What to add to tea and coffee

purplehays

I'm trying to go vegan and the main stumbling block for me is what to put in tea and coffee. I've tried alpro soya milk but after a week I'm not that fussed about it.

Anyone got any recommendations?

Slaphead07

How about nothing? Seriously. Tea is far better, and far better for you, without any milk. Coffee, when well made, doesn't need milk.

Try it for a while anyway, you might love it!

cosmic

What is it about the soya milk you didn't like? I find the Alpro regular one far too sugary and sweet and think it ruins my cuppa. I love the Alpro Light Unsweetened though - I think it's delicious! I find Rice Dream pretty tasty too.

purplehays

I just don't like the after taste of it and it makes the seem a bit heavier (if you get what i mean). I'll give the alpro light a try and see if it makes a difference.

I think it takes a while to get used to the taste of soya milk.
Might be worth sticking with it for a while.

Herbal or fruit tea, with lemon and honey is lovely.

sav1980

I use unsweeteend alpro for tea, as I find some soya milks very sweet. Saying that though I mainly drink green tea and I obviously don't add milk to that. There are loads of dairy free milks available now so I'm sure you'll find something you like soon.

flikflak

You need to do some experimentation with different kinds of soy milk. I use Provamel unsweetened organic as I find the sweet ones not as nice.

Try rice, oat, hemp, almond, hazelnut (think this would be lovely in coffee!) and find which one suits your taste the best.

Zombienosh

the only dairy-free milk I find worth a damn is Kara coconut milk.

fillefatale

Zombienosh wrote: »

the only dairy-free milk I find worth a damn is Kara coconut milk.

Seen this in my local health food store, must give it a try. Try to avoid buying soya products when I can.

OP - I mainly drink herbal teas, could be worth considering. Drinking a lot of tea can prevent absorption of calcium into your bones. My mum was diagnosed with osteoporosis of the spine and she drinks only decaff now (she drank at least 5 cups of tea a day) and has noticed a difference.

blatantrereg

Did you try the non-UHT Alpro soya milk? I find that far nicer than the UHT version - prefer it a lot to cow's milk too.

The non-UHT one will be refrigerated and the top of the carton is triangular. The UHT version is usually not refrigerated in shops and its carton has a flat top.

UHT version:



Non-UHT version - much nicer:

purplehays

blatantrereg wrote: »

Did you try the non-UHT Alpro soya milk? I find that far nicer than the UHT version - prefer it a lot to cow's milk too.

The non-UHT one will be refrigerated and the top of the carton is triangular. The UHT version is usually not refrigerated in shops and its carton has a flat top.

UHT version:



Non-UHT version - much nicer:

I went for the non UHT version, think I'lll just try the alpro light

darconio

Have you tried the one in Aldi? Imho is one of the best and at 85C (i think) per bottle you can't go wrong

tatli_lokma

Why not try a different type of tea, or brewing. We drink black Rize tea in our house, which is a bit different to the tea you get in tea bags. We make it in a double boiler like this

http://www.google.ie/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lfC8UQ4SJ-M/TR0Maj3NqbI/AAAAAAAAA1w/EZGZ1MjsFus/s1600/caydanlik.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hakanium.blogspot.com/2010/12/caydanlktaki-kirec-nasl-temizlenir.html&h=435&w=435&sz=16&tbnid=5Ffb6LAFBQ2LtM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=90&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcaydanlik%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=caydanlik&usg=__cWbvSKSyxoantwfDmdBHLz8I_ng=&docid=VPRw47xiJ8y-uM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t_kUUcK-KI-LhQfS-4D4BA&sqi=2&ved=0CDoQ9QEwBQ&dur=2921

You can find these in middle eastern and some eastern european shops.

Or in work, you can buy the tea in bags, make a half cup, let it brew a good bit, and then dilute with hot water.

If you ask in any of the Middle Eastern or Turkish shops they can advise you on what tea to get.

Little Ted......Do you know if moka would do the same job?
Love to give a go. Never had rize tea. That I know of.

tatli_lokma

what's moka - is that a type of tea? or a type of boiler??

tatli_lokma

oh here, hang on, pardon my ignorace! the Moka is the coffee pot double boiler, right?? Didn't cop that for a minute - we prepare our coffee in a much simpler fashion!!! The complicated we save for tea! lol

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Turkish-Coffee


Am I right that the coffee goes on the bottom bit of a Moka? If so, then no it won't work. for the tea you put boiling water in the bottom pot, and the empty pot above with tea leaves in. The leaves steam as the water in the bottom boils. When the bottom water boils, you pour that into the top pot and brew the tea for a few mins on the heat. Then top-up the bottom part with cold water, place the small pot back on top and return to the heat. When it returns to the boil, lower the heat and brew for another 5 mins or so. Then the tea is ready. Pour from the top (small) pot to fill half the tea glass. Then dilute it up with water from the bottom pot.

Little Ted

Little Ted wrote: »

what's moka - is that a type of tea? or a type of boiler??

It is a pot for making espresso. You boil water in the bottom, then it rises through the coffee grains in the middle, and the brewed coffee collects in a chamber on top.
Is that the same idea?

tatli_lokma

no, as I said, the tea goes in the top pot of the caydanlik. If you were to boil it at the bottom so close to the heat it would be bitter. Would taste the same as normal teabag tea with no milk. The idea of the turkish tea pot is that it is a more diffused heat. Nothing to stop you trying, but I don't think it would have the desired effect.

Little Ted

Little Ted wrote: »

oh here, hang on, pardon my ignorace! the Moka is the coffee pot double boiler, right?? Didn't cop that for a minute - we prepare our coffee in a much simpler fashion!!! The complicated we save for tea! lol

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Turkish-Coffee


Am I right that the coffee goes on the bottom bit of a Moka? If so, then no it won't work. for the tea you put boiling water in the bottom pot, and the empty pot above with tea leaves in. The leaves steam as the water in the bottom boils. When the bottom water boils, you pour that into the top pot and brew the tea for a few mins on the heat. Then top-up the bottom part with cold water, place the small pot back on top and return to the heat. When it returns to the boil, lower the heat and brew for another 5 mins or so. Then the tea is ready. Pour from the top (small) pot to fill half the tea glass. Then dilute it up with water from the bottom pot.

I prefer my coffee turkish style at home too.

That sounds really interesting. I love my tea. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on one, and give it a go. Thanks.

tatli_lokma

I don't normally drink black tea - well I never did til I tried Turkish tea. I always found it a bit bitter and sharp. But çay (tea) made from the Rize blend and made in this way is totally different. We also try other blends and they are nice too, but generally stick with the Rize blend. When we return from a visit to Turkey we usually have a suitcase full of lovely goodies.

You can buy the çaydanlik (teapots) on ebay and you can get glasses there too - the tea tastes much nicer from the glass than a cup, dunno why??

Little Ted

Little Ted wrote: »

I don't normally drink black tea - well I never did til I tried Turkish tea. I always found it a bit bitter and sharp. But çay (tea) made from the Rize blend and made in this way is totally different. We also try other blends and they are nice too, but generally stick with the Rize blend. When we return from a visit to Turkey we usually have a suitcase full of lovely goodies.

You can buy the çaydanlik (teapots) on ebay and you can get glasses there too - the tea tastes much nicer from the glass than a cup, dunno why??

I find alot of tea's more flavorful, as they cool down. Maybe that happens faster with glass?

I actually got a load of glass cups, with Yogi Tea recently.
They were giving them away, everytime you bought two pkts.
They do a very nice chocolate flavour herbal tea.

There is a great turkish/balkan shop beside Vicar st. , Think I might have seen these pots there.