While not the best source of mana restoration, higher-level vendor food such as Fairbreeze Feast was the most convenient for most players.
Players can still rely on lower-level vendor solutions, such as Springrunner Sparkling and Bloom Nectar, though they restore only 5% per second.
Conjured Mana Bun also remains a free and abundant option whenever mages are around. It's still a good idea to keep some regular drinks on hand, since the conjured items won't persist after a prolonged logout, though determined mana bun enthusiasts can also queue into Follower Dungeons to quickly pick some up.
Many crafted buff foods such as Mana-Infused Stew, Royal Roast, and feasts continue to restore up to 7% health and mana, though chugging down higher quality ones can start to get expensive, while lower quality foodstuffs run the risk of overwriting stronger Well Fed buffs.
Tea Time
There's a better drink available though, as casters have turned to tea for the highest source of mana restoration in Midnight. Crafted by cooks and sold on the auction house, they restore up to 8% mana per second without messing with those well fed buffs.
Mana Lily Tea and Tranquility Bloom Tea only restore mana.
Argentleaf Tea, Azeroot Tea, and Sanguithorn Tea also grant increased speed rating and a gathering stat, though their unique buffs will be removed inside any raids or Mythic+ keystone dungeons.
Ramping Restoration
Interestingly, the distinction between different drinks only matters when sitting for extended periods of time. Since Shadowlands, all drinks begin restoring mana at a reduced rate which ramps up over several seconds, while Midnight also changed food and drink to restore a percentage of player health and mana. This means that the first five seconds of any level or quality drink in Midnight always restores 1% -> 2% -> 3% -> 4% -> 5%, with the higher qualities continuing to ramp up to 8%.
Since the Shadowlands pre-patch, mana restoration from drinks ramps up over time.
Except most mana users don't regularly drink to refill their entire mana bar from zero. They're more often drinking for just a few seconds between pulls to top their mana off, keeping a healthy pool in reserve in case of emergencies. For this reason, lower quality drinks can be just as effective as higher quality ones when only drinking for a few moments, though it's still a good idea for mana users to keep a few stacks of higher-end drinks on hand, just in case.
Cooking and vendor refreshments now restore health and mana based on a percentage, rather than a fixed amount.
While a helpful strategy, it's also rather contentious, as mana users are constantly trying to micromanage those brief moments of downtime in a way that other classes aren't required to... in fact, many of them are trying to do the opposite, minimizing time spent out of combat in order to keep buffs and resources from decaying.
