Mark “dr. tea” Ukra continues to both educate and entertain us with his knowledge of tea.  His recent book “The Ultimate Tea Diet” has reached out to thousands of potential and current tea drinkers.  The book details tea’s (cami’s) many health benefits, and how you can incorporate tea into your diet to help with weight loss.  He is a compliment to the entire tea industry.

Although Dr. Tea would be the first to tell you that Rooibos is not tea, he would also say Rooibos is an excellent, healthy and caffeine-free alternative (tisane) to tea.  For the purpose of “craving-teas”, Rooibos seems to flavor well.  The caramel flavored Rooibos literally tastes like caramel – go figure.  It smells like candy from the time you open the package to the time it hits your lips.  Rooibos brews to create a dark liquor with a silky-smooth mouthfeel.  The caramel flavored tea helps to satisfy a sweet tooth.  I’m drinking Dr. Tea’s traditionally bagged Rooibos.  Just a few minutes of steeping in a near boiling cup of water is all it takes.  You’ll have a delicious cup of Rooibos with a deliciously sweet caramel aroma and flavor. I was very fortunate to get to try several of Dr. Tea’s craving teas, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.  More importantly, I enjoyed sharing the teas.

Visit Dr. Tea’s Ultimate Tea Diet

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Dr. Tea has been all over the Internet and TV-land promoting his book titled The Ultimate Tea Diet.  The book explains the many health benefits of tea, and how you can use tea to help reduce your intake of high calorie snacks.  By substituting fatty snacks for tasty tea creations, weight loss is a definite possibility.  Dr. Tea carries a line of teas he has dubbed as craving teas.  I’ve blogged about a few of his most popular loose leaf teas (marTEA’s dr. tea blogs).  For those of you that want the benefits of tea, but don’t wish to be bothered with loose leaf preparation, Dr. Tea offers some of his popular teas in a tea bag.  The pina colada tea I’m blogging about today came in a very standard and convenient tea bag.

The pina colada flavored tea easily exceeded my expectations.  This is a white tea with flavors of coconut and pineapple.  No, there is not any rum in this tea.  This is just a fun white tea that is perfect to be called a craving tea.  Dr. Tea describes a TEAna Colada Frostea in his book (see book for ingredients).  This would be the perfect tea to make the beverage.  With a little agave nectar to help sweeten this tea, you’ll be absolutely floored by the flavor.  It’s the kind of tea that just makes you smile.  You can enjoy the beverage guilt-free because it is less than 5 calories .  By adding agave nectar and sugar-free coconut syrup, you’ll feel like you’re drinking one of those high-calorie coffee drinks.

Visit Dr. Tea’s Ultimate Tea Diet

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Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium offers one of the best flavored white teas I’ve ever tried: Blueberry Pie White Tea. This tea is a total treat from start to finish. The fine white peony adds to the presentation of the dried product. The aroma of the dried Canadian Blueberries is absolutely breathtaking. What makes this tea special is the delicate balance of a fresh, light, naturally sweet white peony mixed with the natural flavor of fresh-picked blueberries. You will smile as you drink this tea. White tea is low in caffeine, but it is high in flavor and antioxidants. If you really want to treat yourself to an excellent loose leaf white tea, this is it.

• Visit Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium

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I know what you’re thinking, “chocolate cream pie flavored tea?” I thought the same thing. Surely, there is no way that tea can taste like chocolate cream pie…well, not only can it taste dessert-like, it helps cut the cravings for the real thing.

Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium describes the tea as: Our traditional blend of organic black tea which is hand picked from select gardens in China and India, combined with bits of chocolate and Tahitian vanilla cream to provide a robust flavor, perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth at less than 5 calories per cup.

I was absolutely floored by the rich chocolate scent of the dried tea. When you pop the lid on the tea tin, the scent immediately puts a smile on your face. The flavor of the tea is equally as impressive as its scent. The chocolate flavor mixes well with the Tahitian vanilla cream. The black tea supports all of these flavors very well. This tea is best steeped for 2 minutes in water that is around 195 degrees. I had several people try this tea, and all of them were amazed. The goal with a tea like this is to substitute high calorie snacks for a healthy alternative – tea. Dr. Tea refers to this tea as one of his craving teas. As you can see in the picture there are real chocolate morsels mixed throughout the tea. Dr. Tea’s book “The Ultimate Tea Diet” has a plethora of tea related information, and the book discusses how tea can help boost your metabolism and help you lose weight.

• Visit Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium

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Orange Sherbet Green Tea is one of Dr. Tea’s signature craving teas. This tea came from Dr. Tea’s Tea Garden & Herbal Emporium. I was very excited to try this tea for many reasons. Orange sherbet is one of my favorite ice creams. The philosophy behind craving teas is to substitute the high calorie snacks with a healthy and tasty tea selection. Tea can simultaneously help boost your metabolism and help you shed some pounds. Recently, Dr. Tea authored a book titled “The Ultimate Tea Diet.” The book discusses in great detail the many health benefits of tea, and how to empower the world’s number two beverage (second only to water) to help lead a healthier life style by replacing snacks with tea. The book is a great source of tea knowledge for both the tea beginner and expert.

The orange sherbet green tea makes for a delicious cup of flavored green tea. The tea is a mix of green sencha, pieces of orange, tropical flowers, and Tahitian vanilla. I really enjoyed the citrus flavors mixing with the green tea. The touch of vanilla in the flavor is what separates this tea from other citrus flavored teas. I enjoyed this tea both hot and iced. Just keep your water temperature down around 185 degrees to avoid a bitter brew. The next time you feel like running to the ice cream shop, make yourself a cup of orange sherbet green tea and beat the craving.

• Visit teagarden.com for Dr. Tea’s craving teas

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One of my favorite tea personalities, Dr. Tea (Mark Ukra) has authored a book to help you leverage the power of tea to improve your diet. Make tea the main ingredient in your life. For book details visit www.ultimateteadiet.com.

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The tea scene would not be complete without personalities like Dr. Tea. Mark Ukra (aka Dr. Tea), is the co-owner of the Tea Garden Herbal Emporium in West Hollywood. I noticed Dr. Tea in the History channel documentary Modern Marvels: Tea. For those in attendance at the World Tea Expo, you could not miss his bright orange lab coat that is one of the trademarks of Dr. Tea’s style. If you’ve seen Modern Marvels you can’t miss Dr. Tea’s interviews. His enthusiasm and knowledge for tea mixed with his infectious personality makes for a very entertaining individual. Dr. Tea is not a doctor. In the interviews I’ve read, he makes it very clear that he is not a doctor. “Dr. Tea” was a nickname given to him because of his extensive knowledge for tea. He means no disrespect to the medical professionals. That said, the nickname really suites him. If you can, try to find Modern Marvels: Tea to see his interviews. He literally inspired me to be more passionate about tea. For example, although I blog about tea and drink more tea than anyone I know, I realized I wasn’t doing enough to truly learn the finer details of tea. When I watched his interviews, he holds the dry tea. He puts his nose in it. Obviously, you may not want to stick your nose in tea that your guests are going to drink, but for me to truly appreciate tea I’ve learned to hold it in my hands. It may sound crazy, but by holding the tea and really focusing on the leaves you start to pick-up on the quality of the leaves. Anyway, check out Dr. Tea’s website. This guy is really entertaining. If you are in West Hollywood, you definitely want to visit the Tea Garden Herbal Emporium.

• Visit the Tea Garden Herbal Emporium and learn more about Dr. Tea

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