So it's not actually winter yet — I mean sure, it's starting to get cold and all, but it's not really wintery yet and the start of winter isn't officially until December anyway. But I've gotten into the habit of drinking more wintery beverages as of late and for me that feels good.
I mean tea is a year-round beverage, certainly, but the summer often calls for it to be cold rather than warm, and hot chocolate is more popular in the winter months. I hate coffee (I don't think I've ever managed to drink a full cup of coffee in my whole life and doubt that I ever will be able to choke one down, ugh). I like other hot beverages like cider (usually the non-alcoholic varieties but this varies), mulled wine, the occasional blueberry tea and such, but hot chocolate and hot tea in general seem very much like cold weather beverages.
When I was a kid, I mostly drank powdered hot chocolates and green teas. As an adult while I do have some hot chocolate powders, and really enjoy splurging on a hot chocolate at a Tim Hortons or a more high end coffee or tea shop, I'm a lot more selective. Some hot chocolates upset my stomach and I don't quite know why — I wish I did. It's an irregular enough occurrence that I haven't yet figured out what it is I ought to be avoiding. Still, I like my hot chocolate and always have some Jiva hot chocolate cubes in my home (plus some other varieties too sometimes like now!). As for tea… well….
I like most kinds of tea. It took a long time before I discovered a tea variety that I truly found repugnant (and unfortunately the name of it escapes my memory but it started with the letter Z and was tried based on the fact that it had been featured in a superman comic that the person with whom I was having tea at the time had read. So I'd say that I like most types of tea. That said, there are some varieties I prefer. For example, peppermint is a pretty much essential tea for me — I drink it rather frequently and rather enjoy it. My favourite black tea blend is actually the one featured on Charlieissocoollike and is available for purchase at: DFTBA Store. I don't drink it super often mostly because I have to order it to get more, but it's super delicious.
When it comes to other types of tea, I love chai and roiboos, japanese green tea, and many herbal infusions. I'm a fan of trying new varieties too. But I know better than to consumer too much caffeine in one day (I get jittery when I have too much strong tea in a short period of time (I usually brew my tea pretty weakly). I mean heck, I like hot water with lemon or hot water with lime a whole lot as an option as well.
Warm beverages are comforting on a cold or cool day. I like them in the summers too, but they don't have quite the same cachet.