Five Fridays. Er, Friday Five. Something like that.

[kyrielle]

Name your favorite....

1. Candy

...hmmm. Used to be Cadbury's Cream Eggs, but they're too rich for me now. I'm torn between Swedish Fish, and Nestle Crunch with Caramel. The latter is better. The former is really good and sufficiently on my diet that I don't have to fret about them near as much.

2. Cookie

Snickerdoodles. Snackwell's has several low-fat to no-fat chocolatey things that are good, but not as good.

3. Donut

The glazed-top rounds with the raspberry jelly inside. Maple bars are a close second. There's no such thing as a donut that's worry-free on my diet, I don't think.

4. Cold Drink

Toss-up between Vanilla Max (Albertson's Vanilla Coke copycat, which outlasted the original, thank heavens) and A & W Root Beer. I think the root beer wins, though.

5. Hot Beverage

Bleh. I have yet to find a good hot beverage (which is a pity as they help my sinuses - I now drink tea regularly, but I've yet to find one I like, just a few that aren't as vile). I used to love various hot chocolates, but the ones I like have milk in and of course, now that I'm actually avoiding dairy or taking pills, I'm even more sensitive. Tying my stomach in knots is not fun, regardless of taste.

Comments

[juliann.livejournal.com]

(I've only had rooibos in blends with vanilla and honey, I've never been brave enough to try it by itself :) )

Black tea, plain, regular or decaffeinated, is not too bad, though not ideal.

I don't know how much experimenting you have done with black teas. I'm pretty picky with mine: I only like really Darjeeling. I can't stand Lipton or any other "common" brands (iced tea is another issue) and I don't like Earl Grey or English/Irish/whatever Breakfast. Gunpowders are OK. I also like milk (I use goat's milk or nondairy creamer) in any black tea. (And in pure peppermint sometimes.)

With hints of lemon or orange flavoring it's comforting sometimes but annoying others, so I keep those around for when the mood hits.

I don't know if it would be too strong of a citrus taste but a nice black-with-citrus is Lady Grey by Twinings. I don't know how easy that is to come by over there but here it's in every supermarket. I think Oolong also has citrus notes, but I am not 100% on that.

Most herbal teas I do not care for; the one exception is a plain mint one from Stash that is tolerable.

I find that a bit odd as for the most part pure peppermint should taste like any other pure peppermint...

I tried a number (using sampler packs, so I missed anything that doesn't come in those) from Stash and Celestial Seasonings and they largely either tasted to me somewhat like I'd expect boiled grass to taste,

Yuck, I am sorry you've had such a bad experience!

or they tasted like someone had boiled fruit juice. (One of the lemon ones tasted and looked like boiled pink lemonade.)

Just for clarity, what is the problem, that it tasted like fruit juice or that it tasted boiled? :) Many herbal blends have very fruity flavours so that will make a difference. (To put it another way were they the kind of things that you would drink if they had been cold?)

I have somewhat odd tastes in herbals as I tend to like the "flower flavoured" ones: rosehip, hibiscus, jasmine, honeysuckle, dandelion (alone in blends or with green or white tea). I don't mind camomile but find it rather boring. I like mint plus flowers, which are the dominant notes in the tension tamer and mood mender blends (they also contain valerian which is also boring alone but I like with other things).

I just find it slightly sad that when I want a hot drink (which is a lot with the allergies), I'm reduced to the ones I don't mind. There isn't one I really like, never mind love. *wry* Any thoughts or suggestions based on what I've liked and disliked so far? Though I admit, I'm dubious whether it's possible to find a tea I'll really like.

Well there's not a lot I can suggest yet but I have some more questions that might help me get a handle on your tastes. Do you like hot apple cider (either plain or with cinnamon or other spices)? Do you/can you drink wine? Have you ever had hot (lactose-free) milk -- on its own not in chocolate or something else?

If you like cinnamon there is a nice cinnamon and black that I used to get in the US but I can't recall the brand name, only that it was in individually wrapped packets with gold edging and a black band at the top with the brand name printed in the black.

Do you use sweeteners with teas? I find that some really really need it for me to like it, but I've also noticed a difference between a sugar substitute and honey. (I try to consume local, unpasteurized honey which works as a very mild version of a flu shot building up my tolerance to local pollens. Putting it in tea is a handy way to add it in.)

I know this doesn't come under the same category as a drink, but before my msg sensitivity made me throw out all pre-packaged foodstuffs I would often have a cup of soup at work, generally the kind that was mostly broth and didn't require a spoon. It usually had the same sinus-opening effects for me. I don't like tomato soup myself but I know people who do tomato soup with a shot of tabasco to loosen things up.

There's a make-your-own tea place in town that has dozens of ingredients that you can custom mix but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet! Still I suspect that with so many options you may eventually find something you like :)

[kyrielle]

I don't know if the Stash one is "pure peppermint" or not. I just said "plain mint" referring to the taste, and the name doesn't mention anything else. I've tried one that was called peppermint in one other brand, I forget which, the taste was not great, but who knows.

I avoid most of the flower ones. I have too many allergies to the ingredients, that does not make me trust them as something to drink!

Hot apple cider...spiced is unpleasant, plain is okay but I can't have it much (apple juice in general gives me issues because of acidity, I can drink it but I can't drink it casually and that's what I need in a hot beverage). Also I mostly need this at work, and anything that requires refrigerator space until I use it is a no-go since some days there isn't any (and apple cider from a packet is among the more vile things I've encountered).

Wine - I don't drink anything with alcohol in, almost every single one tastes vile to me, every wine I've ever tried (not many, I grant) included on the list.

Milk - I don't like the taste of milk, and didn't even before I knew about my lactose intolerance. I haven't ever tried it heated but I can't imagine that would be much better, and, see refrigerator issues.

I tried bullion at one point but it is too strong and salty a flavor, some days it is okay and others it is just nasty. Also I don't really want/need the salt, even on days I can tolerate it.

Ah, well. I didn't really expect to find anything great. I'll take a shot at some more teas...maybe...it's really very tiring to keep trying the things out, but I suppose I should. (The other options have pretty much exhausted the variety available to me, so....) There's a fancy tea shop in the mall, but I'm ignoring them because it's all devotees and my coworker who went there says it's also all loose teas. I want something simple and easy. If that means it's "just tolerable" - at least I can deal with it in the middle of my work day without fuss. :P