Sweets are my vice. I like pretty much most things sweet: ice cream, chocolate, cookies, strawberries, and if it's not sweet, I make it so: sugar in coffee, honey in tea, vanilla soy with my cereal, sugar on grapefruit, kettle corn popcorn... you get the idea. So since my sweet tooth is around pretty much 24/7 and I can't always be eating the sugar that I want.
A perfect way to stave off that sweet tooth is by having a cup of tea! Not only is tea used as a medicinal appetite suppressant but many blended teas, or tisanes to be exact, are already naturally sweet and have practically zero calories, unless you use your own sweetener. Therefore tea works as a perfect calorie free substitute.
Some of my favorites include
Boulder Blues, which is a fantastic blend of
two green teas with a strawberry rhubarb flavoring and is great brewed hot or cold. The first time I had this tea I was floored. I had always thought of green tea as something to choke down because I knew it was good for me. Having Boulder Blues was my first entree into the blended tea world. Since Boulder Blues is a green tea blend it is very high in anti-oxidants and so I'm not only getting my sweet fix but drinking something that is 100x healthier than soda, a coffee latte, or even juice.
Another one of my favorite teas to satisfy my sweet tooth is
Creme Caramel. Creme Caramel is a black tea blended with caramel bits. If you're in the mood for a foamy coffee drink, instead, make a concentrate of this amazing black tea and add your own steamed milk and all that you're giving up of the calories are what's in the milk!
Lastly I think every single person in this country should own a tin of
Red Rocks. Red Rocks is made with the Rooibos herb, which is from a South African bush, and is blended with vanilla and almond to give it a sweet kick right from the start. Rooibos is incredibly healthy for you and if you're in the mood for a late night snack but don't want to sacrifice the calories, substitute a cup of Red Rocks with a bit of honey and you're in for a treat! (pun intended)
(chocolate cake photo from http://knol.google.com)
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The previous post reminds me of some serious tea couture - the Red Dress created a few years ago by designer Brett Cooper. After being commissioned by Celestial Seasonings to make a red gown from their tea packaging, Cooper transformed nearly 700 packets of tea into this red gown and matching hat, purse, and heels. Celestial Seasonings donated a portion of sales of this brilliant Red Dress to WomenHeart, the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. Kudos to our Boulder neighbors for fundraising in such a fun & whimsical way! 
Their goal was to also help raise awareness that black tea may actually help lower cholesterol, a major factor of heart disease. The link between black tea and heart health has been supported by numerous scientific studies. You can find our current list of black teas here: Organic Blue Mountain Nilgiri (the one I'm happily sipping currently), Organic New Moon Darjeeling, Bolder Breakfast, Earl of Grey, Creme Caramel, and Mango Tango.
