For over a decade I have loved different kinds of tea, both iced and hot. Recently, however, my husband and I have picked up a habit of drinking tea every day. In Thailand we had Jasmine tea every evening, it became so much a part of our routine it was hard to live without.

Our tea drinking habit has been a great way to find relief from various aches and pains, and a healthy way to relax, stay energized or enjoy a tasty drink without added calories. Here are some tips to get you started on your tea drinking habit.

1. Get an electric tea kettle

In Thailand, the place where our tea drinking habit began, all the hotels we stayed in had special electric tea kettles that made brewing tea even easier, it was much quicker than a stovetop kettle or a microwave.

As soon as we got back to America we looked for an electric tea kettle like the ones we used in Thailand. At Target there was a variety to choose from. We ended up picking the fancy glass one with custom temperature settings and a loose-leaf tea infuser, which made brewing loose-leaf tea for four people super easy. I recommend getting one with a loose-leaf tea infuser because loose-leaf tea is amazing and an infuser makes it so easy to make.

2. Try loose-leaf tea

If you have the option, get loose-leaf for every tea flavor you can. It is about the same price as teabags but the flavor is rich and fresh. With an infuser, it is no harder than brewing with a teabag. One of my favorite teas, jasmine tea is always best as loose-leaf, and some of the best brands can only be bought this way. So definitely give it a try.

3. Get some awesome tea mugs

I personally like moderately sized, rounded ceramic mugs. There are a variety of mug shapes, sizes, and themes to match whatever you like. Get some mugs that you like to make your tea drinking fun. I also found out there are special tea mugs with their own mini infusers, so that is an option too and might make brewing your tea on the go even easier.

Besides having nice ceramic mugs for home, have a travel mug or thermos for when you want to take your tea to go. I like bringing my thermos with tea whenever we have a little road trip.

4. Try new kinds of tea

The vast selection of teas to choose from is amazing, I think it’s infinite. Trying new teas keeps things interesting, yes, you should stock up on all your favorite staples, but branching out and trying new kinds is so much fun.

If you have not tried jasmine tea, give it a try, it’s a nice delicate and relaxing tea with a mild flowery flavor. Another interesting tea is rose tea which you can get as white or black tea. Rooibos is a wonderful herbal tea with a mild spice to it, it’s caffeine free but so delicious; give this tea a try, it’s worth it.

5. Try medicinal teas

With just about any ailment I got to tea for relief and healing. For any respiratory needs drink peppermint tea, it’s very soothing on the lungs and helps with any chest cold or congestion. For nausea or stomach upset drink ginger, lemon ginger, or mint tea. Ginger is kind of a miracle when it comes to stomach upset and nausea.

Recently I discovered raspberry leaf tea it’s supposed to help ease menstrual cramps, I found it to be very soothing and it helped me to get through those few painful days. Echinacea tea is the go-to for immune health and for any cold or flu symptoms and it tastes quite nice too. There are countless healing teas out there.

6. Brew your own iced tea

I love iced tea just as much as hot tea and drink it multiple times a day. It’s very easy to brew your own iced tea. Lipton has cold brew black tea bags. I get the family sized tea bags and put three of them into a gallon pitcher of warm water. Bob them up and down to let the flavor seep in.

I squeeze 1-2 fresh lemons into the water, and I get fresh mint leaves, rip them up and drop them in. Then I put the pitcher in the fridge and let it sit until I’m ready to drink it. The mint and lemon sweeten it and I don’t even add any sugar.

Green tea, raspberry, peach, berry, and other flavors also make for great iced teas so you can play around with different recipes and find what you like. If you don’t add much sugar, iced tea is a delicious healthy alternative to drinking soda. My husband is drinking iced tea now with his meals instead of coke.