Really, abg? Thanks for that info, and now I know that I can still say I don't like it because I have no need to retain water. Heh.

Have you tried Throat Coat tea? I hate it almost as much as straight medicine, it tastes so much like licorice to me. But it does help a sore throat.

Did you see this when I twittered it? http://bkite.com/07fkc

Haha! I have one of those. It's pretty good for tea, but I still feel like there's over-steeping by a tiny bit with it, unless it gets poured into a different vessel for drinking.

I use a tea ball when brewing now so that I pull the leaves out at (sometimes) the right time. Once the leaves are removed, the tea will keep for a day or two. It'll get darker, but the flavor seems to hold.

I pour the tea out after it's brewing. What was in there was never intended to be drunk, it was just the little bit of liquid left over at the bottom of the pot after pouring.

If you have roses, save the spent leaves and put them on the soil where your roses are growing.

I went to Peet's and tried the Jasmine Downy Pearls. Lovely!

I've grown into the Assam. Now that I've got the steeping time down to a science and found a good milk/sugar ratio it's bringing back memories of the little Iranian-run breakfast place we ate at every morning in London. That was a good cup of tea they made.

I need to buy less coffee at a time. I meant to only buy a half pound each of the French Roast and the Sumatra, but at the market I poured too many beans into the bag for the French, and at Peet's someone handed me a "buy a half pound, get a half pound free" coupon. It's going to take me a long time to get through all of this coffee.

There are worse problems to have than being stuck with a bunch of great coffee. :)