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[entremet]

So, just curious, been getting into tea of late. What's the best way to accent Earl Grey? Lemon? Honey? Both?

 

[morningbus]

So, just curious, been getting into tea of late. What's the best way to accent Earl Grey? Lemon? Honey? Both?

I like my Earl Grey with Honey. If you'd like to try something a little different, go the coffee section of a grocery store or Target and buy a bottle of vanilla syrup (no extract). Add 1 to 2 teaspoons and enjoy!

(If you add frothed milk to double strength Earl Grey and add a shot of vanilla syrup, you've got yourself a "London Fog.")

 

[Zertez]

My tea collection is definitely out of hand, but it took awhile for me to find a tea that was perfect for my taste. My favorites are Second Flush Darjeeling, Puer Tea and Silver Needles.

 

[speedpop]

Hooray for tea!

 

[Cmagus]

Just got a Davids Tea around the corner.I have been in there a few times to check it out.I have been interested in teas for awhile but never really invested into it.I just purchased a french press from Amazon and I am going to pick up a few kinds of tea this week.

Really want to try this Raspberry nectar

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

A Teavana opened down here in the last year. I find their sort of ridiculously overpriced designer tea vibe a bit much, but damn if they don't have some really good blends.

I think my current favorites are something like Snow Geisha (lol I know) and Samurai something Chai.

In general though as my inexpensive choice I prefer plain old Twinings Darjeeling.

 

[morningbus]

Just got a Davids Tea around the corner.I have been in there a few times to check it out.I have been interested in teas for awhile but never really invested into it.I just purchased a french press from Amazon and I am going to pick up a few kinds of tea this week.

Really want to try this Raspberry nectar

Ah, I really like David's Tea. They're the Teavana-style tea store done absolutely right (some fruity teas, some serious teas, minimal filler, etc.). Whenever I'm up in Canada I always try to seek one out.

I'm drinking some of their organic shou coins right now, actually.

A Teavana opened down here in the last year. I find their sort of ridiculously overpriced designer tea vibe a bit much, but damn if they don't have some really good blends.

I think my current favorites are something like Snow Geisha (lol I know) and Samurai something Chai.

In general though as my inexpensive choice I prefer plain old Twinings Darjeeling.

Yeah, I'm with you on the Teavana criticisms. Way too expensive (and even more expensive when you realize that it is mostly filler, like pieces of fruit or flower petals that do little or nothing for the flavor of the tea).

 

[Cmagus]

So I got everything I needed today and grabbed some Raspberry Nectar tea.When we went to Davids Tea and ordered they actually gave us a free cup of the flavour of the month which was Grandmas Apple Pie.The Grandmas tea was very heavy but tasty overall especially after your done drinking the flavour really hits you.

Then I purchased some of the Raspberry Nectar as i was looking for something sweeter and light. I am more interested in making iced tea from this kind than actual tea.This tea haas a very intense smell almost knocked me off my feet when I opened the tin however the actual tea was light and had a very green tea like taste.It has a lot less flavour than I was expecting. After your done drinking it though again the taste really hits you.Right now got a batch chilling in the fridge gonna try the ice tea later with some orange slices in it.

 

[ikkemenx]

Call me hipster but I love DavidsTea. Huge selection and fairly knowledgeable staff. Always take mine iced (absolutely can't do hot drinks, especially tea where I'll wait an hour and still burn my tongue). Their Organic Matcha Genmaicha is probably my favourite, followed by Happy Kombucha. Cream of Earl Grey, Santa's Helper (usually in the winter) and Caramel Pear are good too. Oh, also Forever Nuts (but ask them to steep it extra long time). OH and Vanilla Oolong

I like the oolong teas a lot of Chinese restaurants offer free at your table. And anything matcha. My mom prepares a special black tea with milk, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and some other stuff I don't know how to say in English. So delicious.

Also: bubble tea! Peach green tea and passionfruit green tea are delicious (might be too sweet for some people). I like this place they have in Ottawa called Bubblicity, they carry my favourite chocolate orange bubble milk and I usually choose to have it made with black tea.

 

[Betta Lines]

Ooh a tea thread. This seems suitable enough to ask my question:

We recently moved house, and I've begun to notice that my tea tastes a bit funny. Strange, because we're still in the same area. The water doesn't taste funny on its own. I'm guessing it's the water because everything else is the same. Same tea bags, same kettle, same milk, same mugs...

It tastes a bit like... shit. Actual shit. Just slightly.

Any ideas? Are there water testers I could buy?

 

[Chris R]

Ooh a tea thread. This seems suitable enough to ask my question:

We recently moved house, and I've begun to notice that my tea tastes a bit funny. Strange, because we're still in the same area. The water doesn't taste funny on its own. I'm guessing it's the water because everything else is the same. Same tea bags, same kettle, same milk, same mugs...

It tastes a bit like... shit. Actual shit. Just slightly.

Any ideas? Are there water testers I could buy?

Are you using fresh loose tea? If you are odds are it might just be stale. I purchased a lot of Earl Grey Tea (and when I mean a lot, I mean A LOT, 16oz for a single person is a ton of tea) and after a few months it started to taste strange. The essential oils started to go bad so I had to toss the remaining tea out and go buy a smaller quantity fresh.

 

[Betta Lines]

I'm using bog-standard Tetley tea bags. It's not a brand new pack, but they're stored well and are well within their 'best before' date.

 

[morningbus]

Ooh a tea thread. This seems suitable enough to ask my question:

We recently moved house, and I've begun to notice that my tea tastes a bit funny. Strange, because we're still in the same area. The water doesn't taste funny on its own. I'm guessing it's the water because everything else is the same. Same tea bags, same kettle, same milk, same mugs...

It tastes a bit like... shit. Actual shit. Just slightly.

Any ideas? Are there water testers I could buy?

Hm, not sure. It could be the pipes in your new house. Do you have a water filter? If so use that to brew your next cup. If not, spring for a bottle of water to test with.

If it still tastes pretty bad, it may be your tea.

edit:

I'm using bog-standard Tetley tea bags. It's not a brand new pack, but they're stored well and are well within their 'best before' date.

It may also be worth checking out your kettle. Have you ever given it a thorough cleaning? You can also fill the kettle with white vinegar and leave it overnight to get rid of any weird tastes that may have developed. (Boil a few pots of water afterward though)

 

[Betta Lines]

Yeah we should probably buy a water filter anyway, as we're in a very hard-water area. But it's never made tea taste weird before.

Thanks for the tips. I'll check everything again... will try bottled water too.

 

[Meadows]

Taylors of Harrogate Assam/Ceylon = Best tea ever

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Yeah we should probably buy a water filter anyway, as we're in a very hard-water area. But it's never made tea taste weird before.

Thanks for the tips. I'll check everything again... will try bottled water too.

Do you live somewhere where there might be hydrogen sulfide in your water? I'm no chemist, but I'm pretty sure it dissipates quickly if you aerate the water for a while.

Just thinking out loud I guess.

 

[Betta Lines]

Do you live somewhere where there might be hydrogen sulfide in your water? I'm no chemist, but I'm pretty sure it dissipates quickly if you aerate the water for a while.

Just thinking out loud I guess.

I have no idea, but I looked up the effects of hydrogen sulfide and it sounds similar to what I'm noticing... so I'll check it out, thanks!

 

[UltimaKilo]

I'm enjoying a cup of Earl Grey right now. I purchase vanilla cream and add a little Splenda. I buy Bigelow brand, which I like better than Twinings.

 

[HiResDes]

2 teaspoons of Earl Grey Cream:

+

1 Teaspoon of Russian Earl Grey:

+ 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla

+ Froth milk made up of half and half

+ 2 1/2 Teaspoons of sugar (teaspoon per cup) or the equivalent in honey



= What I'm now deeming "The Czar's Choice"

 

[upandaway]

My grandma brought me a whole ton of crazy weird rainbow colored tea bags the other day, and now I tried them all at least once.

There were a few Chai's which I didn't really like by themselves or with sugar/honey, but then I tried brown sugar and magically it was the best thing ever. Magic.

And I still don't really like green tea at all. Every time I try them out they just taste bad. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.. I tried both high and lower temperatures and different sink times, all types of sugars, still hate it.

 

[HiResDes]

While I don't hate it, I'm definitely with you in thinking that black is superior

 

[morningbus]

Yeah, you just may not like green tea, which is perfectly fine. Give them another go eventually though, you'll be amazed at how your tastes change.

Following HiResDes' lead, here is one of my favorite personal blends:

1.5 teaspoons Roasted Yerba Mate (I like Narien.com for this, but Upton Tea or Guayaki are good too)

1 teaspoon Earl Grey (The stronger the Earl Grey the better)

.5 teaspoon Honeybush (a rooibos cousin. Rooibos can be substituted or this component can be left out entirely/switched with .5 teaspoons Earl Grey)

Add some honey and a dash of milk and you've got an awesome breakfast tea.

 

[HiResDes]

Just need to cop some Honeybush to make this happen, gonna check it out later this week. Probably will try a version subbing out Earl Grey for Yorkshire Gold as well.

 

[cousins]

The Roasted Yerbe Matte there sounds interesting. Any recommendations for an Earl Grey? I'm trying to stock up. In fact any recommendations you have would be nice, I'd like to build up a tea pantry.

 

[leroidys]

It was my birthday last week and I got not one but two yixing tea vessels. One small pot, and one large mug.

Does anyone have any specific teas they can recommend that I brew in these? I am anxious to start using them, but at the same time I don't want to choose a blend I might not be drinking in 5 or 10 years. Apparently they work best with oolong, that seems pretty safe I guess. I would like to also do some kind of green, I am quite partial to bancha myself.

 

[HyperBitHero]

I can't stand tea. I hate the smell, the taste, it's color. Blah.

 

[Seraphinianus]

So, I bought 540 bags of PG Tips black tea from amazon. It was $28 for the whole thing, $10 for me after GC.

Drinking the first cup now, seems pretty good! and this will provide my caffeine fix for more than a year. Tastes much better than lipton, though not quite as good as some nicer black teas, of course. I'm trying to replace the 4 to 6 cups of coffee I've been drinking every morning (two large mugs of it.)

 

[Gaaraz]

A cup of tea (the standard British sort) is my favourite drink by far, yet I have yet to find any other kind of tea I like.

I recently bought a pot and strainer and an assortment (maybe 20 different types) of tea, many of which smelled wonderful, but all of them tasted absolutely awful.

Am I just looking in the wrong place? Are there any teas that could really grab me? Or should I just give up my search and stick to what I know?

 

[Minamu]

I get a massive throat burn from two cups of Earl Grey (with 3 or 4 pieces of sugar) Is that normal?

 

[I love Kitties]

Love this IngenuiTea for my loose tea. It's fun to use.

 

[morningbus]

The Roasted Yerbe Matte there sounds interesting. Any recommendations for an Earl Grey? I'm trying to stock up. In fact any recommendations you have would be nice, I'd like to build up a tea pantry.

I'm still working my way through some Earl Grey I got from Adagio a while back. It's good and the price was right. It's worth checking out, I think. I've also heard that the Double Bergamot Earl Grey from Stash Tea is really good, but I haven't had an opportunity to try some yet.

As for building a tea pantry, my goal was to have stuff that showed the wide spectrum of tea. So having one or two of each type (green, black, white, oolong, pu-erh, yellow) is a must. For green tea, I'd suggest sencha, gunpowder, and genmaicha. For black: a darjeeling, a yunnan, and a flavored variety of your choice. White: from order of least expensive to most, shou-mei, peony, and bai-mu-dan. Oolong: a lot of options here, but a roasted oolong and a milk oolong are great at showing how different this type can be. Pu-erh: dante from Adagio is a good starting point and any variety that comes formed as a coin or a square is a good "next level." Lastly, yellow: this is much rarer in the US than the other teas, so it's less necessary, but worthwhile if you're stocking a tea pantry. Type doesn't matter with yellow, as most tea stores only stock one variety.

That's it for proper tea. Herbal tea is a long list too, but the short list of stuff worth checking out: yerba mate (roasted & fresh green), guayusa, rooibos (regular & green), bamboo, chamomile, and hibiscus.

Retailers I like:
http://matefactor.com (for green yerba mate)
http://uptontea.com (for fancier teas)
http://adagio.com (for less-fancy teas)
http://narien.com (specifically for roasted yerba mate, but everything else is good too)
http://harney.com (for a range from less-fancy to exotic teas)
http://runa.org (for guayusa)
http://steashtea.com (for guayusa and other tea above what adagio has, but under harney and upton)
and, finally, Davidson's tea sold through https://www.amazon.com/?tag=neogaf0e-20 (sounds weird, but great value)

It was my birthday last week and I got not one but two yixing tea vessels. One small pot, and one large mug.

Does anyone have any specific teas they can recommend that I brew in these? I am anxious to start using them, but at the same time I don't want to choose a blend I might not be drinking in 5 or 10 years. Apparently they work best with oolong, that seems pretty safe I guess. I would like to also do some kind of green, I am quite partial to bancha myself.

Yeah, oolong is definitely a good choice with yixing. I'd suggest trying white tea as well.

A cup of tea (the standard British sort) is my favourite drink by far, yet I have yet to find any other kind of tea I like.

I recently bought a pot and strainer and an assortment (maybe 20 different types) of tea, many of which smelled wonderful, but all of them tasted absolutely awful.

Am I just looking in the wrong place? Are there any teas that could really grab me? Or should I just give up my search and stick to what I know?

It could just be the quality of the tea you tried. What were the flavors/types of tea in the assortment?

I get a massive throat burn from two cups of Earl Grey (with 3 or 4 pieces of sugar) Is that normal?

An acidic burn from Earl Grey isn't common. However, it is flavored with bergamot oil, and, as a person that has tried fresh bergamot, let me tell you that it is not a pleasant trip down the throat. Have you tried other brands of earl grey? It could be that the brand you've been drinking isn't properly formulated.

 

[Minamu]

An acidic burn from Earl Grey isn't common. However, it is flavored with bergamot oil, and, as a person that has tried fresh bergamot, let me tell you that it is not a pleasant trip down the throat. Have you tried other brands of earl grey? It could be that the brand you've been drinking isn't properly formulated.

Is that the same as when your stomach acid gets upset and you get a throat burn? Because that's what I get (I think). I don't usually get this pain so maybe it's the brand, yeah. I bought a 100 pack of those little bags and I have maybe 80 left...

 

[AndyD]

I drink tea all the time. Daily, sometimes more than a cup a day.

Favorite tea - Darjeeling Black or Oolong tea.

Right now I have in my cabinet a Darjeeling, an Earl Grey and an Imperial Spice my wife bought me in London.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I likes me some chai

 

[Urban Scholar]

I'd like to buy some that's tasty & low on the calories and little on the sugar. Any recommendations?

 

[morningbus]

I'd like to buy some that's tasty & low on the calories and little on the sugar. Any recommendations?

If you're looking for loose leaf or bagged recommendations, you're in luck - plain tea is tasty, low in calories (typically 0 calories), and does not contain any sugar. So basically anything. Any calories in the finished drink will come from whatever sugar you add.

If you're asking for ready-to-drink tea, I like Republic of Tea's drinks. Honest Tea is also surprisingly good, too. Honest Tea is also fairly easy to find as they're owned by Coca-Cola.

 

[morningbus]

One of my favorite tea retailers, Harney and Sons, is running a free shipping promotion:

From 12 Noon February 6th to 12 Noon February 8th (Eastern Time) all orders over $25 placed on our website will receive Free Ground Shipping to a US Address. You can also give us a call to place your order - 888-427-6398.
No Coupon Needed. Just order $25 or more! Orders must ship to a US Address
via Ground or US Postal Shipping**
International orders, read below ;-)

Online at www.harney.com or by calling us at 888-427-6398 only.*


** For international addresses, please write SWEET INTERNATIONAL in the Order Notes section during checkout, and we'll take $4.50 off the International Shipping charges for your order. Please also make sure to include a valid email address with your order, so that we can contact you regarding your order.

A few humble suggestions:

Yerba Mate Buds. I hestitate sharing this one because it has quickly become one of my favorites, but is still pretty damn rare. There is only one company in the world producing yerba mate buds at the moment and they haven't really ramped up production yet. So, in other words, don't buy too much of it, guys. I still need my fix. What is it? It is full yerba mate leaves processed like traditional tea. What you get is a really delicate tea reminiscent of oolong. Absolutely fantastic.

Guayusa. A botanical cousin of yerba mate from Ecuador. Totally unique and worth a try even if you hate yerba mate. I've written about it in this very thread before: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=20806260&postcount=302

Darjeeling Blend. Probably my favorite darjeeling.

 

[sarcastor]

just got this pretty cool tea pot from Ikea. only $12!

currently using tenren #913 oloong tea. very smooth. also got some blue eye, mango black tea and other assort stuff in chinese i can't read...

 

[AndyD]

I had some brandied apricot tea last night, excellent stuff. Never had it before, now I have to buy some somewhere.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Anyone ever have Pirates Chai tea? It's some sort of mix between Green/Chai. I need some recommendations

 

[morningbus]

Would there be any interest in a new Tea OT? With some useful information in the OP, like recommended tea retailers and specific tea recommendations? I'd be more than happy to throw one to together and then maintain it.

Also, I just started brewing my own kombucha. I'll let you guys know how it turns out (click for larger pic).

Anyone ever have Pirates Chai tea? It's some sort of mix between Green/Chai. I need some recommendations

Here is a list of retailers I like (and what I like them for):

http://matefactor.com (for green yerba mate)
http://uptontea.com (for fancier teas)
http://adagio.com (for less-fancy teas)
http://narien.com (specifically for roasted yerba mate, but everything else is good too)
http://harney.com (for a range from less-fancy to exotic teas)
http://runa.org (for guayusa)
http://steashtea.com (for guayusa and other tea above what adagio has, but under harney and upton)
and, finally, Davidson's tea sold through https://www.amazon.com/?tag=neogaf0e-20 (sounds weird, but great value)

As for specific teas, try some genmaicha. It's a blend of green tea, rice, and popcorn. Really tasty with honey.

 

[Mgoblue201]

Lately I've been enjoying English breakfast tea with a bit of sugar and honey. I believe that George Orwell decried the use of sugar in tea, but I like it anyway.

 

[morningbus]

Lately I've been enjoying English breakfast tea with a bit of sugar and honey. I believe that George Orwell decried the use of sugar in tea, but I like it anyway.

That whole essay on "proper tea" is overrated and outdated anyway.

 

[upandaway]

Would there be any interest in a new Tea OT? With some useful information in the OP, like recommended tea retailers and specific tea recommendations? I'd be more than happy to throw one to together and then maintain it.

Would be awesome with some tools recommendations. I was already prepared to skim the entire thread for stuff but I'll hold out if you do that.

I'm more or less ready to go into it with loose tea, so yeah.

 

[GhostRidah]

My aunt use to make some type of tea that was milky when I was a kid, no idea what it was but damn was is it good.

What are the best tea's to have with milk?

 

[morningbus]

Would be awesome with some tools recommendations. I was already prepared to skim the entire thread for stuff but I'll hold out if you do that.

I'm more or less ready to go into it with loose tea, so yeah.

That's good enough for me: I'll work on a new OP and have it up later in the day.

My aunt use to make some type of tea that was milky when I was a kid, no idea what it was but damn was is it good.

What are the best tea's to have with milk?

Typically, milk goes best with black tea. I'd suggest getting some darjeeling black tea if you're looking to pair it with milk.

 

[cousins]

Would there be any interest in a new Tea OT? With some useful information in the OP, like recommended tea retailers and specific tea recommendations? I'd be more than happy to throw one to together and then maintain it.

There's definitely some interest on my part.