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I get sore throats a lot - any time of year, any time of day, for any reason really. I don't know why, it's just been a thing about me for the past couple of years. I think this was a lot of the reason I started drinking so much tea. When I first developed allergies I would drink 3-6 cups of tea a day and it would really do the trick.
That being said, I am a songwriter and I love to sing, making my voice very important to me. I've tried lots of teas to soothe my throat and keep my voice strong. I almost never play and sing without a mug of hot tea by my side. Through trial and error I've found some teas and ingredients or additions that work particularly well for polishing those pipes:
-mandarin orange spice
-ginger (I like to make it with fresh ginger root cut up and leave pieces in my cup to chew on)
-tea with licorice, cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg
-hickory root
-chai
-lemon and honey, of course
-cayenne (I usually put this in my hot cocoa, but I think it'd do well with some teas too)
-white tea (this sometimes helps with inflammation)
Tea is many a splendored thing! It's not just for drinking, or putting in your plants - what about tea painting? A lot of teas have amazing color, especially when they've steeped for a long time and are highly concentrated. Ever since I first tried it in Mexico last March, as it is a staple tea there, I've liked Hibiscus tea, but for more than just its taste. It makes the most beautiful, alluring, deep, blood red pigment. When I first noticed this I immediately wanted to stain everything with it, and played around with drips on a paper napkin. That being said, I've also dripped it on my pants by accident and that, too, was stained. So it's very powerful. The image to the right is what it looks like steeped for 20 minutes or so.
So today I finally took the time to lay it down in my sketchbook. It's watercolor paper, so it was able to absorb it better than other paper would, but it still took longer to dry than regular watercolor. I'd be interested to see variations of it less and more diluted and how the color would intensify with more layers. Surprisingly, it dried more purple than red, but I still think the color is beautiful. Here's how it turned out just a little bit wet still: (below)
I will conduct further experimental endeavors in time!
Brrr! It's getting cold here in NJ, and I have been retreating to my fall favorites to keep warm: fires, blankets, mulled cider, and hot toddies! I first experienced a hot toddy as a child when I was sick with a sore throat or when I came in freezing from playing out in the snow. My mom presented me with this, at the time, extremely potent concoction that was overwhelming to sip but definitely took the cold edge off. Since then, I've actually come to enjoy this hot tea recipe in the fall and winter because it warms you from the inside out, and so I have adapted my own versions to my particular tastes.
The classic hot toddy is made with black tea (because it mixes well with lemon and honey), but green tea does too, and I think you could make it delicious however you want according to whatever teas you prefer. The possibilities are infinite, but here is a simple standard recipe:
1oz (or more if you like!) of brandy, whiskey, or rum
1 tablespoon honey (sometimes I like to use agave nectar instead)
1/4 lemon (add more if you accidently made it too strong)
Golden Monkey Paw black tea
Voila! Curl up next to a fire, keep sipping, and keep toasty.
I'm guilty of often over-estimating and over-brewing how much tea I really want to drink when I steep it in a pot. Sometimes I'll brew a whole pot and think that I will want to drink it all, only to drink a cup and not want anymore. I hate wasting things, and so I've tried to be more careful about how much I might realistically drink and what to do with left over tea.
There is, of course, always iced tea. I've noticed that the same kind of tea tastes totally different cold then hot, and doesn't always call for the same additional ingredients, if any at all. For example, I always put milk in my chai, but left over chai iced tea that I leave to sit in the fridge tastes much better naked and alone.
That's not the only thing I do with leftover liquid. Every so often I put some in my tropical plants. Not only the liquid, but also the tea leaves themselves. Plants that like acid or alkaline, such as azaleas, hydrangeas, dogwood, raspberries, blueberries, and most tropical plants, thrive when their soil is enhanced with the acid from teas, especially black teas. Acid-loving plants don't need this often, maybe a few times a year, but it can aid in the fullness of their leaves, the vibrancy of their color, and the overall strength and productivity of the plant. If you have a garden, the spring is a good time to mix tea leaves in with the soil, or you can add liquid tea or leaves to water and water your garden with this mixture.
Otherwise, tea leaves are always a great addition to a compost pile. This helps to aid in the breakdown of organic matter in the compost, and gives the soil nitrogen. Nothing needs to be wasted!
I've been practicing yoga on and off for a number of years, really having trouble sticking to a consistent routine. For the past week I've propelled myself into daily practice every morning to help heal some injuries I sustained to my back and to help clear my mind. Yoga does a lot of things for my mind and body that tea also does. I've been thinking about all of the parallels between yoga and tea:
- tea and yoga settle and stimulate my mind
- tea and yoga soothe my body
- tea and yoga help me refocus my senses
- tea and yoga have an primal and Earthly quality to them
- tea and yoga realign my concentration
- there are yoga positions and varieties of tea for any specific ailment or mental state
- tea and yoga are nonabrasive forms of healing
I like to end my yoga practice with a cup of tea. Today it's tangerine ginger mixed with a little bit of mother's wort and some buckwheat honey. This is part of ending my routine with relaxation and a way of gratifying my efforts. I think the two together are a potent combination well worth sticking to, and one that I don't doubt will help to reinvigorate my body and clear my mind.
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