What are you Drinking?

I used to drink a lot of soda. Diet soda, particularly. Now, there's always controversy surrounding every artificial sweetener out there, but that's not the point of my post today. I am no chemist, but I did stop drinking soda for two good reasons. First, it's an expensive and carbon-footprint-heavy habit. At the height of it, I was going through nearly 24 cans of soda a week. Even on sale, we're talking 8 bucks a week for my caffeine fix. Second, I appreciate the food I eat a heck of a lot more now that I don't drink soda. I notice flavors more, because my palate isn't overwhelmed with sweetness. I particularly like more kinds of fruit now. And no matter what side of the sweetener controversy you fall on, fruit is better than soda.

However, I still like to have something other than water to drink sometimes. No more 8 bucks a week for me, though, now I spend much less on what I drink.

First, for those of you who are going to stick with the soda, you can save some money and make your own. It's a little expensive as an initial investment, but if you're committed to soda, it saves in the long term. Also, you can reuse your bottles, so you make a big reduction in your carbon footprint.

However, I recommend switching to iced tea. I make my own. Buy one of these tea balls (you're going to want one at least this size), fill it with tea, and boil some water. Attach the tea ball to a pitcher, pour the water in, and refrigerate. After a few hours, you have your favorite flavor of iced tea. I've had mango green iced tea, pineapple ginger black iced tea, red iced tea. You don't only need to use loose leaf tea. Just stick four or five bags of tea in. You usually can use a tea ball twice. Two pitchers of tea with 8-10 glasses each in exchange for four or five bags of tea. A much better deal per glass than soda.

Where do I get cheap tea? First, I often get tea as a stocking stuffer or gift. I haven't bought tea in MONTHS and am still trying to get through all the tea I have been gifted over the years. However, you can also buy cheap tea at dollar stores, Christmas Tree Shop, Marshalls or TJ Maxx, or online. Happy tea hunting!

For a little more flavor, mix in a favorite lemonade, limeade, juice, or other flavor combo. Whole Foods had organic limeade on sale the other day for $2, and it made mango green tea taste like a virgin mojito..with caffeine! It was a bit more expensive and it has plenty of calories, but you only have half a serving when mixing it with the tea. So 6o calories instead of 120, and .15 instead of .30.

So try being your own tea barista, and drink up!