I was raised on southern sweet tea back in the 1970's. Over the years, I used three different brands of instant black tea mix to home brew sweet tea: Tetley, Nestea, and Lipton.
In 2008, I suffered the last of many Prostate flare ups that put me into the ER and back on pain meds and industrial strength anti-biotics. A consultation with my then new Primary Care Physician, had him taking me off caffeinated beverages for improved prostate/urinary health (I have experienced multiple urinary tract infections and kidney back ups since Thanksgiving of 1969 when I was hospitalized.
In 2008 I was using Nestea instant tea mix, and merely switched to their decaf instant, though I had to search hard for it in the local area. During the Covid silliness, they discontinued it, and I switched to Lipton Decaf Unsweet Instant tea mix, only to have them cease production in the fall of 2022 (obviously also due to Covid issues!
I had stocked up on the Lipton while it was available, but I know only have a half jar on hand. About 18 months ago while searching for a new decaf instant black tea mix, I found the Assam from Civilized Coffee, and procured a jar. After experimenting with various recipes for Sweet Decaf black tea, I started buying it regularly.
Instead of mixing it cold, I use 2 heaping teaspoons of tea with 2 to 4 teaspoons of white sugar and dissolve them in hot filtered water before blending with cold filtered water in a 2 liter pitcher. (With or without ice, it is very tasty and refreshing taking me back to my school days in VA and SC in the 1970's!)
Viola! Southern Sweet Tea (decaf) with no mess for a type II diabetic in stage III renal failure!
And note that since ditching caffeine in 2008, I have had no more prostate flare ups or urinary disorders!
The decaf Assam from Civilized Coffee, though not as cheap as the Lipton used to be, is a good value, and I use one 8 ounce jar per month (slightly more in hot weather) and enjoy it both hot and cold! (Note: Lipton jars the last few years were still available online, but the price had risen from $4.00 in 2020, to $7.00 when discontinued, to over $100/jar!
Makes the $14.95 for the Civilized Coffee seem very affordable!
