One loves one's tea
 

So, who else out there is a budding/current tea freak like me? What are your favourite brands and types, and how do you take your brew?

Here is the "tea section" I reserve in my cupboard:

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I had some Darjeeling a few months back and it was quite nice. I'm actually thinking of putting aside some money every now and then in order to further my journey into tea country. Yes, maybe I am crazy tea lady, but I don't care because it's so freaking delicious.

I take my regular tea with milk, no sugar. How about you GFF?

Define regular tea? Do you mean a pekoe, or just a black? Loose leaf or bagged? Now, we can talk blends, if you like.

How I take my tea is entirely dependent on the type of tea. Especially in terms of the preparation of said brew. If you brew your black teas the way you do your whites (in before Tails jokes) it just won't turn out. You can't scald white tea with boiling water, it burns the leaves and hurts the flavour. You also can't treat a chai like a roobios, etc.

I see your one shelf of tea and raise you the entirety of the door shelves in my closet-sized pantry. Top to bottom it is nothing but teas. You need different pots for different types, at least a few different types of tea balls and infusers. There's a whole process. And this is without getting into the intricacies of things like the Japanese tea ceremony.

Hell, even the sweetner used depends. You shouldn't sugar a roobios, it just doesn't taste right. But clover honey matches it brilliantly. Same thing with Darjeeling. I take my tea differently depending on mood, time of day, what flavour I'm after. But generally my favourite is a no-sweetner added Indian Chai.

I knew this post would come, Deni :p

When I say regular, I'm talking my bag of Tetleys; your every day, run of the mill kind of tea. Naturally my herbals would be treated differently, though I never tend to sweeten them with honey. As a budding tea freak, I must doff my hat in the presence of a tea master. You put my British heritage to shame, sir!

Tetleys. A pekoe. A shot of lemon, for me. If I have to go bagged, I generally go with twinings.

Cons against tea:

1: Takes too damned long to prepare. You boil water, then dip the bag or strain through loose leaves, and wait forever for the flavor to appear. Coffee works the same way but the process has at least been streamlined for quicker consumption.

2: Requires milk and sugar to be worthwhile. Might as well be drinking coffee at that point.

3: Caffiene level is laughable. Seriously, if that's one of your considerations, just drink coffee.

4: Pretentious flavors: To be fair, some coffee flavors are pretty pretentious too but at least you only sound like a moderate jackass for drinking a hazelnut mochaccino, not like an ass-ramming ponce for carrying around a pumpkin chai. Tea drinkers like to drink tea and brag about it because it makes them think they're sophisticated when, in actuality, they're just too pussified to have a cup of coffee.

5: Lack of drive-thru availability. Go to Tim Horton's or Dunkin Donuts. Do you see tea on the drive-thru menu? Probably not, and if you do, it's one basic option like "green tea" so that the franchise can project its trendiness. Which proves that the sensible people are drinking coffee and getting shit done.

6: You look like a fucking moron having a cigarette over a cup of tea. Who the hell do you think you are, the Rajah?

7: The term teabagging. Do you really want to be one step removed from that association? Ain't no such thing as a coffeebagger, now is there?

I exclusively drink loose-leaf brewed in a bone china teapot because I am a gentleman and a pretentious bastard.

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It should be obvious that I have a thing for black teas - Lapsang Souchong and Oolong specifically. I've been drinking more Russian caravan than anything else lately, though; I'm running a bit low on everything but longjing (which I never drink). Lapsang is actually surprisingly good with milk and brown sugar, although adding the milk to a cup too early scalds the hell out of it and makes it taste like the sort of shit a station café would be embarrassed to serve. There's a fine balance involved.

Shameful confession: I do have a box of English breakfast teabags hidden at the back of a cupboard which I use when I'm feeling really fucking lazy.

Yes. Because Tim Hortons hasn't made a huge deal about offering actual steeped tea.

Perhaps British Columbia has a higher ponce density.

I cannot say specifically.

cons against apples:

they are not a citrus fruit

Cons against citrus:

You have to peel them. Wasted time.

Cons against cherries:

They have pits. Wasted centers.

Cons against watermelons:

The rinds are inedible. Wasted fruit.

Cons against blueberries:

They do not contain Vitamin A. Wasted nourishment potential.

Cons against pears:

They are not a sirloin steak. Wasted dining enjoyment.

But... But I'm not even -close- to the west coast?

Crash, I agree with many of your sentiments, but have to point out that watermelon rinds aren't as inedible as you think.

To make this post somewhat on topic, I don't like tea at all, honestly. And I stay away from coffee as well - very low caffeine tolerance. I prefer tea with added lemon and ice, and I don't know green tea from oolong tea.

The one great thing Texas has given us in the drink department: Unsweet tea.

Well, you escape on a technicality then, but this doesn't change the theory that B.C. is populated by more ponces than should be normal.

I guess it's equally possible that Montreal has a lot of ponces too. After all, they speak a derivation of French there.

POINT THE FIRST: Tea has a far broader spectrum of flavour than coffee. I don't consider plain bread superior to toast by virtue of its preparation time.

POINT THE SECOND: Depends entirely on the tea. It's like saying any soup that doesn't contain carrots is shit.

POINT THE THIRD: If you're drinking tea for caffeine content, there's something wrong with you. You might as well boycott peanut butter for not tasting like smoked haddock.

POINT THE FOURTH: Pretentious flavours of tea and coffee are equally awful. You aren't a "moderate jackass" for drinking an ultra-triple upside-down sixteen-shot cinnamon caramel fracchiatto, you're a monumental prick. That your country has made a commercialised mess of a beverage doesn't make it inherently shit.

POINT THE FIFTH: Tea? In a drive-through? You mad?

POINT THE SIXTH: What

POINT THE SEVENTH: http://imgur.com/VfhXg.png

I like to drink Chinese tea, though more because my family is a tea lover. I prefer them more than coffee, that's for sure. Tea has a kind of antique elegance which coffee doesn't have, and lower caffeine level is one of them^^

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Though my favorite is not Chinese tea, but the sour rosella tea...

Finally, a war between tea and coffee^^

I've learnt that coffee is usually pretty much shit wherever you go in the world. With the exceptions of Finland and Austria, and to a lesser degree Italy, UK, Russia and Hungary, coffee just isn't worthwhile.

That's gotten me into thinking there has to be other options for hot beverages consumed just for the purpose of drinking. (Yeah, tea, for the denser ones)

Being born with a coffee cup in my hand, I will always be partial to stronger tea types. I love a good big cup of assam (not talking about the regular bagged stuff), and a flurry of other similar ones. I usually drink them with a very small amount of sugar, or no sugar at all if I need a quick wake-me-up. Don't say tea doesn't work as a jogger up! I've been drinking strong coffee since I was nine, so I have my very high tolerance for caffeine. The refreshing qualities of tea come from somewhere else than caffeine, at least for me.

It's also nice to share a pot of tea with friends with a tower of shisha, just to pass time.

My gf pours milk in her tea too, it looks absolutely disgusting :tpg:
Also it might or might not ruin the good benefits of catechins.

No. I drink it clean. No milk. No sugar. No cookie crumbs or whatnot.
Maybe acacia honey or something if I'm very sick.

I recently took a liking to green tea. I now usually have 5-10 different blends around to choose from (the tea shop I buy at sells them in these little bags with just enough for about 4 cups in each).
Why get stuck with the same old.

I bought this electric kettle for my coffee and tea brewing, where you can select the right temperature and some other stuff. That's like $150 thrown into the blackness of space right there.

I'm pretty indifferent about the kind of tea I'm drinking. I'm happy enough to have a cup of store-brand Lipton, and generally I'm even too lazy to take the bag out, so I wind up with pretty much the strongest tea ever. I keep a stash of jasmine green tea here in my office since that's a nice pick me up during siesta time.

Occasionally I'll actually feel like having something nice, so I'll make this hot tea mix which is mostly milk, some lipton tea bags, cardamom, cinnamon, and maybe just a little water. I don't do it too often because it's kind of a pain in the ass to make since I can't just turn on my electric kettle and have hot water ready in three minutes.

My knowledge on different types of tea, is very limited at best, but as far as I can remember I've always enjoyed cup of:

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I usually have my Tetley tea with with some homemade toast with butter. I usually add two and half spoons of sugar or splenda, and milk (it can all really depend on what kind of milk we have in the house at the time).

They sometimes say that a typical Newfoundland breakfast consists of toast and tea.

It is only within the last couple of years I've been drinking ginseng herbal tea but I only usually drink it when I'm sick with the flu or cold. My wife didn't like the fact that when I got sick I use to get as many over the counter medications, so instead when I get sick she makes me drink as much as of this ginseng tea with honey because I found that anytime I drink it when I have the cold or flu I get rid of the it faster.

I'm thoroughly amused by this thread.

I enjoy tea, although I'm not a snob about it. I keep intending to buy some loose tea, but never get around to it (I've got a french press; I've been told I can do that, yes?). At work I keep a lavender Earl Grey and a tropical green; at home I have a couple kinds of rooiboos (regular and Chai), something from Trader Joe's called Relax, more Earl Grey, English Breakfast, regular Chai, green Chai, regular green, a mango black, and a box of black Good Earth that I've never touched.

The English Breakfast and the regular Chai I'll put milk in. Otherwise, it's usually honey.

I have drunk tea for a slight caffeine lift; I still do, on the mornings I don't get a chance to make coffee. I've been trying to avoid the caffeine dependence if I can help it (although that's really not working out so well anymore).

I'm amused thoroughly by this thread as well, but instead of attempting entertainment, I'll just share my own sentiments. I'm in no way a snob about my teas, but there's certain things I like certain ways.

I love coffee and tea just about the same. But like Deni said, it totally depends on my mood and what tea I have to drink.

Oolong: definitely one of my favorites as it serves as a valuable component to one of my favorite alcoholic concoctions/cocktails. Also good for cleansing out the digestive system when I haven't had enough fiber and is also fabulous hot or cold. I always keep a bag of oolong tea (loose/bag, doesn't really matter, preparation is mostly similar) in my cupboard. If I know I'd be drinking it to go with alcohol (shochu/soju, to be specific) then I just buy the bottled stuff.

Green: Darker (I should probably say stronger) and bitter it gets, the better. The teabag stuff is only to wash down meals. If I'm drinking GREEN TEA to enjoy it (to be "poncy" as Crash describes), then it better not fucking turn brown when it's prepared DARK. When I mean dark, I mean it turns the color of this green. If anyone reaches for sugar in front of me in a Sushi restaurant where they serve REALLY GOOD green tea then I just close my eyes and restrain myself.

Lipton: I know I'm going to get bashing for this after being pretentious about asian teas, but I love this stuff. It has a nice color and tastes fine straight. Depending on my mood, I'll prepare it differently. I usually go for this if I don't like the choices they offer at a restaurant when I'm in the mood for tea.

Herbals: for when I need to relax... I usually reach for the non-caffeinated chamomile which is my favorite when it comes to tea that doesn't contain caffeine. If I can afford it, I buy the expensive loose ones that even has the flowers. I'll bathe in this if I can afford to. I also have a range of herbals I've collected as gifts from other people: Lavender, Blueberry, Peppermint, Vanilla Cinnamon, to name a few, and some are green/black tea blends.

Dried Persimmon Leaf Tea: My grandmother's secret recipe. I don't know what she does to it, but she takes leaves off of the Persimmon tree in her backyard and makes tea out of it. I don't know the process of HOW she does it, but she always has a stash and it's FABULOUS. I can't really describe it exactly, but it has just the right amount of aroma, smoothness, roundness to the flavor, slightly sweet, and also tiny bit bitter. I heard it has medicinal purposes but I have not seen for myself what it is exactly good for. My grandfather has been drinking this stuff for 60+ years and he was yelled at the doctor to stop playing tennis at the ripe old age of 78, so I assume that might have some indication of its effects, but I have absolutely NO scientific proof to back up the medicinal claims.

Chai: I admit, I'm a n00b in this category and I like mine latte-style from Starbucks. Yes, you may throw beer bottles at me if you like. I need the nickels.

To me, tea's more of a cultural thing. Just like how my boyfriend's family can't end a dinner without some decent coffee and something that resembles dessert, I can't sit at a kotatsu on a cold winter night without some tangerines and a hot cup of green tea.

How I take my tea is entirely dependent on the type of tea. Especially in terms of the preparation of said brew. If you brew your black teas the way you do your whites (in before Tails jokes) it just won't turn out. You can't scald white tea with boiling water, it burns the leaves and hurts the flavor. You also can't treat a chain like an obvious, etc. I like to drink Chinese's tea, though more because my family is a tea lover. I prefer them more than coffee, that's for sure. Tea has a kind of antique elegance which coffee doesn't have, and lower caffeine level is one of them.

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