The Tea Drinkers Thread

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Sarang01

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This is for people who enjoy their tea. Feel free to post brands, types, etc.

For enjoyment I've grown fond of Hojicha and enjoy it's smoky flavor. I also like Green Tea, Oolong Tea and quality Black Tea(ugh to Newman's Own Organic for this one). I'm also a fan of powdered Green Tea, more commonly known as Matcha.
I pretty much will drink most brands that are Organic. One flavor I like is this raisin and brown sugar flavored Oolong loose tea by Rishi.
If I'm sick or feel like I need something for a cold, stuffy nose, etc. I use Traditional Medicinals. While they're not USDA Organic certified they're looking at Non-GMO Project certification. I haven't seen any other company like that with such a set of standards.
 
I like chun mee green tea, have loads in a little pot. Used to drink it quite alot but kinda stopped, should really drink more often.
 
I'm a big tea drinker. I used to drink five or six cups of hot tea a day, but I've scaled back to three or so to reduce my caffeine intake.

I usually buy most of my tea from a local tea shop. Most of their tea is organic and fair trade. My favorite overall tea is their Nuwara Eliya Ceylon.

I mostly drink plain black teas, but sometimes drink flavored black, green, oolong, and herbal tea. Some of my favorite plain black teas, besides the Nuwara Eliya Ceylon above, are Assam, Yunnan, and Kenya Milima. As for flavored black teas, I like their almond, apricot, and Paris blends. The Paris is kind of like an Earl Grey, but with vanilla added—it's a really good combination.
 
Tea drinker here. I stick with Chai or Green Tea. I can't find any of the fancy teas anywhere. Does Trader joes sell any exotic tea? I usually stick with the tea bags they sell in the store, but I also got conned into buying raw ? tea that you use a scooper to make that looks like weed. :lol: Excuse me, but I'm pretty ignorant about tea.
 
[quote name='Wet Ninja']I'm a big tea drinker. I used to drink five or six cups of hot tea a day, but I've scaled back to three or so to reduce my caffeine intake.

I usually buy most of my tea from a local tea shop. Most of their tea is organic and fair trade. My favorite overall tea is their Nuwara Eliya Ceylon.

I mostly drink plain black teas, but sometimes drink flavored black, green, oolong, and herbal tea. Some of my favorite plain black teas, besides the Nuwara Eliya Ceylon above, are Assam, Yunnan, and Kenya Milima. As for flavored black teas, I like their almond, apricot, and Paris blends. The Paris is kind of like an Earl Grey, but with vanilla added—it's a really good combination.[/QUOTE]

You know that some brands have tea that is decaffeinated or is just naturally Caffeine free. Roibos is one of those.
I forgot to talk about Pu-Erh. I know it is suppose to be naturally good for digestion but some of it just tastes gross.
2DMention, where I've found loose leaf tea like Rishi and others has been at Whole Foods and I don't know about Trader Joes. It's kind of nuts how much you can actually save buying loose leaf tea.
 
I just started messing around with tea and my favorites are greean tea with brown rice (nostalgic) and chai. I read chai is supposed to be soooo good or whatever but I wasn't too impressed. Maybe I need to drink it in non tea bag form. I rarely put sugar or creamers into tea.
 
I got into drinking hot tea a few years ago when I had a terrible case of sinusitis. It would help clear my sinuses. I mostly drank various Yogi flavors and add honey to make it sweet. I need to get back into it. I don't drink coffee and started to enjoy my morning tea.
 
My in-laws, who are a bunch of unwashed foreigners, got me into tea. I don't know how it happens, but eventually you cave when they ask you for the millionth time if you want a cup, and next thing you know you're gulping the stuff down day after day. It's been like this for 7 or 8 years now. I don't take mine with sugar or milk, I just want to taste the tea.

I drink a lot of loose leaf tea, at least a liter a day. Like the wet ninja, I also have a really good local store that makes it easy to get quality loose leaf. It's mostly black teas for me, with a few oolongs here and there. I've had the same sealed 2 oz bag of a green tea sitting around forever, I just don't drink green much.

My favorite changes from month to month and depends on the time of day. This month in the mornings I've been drinking a lot of a medium Assam the local store is calling Dekorai. It's nothing fancy or high dollar, it's just a good breakfast tea with lots of big raisin flavors in it. In the afternoon/evenings I've been going with a standby Darjeeling (name escapes me) or a Nilgiri (this month it's Glendale Frost, they call it). I generally like Nilgiri, but this one is particularly vegetal, maybe I got a bad batch.

I hope everyone will pitch in with their favorites. Now that I'm recognized as a regular by my local store, I get to take lots of samples home, so I'm always eager to learn more and share. Hope this thread sticks around...

Also, one of the added benefits of tea drinking is that, if you're like me and can't stand to have scummy-feeling teeth, you're inevitably brushing your teeth 3 or 4 times a day to get rid of tea scum. As a result, I have impeccable chompers, these suckers are mean and clean, buddy. As an antidentite, I usually avoid the dentist, but I've been making a point of going in just to show off.
 
I'm drinking some oolong right now. I drink it a good bit in the winter. What I get is just one of the popular ones from amazon - natural vintage something or another - looks pretty generic. I just drink it plain - pretty good stuff - strong/bitter but I'm use to it. My wife drinks a wide variety of tea but I don't venture out beyond oolong and maybe a green tea sometimes.
 
I'm old school Southern Sweet Tea - I buy Tetley via Amazon (living in L.A., there's nowhere to buy it) and brew it in a maker, then sweeten it with simple syrup.

The only downside - I recently found out that tea goes bad if you don't drink it within a week or so. Bummer.
 
I'm a huge coffee and tea fan.

Loose leaf is the way to go for me. I hate green teas. Usually go for some sort of fruit/berry flavor, or something more herbal. Loose leaf mint is tough to beat too. We have a great shop in town that has a couple hundred loose leaf varieties.
 
[quote name='Strell']The only way to read this is with The Brain's voice, Pinky.[/QUOTE]

You doggone crazy idjit. :applause:

Orwell makes it too complicated. If it's black, water should be as close to boiling as possible. Know the leaves and the proper steeping time (and water temperature if it's not black tea). Good leaves will give you more than one steeping. Use a press so you can get the tea away from the leaves once it's steeped. Avoid baskets/tea ball infusers as they don't give you the full flavor.

Anybody in here who uses teabags but likes tea: if you've got a nearby tea store or if you're willing to shop online, try out loose leaf! You'll never return to bagged tea (or at least you'll only use bags in a pinch). Ask everybody in here for recommendations on teas.

Another tip: if you're accustomed to bergamot (e.g. earl grey) or other flavored teas, try out a few unflavored teas at first, give yourself a chance to taste the tea itself.
 
spoiled perhaps...friends came back from Whales, and i've been drinking their version of lipton i guess. it's kinda like english breakfast but much much fresher. also Jasmine tea from Chinatown, comes in this little orange tin, very good with a nice floral note to it...dont need anything with that but hot water and a nice sipping cup.
 
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

I did a taste taste/market research deal earlier this month where Snapple was trying new flavours. I just about shat my pants with sample # 688 which was black tea with raspberry. The tartness of both main ingredients sort of balanced each other out and they sweetened it to give it a really nice aftertaste. It was literally the best thing I've ever drank that wasn't booze.
 
[quote name='Sarang01']You know that some brands have tea that is decaffeinated or is just naturally Caffeine free. Roibos is one of those.[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah, definitely. For a few months, I cut out caffeine entirely, so I was drinking decaf teas. Then we had a baby and caffeine had to come back :). I like Rooibos a lot too. The local tea shop has a green Rooibos I like to brew and pour over ice, sometimes mixed with iced maté or lemonade.


As for loose leaf vs. bagged tea, loose leaf tea can seem expensive initially, but if you figure a pound of loose tea makes around 250 cups, tea that is $75 a pound comes out to $0.30 a cup. A box of 25 tea bags can be as low as $2.50 or so, or around $0.10 a cup. Paying an extra 20 cents a cup for a higher-quality tea is pretty manageable.
 
I prefer loose leaf, white or green teas. Yin-zhen or white tangerine are my favorites. Matcha is good too. For most black teas I usually add some agave or honey otherwise it's kind of bleh. Would like to try rooibos some day even though it's not really tea.

Thinking about buying a tea maker because I'm lazy, but I don't know if those screw the taste up at all.
 
[quote name='dothog']
I hope everyone will pitch in with their favorites. Now that I'm recognized as a regular by my local store, I get to take lots of samples home, so I'm always eager to learn more and share. Hope this thread sticks around...[/QUOTE]

Nice. :D

Oh and for the person asking about Chai I believe it's usually flavored with milk or even suppose to be.

Has anyone had a fresh Nettle tea? I've wondered about that since you're suppose to be able to find them in the wild and they're very nutritious.
I've seen one tea which has red mushroom and it's hard to explain except it tastes like what you would expect a raspy throat would taste like if it actually had a taste.
 
[quote name='nasum']Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.[/QUOTE]

I learned this much about tea from watching Star Trek: TNG. Unfortunately I haven't progressed much past quoting Jean-Luc Picard and using Lipton teabags.

At my work, we have a Keurig and teas are some of the provided drinks. So far I have tried and liked earl gray, mandarin orange spice herbal, pure peppermint, and English breakfast.

I also tend to add sugar or honey to make it sweeter. I have also put milk in chai tea. Any advice on what to add to which types of tea?


[quote name='Wet Ninja']As for loose leaf vs. bagged tea, loose leaf tea can seem expensive initially, but if you figure a pound of loose tea makes around 250 cups, tea that is $75 a pound comes out to $0.30 a cup. A box of 25 tea bags can be as low as $2.50 or so, or around $0.10 a cup. Paying an extra 20 cents a cup for a higher-quality tea is pretty manageable.[/QUOTE]

Probably good advice, as you get what you pay for, but my budget won't let me spend $75 in whack which then leaves me with the $2.50 box that I can afford. Any advice on cheap teas for those on a tight budget? (Other than earn more money :))


[quote name='dothog']If it's black, water should be as close to boiling as possible. Know the leaves and the proper steeping time (and water temperature if it's not black tea). Good leaves will give you more than one steeping. Use a press so you can get the tea away from the leaves once it's steeped. Avoid baskets/tea ball infusers as they don't give you the full flavor.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tip. I look forward to reading what others have to say.
 
My favorite used to be Stash's double bergamot earl grey (I still drink it occasionally) but I'm now hooked on Stash's chocolate mint oolong tea. I order it by the case from Amazon.
 
Wet I'm curious what you used to compare loose and bagged tea. If the loose tea was Organic while the bagged was conventional I could see that being the reason for the price disparity.
Bagged Organic tea isn't exactly cheap and loose leaf is much more reasonable.

On another note, since at the store I was at at the time, I couldn't find any other version of Hojicha, I bought Eden Foods. While I like Eden on most stuff, the Hojicha smoked flavor wasn't strong enough for me. I liked Ito-En's chilled better.
 
[quote name='bkjohns1']Probably good advice, as you get what you pay for, but my budget won't let me spend $75 in whack which then leaves me with the $2.50 box that I can afford. Any advice on cheap teas for those on a tight budget? (Other than earn more money :))[/QUOTE]

Oh, unless you drink a lot of tea, you'd almost never buy a pound all at once. I typically buy two ounces of three or four types of tea, for a total of six or eight ounces. I'll end up spending $30-35, but it'll give me around 125 cups of tea, which lasts me a few months.
You could also break it up and buy smaller amounts more frequently (i.e. two ounces every few weeks).

[quote name='Sarang01']Wet I'm curious what you used to compare loose and bagged tea. If the loose tea was Organic while the bagged was conventional I could see that being the reason for the price disparity.
Bagged Organic tea isn't exactly cheap and loose leaf is much more reasonable.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was estimating on the high end for the loose leaf tea, just to show that even for really expensive loose leaf tea, when you break it down to a per-cup comparison, it's not much more expensive than inexpensive bagged tea. At the tea shop where I buy my teas, most of the teas I buy are $7.50-10.00 for two ounces, or $60-80 per pound, and they're mostly organic and fair trade.
 
Had my first cup of lapsang souchong while out of town for work, I had time to kill one afternoon and stopped in at a fancy tea place.

I don't understand the appeal, I'll concede that it's complex and that there's a lot going on there, but I couldn't get past the smokey, piney flavors. I suppose it would take repeated drinking. Not for me.
 
I'm more of a coffee drinker, though only about 12 oz on weekdays, usually none on weekends.

I recently bought some Archer's Farm (Target) tea bags, and they're actually not bad. It was about $4.50 for a dozen pyramid bags, with citrus, jasmin, vanilla, green tea, and others. It smells better than it tastes, but my GF likes it.

As for tea, people used to give my parents tea all the time. My mom rarely drank it, and my dad can't drink it all himself, so they used to give me most of it. This would usually be loose green tea and oolong, but I actually only like oolong. I don't live close to them any more, so I've only gotten like 1 tin of tea in the past 2 years.

I have probably 4-5 lbs of loose tea leaf right now, most of it vacuum sealed, including a ~4oz tin that costs about $40. I've been wanting to toss some out, cause I'm sure some are way past their prime.

I do drink a fair bit of Gold Peak's sweet tea though.... One of my guilty pleasures. For almost a year, I drank about 2 bottles of it a month. I'm getting a little tired of it, so I'm drinking maybe a bottle every 2 months now.

I also drink Oi Ocha a couple times a month. I've had matcha, but I actually can't stand it.

Other than the pre-made ones I already listed, I can't stand typical tea bags. I'm actually extremely picky about coffee, but I never developed too deep a taste for tea. In case any one cares, my normal coffee is the Coffee Bean Creme Brulee, which is surprising good quality. I can drink it cold and it'll still taste good. The previous coffee I liked was a Kona that costed $0.75 per 4 oz brewed....

Edit: Lol, this is one of the tea that I have, but like I said, people give them to my parents, so I've actually never had to buy my tea yet.
http://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Tea-...EA/ref=sr_1_62?ie=UTF8&qid=1323047418&sr=8-62

Edit 2: My dad uses a Yixing teapot that's big enough to brew maybe... 3 oz of water at a time. I use a larger teapot my mom gave me, because I used to use it more than she did. Mine brews about 16 oz, I think.

Edit 3: It's actually not the same one I linked. Same brand, but yellow. It's the only one I have opened, but the bottom says expiration was 2008... heh. It's almost empty, since I've been drinking it since at least 2007 =P My parents did have the one I linked though. So I went to the kitchen and looked. A ~1lb Ten Ren Taiwanese high mountain oolong, a 10oz Ten Ren high mountain oolong, a "li shan" ~4oz tin, an ~8oz high mountain tea (no idea about brand, since it's only the vacuum packed leaves without the original tin), and another ~8oz "Taiwan Best Tea".
 
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[quote name='elessar123']As for tea, people used to give my parents tea all the time. [/QUOTE]

Yeah, one of the dumbest things you can do as a regular tea drinker is to let friends and family find out. You will receive a lot of shitty flavored teas around the holidays if you don't nip it in the bud. (Unintentional tea pun. BOOYAH.)

What's nipping it in the bud entail? The moment they see the cupboard where you keep your loose leaf and make a comment like, "Hey, dottie H, you like tea?", you reply, "I like MY tea. Don't you dare buy me tea, mom. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING?" Stomp off and slam your bedroom door.

[quote name='elessar123']I have probably 4-5 lbs of loose tea leaf right now, most of it vacuum sealed, including a ~4oz tin that costs about $40. I've been wanting to toss some out, cause I'm sure some are way past their prime.[/QUOTE]
I buy black tea every month or so, so I don't run into storage problems. The only thing I know, because I rarely drink it, is that green teas don't keep well. I have 4 oz in a thick sealed bag that I've been working on for 6 or 7 months, and the last cup I had tasted a bit stale to me. Who knows how long it had sat around in the store before I bought it.

And 4-5 lbs is a shitload of tea.
 
[quote name='dothog']And 4-5 lbs is a shitload of tea.[/QUOTE]

It is. I've been working on the 2008 tin since 2006/2007, and that's only 10.8oz. I have one that's the same brand, and twice the size, says expiration 2011, still sealed. I'm tempted to ask if someone here wants it =P
 
[quote name='dothog']Yeah, one of the dumbest things you can do as a regular tea drinker is to let friends and family find out. You will receive a lot of shitty flavored teas around the holidays if you don't nip it in the bud. (Unintentional tea pun. BOOYAH.)[/QUOTE]

Nice!

Speaking of nipping it in the bud, I planted a tea bush two springs ago. I've been giving it a chance to settle in and grow out a bit, but I might try harvesting some this spring/summer. I'll probably try making green and black tea. My region (Virginia) isn't the ideal tea-growing climate, but the bush seems to be surviving, so maybe it'll work. I'm not expecting it to be stellar; I'm just shooting for decent.
 
I forgot about this thread. To those who read, I'll say it again: if you at all dig tea beyond "arbitrary morning beverage," you owe it to yourself to use loose leaf and get the full experience.

Once you make the switch to loose leaf tea (and learn how to prepare it correctly), you will never taste bagged tea the same way and may possibly never return to drinking bagged tea. If you've got questions, post them here!
 
Hmm, I am pretty content with bagged tea. I tried loose leaf tea for awhile, I tried different varieties and vendors. I even got raped by the tea salesmen at Teavana in the mall once - $60 for a bag of tea leaves? Weed is cheaper. A coworker gave me a tea steeper and it became incredibly tedious to make a cup of tea. There are so many bagged varieties and they're much simpler to make.

I also am a huge Sweet Tea fanatic.
 
The best hot tea I ever had was masala tea. Damn that was good, I've never been able to make it right myself unfortunately. Think they used milk and sugar to some extent in it. I'm sure the stuff they used was better than the premixed bag of stuff I bought from World Market too.
 
[quote name='Stoic Person Eater'] I even got raped by the tea salesmen at Teavana in the mall once - $60 for a bag of tea leaves? Weed is cheaper. A coworker gave me a tea steeper and it became incredibly tedious to make a cup of tea.[/QUOTE]

A big issue in bold. Stay away from that shithole. Flavored tea is not tea, it's kool-aid. And all the stupid trinkets and bullshit...Teavana is bad bad bad.

It takes a little more time to make a cup with loose leaf, that's true. The flavor makes up for it.

I've spent $60 total on tea in the past 4-6 months. And I drink a lot of tea. I re-steep the teas that stand up to re-steeping (another advantage of loose over bagged -- no re-steeping with bagged), so that saves a little. I wouldn't argue that loose leaf is cheaper than bagged, but if you're drinking "good" bagged teas to begin with, the expense isn't so much extra that you'd notice. As with the extra time for preparation, the extra expense is easily overcome by the extra flavor.
 
yeah tea!

i usually drink sencha (japanese green tea) in the morning. 2 or 3 cups, same leaves resteeped. sometimes i get really active and crave top quality shincha but usually i'm lazy and just get the stuff at the japanese store.

hojicha is great after meals.

i like white tea (silver needles) by itself but because it has a bit of sweetness i don't like drinking it with foods.

it's been a long time since i've had chinese greens. i want to try them again. like longjing.

to make looseleaf tea the greatest thing i ever bought was this:
http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-CD-...28S0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1337194785&sr=8-3

however i got a friend with an employee discount to buy it for me so it only cost me $40. it makes looseleaf tea practically instant.

as for filters and teapots just buy one with a filter built into the teapot.
http://www.tokoname.or.jp/teapot/teapot.htm

or you can use a coffee press.
 
Dothog I have to be honest and say I like a flavor or two of Rishi that is loose and flavored.
Oh and heads up, while loose is clearly cheaper Costco as of late has a 96 bag pack from Numi with two brands, Breakfast Blend and Earl Grey. Both are pretty basic. If you are just going somewhere and just want to have a packet or two on hand.
My preferred teas are Green and Oolong. Black isn't bad either.

I have to say I definitely like Matcha though I've heard a friend complain that it was too bitter for her. I've had it a few times in plane flight to Japan and quite liked it.
 
as a beverage i drink (both hot and cold)
black
green
jasmine
chrysanthemum
oolong
jasmine green

and as a coffee replacement/ high caffeine substitute (i freelance overnight)

fast lane black tea by celestial seasonings
morning thunder black tea w/ mate by celestial seasonings

no sugar, no honey, just water/ice.
oh yeah, when i worked in a coffee shop there was this amazing rainforest tropical fruit tea but i forgot the brand. i
 
You want something to keep you up technical drink "Marakesh Express" by Celestial Seasonings. 5 Hour Energy is garbage to me and never worked well while "Marakesh Express" actually had a prolonged effect for me.
 
cool thx for the tip. ill have to finish my cases of fast lane and morning thunder first but i'll give it a try. i am pretty in love with fast lane though.

[quote name='Sarang01']You want something to keep you up technical drink "Marakesh Express" by Celestial Seasonings. 5 Hour Energy is garbage to me and never worked well while "Marakesh Express" actually had a prolonged effect for me.[/QUOTE]
 
[quote name='kainzero']
as for filters and teapots just buy one with a filter built into the teapot.
http://www.tokoname.or.jp/teapot/teapot.htm

or you can use a coffee press.[/QUOTE]

I used to use a french press, but one thing I didn't like about it was the cleanup. I use a teapot with a large (for the pot's size) mesh basket that usually lets the leaf expand adequately. However, I'd rather not risk restraining the steep at all, and in that sense I really like those pots in your link.

However, as with the french press, they seem like they might be messy to clean up. Scooping the used leaf out is one thing, but I'm mainly thinking of the wire mesh. I'm having a tough time finding them online to buy, too. Any tips?
 
[quote name='2DMention']Tea drinker here. I stick with Chai or Green Tea. I can't find any of the fancy teas anywhere. Does Trader joes sell any exotic tea? I usually stick with the tea bags they sell in the store, but I also got conned into buying raw ? tea that you use a scooper to make that looks like weed. :lol: Excuse me, but I'm pretty ignorant about tea.[/QUOTE]

Trader Joe tea is truly the worst.

I don't have the best taste in tea (I stick mostly to constant comment and Tazo Chai) but I was shocked at how bitter and tasteless the tea at TJ turned out to be. In particular, their green tea is really really bad, it's the worst I have ever had.
 
[quote name='camoor']Trader Joe tea is truly the worst.

I don't have the best taste in tea (I stick mostly to constant comment and Tazo Chai) but I was shocked at how bitter and tasteless the tea at TJ turned out to be. In particular, their green tea is really really bad, it's the worst I have ever had.[/QUOTE]

I use their Black Mango Tea for summer iced tea. It's as good as or better than the other mango-flavored black teas I've used.

I'll grant that I'm not too picky, because it's iced tea and anything bagged and strong is good enough, but I wouldn't call it The Worst. Seems like this is a YMMV deal.
 
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