It's National Hot Tea Month

I know as a stylist it may seem a little odd that I'm writing about hot tea. But I assure you, it is not. With all the talking we do, a nice cup of hot tea is just the thing to soothe our sore, tired voices at the end of a long busy day. Imagine carrying on a full conversation while blow drying someone's hair...and while at least two other stylists are blow drying and having conversation as well. I work with 7 other stylists, 3 assistants, a salon manager, and a receptionist. We all double book (meaning we take appointments in another client's processing time), so on a busy day with all of us working there's potential for 26 people in the salon at one time. We try to schedule so that doesn't happen, but there are days that feel just crazy cakes.

So yeah....hot tea is a must. And since I'm a hot tea fan, let me tell you a few of my current favorites.

photo credit: Flavor the Moments blog

Bigelow Constant Comment came to me almost by accident. I was bored with my usual teas and so I got the sample box, and this was one of the teas included. With it's slightly orangey-spicey black tea flavor, it lends itself well to a great winter tea.

I flavor mine with a splash of milk and a little sugar and it's downright perfect. I was so obsessed with it after the first sip that I had two in one day and immediately purchased a box. It's just that good. It's the kind of tea that soothes your soul, and gives a little pick me up since it has some caffeine.

It's not the ideal choice for soothing a sore, tired throat though. For that I go to Red Rose Original Black tea with a spoon of honey and a squeeze of lemon. This is an old favorite from my singing days. The honey does it's job by coating the throat to ease irritation, doubling also as an anti-bacterial/viral/fungal immunity booster....really it's one of those "wonder foods" that cures anything. The lemon acts as an astringent to help move along any mucus build up (yuck). So you can see why the two together really balance each other out.

And last, but not least, my non-caffeinated option: Peppermint Tea. Just by itself, nothing added, I just find it so refreshing when I want something later in the day.

I guess they put National Hot Tea Month in January because it's so darn cold (at least where I live), but to us stylists, it's a must have year round.