I'll start by saying, I don't consider cold tea to be real tea... but I'm a tea purist and a bit of a snob when it comes to tea so do not take offense if you love cold tea... you do you. I drink green tea primarily, but I love white tea and many herbal teas.
I'll start with my favorite..
Matcha Green Tea - This and water are my fav beverages on this planet. I drink two cups of this every morning. If you ever want something that will make you feel very calm, but very focused and alert, this will do that (Google L-Theanine if you're interested in the compound that makes you calm). This was originally drank in China going back to the Tang dynasty by was brought to Japan at the end of the 11th century. As I mentioned, I'm a tea snob and it stems even further to green tea... if it's not Japanese, I won't drink it. Especially matcha... I primarily drink the tea that is sourced from the Uji region of Japan. There are many outlets that offer "farm-to-consumer" distribution and that is the best stuff to drink. This stuff is like vintage wine and there are different grades that you can get... most premium ceremonial grades can be very pricey. This tea is shade-grown for a period of time to basically force the tea to make more chlorophyll and antioxidants, which is why this stuff is so damn good for you
A lot of people don't like the taste of real ceremonial grade matcha, so they'll buy a special blend that is made for mixing into smoothies, which is fine if you're just looking for the health benefits, but I drink it because I love the taste as well. I also love the history behind tea and the ancient heritage.
Sencha Green Tea - This is what I'm drinking right now and is what I always drink after lunch. It's very mild and is what I tell people to drink that can't stomach matcha.
White Tea - This is essentially the tiny blossoms of the plant that all other common tea comes from (black and green)... it's very mild with a subtle sweetness to it. It's a bit more rare as the time limit with harvesting it is quite short.
Chamomile - This is my go-to tea for after-dinner. I drank it just by itself for years, but have since switched to a blend that has passionflower in it and a bit of spearmint, which is going to be my staple moving forward, it's delicious.
Yerba Mate - This, like matcha, is not for everybody. It's even more of an acquired taste than matcha. It's very earthy, but I love that taste. There's nothing else that tastes like it. You can also re-steep an infusion up to 3x. This is a great alternative to coffee, but this won't make you jittery... and it won't impact your sleep. In fact, it actually helps you sleep better. This herbal tea basically helps you be alert when you need to be alert and helps you sleep when it's time for you to sleep.
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