Cheap drink -- green tea

Thread Starter

someonesdad

Joined Jul 7, 2009
1,583
You kids who like sugar-filled soft drinks, just kill this thread, as this won't be of interest to you.

This of course applies to any kind of tea you want to use, not just green tea. It's a refreshing and cheap drink in the hot summer. Here's how I make mine. We go to one of our local Asian groceries and get jasmine and green tea (both in bags and loose tea). A box of 100 jasmine tea bags costs $3.25 or about three cents per tea bag.

I run the tap to get hot tap water and fill a gallon jug to the top. Then I insert six tea bags into the top, along with 5 of my aspartame sweetener package's contents. I hang the tea bag strings over the edge and screw the cap on. Then I set it out on the back porch railing to sit in the sun all day. In the evening, I take the tea bags out and refrigerate. I've then got a gallon of a drink I like a lot for about 40 cents.

Some folks like to add lemon or lime to theirs. Southerners often add lots of sugar to make a very sweet tea. Whatever floats your boat.

Now, here's an interesting tidbit. It could be entirely coincidence, as correlation does not imply causality. However, here's what I noticed. About a year ago I started drinking about a gallon of this green tea every three days or so because I've come to like it (I just make it with hot water in the winter time, then refrigerate it; the sun tea is easier to make). Anyway, I've had some fairly nasty bouts of arthritis in my hands and lower back. Since I started drinking this green tea frequently, the discomfort of my arthritis has gone down a lot. I can't quantify it, but it went from hurting nearly all the time to only occasionally noticing it. Of course, it just might be coincidence; I'm not going to do the experiment of stopping the tea drinking and seeing if it returns to its previous level. YMMV.
 

Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,162
I'm a lover of tea as well. The family goes through gallon a day in Summer.

My health tip is a simple one as well. I was bothered by Acid Reflux (heartburn) for about 10 years. I did all the cures suggested by doctors. I took Tagamet, then switched to Prilosec, then to something else I can't remember the name of. Soon, the costs of these started rising, and I found some scary information on Tagamet and its effects on the body. Fast forward to last year and I'm shopping in the store. The clerk notices the antiacid pills and asks me how long I've been suffering from heartburn. I tell her it has been a decade or more. She told me to buy some apple cider vinegar and take one tablespoon in some water. She told me it would taste bad. Very bad, but I should do it everytime I feel the burning.
I have suffered with it so long I was willing to try it. It works. Now the good news. It CURES the problem. Not just a temporary cure but a full on cure. Since doing it regularly for about a month, I found I wasn't getting the reflux nearly as much. I stopped using it for about a week and discovered I could eat spaghetti sauce again, and pizza too! I would still have to use it about once a week for a few months, but now I haven't had any heartburn in about six months. It really really works.

But it sure does taste bad. :)
 

Thread Starter

someonesdad

Joined Jul 7, 2009
1,583
I was bothered by Acid Reflux (heartburn) for about 10 years.
Kermit2 -- I hear you: I had heartburn regularly from teenage years on (many decades). A number of years ago I started having trouble swallowing and the docs found I had Barrett's esophagus (a precursor to cancer of the esophagus, something you definitely don't want). They put me on Prilosec, which worked, but I hate taking any kind of drug. Then my wife and I decided to change our diets a bit and I found out what had eluded me so long: all that heartburn is due to the incredibly crappy American diet, loaded with fat. I found that when we made a serious effort to take out most of the fat in our diet, the heartburn disappeared COMPLETELY and no drugs were needed.

I know I found the cause, as when I occasionally eat something with lots of fat (pizza is a typical example), I can guarantee heartburn during the night. In fact, in the rare occurrence of heartburn, I can 100% look back and realize that I had eaten something with too much fat in it. In fact, it's diagnostic -- even when I didn't realize the meal had lots of fat in it (occasionally happens at dinner at someone else's house).

I went back to the doc 5 or 10 years later for another check of my esophagus and it was completely healed and normal. It was ALL my diet.

By the way, apple cider vinegar is half of what we call The Cure at our house. It's not infallible, but it works better than anything else we've ever tried. When you get the hiccups, take a teaspoon of sugar and put it in your mouth. Hold it and add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. Then swallow.
 

Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,162
We only use Olive oil for cooking now. It has really helped. YES, you can even deep fry with it, if you get the light oil, not the virgin oil. :)
 

debjit625

Joined Apr 17, 2010
790
I love tea, hot tea in winters and in summer also but its less,in summer I prefer beer my friends too...(but of course not too much).Some also like cold coffee but I dont ,I hate the taste of cold coffee.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
It is amazing how well adding acid to the stomach helps an "acid" problem.

The way it was explained to me was: Heartburn and acid reflux is not caused by too much acid. It is caused by too little. So the foods you eat absorb some of the acid in your stomach and do not completely dissolve and move into the small intestine. When you lay down, the acid infused food moves back into the esophagus causing "heartburn".

By taking antacids, you neutralize almost ALL of the acid in your stomach causing your body to "refill" to the proper level.

By simply adding a little bit of acid into the stomach, you set proper digestion in progress and all is good.

If you have children or grandchildren that experience these types of problems, try the vinegar before trying any drug.

Eventually your body "sets" itself to provide the proper amount of acid and you are "cured".

As for the tea, I have been using the same ratio for 20 years. I use Lipton or another brand/generic of orange and black pekoe tea blend.

6 bags to 1 gallon.

One tip is to use a coffee maker. Put 6 bags into the coffee grounds area and run a pot of water through it.

Use the hot brew to dissolve the sugar in a 1 gallon pitcher then top off with cold water.

Stick it in the fridge.

Enjoy.

The sun-brewing method does not require hot tap-water to start with, and uses no additional energy to brew. This method makes it a quite "green" tea ;)
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I have found that olive oil gives me heartburn, even if you only put some in the water used to boil spaghetti! Domino's Pizza has olive oil. Guess how I can tell.

I tried some fish oil pills because they are "heart healthy". In 5 days I was eating 5 or 6 Tums a day. Three days after stopping the fish oil, I wasn't needing any Tums.

I can't just say "American diet is full of fats" when it is so clear that I am only affected badly by those two oils. So I argue, someone was too generic or my stomach is too specific.

Pay attention to your own body. It will tell you when you're doing something wrong.

That's my medical advice (without having any trace of doctor education).
 

RiJoRI

Joined Aug 15, 2007
536
I drop an herbal tea bag (aren't all teas "herbal"?) into a container -- I've used up to 32 oz. -- and add enough hot water to cover the bag. Swirl it a little, and fill it up with cold water. Done!

I also use Apple Cider vinegar and honey in equal amounts (1 Tbsp each in a 32 oz glass) in the same way as for the tea bags -- the hot water helps the honey dissolve.

--Rich
 

gerty

Joined Aug 30, 2007
1,305
I run the tap to get hot tap water and fill a gallon jug to the top. Then I insert six tea bags into the top, along with 5 of my aspartame sweetener package's contents. I hang the tea bag strings over the edge and screw the cap on. Then I set it out on the back porch railing to sit in the sun all day. In the evening, I take the tea bags out and refrigerate. I've then got a gallon of a drink I like a lot for about 40 cents
In TN we call that"sun tea" but 6 bags to a gallon is a little weak for me, we use 10. Most use sweetners but my wife and i prefer it unsweetened.
 
Top