I’m pretty sure I have a head cold coming on. Poor me!

I spent yesterday complaining, drinking a ton of water, and drinking two tons of tea.

Speaking of tea, have you tried the new full leaf teas by TAZO? If you’re a tea fan, you might really enjoy them, too. Not only is the packaging of the tea itself fabulous, the flavor is like tea on steroids…big and bold! So far I’ve had the Chai Tea and the Vanilla Rooibos. However, according to the tin, rooibos is not technically a tea, it’s the needles of an African Bush. Who knew?

Anyway, I was going to pick up one of the other flavors of these full leaf teas but when I asked the barista for her recommendation she said, “I don’t drink caffeine.” SAY WHAT?

There are two things wrong with this:

1. I think it should be mandatory that all baristas be caffeinated, or at the very least, the entire morning shift.

2. After doing some light reading (right on the package) I learned they do carry some decaffeinated options (like Vanilla Rooibos, for example). My barista must have slept through that meeting.

Now I really must go freshen up and then put a few ideas in the coffee-house suggestion box. Coming up with helpful hints is my special-tea.

I drink about 3 cups of hot tea a day. I up that to about 4 cups a day in the winter because that’s the only time Tazo brings me Joy.

Joy tea is a blend of black, green, and oolong teas that is only available around the holidays. I covet this tea. When Starbucks starts taking down their Christmas displays every year I panic and then I alert my friends around the globe to buy every last box on the shelf and send it to me.

Dr. John Berardi from Precision Nutrition has (all of) this to say about the benefits of drinking tea:

“Tea offers a host of health benefits including cancer prevention, improved blood sugar, fat loss, and improved circulation.”

Some of the benefits attributed to regular tea consumption include:

• Increased 24-hour energy expenditure and fat oxidation
• Decreased waist circumference
• Decreased lipid oxidation
• Improved blood vessel function
• Reduced risk of heart disease and stroke
• Decreased serum cholesterol and triglycerides
• Prevention of atherosclerosis
• Reduced risk of developing high blood pressure
• Inhibition of oxidative damage
• Decreased growth of abnormal cells
• Enhanced immune function
• Prevention of prostate cancer
• Reduced risk of skin cancer
• Regression of oral cancer
• Decreased ovarian cancer risk
• Natural resistance to microbial infection
• Decreased plaque and oral bacteria
• Lower risk of developing kidney stones
• Reduced risk of Parkinson disease

I am not a doctor, and to be honest, some of the words included in this long list of tea-drinking benefits read like a foreign language textbook to me. But I do know what “fat loss and decreased waist circumference” is and that brings me Joy.

Now I’m off to write Starbucks a little love note and tell them that we need Joy all oolong!