A Tea for Every Occasion

A Tea for Every Occasion

A self-care journey through tea.

I never realized just how essential tea has been in my life. A lot of what’s led me to where I am can be summed up in my evolving tea habits. I thought it’d be fun to go back and pay homage to all the tea I haven’t thought twice about, and maybe give some recommendations for some tea that can help you out in a bind.

Lipton Black Tea

The basic. The one I drank until I hit middle school and realized it’s actually kind of weak compared to other black teas. If you were to ask me when I started drinking tea, I couldn’t give you an answer. My grandparents started me on tea so early, that I don’t remember a specific age or moment when I first had it. As long as my memory goes back, there’s been tea.

Having a cup of Lipton every morning before school became one of the most important routines of my life. While it doesn’t have as much caffeine as coffee, I never felt awake until I’d had my morning tea. When I missed it, my whole day was thrown off. Something I didn’t realize until a few years ago was just how important this routine was to my mental health. If I start the morning wrong, my anxiety would spike as early as the bus ride to school. I’d be sitting on the bus fidgeting, feeling sick to my stomach, and dreading the whole day if I didn’t have my time to sit down and prepare myself for what was to come. At the time, I didn’t know I had an anxiety disorder, so I couldn’t place why I would feel upset when my routine was off. All I knew was that Lipton was reliable, and it was my safe drink that put me in a good place in the morning.

I admit, I talk smack about Lipton because it doesn’t wake me up well enough anymore; I’ve moved on to stronger teas. However, I feel kind of bad for how much I’ve talked negatively about this tea to people. If you want a simple cup of tea, I have to say it’s hard to beat Lipton.

Earl Grey

Earl Grey was the first tea I branched out to when I wanted to have more than Lipton. I wanted a black tea a little bit stronger than what I was used to. I wasn’t into coffee (yet, and even today I don’t have it that often), and I needed something better to wake up in the morning.

Earl grey tea will always have a special place in my heart. This tea has been in my life forever. I’ve had every brand from Twinings to Bigelow, and loved them all. Some have a little bit of a vanilla flavor, and some are more floral, but they’re all great to me.

This tea became my fuel. I’d have a cup while I read a book, or was working on some writing. I had it in the morning and after school. The flavor became such a staple for me, and there was nothing else like it. Earl grey always felt like a warm hug no matter the season. It’s a powerful little tea, and gives me a boost of energy. I also frequently drink this one hot or iced, depending on the weather, so that I can always have it no matter what.

I find it’s a better alternative for me than other caffeinated drinks. It doesn’t make me feel jittery or anything, rather it helps me feel more focused. I like to think of this tea as the one that gets me “on track” with whatever I’m doing. If I have a task, I make some earl grey. This has become important for me with work, school, and my personal writing. Even something as silly as video games, I’ll sometimes grab a tea and feel ready to win. This tea is reliable, and often it’s the wind beneath my wings. It was just what I needed as my future started shaping up in middle/high school, and I could visualize things I wanted for the future.

Peppermint tea

Peppermint tea might be the most important tea on this list.

High school was where things got difficult. The anxiety was so bad that I’d have to take breaks to go to the bathroom multiple times a day just to stop feeling sick. On top of that, it made my depression worse, because I had no idea what was wrong with me, and I hated myself for not being able to be “normal”.

Health class was a particular trigger for me, and during one of the sex ed classes, I felt my vision going fuzzy. I stumbled my way to the nurse’s office, holding onto the walls to stay upright, until I collapsed in front of the nurse’s door. My voice wouldn’t work, I felt freezing cold all over, my limbs were shaking, and my chest hurt to the point where I thought I was having a heart attack. The nurse found me and helped me to stop hyperventilating, and that was the first time someone else saw how bad my anxiety would get.

Once my “secret” was out, I got worse. I’d go to the nurse every day when I felt overwhelmed, or drag my parents from work to pick me up because I felt so bad. As this went on, I eventually was directed to a school counselor, then a therapist, and so my mental health treatment began. My parents also did everything they could to help once they realized just what was going on with me. My mom started Googling. She suggested when my stomach was feeling upset, I should try peppermint tea. Mint was supposedly good for stomachaches.

Now, by this point tea was almost like a personality trait for me. I loved tea, and it comforted me when I drank it. However, I was still a little skeptical about trying something new to help my stomach during these panic attacks. Anxiety made me throw up pretty often, and for a few days after a panic attack, I’d only be able to eat little bits of soup and crackers. Even though this was a relaxing green tea, I was terrified to disturb the balance I’d found to keep myself from vomiting. But I always trust my mom, so I tried it a few times.

Dearest of dear readers, do yourself a favor and always stay stocked up on peppermint tea. The mint really does go straight to my stomach and mellow everything out. It almost feels like it takes over everything and gets me to relax. I started drinking it when I had any kind of sickness, and it always had the same effect. My stomach evened out, and I felt like the mint helped me do some deep breathing exercises to get myself grounded. This tea is a lifesaver, and it’s my go to whenever I mentally of physically feel drained, sick, or just plain bad. I say with the utmost sincerity, thank you to peppermint tea.

Chamomile

As college rolled around, I started having trouble sleeping. I’ve always been a bit of a workaholic. I never gave myself a lot of down time, and I always felt lazy when I rested for even a minute. My brain was on overdrive, and it made sleeping hard for me. There are still times when I have issues with falling asleep, but I took the green tea method again like I did with peppermint. I experimented with different kinds of green tea that said they helped you sleep, but I was still having issues. It took my awhile, but somehow I finally landed on chamomile.

Given how common chamomile is, I’m surprised I didn’t find it earlier. I wish I had. When I have a nice cup of chamomile tea, it’s like a fuzzy blanket just covers my body and I’m ready for sleep. It goes straight to my brain and slows everything down. Even when I don’t want to sleep, when I have those thoughts of “just let me finish this one more thing”, I’ll make myself some chamomile and drink it. The tea lets me know when I’m getting sleepy and when I should sleep.

My college had a culture that prided itself on students working themselves to the bone, and I easily get swept up in that sort of thing. I went to school for creative writing and publishing, so I always knew I’d have to hustle to make money, get things published, etc. I knew I signed up for hard work, and I was ready to put in ungodly hours to do so. When I got into chamomile tea around senior year of college, I was able to start shifting my perspective. First I realized I needed more sleep, then I realized I needed more down time. Overall, I realized that I deserve some me time, and I deserve time to just relax and not worry about constantly working. It was pretty refreshing to say the least, and it was a huge turning point for where I am today.

Peach Tea

Peach!! I found out a few years ago that I like peach flavored things (thank you Starbucks) and peach tea was no exception.

I like to think of peach tea as the tea that sums up who I am right now. Looking back, I spent the majority of my life so far being anxious and depressed, and I hated having my life ruled by that negative energy. I wanted a change. After years of therapy, medication, meditation, exercise, etc. I was able to better connect to others and myself. I was ready to look at things more positively. I was eager to greet my days rather than stay in bed. Of course, when I wanted to sleep in, I let myself do that to.

I decided to call myself a “trained optimist”, because I worked hard to look on the bright side and find the best in any situation. I believe that the positive energy I put out in the world will make a difference however small. I also found that opening up about how difficult it was to get here, and how awful I felt when I was younger, has encouraged other friends and colleagues to open up too. They have someone else to confide in, and I’ve even been able to give some advice to people.

Overall, I like where I am now. No, I love where I am now. When I go out and get some iced peach tea in the summer, everything feels just right, like this is who I’m supposed to be. Peach tea is fruity, it’s fun, and it has a bit of a zing to it that just hypes you up when you taste it. If I were a tea, I’d be peach, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.