As a dancer, I spend a lot of time on my toes. These are four teas and an herbal infusion that keep me on my toes, whether because of an energy boost, or because I never quite know what to expect from them:

Gyokuro: This top-tier Japanese green tea has a short steep time due to its delicacy and high quality. It sometimes needs as little as 30-45 seconds, which, by the time you’ve poured the water into the teapot, is not very long at all. Many is the time that I’ve been caught off guard and had to leap across the room to remove the infuser from the teapot so that it didn’t oversteep.

White Earl Grey: This is a tea that I enjoy, but constantly have to recalibrate my expectations about. Its appeal is that, being a white tea, it has a negligible amount of caffeine, but still has that hint of bergamot that I so enjoy in my Earl Grey. Although both teas smell similar, it is an entirely different tea from black Earl Grey. And even though I know that, I always have a moment during my first sip where I have to reacquaint myself with this tea. Perhaps it is because I drink it far less often than black Earl Grey, so the taste memory of the black flavoured tea is much stronger.

Yerba Mate: High in caffeine, it’s no wonder that this herbal infusion keeps me on my toes. With a caffeine content close to that of coffee, for this non-coffee-drinker, Yerba Mate is saved for those occasions when I really need an energy boost to get me through the day.

Vanilla Tea: Teas flavoured with vanilla are a hit and miss area for me. This applies to any tea base (black, green, oolong, etc.) although most of the teas I encounter with vanilla are black, or a blend of black tea and something else. I have encountered some that I really enjoy, but also a lot that I really haven’t. So, as a flavour category, vanilla teas certainly keep me on my toes.

Irish Tea: Whilst Irish blends of black tea do not have the same caffeine content as Yerba Mate, the Irish blends do tend to be on the stronger side. They give me a good energy boost to keep me going, but also keep me on my toes in terms of steeping time. These black teas are ones that I cannot let oversteep, because they quickly get too bitter for my taste.

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