Tea Anyone?

[BobM]

I always laughed, at least to myself, when people saved their tea bags for making their tea, cup after cup all day long!

My daughter came home from college with some expensive tea. She used to do this, brew a tetsubin full (@ 2 cups), then save the tea leaves to make another pot the next day. I have to say that the second pot was definitely smoother than the first, and still plenty tasty. Perhaps the caffeine was lower, but that's OK with me.

 

[Orb]

One of my favorite lines in the movie The Hunt for Red October by Sean Connery after telling his defecting officers that he had told such to his superiors:

Captain Ramius: You're afraid of our fleet. Well, you should be. Personally, I'd give us one chance in three. More tea anyone?

Tea plays a supporting role in a number of scenes in that movie. So I thought we have a discussion about teas we love.

My recent favorite which I now drink in the morning is the Ahmad Earl Grey.

What I like about it is that you can make it as strong as you want and won't get bitter. It also is not too aromatic. I don't care for aromatic tea in the morning as I drink it with my breakfast and I find that strong scent can be odd in that situation.

I actually make it light as I don't want too much caffeine. It gives off its flavor and color very quickly. I can make tea in less than 15 seconds. I use 208 degree water from our Zojirushi hot water pot.

It comes in two versions. The one in foil which keeps forever. And the boxes without. Tried the latter recently in a 100 pack and it seems just fine with expiration date of 3 years from now. I will be finishing the box in 3 months though .

The tea comes from London but it is widely available in local ethnic grocery stores and Amazon where it has almost perfect review scores.

So what are your favorite teas?

Hah I drink Ahmad Ceylon tea (bagged)
I tried quite a few other "normal" teas and to me this has pretty good flavours at a reasonable price, also the Ahmad Rooibos & Cinnamon (caffeine free) is nice for those that prefer a more herbal type of tea.

If a big fan of Earl Grey you may enjoy following this blog: http://theearlgreyaddict.blogspot.co.uk/
One that he raves about is Tazo: http://theearlgreyaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/review-10-tazo-earl-grey-bagged.html

But I think I will stick to Ceylon and a few herbal teas myself; Earl Grey bleh
Cheers
Orb

 

[amirm]

If a big fan of Earl Grey you may enjoy following this blog: http://theearlgreyaddict.blogspot.co.uk/
One that he raves about is Tazo: http://theearlgreyaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/review-10-tazo-earl-grey-bagged.html

THanks. The Tazo teas I have tried though have been awful. I especially hate their mint which has a bunch of other herbs in it that really tastes odd. Maybe the Earl Grey is good but I have such a negative impression of the brand that I am not sure I will try it .

 

[Orb]

THanks. The Tazo teas I have tried though have been awful. I especially hate their mint which has a bunch of other herbs in it that really tastes odd. Maybe the Earl Grey is good but I have such a negative impression of the brand that I am not sure I will try it .

LOL, I found the same with Stash; meant to do good Earl Grey but their Chai was freaking awful IMO
Sticking to Ahmad for now until I have the craze to try some of the more expensive ones, saying that Tazo and Stash are not necessarily cheap themselves.....
Cheers
Orb

 

[BobM]

I agree that I'm not fond of Tazo nor Stash. I did find that Amazon has an "English Tea Store" and some of their teas are pretty nice. There is one I really like which is a rose infused green tea.

As for mint teas, here's a funny story. My daughter likes them and bought a 6 ounce bag on-line from her college dorm room. 6 ounces is a pretty large bag; way too much for her to use. So she put about an ounce or so of it into a ziplock baggie for me. We visited her at Penn State about 2 weeks ago and she pulls it out of her purse in the middle of campus and says "here dad, this is for you". So I'm holding an ounce or so of finely chopped green leaves in a baggie in the middle of campus. My wife screams "put that away, right now before someone sees it". Then I smelled the peppermint and start laughing.

It tastes pretty good in the morning if mixed half and half with a strong black tea and a little sugar.

 

[Asamel]

We are! Tea drinkers!

 

[carolkoh]

I find the Twinings loose leaf teas pretty good. The tins show the strength of the tea you are buying. You only get the "two tea-leaf" strength in their Earl Greys here, it seems. I shall have to ask Gary to get me a tin of the "three tea-leaf" or even four when he next travels to Singapore.

For Indian chai, the only way to go is to brew the tea from the really strong tea they sell in the Indian grocery stores and add the spice yourself - they also sell the spice blends.

I also buy loose leaf teas from the PCC and Whole Foods grocery stores. Their lines are Choice Organic, Rishi and Frontier.

Seattle also has several tea purveyors that do their own blends. My favorite "girly teas" are a Victorian Earl Grey - with rose petals and lavender added, Lady Grey - with lavender and citrus aside from the bergamot.

Other favorite flavored teas are a nice Ginger Apricot or Ginger Peach and a "Bombay Morning" which is strong black tea, rose petals and chai spices.

 

[amirm]

Darjeeling has become my favorite after initially preferring earl gray for a decade.

I have gone the reverse . Use to not like Earl Grey at all. I should go back and taste Darjeeling again to make sure it was not better after all.

 

[Orb]

Darjeeling has become my favorite after initially preferring earl gray for a decade.

Any particular brand?
Cheers
Orb

 

[carolkoh]

When I was a teenager and in college (long ago ) I used to enjoy Twinings Earl Grey before they decided to add bergamot oil to it. Now it seems all the Earl Grey teas have bergamot oil added.

I was talking to Gary about the stronger Earl Grey tea that can be had in Singapore and the UK, and did a bit of reading... and read that Twinings reformulated their Ear Grey in 2011 - adding more bergamot and a dash of lemon - and how their customers revolted. LoL.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...changes-the-flavour-of-its-Earl-Grey-tea.html

and they gave in and changed it back!

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/a...k-twinings-gives-in-to-outraged-tea-drinkers/

 

[Orb]

I was talking to Gary about the stronger Earl Grey tea that can be had in Singapore and the UK, and did a bit of reading... and read that Twinings reformulated their Ear Grey in 2011 - adding more bergamot and a dash of lemon - and how their customers revolted. LoL.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...changes-the-flavour-of-its-Earl-Grey-tea.html

and they gave in and changed it back!

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/a...k-twinings-gives-in-to-outraged-tea-drinkers/

I would say serious tea drinkers are more temperamental than audiophiles.

Cheers
Orb