Can I Kick The Habit?!
So here’s the deal; I have been drinking coffee since I was about 3 (thanks grandma!!! Lol) and I have been drinking it every day for the past 5yrs. Now, I don’t care for “gourmet” coffee, but I do prefer “gourmet” espresso! And espresso is what I have been having for the past 5yrs nonstop with the occasional “coffee” here and there. Anyways, no matter what I can’t seem to kick my morning espresso habit. I’ve tried having coffee instead of espresso and it just didn’t work out. I tried tea to replace my morning coffee once (this lasted 2 days) and it just wasn’t getting it for me, but I had a sweet chai of some sort and I think that’s the problem. I want/need something that is bold and smooth with a bit of nutty/caramel/vanilla goodness in there (maybe not all of those flavors, but that’s the “taste” I’m going for).
Now, Teavana is the most accessible tea store by me (it’s in walking distance, yay!) and I was thinking about getting their MateVana AND their Hazelnut Dolce Rooibos tea. That way I could have the MateVana by itself and if I wanted to add a little extra flavor to it then I can add in the Hazelnut Dolce Rooibos. What do you guys think? I HAVE to have something like a Mate so I can have my morning “pick me up” still and to curb withdrawal symptoms.
I am open for other suggestions as well. Thanks!
I would SERIOUSLY suggest checking out teagarden.com. They have 5 teas in their coffee line: coffee oolong, espresso oolong, caramel latTEA, mocha latTEA, and chai latTEA. The only ones I haven’t tried are the espresso oolong and the chai latTEA… but the other ones are AMAZING!
I just remembered that ManTeas has a coffee rooibos as well Tea Guys having a Cafe Latte Black (which is amazing blended w/ their Maple Sugar black). I drink Mayan Chocolate Chai as a latte and it’s a great sub for an espresso latte. I’ve mixed it w/ coffee oolong, caramel latTEA, and mocha latTEA. All w/ AMAZING results. Coffee Pu Erh from David’s tea and Boulder Breakfast by The Tea Spot sound amazing as well! I bet the coffee pu erh would be great blended w/ Numi’s Chocolate Pu Erh (which is actually a great coffee alternative by itself).
A strong assam or something might work – it’s a strong, bold tea with a malty taste. Another option if you want to replicate the taste of coffee is to use ground chicory root – although this is caffeine free so if you want the hit it’ll have to be blended with something. I think Celestial Seasonings makes a mix called ‘Morning Thunder’.
Ok, so I ended up getting Teavana’s My Morning Mate and nothing else to blend with it. I figured I would try it by itself first and if it seems to need that extra oomph I’ll probably use a rooibos I have at home on hand already. But I also did get a blend of their White Ayurvedic Chai & Samurai Chai Mate. Now I have had the White Ayurvedic Chai by itself and did not like it at all, but they had this sample at the store and even though I have tried the sample before a long time ago I REALLY liked it this time…alot! So I guess my pallete is just ever changing or possibly maturing? Either way I’m exited to go home and try my new teas out. I hope My Morning Mate will work as a coffee replacement, it smelled lovely.
I’ll be looking forward to hearing an update! I have broken up with coffee many times in my life, but I alllllllllllways go back ;) Most days, I enjoy two cups of coffee at home in the morning, then move on to tea for the rest of the day.
I’m the same way JacqulineM- 1 cup most days and then an occasional SBUX (I wish they had a better chai though and didn’t get rid of their ginger green though!). There is nothing wrong w/ coffee (and even customized specialty drinks sparingly) and I don’t like how some hard core tea drinkers talk bad about coffee and coffee drinkers. But then again people can be the same toward coffee drinkers… Several times I’ve had people comment (not positively) about tea that tastes similar to other beverages (like coffee).
My sister loves this tea. Hpwever… we don’t think it tastes like coffee. Our description: Smells like coffee, tastes like Christmas. We don’t have ANY idea what flavors make it taste like Christmas, but it simply does.
Anyway, it is tastey, but it doesn’t particularly TASTE like coffee.
my favorite morning tea:) i also am a strabucks junkie but with no desire to give it up
Duh- here’s an older thread I started that may help
http://steepster.com/discuss/358-coffee-replacements
You’d think since I started it, I woulda though of it right away lol.
Another good choice is Mate Factor’s Dark Roast. It contains Roasted Chicory (which has a very similar flavor to coffee) as well as green and roasted Mate.
I have a plentiful supply of this if you’d like to try some, Jessica, simply shoot me a PM and I’ll send you a sampling of it.
UPDATE
Ok, so Sunday I didn’t have any espresso or coffee all day! I had My Morning Mate when I woke up and had it with a teaspoon of sugar…initial thought was, “Hmm this doesn’t taste like coffee at all (which if what I figured). Hmmm this is very watery and not very bold. Hmmmm.” So I still downed it with confusion on what I should/need to do to fix this issue of it not tasting, nor feeling like coffee. The taste is sweet, chocolately, and a spiced orange peel taste to it, not bad, but not great IMO either. Sunday afternoon I started to feel a bit of a headache so I made me some more, but this time I added 1/2tsp MORE tea to see if I would get a bolder flavor AND I also added a generous splash of milk (ok maybe it was more like a pour of milk 4T maybe?!). Now this was much better! I think the milk balanced it out and gave it that creamy “thick” taste I associate with coffee. Monday morning (today) I haven’t had any morning espresso before work or at work; I instead brewed My Morning Mate instead and made it the same as I did Sunday night and it seems to have done the trick. I haven’t had my normal withdrawal symptoms, but I don’t have the instant “I’m awake” jolt in the morning like I had when I had a double shot of espresso, but so long as I don’t have horrible headaches and feel as if I have been ran over by an 18-wheeler I suppose I shouldn’t complain. My Morning Mate is getting the job done and weaning me off of my morning espresso. I think I may try Milk Caramel hojicha in a few days as my morning “wake up” drink. It so far has reminded me the most of coffee and has that nice roasty bite to it! I will still update my progress the further into this I go…
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