ziplock bags. This is especially a problem if I’m going to brew the tea granpa-style (throw leaves into the cup and pour water over them, no infuser/strainer). Larger leaves = fewer leaves that go in your mouth.
I don’t usually carry loose leaf around with me regularly but if I’m taking some with me to sip on in the computer lab I’ll use a plastic baggie or even just throw the leaves in my mug and fill up when I get there (they have a water dispenser that gives hot water). Especially if it’s a quality tea, I can get 3-4 mugfuls in a night. Also, I haven’t had trouble with getting leaves in my mouth, I find that they pretty much sink and stay sunk. Though a tea ball might work well if it’s a problem.
coral, that’s a really good idea. I’m gonna go scope out all the hot water dispensers on campus so I can navigate long evenings in the studios. :)
Little tupperwares or tiny tins are good ideas as well. Maybe next year I can actually enjoy quality teas as well when I’m on the go—cause I generally compromise with icky tea bags—boo.
I actually own quite a few tiny little tins that I use for my Travel Teas or samples. You can get them from a variety of places. I then just keep the tins, and a few bagged teas in a fabric bag. It used to hold a travel bath set, I believe.
Nice. Sounds like a good excuse to purchase sample teas then :)
In regards to AJ’s suggestion, Adagio’s sample tins would be the perfect size for a backpack or even a pocket.
Also, try buying a little tin of mints at a drugstore and then emptying that out.
Also, buying a reusable cup with a brewing basket could make things very simple. Something like this:
http://www.premiumsteap.com/p-27-on-the-go-tea-maker.aspx
You will only need hot water for future infusions (the first one you can bring with you since the cup stays hot).
I like the little flat container of specialty bottle, like the third one on this page:
http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=55
It’s screw top, small and secure, convenient for purse or pocket. I use the forth one (on the right) too to store small amount of tea in office. It’s also screw-topped, very secured. The shipping cost is steep though so it may work out the best if a few local friends buy together.
Those look really good. I just got an idea of using these plus some magnets to attached them to a piece of metal furniture at the office.
Good idea! Where do you buy magnets?
You know, I am honestly not sure. You could order them off the internet, or you could possibly find them at a science/education supply store, if you have one locally. Some place like Nasco, for instance.
You can frequently find the rolls of magnetic tape (not sure that would be strong enough though) at teacher supply stores.
Truly, I would think teaching supply stores should have magnets like this too: http://www.findingking.com/p-19400-round-magnets-34-25pcs.aspx?ref=base
Ginko, those are nice specialty containers—you guys are giving me so many ideas on how to transport better tea around with me! :)
Spencer, you’re right. I believe I have seen the round magnets at the teacher supply store also.
I’ve learned ubber amounts of tea during studying is good- ubber amounts just before a final… not so good. And tea for a reward (for studying, upon completion of exams/projects, and upon recieving good grades)!
Cofftea – I know what you mean! I bolted down some black tea at a cafe this morning right before I took 2 finals, back to back. I was a shaky jittery mess to begin with, and then the added caffeine made me a total wreck. Yikes!
That and you spend half of your given time in the bathroom lol! I really should just get a foley inserted for as much tea as I drink LOL!
ha, so true. I was halfway through my final critique of elements of design class and I swear I was doing the dance so hard that my professor was giving me the weirdest look ever…lol.
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