I never thought there would be a time in my life where I would personally want to thank Simon Cowell.  Not for leaving Idol, wearing V-neck shirts, being British, having chest hair, or giving honest opinions but because he introduced me to something amazing.

A few weeks ago Simon was on the Oprah Show.  The two drank tea as they discussed his reasons for leaving Idol.  He said he was drinking PG and Oprah said she preferred Earl Gray.  Simon said, “that’s what the Queen drinks. It’s very posh.”  Apparently, PG is for commoners (aka the rest of us, not the Queen or Oprah).  It’s not the least bit surprising that Oprah drinks the same tea as the Queen, Oprah is practically our Queen, right? As a committed tea drinker for the past several years, I was surprised to hear Simon mention a tea that I didn’t know.  I felt a little silly thinking that I knew all about teas when clearly that was not the case.

Well, turns out a few days later I was in the need for more tea after giving up on an awful green tea.  As I wandered down the tea/coffee/rice aisle in Kroger and what did a find, well golly, it was a box of PG on the top shelf almost out of my reach.   England’s Number 1 Tea! I quickly bought the box and I have been loving it ever since.  No need for Red Bull, the caffeine in this tea could totally outlast Lindsay Lohan’s alleged late-night partying.  One cup of this in the morning and I feel like I am flying until afternoon.  I was jittery the first time I had this tea.  Seriously.

Side-note: this tea is definitely not posh considering it is 40 bags of tea for about $4.  Being posh is overrated unless you’re actually Posh.

Since I am on a kick of talking writing about drinks, here are my Top 3 beverages that I’m enjoying at the moment (water was excluded from this list because it is an automatic number 1 and writing about water is boring):

1. PG

2. POM Wonderful – The fabulous people at POM Wonderful sent me a box of these little guys and they are delicious. POM juice is the perfect mixture of sweet and tart. Who doesn’t love a sweet and tart?

3. Smoothies - I have been making a lot of smoothies recently. I think that’s because it feels like it’s a million degrees all of a sudden (anybody else hate summer?) and I want something cold.  My usual smoothie includes, water or tea, ice, POM juice, frozen banana, almond milk, hemp protein powder with maca, and spinach (I tried kale and it was f to the -unky).

Flashback beverage

Shirley Temple – I used to always order a Shirley Temple when I was a kid. We didn’t drink soda on a regular basis and it was reserved for special occasions, like going out to dinner.   I never liked soda as a kid, still don’t in fact, but when you take Sprite, Grenadine (cherry flavored liquid sugar), a few cherries and mix them together it’s pure bliss.  I have heard some Shirley Temples are made with Ginger Ale and not Sprite. I haven’t had one of these since middle school because I reached a point where I knew that drinking water was the healthier option.   One of these days I am going to get around to ordering a Shirley Temple. With Stoli. That’s the way to bring a old-school favorite into your twenties

Are there any celebrities you would thank for introducing you to something? Simon, thanks for the PG 411.  What was your favorite childhood drink? Hands down, Shirley Temples were the best.   Bug Juice is definitely the second best.