Are you a fan of hot drinks too?There’s just something special and cosy about them. Have you ever had orange 🍊 tea? It’s delicious! Every now and then, I use oranges in place of limes and lemons 🍋 for tea in the morning ☀️ . This doesn’t count as breakfast; by “morning,” I’m talkin’ about say 4:30 or 5am when I wake up. Breakfast comes a few hours after for me.

Alright, onto our “Tea Talk.” Limes grow on a lot of trees here in Barbados, so they’re pretty easy to find. For oranges, it’s the supermarket. Citrus teas – like orange tea (in the pic coming up) help address and relieve any congestion, tone the skin, and keep the cold at bay. Aside from being an aromatic and tasty tea that helps to prevent and fight the flu, this cancer-kickboxing tea is high ☝️ in Vitamin C and antioxidants. Add the peel for extra nutrients and sabor!

Skin tip to treat hyper-pigmentation: instead of throwing away any extra peel, wipe your face with it. Not the pieces you use in the tea itself, but any extra (pre-washed) slices. The oil on the inside of the rind revitalizes the skin and is like a natural moisturizer. This works for me in monitoring melasma, and was a part of my regime to treat and get rid of dark areas previously on my forehead and cheeks.

🎼 “If ya love hot drinks – put ya cup inna de air” ☕️ 🙋🏽‍♀️ ~ the pic above is a cup of LIME TEA with a lil cinnamon, spice, and some 🍯 honey. You can use lemon too; the taste is a less sharp and tangy but it’ll still be effective as a soothing and aromatic citrus blend. Drink a glass of room temperature water within about 10-20 minutes if you have a recording session or are getting behind the mic for a presentation, as this tea can make your mouth a bit dry. Stay hydrated.

I recommend these teas to my vocal clients to help jumpstart the Voice in the morning, assist with food digestion (it’s not good to sing with on a full stomach), and to clear any congestion.

Bayleafand lemongrassmake a great combo too. The bayleaf (an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal nutrient packed leafy gift from a tree) has a revitalizing twang similar to ginger and a pungent energizing aroma (yum!), while the lemongrass adds a subtle yet sweet zing to the mix. Lemongrass is another cancer-kick-boxer that also helps with digestion, and to relieve stress and anxiety. This one’s a good tea to wake-up the Voice quickly, so it’s a good hot drink to prep your vocals for early morning interviews, podcasts, onstage moments, and presentations.

Oats are filling but not fattening (phew!) so having a bowl can satisfy your appetite while nourishing your body and helping shed excess weight. At the moment, I’m having a bowl a day (in the morning), and compelled to start adding different toppings to keep the breakfast dish fresh and fun, ’cause after a while they can get a bit “meh.”

Oats are delicious with spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, spice) and sweetener (sometimes I use brown sugar or honey.) In place of sweetener, sliced and diced fruits 🍎, granola, raisins, almonds are fabulous. Any other topping ideas that work well with them? I’m thinking of trying them with Caribbean seasonal fruits (except soursop; the name’s pretty self-explanatory.) Feel free to share; I’d love to learn new additions to make delicious oat meals.

Related: Green matcha tea making at Novelteas TeaHouse & Bistro

Related: TeaHouse In Barbados