What is your favorite caffeine-free tisane?

Tisanes prepared from plants not belonging to the Camellia genus
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doomslayer
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Location: Seattle, WA

Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:02 am

Genmaicha is good stuff but very different, primarily because it does have actual tea in it. However, “roasted rice” is a thing of itself (in Korea at least) and I drink it as well. My favorite is still corn but since my supply of corn is limited and I couldn’t find the one I liked for sale, I also drink rice, barley, and beans (which I could find for sale).
shawnda h
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Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2021 9:41 pm

Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:09 pm

doomslayer wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:02 am
Genmaicha is good stuff but very different, primarily because it does have actual tea in it. However, “roasted rice” is a thing of itself (in Korea at least) and I drink it as well. My favorite is still corn but since my supply of corn is limited and I couldn’t find the one I liked for sale, I also drink rice, barley, and beans (which I could find for sale).
...It just contains the only grain I think I've had. I will now seek out others! :) Have you ever made your own?
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doomslayer
Posts: 40
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Location: Seattle, WA

Fri Mar 26, 2021 9:48 am

shawnda h wrote:
Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:09 pm
doomslayer wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:02 am
Genmaicha is good stuff but very different, primarily because it does have actual tea in it. However, “roasted rice” is a thing of itself (in Korea at least) and I drink it as well. My favorite is still corn but since my supply of corn is limited and I couldn’t find the one I liked for sale, I also drink rice, barley, and beans (which I could find for sale).
...It just contains the only grain I think I've had. I will now seek out others! :) Have you ever made your own?
Nope, I attempted corn but had problems with it (see above in this thread). Back then I had plans to make more attempts but 2020 ended up being more eventful than I anticipated and I abandoned the idea for now :D

For the time being my grain related setup is same-ish. I still have leftover corn tea I received from my mother in law, which she roasts herself in Korea. I've never seen the process but from what I've heard it's not terribly complicated - you just need to be careful not to burn it. I still failed finding good corn tea for sale and abandoned this idea as well. The closest was this one but it was very inconsistent - sometimes very good, sometimes burnt. However, their other teas are good and is something I buy regularly - specifically their brown rice and hulless barley. I also tried their black bean which was good in general, just not my thing.
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bliss
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Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:31 pm
Location: Brighton, UK

Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:54 am

I used to really enjoy the mulberry leaf tisane that Postcard teas used to carry, when I was in the mood for something non-caffeinated. Looks like it's gone now, but maybe they'll restock it? From memory, I'd say that it may have been lightly roasted? So I don't know if dried mulberry leaves sourced from elsewhere will be similar. Might be worth popping it into a Horoku, those Japanese tea/sesame roasters.

These days I just go with a tea that's naturally low in caffeine.

Here's a random picture I found off a blog online.
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Alianore
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Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:06 am

Since I have chronic gastritis, my usual go-to is a mixture of chamomile and marigold.
Other than that, fennel tea is lovely. It reminds me of early summer mornings in Dalmatia.
Another discovery was Yunnan Sourcing gan zao ye, which I ordered this summer and which turned out to be full of umami.
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debunix
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Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:55 am

Fennel tea sounds lovely: how do you prepare it?
Alianore
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Location: Zagreb, Croatia

Wed Oct 20, 2021 10:24 am

The same way I prepare chamomile: water heated to 100 degrees Celsius poured over a teaspoon of fennel seeds or a teabag. I leave it in for five minutes (if you want stronger tea, it could be more, but in my experience fennel seeds tend to be heavily aromatic and five minutes are sufficient).
Tisanes are not as finicky to brew as some teas made from Camellia sinensis, so you can play with them and see what suits you best.
swordofmytriumph
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Location: Seattle, USA

Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:21 pm

Recently made myself a nice brew of camomile, fresh ginger, and lime. I used a bit of lime peel and a very tiny squeeze. I sweetened the whole thing with raw honey. Made it as a sort of cure for cramps, and it seemed to help. At the very least, it was so tasty that it distracted me! :D
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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:15 am

Lemon, fennel, rosemary, coriander, and a bit of honey, quite nice noncaffeinated end to the evening.
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mbanu
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Joined: Fri May 03, 2019 3:45 pm

Mon Oct 25, 2021 4:56 am

Snow chrysanthemum, my personal favorite of the chrysanthemum I've tried, although it might just be that I was lucky enough to get a good batch.

Yuja is a close runner-up -- I prefer the clean-up with chrysanthemum, although making a drink with something out of a jam-jar is fun. :)
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Nis
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Location: France

Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:04 am

In my experience, red rooibos always has the same flavour, with the main difference being where on the delicate-robust scale it is. Wild rooibos tends to be less delicate.
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