Everything stops for tea…

My American friend, the Redheadeditor, laughs at me every time we chat. This is invariably at about three or four o’clock in the afternoon and I will be sitting in front of the computer catching up on my emails with a nice cup of tea – like all true Brits.

During school holidays in my childhood, it was compulsory for us all to sit down and have a cup whilst listening to ‘Diddy’ David Hamilton on Radio One who had adapted the tune above, rhyming ‘when the clock strikes three’ with ‘everything stops for tea’ and playing two or three tracks without interruption.

Sitting down for a cuppa is such a quintessentially English thing. Assam and Darjeeling or those perfumed imposters, Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey. Connotations of Victorians, the Empire, India, the Raj and the Memsahib. Tea and tiffin with one’s social standing dependent on whether you put the milk in first or after.

However, a year or so ago, I started to do the unthinkable. I stopped putting milk in at all, partly to do with my associations with Ruf, who is a vegan and I didn’t like the way it tasted with soya milk. But I still drank my ‘monkey’ tea… just black.

The PG Tips chimps were always my favourite advert and even the rather insipid recent dilution with Johnny Vegas and Monkey can be quite entertaining.

When I became more ecologically conscious, I moved away from PG and began to buy the Fair Trade Organic Clipper tea which was advertised as a greener option and made a very good substitute with the added bonus of the feel good factor in terms of helping the poorly paid tea traders of the world.

A few months later, I was introduced to herbal teas and, in particular, Rooibos, the South African red bush tea. My favourite was definitely the one that came mixed with vanilla. The smell was divine. However, I was alerted to the theory that too much rooibos can affect thyroid function. So, being of a certain age, I reserve my rooibos indulgence for special occasions only.

Someone suggested that I use chamomile teas to help encourage a less frantic frame of mind during my current emotional upheavals. Twinings do various chamomile selections but, again, my favourite involves vanilla and honey as an addition.

I was perusing the Stress No More site recently in the course of my research into my impending Menopause and I discovered Yerba Mate. This South American infusion is very pleasant indeed and many people claim that it has a lot of health-giving properties. It is like a cross between a herbal tea and normal tea, with a similar effect to green tea in that it definitely energises you. The sort of tannin-y after-taste is familiarly comforting too.

One thing I have definitely noticed since I started drinking it is that my appetite seems to be suppressed. Obviously, I have a lot of emotional stress going on at the moment which, with my predisposition towards anorexia, gives me problems in eating anyway but this is different from usual. It’s not so much that I don’t fancy eating, it’s more a case of actually feeling full. To test whether this really is the case, over Easter, I shall be sharing some of the bags with a couple of friends: Ruf, who can always eat, and another female friend who is actively trying to lose weight and adores herbal teas.

Their observations to follow in a couple of weeks.

If you fancy giving Yerba Mate a try, please can you order through the link below. Now that I have to get myself a job and a new home, I’m using all possible means to supplement my income. But I will only be recommending the things that I do actually use/like.