I know someone would immediately jump in with water if I didn’t caveat that, haha. Tap water is the most frugal drink, yes I know, but for me plain ol’ water more of a basic survival thing. And I like to be happy too, not stuck permanently in survival mode, even if I’m also being frugal.
So.
One of my “vices”, if you can call it that, is fancy tea.
I’m American and we’re not really a tea-drinking culture, so I was taken by surprise when I got into drinking tea and learned you can get surprisingly nice quality loose leaf tea online that blows grocery store tea bags out of the water, and it’s not a terribly expensive habit. Grocery store tea in tea bags is basically ‘tea dust’ left over from processing better teas, and basically almost any loose leaf tea is a better quality than bagged tea dust, so you don’t have to break the bank to see immediate improvement in your tea quality.
And that surprised the heck out of me!
I eventually realized that’s because tea is a dry good and cheap to ship–it’s light, dry, packs small, ships well. Much easier to get your hands on than, say, alcohol or liquid drinks that are heavy or distributed in glass bottles.
So yeah. It’s not as frugal as water, but I found I can usually still have some nice tea around even if I’m pinching every penny, and it can help tide me through tough spots without the downsides of other vices (like drinking, smoking, etc.)
What are your guys’ favorite frugal drinks?
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Peppermint tea. If you have a garden you can grow it yourself. But you have to keep it from spreading everywhere.
I’m interested in growing some myself, so thank you kindly for the tip.
Also tea!
Any favorite types, or brands, or vendors?
I’m a fan of What-Cha.com, but they’re in the UK so I have to wait until it makes sense to do that international shipping. kuchata.com is in Denver and closer, but I also like Harney and Sons and Adagio Teas.
If you can, try a local international market. No matter what region of the world the stock is from they will likely have a tea aisle with loose leaf in it.
I’ve done that a few times, but the ones I’ve encountered have tended towards black breakfast assam tea types, and I like the lighter blacks and oolongs better. I’m sensitive to bitter tastes.
That’s my go to for loose leaf tea as well. My local one has it for like $5-$10 a pound.
Adagio for me. The staples: chai and earl grey (hot). Then I love to pick up one of their “fan blend” items just to have something way outside the ordinary.
Chicago’s Rare Tea Cellar, especially their Passionfruit Green Dream and Crema Earl Grey.
But I also like the Butterfly brand Fujian tea that I get 100 bags in the bright red box for a couple bucks at the Asian grocer. Or the Wagh Bakri 100-bag box of masala chai that I get for a couple bucks at the South Asian grocer.
Chicago’s Rare Tea Cellar
Whut? Is it actually in Chicago? I used to live there, but usually visited TeaGschwendner, although I think they might have closed their store since then…
It is, but IDK if they have a retail location.
I’m sensitive to caffeine so I have a few herbal teas that are my go to after 11am.
Kava when I’m working (supposedly reduces stress)Cold barley tea in the summer (very refreshing)
Rooibos cause it’s tasty. I often add stevia and vanilla and it feels like a sweet treat.
We’ve been drinking a lot of this lately Upton Tea Imports Season’s Pick Assam GFOP Organic
water with lemon? water with mint? carbonated water? sexual excretions? water with cucumber?
sexual excretions?
Sexual excretions are not necessarily frugal, unless they’re your own 💦
Been making my own kombucha recently…it’s still kinda tea but different enough to mention.
An honorable mention is hop tea when I want to sleep, it’s a lot cheaper than other sleep aides.
Something that requires a bit of investment but will pay for itself overtime is soy milk. Just rehydrate beans and put it in a soy milk machine and you get fresh soy milk. You can either drink that or make your own tofu for the cost of bulk soy beans. The machine can be pricy however.
Hop tea? Please elaborate.
in Germany this is boomer humor when referring to beer: chilled hops’ infusion
At least your boomers are funny. Haha
I keep a fountain cup from AM/PM to get refills on the rare occasion for just $1 at the fountain. They have a lot of juices (not just sodas) at most locations. Hell, the one closest to me has horchata, which is awesome. And the cup is so big, I can transfer to a pitcher and have juice for a few days.
Water with a little squirt of mio flavor
Oh! You reminded me. So, I learned that vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is basically a tart flavor. I already got a big tub of powdered vitamin c since I tend to struggle to keep it in my diet in other ways–but that kind of evolved to using it to flavor other drinks to “brighten” them a bit, because it’s just as much flavor as it is a vitamin. It basically turns drinks into almost-lemonade, without the lemon flavoring, and just the bright somewhat tart flavor.
What’s your favorite mio flavor?
I’m boring, I just like fruit punch. The tiny bit of malic and citric acids are a nice addition
I have too much tea. Probably 4kg of it in my cabinets. Still trying to get through it. I feel like cold brewing makes it go faster.
For me it’s the tea dust lol. I can’t get enough. I have some nice loose leaf stuff from the local bulk store that I’ll drink after work. But for the most part it’s name brand English Breakfast, orange pekoe, maybe an Earl Grey or green tea after lunch.
But I do so love a tall frosty glass of water too 😋
Tea for me, coconut milk occassionally but mostly water.
Hard cider.
If you buy the cider from the store when on sale (shelf, not fresh) it costs about $35 for the cider, sugar and yeast. If you know anyone with sour apples, you can cut the cost down to like $10-15 depending on how sweet the apples are.
That’s about (50) 12 Oz beverages, or like 75 to 25 cents a drink.
I’m American and we’re not really a tea-drinking culture
I’m from the South; speak for yourself!
Isn’t that more sweet iced tea?
Disclaimer: I’m an ignorant european :p
Yes, exactly.
What, you don’t think that counts?
I think sweet iced tea is a different beverage from tea.
Don’t get me wrong, I love me some good sweet tea, my gf lived in the south for some years and makes a killer sweet ice tea. But I still wouldn’t classify it as tea.
Personally I feel it’s closer to a non-carbonated soft drink. Probably because of the amounts of sugar, hah. It seems formulated more like a lemonade almost, just with tea as the flavor instead of lemons?
Red raspberry leaf iced tea. I make it myself and it’s fantastic.
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