Giving up caffiene - help what replace my addiction to tea?!

I agree redbush tea is an acquired taste. When my sister made tea for herself and my Dad, without realising there were two different types of teabag by the kettle, their faces were a picture having used the wrong bags!

Even though I'd often alternate caffeine free with caffeine throughout the day switching to no caffeine at all has meant that I'm no longer getting up several times a night to go to the loo.

I don't refuse black tea if offered in someone else's house because the alternative is often instant coffee which I dislike. I love Sainsbury's Italian style ground coffee made in a French press.
At home I drink redbush with soya milk or Dragonfly earl grey redbush (Holland and Barrett) without milk. I can't tell the difference between the various brands of ordinary redbush tea so buy Sainsbury's own which is half the price. I prefer to let it brew for several minutes. The first cup of redbush in the morning is so good, so it's not caffeine I'm after.

I had to give up caffeine nearly 30 years ago - it was making my digestion work too fast. I didn't drink cola so no probs there, switched to decaff coffee and red bush tea (which I really liked) but was distraught over having to give up chocolate. And yes, found by accident that some medicines contain caffeine.

The last few years I have been able to drink the occasional 'normal' tea but still don't like the taste of decaffeinated tea. If I have a 'normal' coffee at any time of day it keeps me awake till 3 in the morning. However I have recently discovered Barley Cup from Holland & Barrett, which is made with roasted barley, rye and chicory and makes a nice change. I can also drink it in the evenings without being kept awake. My DIL told me about drinking this as a child in Poland and still being able to get it there, so I googled and found it in H&B. I gave her some and she says it tastes the same.

BTW, I have the occasional chocolate now too but only in the mornings!

Do you have a garden? Fresh herbs make lovely drinks, so much better than the dusty bags of the dried stuff. I drink mint, fennel or sage. Still love my coffee though.

Agree with Juliette - Yorkshire decaf doesn't taste any different from the caffeinated. Neither does decaf coffee. I changed about a year ago - trying to be healthy and I really can't tell the difference. Still enjoy both cuppas and they still seem to give me energy or a buzz - whatever! Beginning to think it's mostly in the mind! Cheers!

I never touch caffeine, haven't for years. I drink decaf coffee and herbal teas, mainly camomile and mint. Occasionally diet lemonade. Lots of rose wine.

I have had to avoid caffeine for 30 years and Yorkshire decaff is definitely my favourite. Clipper organic smells like wet dogs - avoid! Redbush is also a nice drink, with or without milk, but doesn't taste like "real" tea!

Thank you for the information on Redbush - I will have a look for it. I have my Yorkshire decaf for the next few days and I do have some peppermint tea in. It is funny what you don't know you don't know

You can get decaff Earl Grey - if you like Earl Grey to start with.

I've had no luck with decaff ordinary black tea. It tastes vile to me.

Fare Trade decaff tea. Cafe direct decaff.

greyduster yes Mma Ramotswe loves it.

How about peppermint tea which is an infusion.

The ladies of the No1 Ladies Detective Agency drink large quantities of it!

That should be South of course.

Redbush is the English translation for Suth African "rooibos" (Afrikaans) tea:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos

In SA it is often just called "bush tea".

So ... picked up the caffeine free Yorkshire tea, which will help, when doing my mother's shopping but realise that I know little about this area. What is Redbush? Is it just a make or some special way of making tea?

There are such wonderful caffeine free tea mixes available nowadays. These are my current favourites:

Taylor's Lemongrass and Ginger (it also has rosehip in it)
Heath and Heather Night Time ( camomile, spearmint, orange blossom and more)

And this one tops the list:

Waitrose Lovelife Camomile, Limeflower and Lavender.

When you do cut down/cut out caffeine it's surprising the effect one cup can have late at night; I was awake half the night once after doing so.

I've never been a big tea drinker, and I can't drink ordinary tea. I did drink Earl Grey but now only drink TickTock redbush, which IMHO has a much better flavour than other redbush teas. Being caffeine free I can drink it last thing at night and it doesn't keep me awake.

I drink 'normal' (Ceylon for preference) tea at breakfast time but most of the time I drink Redbush - I like the Dragonfly Earl Grey version. Coffee decided not to like me around 50 years ago. I have to be careful not to buy cold remedies that include caffeine as an ingredient.

These days I need all the caffeine I can get !

Go along the drinks aisle at the supermarket.

I also drink decaff.

Appologies for the rather weird heading; it should have read "what would replace my addiction to tea