What I've been doing the past couple of mornings....

Dear Rachel,

Lately, circumstances (such as upcoming finals, working full-time, while trying to maintain a workout schedule and enjoy the newly nice weather) in my life have me waking up earlier and staying up later. I enjoy the productive feeling, but I am much sleepier than usual.

So one morning I woke up craving a Chai tea latte, which I only buy on occasion and didn't currently have on hand. I made a deal with myself that I can only stop at Starbucks for breakfast on morning I go to the gym for my reward, but I had already slept too late for that. Besides, a tall Chai Latte at Starbucks with soy milk that I usually is over 200 calories (and I'm pretty sure closer to 300 calories) alone.

But how was I supposed to be motivated to get out of bed with nothing that would wake me up faster?

What do I have in the house? I asked myself.

The answer was Tazo Awake black tea. Only 2 calories a tea bag.

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To be completely honest, I don't really like black tea. I bought it to make ice tea with. Ice tea which I either add lemonade or lots of lemon too and this was a COLD morning. Ice tea did not sound great and putting pure lemon citrus in my stomach that early also seemed like a BAD idea. So what could I do with black tea that would wake me up?

That's when I discovered black tea lattes. It sounds so obvious now that I'm writing about it. I mean people add milk or cream to their tea all the time, but this is a little more than just adding milk or cream.

I first make a cup of black tea, then I pour about a half glass of skim milk in my to-go coffee thermos or choice that morning. I pour the tea on top of the skim milk and wahla! Black tea latte. Sometimes I will add the tiniest drop of honey in there too.

Now I know what you're thinking and I can't help but ask myself the same question...is this really good for me? Better for me than a latte I would pick up at Starbucks? I'm not really a health expert, but here is my logic as to why I think it is:

1. The Black Tea has only 2 calories, meaning technically when I don't add honey the only calories besides those 2 in this drink are in the skim milk, which at most I probably use about 100 calories worth of milk..cutting the calories more than in half. 
2. It does not make my heart race and then crash like espresso would, nor does it contain those fatty-but I admit sweet and delicious- syrups and sauces, meaning this is not only better for you than a Chai tea latte but any latte.

I know it still has caffeine, which isn't good for my high blood pressure, but give me a break I need this mechanism to stay awake if only for a few more weeks so I can get done what needs to be done. I also realize the black tea on it's own is probably staining my intestines and herbal tea would be better...blah blah blah...but again like I say give me a break.

What is your take on this Rachel? Was it incredibly mean of me to blog about my new found latte, just as you set a goal to give yours up? Would you even count this as a latte? I admit I might be calling it that because it makes it taste better....

Sincerely,

Angela