My favorite hot beverage is

Jax, That's quite a concoction. I don't drink the really sweet brews, but have fun making them for guests. I've used ice cream, but never with that much sugar.

Pollyk, Does the great value coffee come in Decaf?

HERBLA TEAS FROM MY GARDEN AND COFFEE DARK AND STRONG
...depends on moods and needs...
:Darren

I haven't tried them but I checked out a brand offered at QVC and the tea didn't sound like it was one I'd like--different blooms but the tea was all the same worked into each blossom (all handsewn together). Beautiful effect but I have to like the tea:lol:

Fresh flowers have less flavor than dried, that could be the issue there....i do nopt know the product blooming suggests live if not less dried>?
:D

They're dried buds, petals and tea leaves sew into "blossoms" that "bloom" when they open in the hot water poured over them in a tea pot usually clear glass. I want to say that green tea is what was used. I suppose that you would want a lighter colored tea so that you could see the flower open clearly.

I voted that I don't drink hot beverages because it's been "almost" true for the past several years. Maybe one cup of coffee this past year, another the year before, maybe two the year before that :). But I "used to" favor a strongly flavored blend of Indonesian and Colombian coffees, brewed from the ground beans as close to swallowing time as practical, with just a trace of sugar per cupful. Yummy :) A combination of things has me sticking to cold colas these days including some concern that the much heavier dose of caffeine in my favorite coffees (I wouldn't consider decaf even on a dare as I find it flavorless) gets my post- first- coronary (2005) heart constricted to an uncomfortable degree. Just being cautious and recognizing that I don't like coffee all *that* much to take the risk.

decaf - YUCK! In a desperate situation, I would drink half-decaf and half-cafeinated...

I once worked at a convenience store in the early morning work rush and had to keep 4-6 pots of coffee going from 4 am-10 am. I had, for whatever reason-can't remember, decided to drink decaf for a while. My little pot of decaf would get cooked to death on those commercial Bunn coffee burners and become undrinkable. I then decided to put decaf in all the pots and no one noticed:lol: I only did it for about a month until I was over my decaf stage but I remember snickering on the inside each time some early morning customer told me how much they needed their caffeine fix. I was just thinking "Yup, and you still do!"

That's TOO funny, dmac! I recently saw an experiment with a group of about 20 college kids in a staged setting to resemble a bar. They were offered free beer, all they could drink. As they continued to drink, they showed signs of slurred speech and other effects of alcohol. Turns out only 2 of the students were actually served beer with alcohol. The others had beer flavored drink with no alcohol. It is funny what our minds can do to influence our behavior when we have reason to believe that a familiar action will lead to the expected results.

I think I would have noticed the lack of caffeine in your morning coffee service. I can usually tell when a waiter has made a mistake when I order regular coffee and get decaffeinated or vice versa. I tried to give up caffeine once without tapering off. I had the worst headaches I've ever experienced and was so irritable all the time that I thought I might lose my job if I didn't go back to the fully loaded morning brew.

Jeremy

dmac you're naughty ^_^ I think I would notice if I missed the caffeine hit in the morning.

=) I was about 18 and wasn't quite the coffee nut I am now--and I suppose I was a stinker:lol: I was really surprised no one could tell--maybe they just couldn't put their finger on what was "off" stemming from their caffeine deficiency:)

They probably didn't taste the difference - just got the headache later.

I have the opposite of your story. Caffeine does a number on me. Now, I can have a cup in the morning, but that's it. More, and my heart is galloping, and I'm twittering all over the place. Later in the day, and I can forget about sleep. One Thanksgiving, early in our marriage, we arrived at our relatives after a 9 hour drive, and I was offered some coffee. It was about 7 PM and I asked if it was decaf. My FIL assured me it was. So I had a cup. There was no sleep for me that night. I finally drug myself out of bed after breakfast, and commented that if I didn't know differently, I would have sworn I had drunk regular coffee. That was the effect. MIL asked me why I thought I had decaf. Well. because FIL said so. I quickly learned that FIL didn't believe that caffeine bothered anyone, since it didn't bother him - that it was all in our little minds. And therefore, if I didn't know, it wouldn't bother me. I spent one miserable, exhausting day, and I never trusted my FIL again.

What a koinkidink ceejay. Me too. Once I get my morning jump start I have to stop otherwise I'm bouncing off the walls like Ricochete Rabbit. But I can drink tea like water and supposedly it has more caffeine. I know. Funky weirdness.

Is it just me, or doesn't it seem that even decaf seems to have SOME caffeine in it?
Seems that way to me, anyways!

I forgot to mention a favorite tea of mine (and I really don't drink tea that often) Bigelow has a 'Mint Medley' tea that is REALLY good - peppermint/spearmint blend.

tea vs coffee http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/teavscoffee.html Caffeine in a cup of coffee is still higher than a cup of tea, but it could be the theobromine in tea, which has a similar effect to caffeine.

caffeine in decaf coffee http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061012185602.htm Yes, Nan, decaf still contains some caffeine.