Tea I drank today:

• Rooibos (Red Tea): Great things come out of Africa, and this is one of them. Red tea is a tisane -- an herbal tea -- made from some South African bush, I think. It is not caffeinated. I drink a lot of red tea when I'm under stress and sensible. When I'm under stress and no longer sensible, I drink too much coffee. If I'm somewhere between highly sensible behavior and complete irrationality, I split the difference.
• Black Tea with Lemon: Lemon is a classic tea addition. I have two boxes of Bigelow's Lemon Lift at the office. One of those boxes is almost empty, though.
• Earl Grey: Earl Grey tea comes in an enormous variety of qualities and styles. My current favorite, from Far Leaves tea in Berkeley, has a good Indian tea blend as a base, and the bergamot is not too heavy.
• Vanilla Cherry Blend: This is another Bigelow blend. It was on sale. I like it as a dessert with milk and honey, but I've decided that it doesn't stand well on its own. Without the milk and honey, the flavoring is too overpowering.

Ten minutes before my seminar talk this afternoon, I was still working on the slides. I usually work on presentations up to the last minute, even if I intend to do otherwise. If I start early, it just means that I'll spend more time fiddling with the details. But the talk went well, even if it was too long.

After the talk, I had a cup of strong coffee. This evening, I stuck with tea. Once the current paper deadline is past, I'll be under less time stress; until then, perhaps I'll manage to remain sensible and drink more red tea than coffee.

• Currently drinking: Water