We continue our gift guides with some ideas for the person in your life who is addicted to legal stimulants. Namely, coffee and tea!

I've been seeing ads for Gevalia coffee and coffee makers for years but I've never tried either (let us know in the comments below how they are). They have a lot of gifts like coffee, coffee makers, chocolate, and biscotti. B & D has a good selection of gourmet coffee at their site (as well as 20 holiday drink recipes). Gloria Jean's has a lot of great holiday coffees too. How about something from Charlie Bean?

I recently asked all of you fine readers for suggestions on buying either a tea infuser and/or a tea pot, since I wanted to switch from store bought tea bags to loose tea. Everyone gave me great ideas, and I'm going to try several of them and report them to you here.

First up: this funky-looking infuser from Tovolo. I got the red one. It works well. I mean, I have nothing to compare it to since it's the first one I've ever tried, but I did notice some tea (Twinings Earl Grey) did get into the cup. Is that to be expected? Do you tea drinkers out there just find that this is something you have to live with for good tea or are there infusers out there that don't have this problem? I do like this infuser. It comes with a cool stand to keep the infuser in. It made a great cup of tea.

Nutritional Iced Tea for Women is the first iced tea designed with women in mind. Brewed, lightly sweetened and packed in resealable plastic water bottles, the all-natural teas have just 50 calories per 12-ounce serving, are made with 70% organic ingredients. On top of that, the teas are fortified with folate, calcium and vitamins B and D. They come in five flavors: Ginger Currant Black Tea, Lemon Blueberry Decaf Black Tea, Kiwi Strawberry Green Tea, Mandarin Orange White Tea and (caffeine-free) Cherry Vanilla Red Tea. They are truly delicious and very refreshing. The fruity flavors really come through (my favorite was the Ginger Currant), with no sugary sweetness to dull them.

The New Year is always full of possibilities. There are meals to be eaten, recipes to try and, of course, a slew of new food trends that will shape the way we eat and what food issues will be at the forefront of the news. Of all the trends that seemed to be pushing towards the forefront in recent months, these are some of those that look like they're about to have a breakout year.

Single Origin Chocolates - Dark chocolate was the hot item last year, but more companies, including Hershey's, are introducing and promoting single origin chocolates with cocoa beans from one country - or even one plantation - for their unique flavor profiles.

Healthy Soft Drinks - Jones Soda has eliminated high fructose corn syrup from their recipes. Enviga has been fairly successful so far, thanks to the large amount of publicity that it has received, and Diet Coke Plus will be coming to stores in a few months. Look for other soda companies to follow suit.

Healthy Food Labels - Hannaford supermarket introduced a labeling scheme of their own to direct shoppers to healthier foods and the traffic light system was a success in the UK. Don't be surprised to see more obvious messages about what is and is not good for you.

We have seen a couple of interesting mugs in the past, but the design of this one really strikes a chord with me because I drink quite a bit of tea. This tea bag mug is designed with a pocket built right into it for your tea bag - a convenience when you prefer to use a sturdier mug for hot drinks in the evenings, rather than a cup and saucer. If you're not into tea, or brew yours with loose-leaf tea instead of bagged, you can put the pocket to use in other ways. It can be used to hold packets of sugar or sweeteners when serving to guests and can even hold a small cookie or two. But ultimately, this is a nice, large mug for a tea-lover and probably a must-have for those who really love Lipton or other bagged teas.

After months and months of green and white tea based products, including Enviga, green tea lattes and even green tea vodka, some beverage companies are starting to go back to black teas as the inspiration for their drinks. Nestle and Coca Cola announced this week that they would be concentrating their joint venture project on black tea-based beverages after the group has rolled out Enviga in Europe in early 2007.

The green tea craze was all in the name of the various health benefits that have been attributed to it. Black tea is still a consumer favorite, however, and now there are studies that have shown that drinking any kind of tea can be good for your health, so there is no reason to stay away from it as a drink option. On top of that, green tea seems to have oversaturated the market for the time being and people are probably ready for a change. It will be interesting to see what the group comes up with, since green tea drinks tended to be far more innovative than the average flavored ice tea and perhaps some of the inspiration for those drinks will be applied to black teas now.

After getting all that Pink tea from the Republic of Tea, it's probably a good idea to have something to drink it out of and, since we're already looking at a lot of pink-themed things for breast cancer awareness month, why not a pink ribbon cup, as well? While buying one tea cup at a time isn't the most practical way to outfit a kitchen, it's nice to be able to get one to support a cause. The Pink Ribbon Tea Cup is another product where a portion of the proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and its connection to the charity extends beyond the color outside cup to the little pink ribbon within.

We think that a cup like this would make a great gift set when paired up with some favorite teas. The teas mentioned above would be a good choice, but other purveyors, including Adagio, will give you a wider range of tea options to choose from, although coffee is always an option, too.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to raise awareness and help to raise funds for charities that support cancer research, many companies offer special promotions and products. The Republic of Tea is one such company, with a number of products where a portion of the proceeds goes directly to charity. In fact, as of yesterday, the Republic of Tea has contributed over a half million dollars to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which is pretty impressive since it comes just from tea.

Their Sip for the Cure line includes Pink Grapefruit Green Tea, which was their original offering in the collection, Pink Rose Green Tea, Lady Apple Green Tea and Pink Lemonade Green Tea, as well as marmalade, a mug and a teapot.

There are some coffee shops that have a wide variety of teas, usually loose-leaf, in addition to their selection of coffee and espresso drinks. On more than one occasion, I have seen customers become irate when trying to order tea, insisting that they "just want tea" as the girl behind the register gently tries to explain that there are, in fact, many kinds of tea. The shops should just keep a stash of Lipton teabags in the back for these types of customers because that is the generic tea that they are most often referring to. It is a tea that they have grown up with, though they often know little about it.

The mindset that there is but one type of tea is changing and the tea-drinking population is developing a newfound appreciation for different types of teas. As a result, even Lipton is coming out with some variety.

Drinking tea won't really allow you to live forever, but that is certainly the first thought that popped into my head after reading the headline "Drinking tea linked to reduced risk of death." The article that accompanied the headline was about a recent Japanese study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association investigating the health benefits of drinking green tea. As other studies have shown numerous benefits, it was only natural to aim big and see exactly how beneficial the tea was, rather than continuing to only look at each possible factor individually. The study concluded that "those who drank five cups of green tea per day were 16 percent less likely to die from any cause during the 11-year study than those who drank less than one cup per day."

Does this mean that your life expectancy will increase if you drink more green tea? Not exactly, but it does mean that you can potentially decrease various risk factors that could contribute to health problems. In short, green tea isn't going to add any extra years to your life, but it could help to prevent those years from being cut short unnecessarily.

Space travel is an amazing thing, but it's quite clear that not everything that we have available on Earth can be made available in space. Gravity is one thing that immediately springs to mind, of course, but astronauts have had problems with food, too. Most end up craving coffee, salads and other fresh foods, since their in-flight options can be on the unusual side. To remedy this problem, famous chefs have been recruited to help improve the options for astronauts, working with the foods we know work in space to provide a more varied array of meal options.

Some, however, refuse to give up on the idea that favorites from down here can translate to a zero-gravity environment. Malaysia, for example, is sending its very first astronaut up next year and plans to have him attempt to make the country's national drink, teh tarik, in space. The tea is made by pouring "boiling-hot milky tea swiftly and repeatedly from one vessel held high in one hand into another held low, producing a distinctive layer of froth."

It seems most unlikely that rapid pouring of boiling milk - which relies on gravity to move it in the first place - is going to be successful. And perhaps a country should pick a mission that is less frivolous (and perhaps one more likely to succeed) for their first space flight.

When the school year starts up again, parents lose a measure of control over what their kids may be eating - hence all the controversy about sodas and vending machines in schools. One way to help keep kids away from those soda machines is by giving them something that tastes as good, or better, than soda, but is at least a little less sugary. Single-serving flavor packets offer a potential solution. These individual drink mixers include products like Lipton Green Tea to Go, Crystal Light On the Go and Kool-Aid Singles, all of which contain 0-30 calories and can be mixed in with a bottle of water - a far better vending machine choice than a regular soda.

The Houston Chronicle did a review of a few brands and found that Country Time On The Go Lemonade, Lipton Green Tea To Go and Celestial Seasonings Zingers To Go were all worth buying, with good flavors and minimal artificial aftertaste, which they found unappealing in some brands.

These aren't just for kids, of course, and are a good way to drink an extra serving or two of water each day, though you might want to hold off on the Kool-Aid flavor once you're over the age of 10.

We have heard time and again that tea - green tea in particular - is good for us, but the standard hot cup of tea can get boring quickly, especially when it is approached with the idea that you have to drink it for your health. Fortunately, Green Tea: 50 Hot Drinks, Cool Quenchers, and Sweet and Savory Treats has many alternatives to the standard cuppa, including some recipes for non-liquid foods, which will be a new use for tea to many.

The book is relatively small, less than 100 pages, but is full of beautiful pictures and a solid introduction to the basics of green tea, including the history of the drink and how to brew it. Moving beyond the intro, the drink recipes include iced and hot teas, smoothies and even cocktails. Solid foods include Grilled Chicken Satay with Green Tea Peanut Sauce, Fresh Fruit Salad with Green Tea Syrup and Green Tea Honey Cookies.

In summer, iced tea is an excellent choice of beverage. It's cool, refreshing and easy to make. While some may like sweet tea or even sun tea the best, I prefer to make mine fairly plain and start it on the stovetop.

One of the most common mistakes with iced tea is that the tea leaves are brewed for too long, which causes the tea to become bitter. The best brewing strategy is to increase the amount of tea or the number of tea bags you use, while keeping the steeping time the same as you would for one cup.

Start on the stovetop with only a cup or two of water. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add in three or four times the normal amount of tea leaves/bags you use for a cup or two. Once they have steeped for several minutes, remove the bags and stir in your desired amount of sugar (or other sweetener). Using hot water will allow the sugar to dissolve quickly and easily, not to mention that a small amount of water will both heat up an cool down faster than boiling a whole pitcher's worth. Add cold water after the sugar is dissolved to dilute the strong tea and cool the drink down. Top of with some ice and refrigerate until ready to drink - or enjoy right away, since it should be a nice, cool temperature already.

If you're in a time crunch, Lipton's Iced Tea Teabags - which brew in cold water in minutes - are always nice to have on standby.

Starbucks has two new flavors rolling out to its US stores this summer, both based on tea and not on milk/cream, like their other frappuccinos. The first flavor is pomegranate, which is a blend of juice concentrate and green tea. The second is a tangerine-lime flavor, a blend of tea, tangerine and orange juices with a hint of lime. There is even a new "tea blended" category on their website, but no drinks have been added to it as of yet.

It's nice to see something a bit lighter on the menu, not to mention that this will be a big plus for non-dairy drinkers. The drinks sound extremely refreshing, but they also sound like a rerelease of the old Tiazzi and Tazoberry drinks, which were fruity tea frappuccinos as well. Of course, they didn't come in either of these flavors - though citrus, berry and mango all saw some time on the menu board - but the principle is the same.

As a big fan of those older drinks, I'm definitely glad to hear that these are being added to the summer lineup at Starbucks.