2) I use straw (less contact with my tongue I believe)
3) I drink it fron HUGE mug that we bought with kids at Hershey Park last summer. It says 'Hershey's Milk Chocolate'on the side. Silly, I know, but this 'pinch' of humor helps me to get through the whole doze every morning. It takes about 15 minutes.
Then again a lot of people with more experience than I have (this is my first time on MC)say that it is OK to use tea evening AND morning.