It's an allergy, not a choice

[AmbrosiaWriter]

I wish I did. I like hot tea in cold weather, but iced tea tastes like dirty water to me. Maybe I just need to find a good brand.

If there is a Tevana near you you could go in and ask them about their blended teas. They use straight up tea leaves to make all their teas (and you can buy the blends and such.) They aren't in the pouches and been sitting on the supermarket shelf for whoever knows how long. I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to talk to you about which of their blends is good for iced tea. (It's not pay-through-the-nose prices either.)

I think you can order online as well...

<3 Tevana.

[EricKei]

I'm not too big on hot teas, tho I will admit I haven't tried many.

As for iced tea, I cannot STAND brewed iced tea, the style typically used in restaurants, no matter how much lemon or sugar I add. I'd rather just drink good ol' Chateau Municipal (no lemon, please for [diety's] sake)... Bottled and make-your-own-from-a-powder (Lipton with lemon is my preference), I usually like...As long as there's plenty of lemon and sugar/sweetener, of course

[greek_jester]

Some people really have this mental block about what a "real" allergy is. Don't get me started on those idiots who go "you can't be allergic to it, it's organic!" When I reply "foxglove is organic. So is belladonna. Would you be willing to munch on a handful?" I tend to get a lot of BSOD looks.

I wish I did. I like hot tea in cold weather, but iced tea tastes like dirty water to me. Maybe I just need to find a good brand.

If you can get hold of dried hibiscus heads, you can make the most fantastic tea. Just boil them until the water is a rich red/burgundy (I tend to use 1 cup of heads per 5 cups of water), add sugar/artificial powdered sweetener to taste while it's still hot, let it cool, then pour it into as many empty bottles as you can find to sit in the fridge. It's much better than that off the shelf rubbish that's full of leaves & stalks, & horribly bitter.

IMPORTANT NOTE: hibiscus tea lowers the blood pressure, so if you're on any medication that can affect on your blood pressure, please talk to a pharmacist first to make sure you don't end up passed out on the floor.

[AccountingDrone]

If you can get hold of dried hibiscus heads, you can make the most fantastic tea. Just boil them until the water is a rich red/burgundy (I tend to use 1 cup of heads per 5 cups of water), add sugar/artificial powdered sweetener to taste while it's still hot, let it cool, then pour it into as many empty bottles as you can find to sit in the fridge. It's much better than that off the shelf rubbish that's full of leaves & stalks, & horribly bitter.

IMPORTANT NOTE: hibiscus tea lowers the blood pressure, so if you're on any medication that can affect on your blood pressure, please talk to a pharmacist first to make sure you don't end up passed out on the floor.

mmmmm Red Zinger tea - one of our go-to summer iced tisanes around here. Based on hibscus flowers. They also have a lemon zinger we like muchly as well.

I did not know hibiscus lowered blood pressure, I'll have to ask my cardiologist if I can drink it to excess [well maybe not to excess but more than I have been, I have been sticking to plain water typically.]

[Andara Bledin]

I should avoid HFCS sodas due to my weight, but I can't drink aspartame sodas, and finding an alternately-sweetened soda is the proverbial needle in the haystack.

If you're craving something sweet, it's probably better to go with an honestly sugary drink, anyway. Turns out when you put fake sugar in stuff and you're craving sugar, you just end up drinking more because the fake stuff usually doesn't make the cravings go away because you never get the thing your body actually wants.

I'm lucky in that I honestly like iced tea of most stripes, and drinking that in the afternoons has cut way down on both my sugar and caffeine intakes.

Some people really have this mental block about what a "real" allergy is. Don't get me started on those idiots who go "you can't be allergic to it, it's organic!" When I reply "foxglove is organic. So is belladonna. Would you be willing to munch on a handful?" I tend to get a lot of BSOD looks.

Let them know that poison ivy and poison oak are 100% organic, too. Would they like to go nap in some?

^-.-^

[greek_jester]

Let them know that poison ivy and poison oak are 100% organic, too. Would they like to go nap in some?

I'm in the UK, so nettles would be better. Good idea!

[Crossbow]

Some people really have this mental block about what a "real" allergy is. Don't get me started on those idiots who go "you can't be allergic to it, it's organic!" When I reply "foxglove is organic. So is belladonna. Would you be willing to munch on a handful?" I tend to get a lot of BSOD looks.

Huh-wha? Can't be allergic to organic? WTF? Wow. I never knew bees, mushrooms, shellfish, corn (yes, I have a friend that is anaphylactic allergic to corn), etc. were artificial. Interesting. I'll have to remember that tidbit of information.


Putz.

[Spork4pedro]

If you need to avoid HFCS soda, you're pretty much SOL

There's soda without HFCS? Is it a smaller local brand or a larger national one?

[Dasota]

MMM Throwback Pepsi and Mt. Dew. Also, if you can find it Johnny Ryan sodas.

[PhiSigGirl1988]

Jones Soda also has no high fructose corn syrup, but I'm not sure if it's sold outside of Michigan. If you can find Coke/Pepsi/Faygo in glass bottles, those also usually have no high fructose corn syrup.

Crossbow, the corn allergy isn't surprising to me. My best friend is allergic to corn, along with wheat, soy, oats, peanuts, tree nuts, strawberries, broccoli, and brewer's yeast. Thankfully, though, she doesn't go into anaphylactic shock with any of her allergies. She just get sinus infections, ear infections, and sometimes hives.

She has also gone through crap when trying to find out ingredients in stuff to see if she's allergic.

[ArcticChicken]

Jones Soda also has no high fructose corn syrup, but I'm not sure if it's sold outside of Michigan.

I've seen it around here (PA) some.

[Crossbow]

Jones Soda also has no high fructose corn syrup, but I'm not sure if it's sold outside of Michigan. If you can find Coke/Pepsi/Faygo in glass bottles, those also usually have no high fructose corn syrup.

Crossbow, the corn allergy isn't surprising to me. My best friend is allergic to corn, along with wheat, soy, oats, peanuts, tree nuts, strawberries, broccoli, and brewer's yeast. Thankfully, though, she doesn't go into anaphylactic shock with any of her allergies. She just get sinus infections, ear infections, and sometimes hives.

She has also gone through crap when trying to find out ingredients in stuff to see if she's allergic.

If she gets hives, she needs to be extra careful that it doesn't progress further.

As for the corn, yeah my friend can never go to the movies. The oils in the air from the popcorn will set her off. When she was working, the HR department had to make it known that making microwave popcorn anywhere in the 10 story building was an automatic termination offense. Yes, it's THAT bad.

If you're looking for non HFCS sodas, watch for Mexican imports (almost always cane sugar) or kosher (same thing). A good Jewish grocery store should have kosher Coke or Pepsi, at least around Passover.

[PhiSigGirl1988]

Oh wow, that's really bad.

Now that I think about it, I don't think my friend gets hives with her food allergies. I think she gets hives mostly from her outdoor/pet allergies, and that's only if she touches the things she's allergic to for a long time (grass, cats).

[EricKei]

There's soda without HFCS?

If you're looking for non HFCS sodas, watch for Mexican imports (almost always cane sugar) or kosher (same thing). A good Jewish grocery store should have kosher Coke or Pepsi, at least around Passover.

Crossbow beat me to it -- "international groceries" that are targeted towards specific immigrant groups (especially Mexican ones) will often have cane sugar rather than HCFS. To the best of my understanding, that nasty stuff is most frequently used here in the States (the introduction of New Coke was allegedly the point when most drinks moved over to the dark side) -- elsewhere, real sugar is the standard, not the exception.

I've only ever seen "Mexi"/sugar Coke in the past few years in glass bottles. They will often have nutrition labels that have been stuck on, rather than printed onto the glass itself. Pepsi uses "[BrandName] Flashback" to denote sugar-based soft drinks.

[Spork4pedro]

ah! We have Mexicoke EVERYWHERE here. Didn't know it had sugarcane instead.

We do also have Jones soda as well but it has become much more rare recently. We do still carry the Thanksgiving series around the holiday which btw...YUCK! mashed potatoes or gravy should not be in soda form! But kudos to the makers for getting damn close in taste.