Tea appreciation thread - what are you drinking? What's your favourite?

[ehtheist]

Everybody poised to hoist their undies into an uncomfortable wedge?

Here you go:


Tazo Earl Grey

I hear that stuff is good if you piss in it a bit before you drink any.

Spoiler

Actually, Tazo isn't that bad. I wouldn't say it's top shelf, but it really isn't bad. I drink Tazo stuff sometimes and enjoy the experience. I've had some Lipton teas which I consider to be genuinely bad, so it's not like all teas are good, but Tazo has never left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[sh1tehawke]

It was actually spending a year in England that got me drinking black tea to begin with. Prior to that, it was all herbal. Some of my friends got me drinking English and Irish breakfast teas with a bit of cream and sugar in the morning and I started trying stuff... English black teas are awesome standards - they just have a nice clean, and not busy, but still rich flavour. The English have my thanks for making tea a global phenomenon in a way it wasn't before, and popularizing tea culture around the globe.

Yeah English and Irish breakfast teas are very nice. I occasionally like an earl grey too and Russian caravan tea is nice though I never seem to see it in the supermarket much these days.

 

[ehtheist]

Yeah English and Irish breakfast teas are very nice. I occasionally like an earl grey too and Russian caravan tea is nice though I never seem to see it in the supermarket much these days.

I'm not actually familiar with Yorkshire tea. Is it a brand of English Breakfast or is it a distinct blend? My knowledge of English tea types and culture is still pretty limited as I only spent a year there and was still quite new to the whole black-tea thing at the time.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Like 5-6 cups of green tea a day

 

[loyalyolayal]

teh tarik.

 

[dije1]

Ginger tea.

 

[ghoul]

I drink pretty much all teas, but certain black teas makes me sick. Currently loving this roibos I found.

 

[EL CORINTHIAN]

Actually, I use stevia instead of sugar too. What's Greek mountain tea? Never heard of it... After having just discovered Tulsi tea in the last year - Indian "sacred basil" tea - I'm finding I still have a lot to learn and I'm always excited to try something new.

Lapsangs are one of my favourites as well, though I tend to enjoy a slightly milder but still very smoky Russian Caravan style tea to cut the overpowering smokiness. If you're a scotch drinker, try some Lapsang some morning - it's kind of like a good Scotch, but hot and without the booze...

Greek tea is known as sideritis tea I Beleive and the flavor is like camomile but better (much stronger). When i was young my grandparents would make it for me when I had a cold. Later when i got older and discovered Green tea and other herbal teas for health I kinda disregarded mountain Tea but apparently new research is showing significant health properties with associated with it.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...enefits-in-new-research-report-300065297.html

And I actually have Russian Caravan Lapsang. I thought that was the company of something lol didn't realize it was a type of cut. I actually tried to find a tea that would emulate the smokiness of a nice petey scotch and that was the winner by far.

 

[Insmoke]

Turkish Apple.
Or some good ol' Earl grey or English blend

 

[EL CORINTHIAN]

I drink pretty much all teas, but certain black teas makes me sick. Currently loving this roibos I found.

Are you drinking it on an empty stomach? When I started intermittent fasting years ago drinking black coffee through out the day was a popular method of curbing your appetite but I wanted to drink tea instead. I tried green tea fasted and that was a huge mistake. I made a cup before going to work and on the way there I got this rediculous, unrelenting wave of nausea. I tried it again the next day and the same thing happened. Apparently green tea can make people feel very sick while fasted so perhaps that's the same deal with black? I never tried to find out because it was a horrid experience.

 

[Thread]

So for you tea purists/elitists, aren't we supposed to avoid the tazo/celestials/Bigelow's due to them not being organic and possibly being treated with pesticides/chemicals etc?

 

[ehtheist]

Greek tea is known as sideritis tea I Beleive and the flavor is like camomile but better (much stronger). When i was young my grandparents would make it for me when I had a cold. Later when i got older and discovered Green tea and other herbal teas for health I kinda disregarded mountain Tea but apparently new research is showing significant health properties with associated with it.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...enefits-in-new-research-report-300065297.html

And I actually have Russian Caravan Lapsang. I thought that was the company of something lol didn't realize it was a type of cut. I actually tried to find a tea that would emulate the smokiness of a nice petey scotch and that was the winner by far.

I'm going to have to try this Greek mountain tea. Something that's like chamomile, but stronger, seems right up my alley.

Russian Caravan has an interesting history. At its core it's a blend of lapsang and a few other unsmoked black teas, so it ranges from a bit less smokey than a straight lapsang to *way* less smokey, so it's a bit inconsistent. For instance, Davidson's Russian caravan is so mild you can barely taste the smokiness, whereas Bayswater Tea Company has a Russian caravan that is only slightly less smokey than the lapsangs I have tried. I'm not sure how much other stuff is blended in is regulated or anything, so yeah, Russian caravan teas can be wildly inconsistent depending on where you get it. All of them are basically lapsangs cut with other stuff though.

Though, the name "Russian caravan" doesn't just refer to the mix of the tea but the means of transportation back in the day. Where most teas way back when came from China/India by ship, Russian caravan was transported by caravans going through Russia. What this did was drastically change the level of humidity the tea was exposed to in transport and the tea ended up with a very different character when it hit Europe, so Russian caravan was recognizes as being distinct because of the different exposure to humidity for the months of the voyage. These days I really don't know if there is any attempt to emulate this humidity difference for part of the transport though, but I doubt it.

 

[ehtheist]

So for you tea purists/elitists, aren't we supposed to avoid the tazo/celestials/Bigelow's due to them not being organic and possibly being treated with pesticides/chemicals etc?

Actually, I think the connection between cheap bagged tea and things like heavy metal poisoning/nasty pesticide use isn't really a consistent one. Simply put, a lot of the fancy loose leaf, expensive snobby elitist teas are grown in countries which aren't heavily regulated for pesticides and whatnot. If you go into some little "authentic" Chinese tea shop or something and pay a fortune for some high end oolong or something, odds are it was treated with pesticides that haven't been allowed on Californian tomatoes for decades.

I've also read some research suggesting that the organic label on teas doesn't actually mean it doesn't have harmful traces of heavy metals in the tea, leached from the ground.

So yeah, when you pay big money for loose leaf teas, you aren't necessarily paying for pesticide free, and even when you buy organic, that doesn't mean that there aren't traces of heavy metals in them which have been leeched from the soil.

"A Tata Tea spokesperson said, “The environmental contamination through air and soil was responsible for lead contamination in tea plants, on which we have no control.”"

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/repo...2-brands-of-organic-tea-made-in-india-1545512

 

[Thread]

So what you're saying is avoid the Chinese teas and stick to the North American or well known brands? If so makes sense as anything Chinese branded is not known for quality control.

Is there somewhere other than a Teavanna that one can purchase good teas and not pay a ridiculous amount or be subjected to hipster corporate Propaganda?

Actually, I think the connection between cheap bagged tea and things like heavy metal poisoning/nasty pesticide use isn't really a consistent one. Simply put, a lot of the fancy loose leaf, expensive snobby elitist teas are grown in countries which aren't heavily regulated for pesticides and whatnot. If you go into some little "authentic" Chinese tea shop or something and pay a fortune for some high end oolong or something, odds are it was treated with pesticides that haven't been allowed on Californian tomatoes for decades.

I've also read some research suggesting that the organic label on teas doesn't actually mean it doesn't have harmful traces of heavy metals in the tea, leached from the ground.

So yeah, when you pay big money for loose leaf teas, you aren't necessarily paying for pesticide free, and even when you buy organic, that doesn't mean that there aren't traces of heavy metals in them which have been leeched from the soil.

"A Tata Tea spokesperson said, “The environmental contamination through air and soil was responsible for lead contamination in tea plants, on which we have no control.”"

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/repo...2-brands-of-organic-tea-made-in-india-1545512

 

[ICHEERTHEBULL]

earl grey, milk two sugars.

Why do anarchists drink herbal tea?

Spoiler

because proper tea is theft

 

[HwoarangStyle]

arizona iced tea mothafucka

 

[frenz]

I hate green tea, but I'm trying to be more healthy bought this:

Very good, would recommend. Doesn't make me feel nauseous like normal green tea,

 

[thebluerider]

i drink green tea erryday

 

[SheetsMMAfan]

Not a tea snob, I just drink this shit constantly...

This is the best though, need to sell in gallons...

 

[frenz]

earl grey is disgusting and you should feel bad about it.