Tea anyone?

Ash9614 · February 2016

Hi ladies,

I've turned over a new leaf in 2016 and have been focused on getting healthy. That focus was intensified in mid January when a visit to the RE indicated PCOS. She started me on Letrozole but mentioned that losing as little as 10-15 lbs could be helpful. I'm down 14 lbs since the beginning of the year, and would like to lose another 6 by March. In addition to working out and eating well, I have been using hot tea to curb my appetite. I haven't been super picky, drinking a mix of chamomile, red raspberry leaf and green teas. Also one that "energizes" for weight loss (can't remember what type of tea leaf it is though). But, now that I have an actual chance of ovulating thanks to the Letrozole, I cut the red raspberry and energy tea. Any suggestions on teas to sip during O and TWW? I've read green tea is good, but also thought it had a lot of caffeine?

I want to enjoy my tea, but don't want to drink anything that's going to make my uterus contract or whatever (red raspberry does that). Share your faves with me!

BelcherEars · February 2016

Unfortunately I am not a big tea drinker, so I don't have anything to contribute on that front. However, I did want to congratulate you on your weight loss! That takes a lot of hard work. I hope your treatment with Letrozole goes well.

MrsDho11 · February 2016

Sorry, I'm not sure what you are asking for. Are you asking for general tea recommendations? Low/no caffeine recommendation? Or fertility recommendations?

If it's the last, all my Googling has lead me to understand that there is no real scientific evidence on tea and fertility. It isn't particularly well studied. You'll find people who recommend green tea during WTO or raspberry leaf to improve CM, but I've never found anything more than anecdotal evidence for them or any other tea.

MrsDho11 · February 2016

^^^^
that being said, if you're just looking for tea recommendations, I looooooovveeeee tea!

houseofsetters · February 2016

I loooove tea. I drink a cup every night for dessert to keep my sweet tooth at bay! I am hooked on rooibos blends right now, there's one at whole foods that's orange vanilla and tastes like a creamcicle. I'm obsessed.

Roobios is caffeine free. I avoid caffeine in general, and it's my go-to.

izza2 · February 2016

I love peppermint tea, personally. Not sure on the caffeine content, but.. it's refreshing.

PensiveCrayon · February 2016

I'm a huge tea fan! I've been drinking a lot of peppermint tea recently, in an effort to cut back on caffeine for TTC. I weaned myself down by combining gunpowder green with peppermint and gradually lowering the amount of gunpowder added. It gives the peppermint a lovely smoky flavor, and with milk and sugar it's the BOMB.

As for other teas I generally love, lapsang souchong is super distinct and tastes like a campfire, seriously. Panyang congou is my absolute favorite black tea and tastes almost like maple. Earl grey is a classic. Harney and Sons Paris is also lovely.

Okay, now you've just got me talking about tea, and I'm not sure that's what you wanted! Agreeing with @houseofsetters about the rooibos, though. It's a great caffeine-free option. My weakness is vanilla rooibos with milk and sugar. Yum!

bestnameever · February 2016

hello fellow tea lovers!
tea has been my savior after giving up coffee.
I am obsessed with all fortnum and mason tea out of London. Williams Sonoma has started carrying its loose leaf tea in the states and I am in love. I like traditional tea since the flavored teas never seem to be strong enough for me. Green tea has really helped me with CM. I was running dry until I introduced a cup of green tea to my day.

My question for you guys- do you add milk to your tea?

khbear117 · February 2016

@PensiveCrayon My husband likes lapsang souchong because it "tastes manly." I think tall are crazy, I don't like drinking campfires!

I have always been a huge tea drinker! I'm trying to decrease my coffee intake and get back to drinking more tea. Green tea is not really that high in caffeine, and if you're already drinking a lot of caffeine, I think it is an excellent place to start with lowering your intake. I love the nuttier greens, like gunpowder and genmaicha.

Roibos tea is naturally caffeine free, as is mate. I think what blends you pick has a lot to do with personal taste. I enjoy nutty/earthy/vanilla flavored, so I like these the best. There's tons of floral and fruity tea out there! I particularly like jasmine teas.

MonaLisaRalphio · February 2016

I love chamomile tea at night and lemon ginger tea during the day. Lemon ginger is great for curbing appetite. It works almost as well as coffee, without the caffeine. I also love the Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer - it's minty and refreshing!

Edit @bestnameever milk in tea is a sin and a travesty. Honey and lemon or go home.

atcwag · February 2016

I drink tons of tea! I'm not a huge fan of "fruity" teas, but drink a lot of general types: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, etc. I really like "Awake" from Tazo. I sometimes have some peppermint tea if I need something sweet.
We have a Keurig and I have lots of tea K cups. We also have the refillable cup, so you can fill it with any loose tea.

PensiveCrayon · February 2016

@khbear117 Yes! Genmaicha! I forgot about that one!
@lcsrva Do we need to get into an all-out forum smackdown over milk in tea?

I have a tea called Clipper, a standard black that is way too strong if drunk on its own. It's a little morning treat to drink with milk and sugar.

Also, DH and I lived in India for a year, so chai is also huge in our house. He'll make it after church as a little treat some weeks. Then we'll have a "caffeine nap."

FiancB · February 2016

I've been trying to drink less coffee, more tea as well. I was under the impression that raspberry leaf is especially good to drink so I've been downing that like a champ. Overall, black and especially green teas are good. One reason to give up coffee is its acidity, and apparently white teas are more acidic than other ones. Unfortunately, green tea is one of those few things that I just cannot develop a taste for.

Making Babies has some recommendations on specific recipes for each type. I'll look it up later. I think one for my type was black tea with some raspberry and fresh ginger. But overall I don't think you can really go wrong. Ginger can be an abortificant, but only in pretty high quantities. Tea is fine and is frequently recommended for morning sickness.

I really like Teavanna but it's so expensive. Any recommendations for similar but not $$$?

beforeyou · February 2016

@FiancB Sorry, slight change of subject: I never knew why people cut out coffee. I assumed it was caffeine related. But its because of acidity? So does that go for acidic foods as well? I love all things citrus and tomatoes.

MonaLisaRalphio · February 2016

@PensiveCrayon haha no I think we can be perfectly civil. You are entitled to your wrong opinion

Hayrock · February 2016

I'm going to have to join the tea with milk team. While I was in Prague my roommates was Irish and he always fixed my tea with milk. I loved it and now my mom drinks it that way and I've taught my nieces how it is amazing.

I am am also loving this conversation. I was wanting to cut back on coffee and so I just switched my second cup to decaf but I think all this tea sounds splendid.

@PensiveCrayon where do you get that Clipper tea?

[Deleted User] · February 2016

I was a black coffee girl, and now am mostly a plain tea girl, or maybe lemon if my chest is tight and/or honey if my throat is sore. DH drinks his coffee with milk because he doesn't have much appetite first thing, so the milk kind of sits better in his tummy rather than that empty-tummy, gut-rot feeling. He also generally goes for black teas with milk and/or without some sweetener over the herbals. So I have taken to a nice black tea with milk and lots of agave as a real desserty treat now and again.

That said, my go-tos now that we are TTC are definitely the red-raspberry leaf, but also the Fertilitea Blend during FP. It has peppermint in it that makes it quite tasty, so I'm grabbing more plain peppermint, as well as a ginger-type. Ginger is supposed to be good for TTC because it warms the belly/ute. Peppermint is supposed to stimulate arousal. I also like all kinds of spicy chai-types, which can also be a treat with sweetner and/or milk. But all the rest of them I just drink as is.

Now, I also like to mention, I read some craziness about harmful tea sachets and also teas that have been grown with pesticides then having high levels of pesticides in the tea itself after processing. I read some recommendations on brands that were better for that, which you can find online too, but I think Traditional Medicinals is supposed to be a good brand as far as all that goes, and Numi. So I try to do my homework on some of that stuff before buying just any teabag nowadays.

MrsDho11 · February 2016

@FinacB - if your green tea is too bitter and that's why you don't like it, it is because you're using water that is too hot. Next time, try boiling water, pouring it into a mug, then melting 1-2 ice cubes in it before brewing your tea. my tea obsession started the day I realized green tea wasn't bitter when brewed correctly.

now I have an automatic tea pot that I set the temperature and brew time for the tea I'm using and it makes me an entire pot. It also makes me so happy!

NamelessAria · February 2016

OP there are so many amazing teas out there. But everyone likes something a little different so you'll just have to play around with it and figure out what your "thing" is.

Back when I could drink it I loved green tea. I could drink it iced with just a little honey and/or sugar, hot, with fruit, with mint, etc. I loved almost every single green tea I ever met. I also enjoyed most of the black teas: spicy, fruity, chocolate, plain black, whatever. Herbal fruit teas are usually a pretty safe choice if you like the fruit(s) in question.

If you're looking for something without caffeine you're basically looking at things like: herbal fruit teas, peppermint, chamomile, rooibos, ginger and things like that. I recently tried a "red chai" that has a roobios base instead of a black tea base like most chai teas and it is amazing. Plus it's 100% caffeine free.

I personally really enjoy rooibos, peppermint (or any mint really), ginger and chamomile. I have read that if you get pregnant you should try to drink herbal teas in moderation. It seems that chamomile, peppermint etc are still fairly safe as long as you're limiting it to 1 cup a day or so. Moderation and all.

ETA: Here is a table for the caffeine contents of various beverages including some types of tea

br0co1ii · February 2016

***lurking***

@businesswife I've read that only brewing the sachets for less than 5 minutes really cuts down on the pesticide risk.

As far as fertility goes, I've read on more than one site that green tea really helps to produce cm. It also helps those who have had abnormal paps to get back to normal. Green teas and oolong are both great for weight loss. (Or so I've read. When I lost 15 lbs, I was a consistent oolong tea drinker. )

NovaSaysNo · February 2016

Ah tea is wonderful! I stopped drinking all herbal tea when I saw on a lot of sites that it (herbal) wasn't recommended while pregnant. Not that I'm in act like it before you are club, but it just kind of happened. (I had to go caffeine free for a year and had like 5 cups of tea a day at least.)
I also stopped drinking some others because of reports about this or that (me being a trial patient with Mayo clinic also means sometimes stopping one or two things here or there). My body is a real jerk so my tea stopping is because is reactions I have. But I miss it so much!
As for the milk thing. Some teas go perfectly with it, others l say honey and/or lemon. Oh how I want tea again!

ReesaAnne16 · February 2016

I agree with @houseofsetters @khbear117 and @PensiveCrayon Rooibos is my favorite, especially a vanilla, chocolate or chai rooibos. It's caffeine free too.

and yes @MrsDho11 @FiancB green tea should never be bitter if brewed correctly. I typically bring the water to a boil, then let it sit for 3-5min to cool down pouring over the tea. Follow the directions on the label for how long to steep, typically 2-4 min is all green tea needs before it gets bitter. (white tea is the same, 1-3 minutes usually).

I also like rooibos because it never gets bitter, I can leave the tea bag in, or put some in a pot to boil for several minutes and it just gets stronger, not bitter.

FiancB · February 2016

@peachykeen17 I believe the official, western medicine reason to cut back on coffee is purely the caffeine, but then eastern medicine is also all about cutting acidic foods and drinks to help your body be more alkaline and thus sperm-friendly.

@MrsDho11 , thanks! I only recently discovered there is an actual proper temp for different teas and it's all a bit overwhelming. I almost bought green tea the other day but was too worried it would go to waste, but now I'll try it. I am finding I like tea overall much better now that I actually use the tea kettle instead of microwaving it

Mine is not fancy with different settings though.

My raspberry tea is from Traditional Medicinals and it's pretty decent. Kinda spendy though.

MrsDho11 · February 2016

@FiancB - for sure no one needs a fancy kettle like mine. It took me around a year to convince myself to buy it, and I'm glad I finally did.

I'm so confused by this milk debate. Some teas I put milk in (usually black teas, sometimes rooibos depending on the flavor it is paired with), and some I do not. Just like some teas I sweeten, and others, I do not.

I have a tea addiction problem.

wintersong · February 2016

I drink fancy tea as well, but my every-day-middle-of-teaching-class-and-need-something-warm-and-hydrating tea is decaffeinated Lady Gray.

cabu14 · February 2016

I have always had coffee in the morning and tea all throughout the day. I am trying to give up coffee and the creamer, so my go-to tea is Green tea - Tropical flavor. It does not taste bitter to me - but I can see how brewing it with too hot of water could cause this, as I have experienced the bitter, but never put two and two together. It is not fruity, which surprised me, but I like it better than regular green tea.

If I don't want any caffeine I love Bigelow (I think) Bengal Spice - so good & extra cinnamon flavored. It has a tiger (could be a lion) on the front. I will drink True Blueberry if the unusual fruity tea craving pops up.

Lulucooks · February 2016

Hello fellow tea lovers
I too love tea
I have so many teas right now that I can't justify buying anymore until I lessen my stash

My favorites are Earl Grey, with heavy cream (not milk). Rooibos Chai is amazing. I have a blend called Second Breakfast from Adaigo Teas (they are the very best, better than Teavana, imo). Then spearmint is awesome if I want an herbal tea. Ice cold matcha is my favorite green tea drink.

I'm also a total stuck up full leaf tea drinker. I always feel disappointed when the tea is the ground up stuff in a bag.

MrsDho11 · February 2016

Lulucooks said:

Hello fellow tea lovers
I too love tea
I have so many teas right now that I can't justify buying anymore until I lessen my stash

My favorites are Earl Grey, with heavy cream (not milk). Rooibos Chai is amazing. I have a blend called Second Breakfast from Adaigo Teas (they are the very best, better than Teavana, imo). Then spearmint is awesome if I want an herbal tea. Ice cold matcha is my favorite green tea drink.

I'm also a total stuck up full leaf tea drinker. I always feel disappointed when the tea is the ground up stuff in a bag.

Me too! Except I accidentally bought more. Whoops.

I have two shelves in my kitchen filled with tea. I generally don't drink from tea bags, and prefer loose leaf as well. Though I have empty tea bags for putting loose leaf tea in that I use if I'm only making a cup and don't want to use my fancy kettle. Because, you know, sometimes I like to pretend I'm not going to drink an entire pot of it.

cabu14 · February 2016

I dont mean to change the subject.. but does anyone else have an obsession with coffee/tea cups?? I have too many and I'm always looking. I have moods where I need to use specific cups --> weirdo alert.

cant stop/wont stop

Lulucooks · February 2016

MrsDho11 said:

Lulucooks said:

Hello fellow tea lovers
I too love tea
I have so many teas right now that I can't justify buying anymore until I lessen my stash

My favorites are Earl Grey, with heavy cream (not milk). Rooibos Chai is amazing. I have a blend called Second Breakfast from Adaigo Teas (they are the very best, better than Teavana, imo). Then spearmint is awesome if I want an herbal tea. Ice cold matcha is my favorite green tea drink.

I'm also a total stuck up full leaf tea drinker. I always feel disappointed when the tea is the ground up stuff in a bag.

Me too! Except I accidentally bought more. Whoops. I have two shelves in my kitchen filled with tea. I generally don't drink from tea bags, and prefer loose leaf as well. Though I have empty tea bags for putting loose leaf tea in that I use if I'm only making a cup and don't want to use my fancy kettle. Because, you know, sometimes I like to pretend I'm not going to drink an entire pot of it.

I bought a teeny tiny kettle from a restaurant supply store online that makes 16oz of tea (which is usually one serving for me ^_^)

Ash9614 · February 2016

BelcherEars said:

Unfortunately I am not a big tea drinker, so I don't have anything to contribute on that front. However, I did want to congratulate you on your weight loss! That takes a lot of hard work. I hope your treatment with Letrozole goes well.

Thank you!! It's been hard work, but my clothes are fitting better, I feel better -should've buckled down a long time ago.

iamcaro · February 2016

Besides English Breakfast that I sometimes drink in the morning in place of coffee, I love me some herbal tea. I'm drinking some right now! Lately I've been liking Honey Vanilla Chamomile, Lemon Ginger and Peppermint. I like a hot cup at night after dinner — it keeps me from snacking and helps settle my tummy before bed

Ash9614 · February 2016

MrsDho11 said:

Sorry, I'm not sure what you are asking for. Are you asking for general tea recommendations? Low/no caffeine recommendation? Or fertility recommendations?

If it's the last, all my Googling has lead me to understand that there is no real scientific evidence on tea and fertility. It isn't particularly well studied. You'll find people who recommend green tea during WTO or raspberry leaf to improve CM, but I've never found anything more than anecdotal evidence for them or any other tea.

Lol all of the above? I'm open to any tea as long as I can drink it while ttc, thus I prefer for caffeine to be minimal.

This thread has shown me how little I know about tea! I've been a casual drinker at best. I'm going to look into

panyang, ginger and rooibos teas for sure, as well as maybe incorporating peppermint tea.

@FiancB red raspberry leaf tea is great if AF is here or you're in the third trimester, but I do think it's discouraged early on in pregnancy, as it may cause small uterine contractions. Contractions are fine during AF or at the end of pregnancy, but you'll want to avoid around implantation for instance.
Thanks for the input, ladies! Looks like I'll be adding to my small collection soon!

PensiveCrayon · February 2016

@Hayrock I think this is the Clipper we have. I didn't realize it was a whole company--my hubby was the one who ordered it originally.

As for companies, I'm a HUGE Harney and Sons fan. That's what we served at our wedding. We buy loose (I'm glad I'm not the only looseleaf snob, haha) but they also have "silken sachets" that are supposed to be nicer or better quality or whatever than the paper ones.

[Deleted User] · February 2016

https://www.thefertilityrealm.com/raspberry-leaf-tea.html

PensiveCrayon · February 2016

I've heard about this stuff, too (Fertilitea). If I don't get KU'd in the next couple months I'll probably try it out. It contains a bunch of "fertility enhancing" stuff, like raspberry leaf and green tea. And they say you can drink it throughout the entire cycle!

Lulucooks · February 2016

I would be very careful with anything promising increased fertility or the like. At least have a doctor check you and maybe even monitor during. Things like that can end up doing more harm than good.

babymish · February 2016

Oooh Tea Talk. I love tea too and have up'd my intake since cutting down to 1 coffee per day.

Obviously the No1 tea is Yorkshire Tea - Yorkshire Yorkshire Yorkshire! With milk and a chocolate hobnob (or 5) dunked in!

I also love peppermint tea, green tea, mango and lychee green tea, different fruit infusion tea's and chai tea. We have a bunch of new ones in our cupboard I am yet to try too!

khbear · February 2016

PensiveCrayon said:

As for companies, I'm a HUGE Harney and Sons fan. That's what we served at our wedding. We buy loose (I'm glad I'm not the only looseleaf snob, haha) but they also have "silken sachets" that are supposed to be nicer or better quality or whatever than the paper ones.

I'm a total tea snob, too! I do have a few bags of tea to make on the go and work tea drinking a little easier, but making myself a cup of tea at home has got to be loose leaf! I'm also a Harney & Sons fan. I have a cabinet full of tea right now, so I'm on a tea probation until I drink more... But I still look at their website all the time for my next order.

We didn't serve hot tea at my wedding (we had a hot drink bar, but opted for coffee/cider/hot chocolate, mulled wine/spiked cider instead), but if we had, I would've gone with their wedding tea!

Kay6519 · February 2016

I love tea! My black tea faves are Darjeeling and Earl grey. For herbal teas with little to no caffeine, I usually go with peppermint. It is very refreshing and a great way to wake up in the morning. I also love this cherry bark tea my MIL gets from a health food store. Not sure about the caffeine content, but it is amazing! It's perfect to wake up with since it has a delicious tart zing to it and is great by itself without any sweeteners. We generally try to avoid putting sugar in our tea. If it needs it, we use locally farmed honey or agave nectar.

If you are a black tea drinker, you may want to consider cutting your tea with milk. That is supposed to help avoid staining of the teeth.

ETA: typo

LiterallyAmy · February 2016

I recently came across a video about alternatives to caffeinated beverages for those TTC, and Tulsi's red chai masala was highly recommended. I personally love it because it's spicy/cinnamony and I love it with a little vanilla almond milk. Just ordered some vanilla rooibos from Amazon because that sounds really yummy too!

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