So, I have decided that I want (need) to cut back on my carbonated beverage intake. I mean, I don't drink a lot of soda, but it has been bothering me so I want to drop it.
I have one can with lunch, and sometimes (usually) one can on my drive home. I have a travel mug of coffee on my drive in to work, and drink between 20oz and 40oz of water throughout the day.
I was thinking about tea. I could brew a whole bunch on Sunday's and store it in the refrigerator during the week, pouring some into a sealable container every day. Only problem is sweetening the tea. I want to cut back on straight up sugar as well, so I would need to find an alternative, preferably natural. Maybe honey?
I wouldn't store the tea, just brew it when you need it. Honey is nice with tea, but try without sweetening it for a while, I've adjusted to non sweetened tea and I'm really enjoying it a lot more.
Tea is one of the few things I've never had sugar with. I recently started cutting out more sugar, so now have coffee without too. You get used to it surprisingly quickly.
Red Bush/Rooibos tea is naturally fairly sweet. You may still have to sweeten it, but not half as much as black tea. It is caffeine free, too.
There are a ton of different teas to choose from.
You can make your own cordials; they can be pretty healthy.
Fruit juice. I would recommend watering them down though, due to their high sugar content. Apparently your body can't really tell much of a difference between a glass of orange juice and a can of soda, in terms of sugar.
Beer is a pretty wholesome beverage, too. Fairly low calorie. Just not several of them. The best are ales and stouts.
Storing tea for a week doesn't sound like a good idea. I drink hot tea with honey, but tea from the day before just doesn't taste good in my opinion. To store it a better option is ginger ale. Just grate a little bit of ginger, add water, lemons and molasses, strain and store. Tastes very good too.
Cucumber works well in regards to flavoring water. Also I recommend that you drink diet Powerade and any non carbonated drink. Yes these have that so called cancer causing chemical in them but you are going to die someday anyway. Also I recommend green tea/Chinese tea.
Yeah, so alcoholic beverages are out. I eat lunch at work, so beer would be frowned upon. Would be nice, though.
I will not drink 'diet' anything. Can't stand the taste of artificial sweeteners. Plus they give me headaches.
I got some green tea and black tea. I just ordered a 16oz Nalgene container that should fit in my lunch box. I plan on making one container and letting it cool overnight in the refrigerator for the next day.
I used to chug down Coke until I realized I didn't even drink it for the taste, just to get my mouth wet. Now I just drink water and milk all the time. The odd coke when eating out or drinking some liquor.
I haven't had any soda or other sugary drinks (except alcohol because priorities) since 1 Jan. 2014.
To be honest, it was weird for the first like month or two, but once I got used to not drinking them everything was great. Now even things like juice will sometimes taste exceptionally sweet to me.
Anyways, unsweetened tea, flavored seltzer, and plain ol' water are your friends.
If you MUST have sweetener (hint: you don't), go for honey, stevia, agave, maple syrup or the like. Like tea, plants are your friends.
Forget brewing and storing tea in the fridge, just get some flavored Ahmad black tea: Amazon link
We've been drinking this stuff for years. Lot's of flavors, all are great. And it's not that fruity-tasting flavored tea, it's proper black tea with some flavoring added to it. That strawberry is one of my favorites. Also really like the blackcurrant one: Amazon link
Recently I've started drinking lots of green tea. I usually use a flavored sort, but always 2 tea bags. This is the one I like the most: Amazon link
NOTE: I buy regular packs here at a local grocery store, I just used Amazon for examples.
I bought a thing of different caffeine free teas and they work great for some flavour. A few are a little sweetened but only like 10 or 15 Cal for a cup so I don't really care
Edit: I have some other tea that I brew and chill that works pretty good. Keeps about a week but the pitcher is water tight. I wouldn't keep a regular pitcher for a week.
You can also try boiling frozen/fresh fruit in water, letting it cool and pouring it in a pitcher fruit and all. You could sweeten it with honey or some other more healthy sweetener if you wanted too I guess. Then let it chill. It's very good without having a very strong taste, or at least I like it.