Teavana, My New Addiction

My husband and I were in the mall recently shopping for new shoes for him. We were going to meet our daughter who was playing with the 2 year old and 7 year old in the play area, when my husband suddenly said, "Oh, let's go in this store. I was here last week and I think you will like it".

Now it is important to understand that my husband is not a shopper. He dislikes being in any store and especially dislikes having to be in a store shopping that is crowded with people. So I was a little shocked he was interested in going into this store at all. Not only were there a lot of people in the small store but there were also employees strategically located in every corner for samples. So it took me a moment to get over the initial shock to even register what store we were in.

The store was Teavana. It smelled wonderful and the samples were very good. They were of course the perfect blends of different teas with the perfect blends of sweetener (not too sweet but just enough to cut through any bitterness). After trying a couple of teas I looked at my husband with confusion. "Why are we in here?" He told me he liked the samples the last time he had been in and wanted me to try them. Okay, again I am still confused. "So, you want to buy tea?" I was confused because we drink coffee mostly. He likes black coffee and I like froufrou coffee. I have a tea pot my mother gave me, but I am pretty sure it is decorated with Christmas stuff and is buried in the back of a cabinet.

He finally said, "I know you like that peach tea when we go out to eat and I just thought maybe we could get some tea. You know give them a try. Do you like them? I would rather spend money on tea than Starbucks." (My husband hates Starbucks. I usually only get maybe one a week, but that adds up at 5$ a pop).
"Well, yeah I like them. But we this is all loose tea and that means we would have to buy a tea maker along with the tea."
With a smile on his face he says, "That's okay. What kind do you want to get?"

Now I rarely buy myself anything and I generally use grocery shopping to satisfy my want to buy things. We have 5 kids and I don't work. There isn't much I need. So my husband who enjoys buying me things when he can find something I want or like was enjoying himself. So this is one of those opportunities where he was able to spend money on me and make me smile. Technically its food...technically its healthy...technically its worth trying.

So we bought a tea maker (for use with loose tea) and a few different teas. They included a little booklet with all of the teas they offer and information on accessories for tea. That was the clincher.

When we got home, I made tea. I enjoyed the simplicity of mixing the teas I wanted and following the very simple directions for each type of tea. We mainly got white tea and the roobios were white and red so the caffeine levels are very low. I was hooked instantly.

That night I went online to Teavana.com and ordered more tea, tins, and the German Rock Sugar (which is very yummy). I did find a promotional code that saved me 10$. I also split my order in 2 so I could save the 10$ twice (shipping was free) and each order came with a sample my husband loved. After I submitted my order I ran across an application for my iPhone that has tea mixes, tea timers, and information on all the teas they carry. Hey, it was free.

When my orders came I was like a kid opening a Christmas gift. I put all the tea in the tins (air tight to protect the tea), made a place for the tea in our glass cabinet, and immediately made tea. YUM!

I have had tea every day since we got it. I drink tea instead of snacking, which is helpful. I really didn't think about the tea vs snacking until yesterday. Drinking tea helps me get my water each day and although I am not a big soda drinker, the tea has made me skip any and all soda. The majority of the teas we got are white teas, so there is very little caffeine.I use the German Rock Sugar which is a much nicer flavor than white sugar and its not processed like white sugar.

The only downside to all this tea drinking...I have to pee all the time! Seriously, it feels like all the time. Its worse than drinking beer. I suppose I am drinking more fluids, so that increases potty trips. I am not sure if tea is a diuretic (without caffeine) or not because everything I read was linked to the caffeine. Did you know that white teas are not only good for skin and hair but also teeth? Tea naturally prevents plaque. Wow, I had no idea.

Well, I am hooked. Now my challenge is to stay out of the Teavana store and not buy tea online until we are out. Because there are so many different flavors and I want to try them all!

I will leave you with this...Many of you have heard me talk about my husband referring (lovingly) to me as his 'uppity elitist bitch' (it is because I am so picky and never seem to be satisfied with what I have, always wanting more...better stuff, better service, better environment) well after I fell in love with all this tea my husband tells me...
"Well, I figured you would like it. What could be more uppity elitist than loose tea sold by the ounce?"