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Giving up sugar in tea

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Clitheroekid
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Giving up sugar in tea

#23812

Postby Clitheroekid » January 17th, 2017, 4:15 pm

I rarely make NY resolutions as I know I’ll have broken them well before the end of January, but this year I decided to give up sugar in my tea.

I previously took one spoonful, so I’d anticipated it wouldn’t be that difficult.

People I spoke to who’d done it said it would probably take around 2 – 3 weeks before I adapted.

But it’s now nearly 3 weeks in and my tea still tastes bitter and unpleasant. I used to really look forward to my first brew of the morning, but now I’d almost rather do without it.

It’s strange, as I don’t have a sweet tooth in general. I rarely buy sweets and hardly ever order a dessert in a restaurant.

If I was reasonably sure I’d adapt within another 2 – 3 weeks I’d persevere. But if it’s going to take months then to hell with it – my mental wellbeing counts for a lot more than any marginal health benefits.

In any case, as I would normally only have perhaps 2 or 3 cups a day the amount of sugar I was taking in was hardly a massive health risk.

So what’s the experience of others who have given up – or tried to and failed?
Moderator Message:
This general discussion has been moved from DAK - Chris

melonfool
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23816

Postby melonfool » January 17th, 2017, 4:24 pm

What milk do you use?

And what teabags (some are more bitter than others)?

I've never taken sugar but people I know who have cut it out have done it gradually, going down to a half spoon, then a quarter, then a weeny bit, until gradually it's almost nothing anyway.

If you maybe change your teabags at the same time that might help.

Some milk is sweeter than other milk - I find full milk is sweeter so if you're using half fat or skimmed maybe go up a grade until you get more used to it?

Black tea can be bitter, I sometimes drink black, but some I can't drink without milk as they are too tannin-y, so try a different make of teabag?

Or try rooibus without milk or sugar?

Mel

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23817

Postby gryffron » January 17th, 2017, 4:25 pm

I had loads of mugs of different sizes. I'm not very good at washing up so usually make my way through most, alright all, of the collection of mugs. Same sugar - by habit - as most people do*. Quite quickly large mugs tasted ok, small mugs tasted too sweet. So over a couple of years I gradually cut down.

But like you I can't get to 0. I still take about half a spoon of sugar. And can't stand it with none. But I figure half a spoon/cup is unlikely to kill me.

* Because when asked "sugar?" who replies "how big is the cup?". So it IS just a matter of habit, rather than taste.

gryff

UncleEbenezer
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23821

Postby UncleEbenezer » January 17th, 2017, 4:36 pm

This is from distant memory: I was in my late teens when I gave up sugar in tea.

What worked for me was when I started exploring different flavours of tea. I think I first found I loved Formosa Oolong with no sugar, then Earl Grey. After a week or two drinking those, I moved back to "regular" teas (like assam, ceylon, darjeeling) and found they too now tasted far better without sugar than with it.

(Student days - Beer was way too expensive for anything more than an occasional indulgence, but we made up for it with interesting tea and coffee).

UncleIan
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23823

Postby UncleIan » January 17th, 2017, 4:39 pm

I used to be a milk + 2 tea drinker, but I wasn't really a tea drinker, I'd only drink tea when camping*, basically to get me going in the morning, as breakfast is usually a while away.

If memory serves I went down to 1, then cut it out completely, but as I say, I didn't drink tea very often, so there was probably quite a big break, weeks and weeks, between drinks. This might be key, maybe if you stop drinking tea all together for a bit, and then when you go back to it, go back to it without sugar, maybe your brain will just go "oooh tea!" and not mind about the lack of sugar.

* Or being polite around someone's house, obviously a tea drinker. If they offer you tea and you say "got any squash?" you get funny looks as a grown up.

Meatyfool
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23824

Postby Meatyfool » January 17th, 2017, 4:40 pm

CK,

I saw the thread title and thought "aha - sorted in 2 weeks", but seems you haven't managed it.

I can see why you question the benefit on 2-3 cups of tea. In fact that amount of sugar is (to pardon the expression) peanuts compared to the level of sugar you will be consuming, mostly "hidden" in other products.

So, if you still want to do the virtuous thing and cut the sugar (no matter how small), ditch something else and enjoy your tea.

One or two less digestives with each cup? Pass on the last whisky of a Friday night? :mrgreen:

Meatyfool..

ten0rman
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23827

Postby ten0rman » January 17th, 2017, 4:47 pm

I have to say that well over 20 years ago, maybe 30 or so, I quite literally stopped taking sugar in tea overnight. From what I can remember it didn't take long to get used to it.
Since then I've tried to cut down sugar consumption elsewhere, in eg coffee. So far I'm down to half a teaspoon of sugar and the same again of coffee. Frankly, the thought of sugarless coffee does not attract. Porage (Spelling?) is down to half a teaspoon. And milk, well originally full cream, but for the last few years is halfcream - full cream now makes any drink seem sickly.

ten0rman

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23834

Postby midnightcatprowl » January 17th, 2017, 4:59 pm

I took a spoonful and a half of sugar in every cup of tea (and growing up in the North East in the 50s/60s I drank an awful lot of tea) until the great sugar shortage (in the 70s?). People went quite crazy over the lack of sugar and would queue for hours to try to get some. I thought this behaviour so bizarre that I immediately gave up sugar in tea and coffee and refused to join the national panic. I found it remarkably easy to get used to an unsugared drink perhaps no more than a week (but maybe my determination not to join the national hysteria made it easier to adapt) and from then on found sugared tea or coffee quite disgusting. I've never taken sugar since but I do think that it makes you fussier about your choice of tea and coffee because for the first time you can genuinely taste the beverage. I've saved a lot of money on sugar over the years and spent a lot more on tea as a result.

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23839

Postby cicero » January 17th, 2017, 5:13 pm

Cheap tea is often bitter… spend more!

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23842

Postby stewamax » January 17th, 2017, 5:15 pm

Sugar masks deficiencies in tea and in the water used to make it.
Hard water makes tea taste thin and bitter. And poor-quality (which is almost all tea-bag) tea needs extended brewing to get any taste out of it and even then it is unpleasant.
I suggest CK does two things:
- buy a filter jug (e.g. Brita Elemaris); the larger the better (the 3.5l only holds around 2l of pourable water)
- buy some good tea. Don't bother with shops - I buy online from Gillards of Bath (try 'Governors Blend' which is the best Assam / Darjeeling mix I have come across)
Usual disclaimers.

I guess having a tea merchant is the poor man's version of having a wine merchant...

Lootman
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23849

Postby Lootman » January 17th, 2017, 5:27 pm

I used to put 3 teaspoonfuls of sugar in tea and coffee. I gag just thinking about that now. It was 30 years ago but I got off it totally, and have never gone back.

As others have suggested, I weaned myself off gradually. In fact it was a quarter teaspoon at a time. So I had a week at 2.75, then a week at 2.5, and so on. It probably took 3 months in all.

The funny thing is that if I accidentally have a drink with sugar in it now, it tastes as vile as a drink without sugar used to taste to me, so I think the change is unidirectional, once achieved. It's not like a real addiction in that sense.

It's probably not a coincidence that visits to the dentist are a lot easier and more pleasant now.

Do it!

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23904

Postby MrCake » January 17th, 2017, 7:39 pm

I used to take 4 teaspoons of sugar when I was a teenager. It gradually dawned on me that this was OTT, so I slowly reduced it, 3, 2, 1, 1/2, trace, then none. As far as I remember it was quite easy to achieve. Like other posters, can't stand tea with even a trace of sugar now, can't even share a teaspoon from a cup that has had sugar in it, just the liquid film on the teaspoon is too much.

stevensfo
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23929

Postby stevensfo » January 17th, 2017, 8:45 pm

I'd explore different teas and cut down on the milk. For me, there should only be a tiny few drops of milk, if any, whereas for my aunt and uncle, it seems to be mainly milk with the hint of tea. Yorkshire tea was a disappointment, while PG wasn't too bad.

I was always able to drink a coffee without sugar but tended to use aspartame in my tea. My wife's a neurobiologist and once showed me slides of labelled aspartame in the brain. It stays there for ages and nobody is quite sure what the long term effects are.

So I stopped everything. Took about 2 weeks, but these days I HATE any sweetness in my tea. The advantage was that my taste buds improved and I quickly became aware of subtle differences in taste. The disadvantage is that shop-bought desserts become yucky due to the high sugar that masks any taste, and you're likely to become very fussy about food and have to be diplomatic when eating in other people's houses. :-)

Go for it! You'll appreciate your food much more and be a lot healthier.

Steve

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23943

Postby redsturgeon » January 17th, 2017, 9:11 pm

I gave up sugar in tea and coffee in my 20s.

I didn't like the taste without sugar so I then started drinking both black which I much preferred.

I would not wish to go back to drinking tea with milk or sugar now.

I take my tea black but very weak, I drink green tea at a stronger strength. I drink my coffee as espresso or ristretto .

John

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23948

Postby staffordian » January 17th, 2017, 9:18 pm

CK, the point I'd make is that it will be worth it in the end. Not especially from the health point of view, but I'm sure once you are used to it, you will find the drink far more refreshing.

I grew up drinking coffee more than tea, but as Mum and Dad always had one and a half spoonsful of sugar in each, I had the same.

I'm not sure what made me decide to give it up, but I found it far easier to stop having sugar in tea than in coffee. I now find the slightest trace of sugar in either is revolting, and since giving it up, I've found both tea and coffee quench the thirst far more than they did when sweet.

Staffordian

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23951

Postby Lootman » January 17th, 2017, 9:21 pm

redsturgeon wrote: I drink my coffee as espresso or ristretto .

OK, I had to look up "ristretto". It's not on the menu at my local coffee joint. This is an amusing piece on it and, relevantly, it claims:

"If done properly, using a “kickin’ dub riz” in a milk based coffee may help customers cut back on sugar."

http://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2015/0 ... ristretto/

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23975

Postby Breelander » January 17th, 2017, 10:59 pm

stevensfo wrote:I was always able to drink a coffee without sugar but tended to use aspartame in my tea.


How different we all are. I can't drink coffee without sugar, but can drink tea with none (though I prefer a quarter-teaspoon full).

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23976

Postby wheypat » January 17th, 2017, 11:05 pm

I gave up 17 years ago (also Jan first)

I still miss it in every cup. I'm scared to try a cup now with sugar in it incase it tastes wonderful :( I think it took about 3 months to get used to bitter tea.

Clitheroekid
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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#23982

Postby Clitheroekid » January 17th, 2017, 11:17 pm

Hmm. thanks for all the replies, but it's very much a mixed message.

I'll give it another 3 weeks, but if I still don't like it I'm giving up. I'm not at all a morning person, and my first cuppa of the day is a critical incentive in dragging me out of bed. If I no longer look forward to it I can see that I'll just turn over and have a nice snooze instead.

In any case, particularly as the years tick by, I've concluded that life's too short to do things you don't want to when you don't have to!

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Re: Giving up sugar in tea

#24025

Postby UncleEbenezer » January 18th, 2017, 8:04 am

staffordian wrote:I'm not sure what made me decide to give it up, but I found it far easier to stop having sugar in tea than in coffee. I now find the slightest trace of sugar in either is revolting, and since giving it up, I've found both tea and coffee quench the thirst far more than they did when sweet.

Staffordian

Erk! That seems a bit strong. Do you also never indulge in coffee-based desserts or liquor coffees?

I now thoroughly dislike it in tea, to the extent that asian tea in Singapore (no sugar, but condensed milk with lots of sweetness) was hard to acquire the taste for.

But coffee is a different game. Espresso is my usual (since my time in Italy). I drink it the Brit way (no sugar), but I'm OK if someone serves it the Italian way (lots of sugar). Similar applies when I drink oldfashioned filter or percolated coffee: black no sugar by choice, but other variants OK.


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