# Let's talk tea!



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

Since I started school, my sleep cycle is all messed up. I swore off caffiene years ago, but now it is almost a necessity. I refuse to drink soda and coffee is too much for me to handle, so I have developed a bit of a tea habit. It started with plain old Lipton's and has progressed into some foo-foo flavored varieties. Right now I am alternating between berry/plum green tea and vanilla/almond black tea bags from Republic of Tea.

What are your favorite teas?


----------



## Marco (Mar 17, 2007)

earl grey is my all time favorite. I'm actually having some right now


----------



## Heather (Mar 17, 2007)

Earl Grey (love bergamot)
Blackberry and Sage and Ginger Peach (R o T)
I like Jasmine teas also . There's a good jasmine green iced tea that Whole Foods sells.


----------



## bwester (Mar 17, 2007)

the history channel had a thing on the history of tea today. i personally like green tea, but i'm a coffee and espresso person all the way.


----------



## gore42 (Mar 17, 2007)

I love tea  

I'm not big on flavored teas. I love Earl Grey, but that's the only flavored tea that I really like (and some similar citrus flavored teas, like Lady Grey or Ahmads's English Tea No.1, or Kusmi's Russian Evening). I don't like fruit 'tea' or herbal 'tea' with the exception of Evening in Missoula, which is nice. These should properly be called "teasane" rather than tea.

Williamson and Magor make a really interesting, different Earl Grey. The bergamot is a bit stronger and a bit more fruity than others that I've tried. Of course Jackson's of Piccadilly is good, with a good tea flavor underlying the bergamot, and Twinings is my daily standard, which seems to be impossible to make bitter. Also, Upton's Tea makes a good light-bergamot Earl Grey made with a high quality base tea, which is excellent.

My favorite teas are Tung Ting Oolongs, though. They are very lightly fermented, only a little darker than green tea, and end up with a natural sweetness that I love, and sometimes they produce a flavor and smell of lilacs. Just about any High Mountain Oolong is good 

I like good darjeelings, too, and Keemun.

As Ever,
Matt Gore


----------



## Mark (Mar 17, 2007)

Love a good darjeeling or a honeylike yunnan. Lately I've been starting my day with Drum Mountain White Cloud from Special Teas. I've also been very happy with the teas I've been getting from Teasource thanks to a tip from a certain Minnesota grower/vendor.


----------



## kentuckiense (Mar 17, 2007)

Convenience store green tea in a half gallon jug.


----------



## Heather (Mar 17, 2007)

kentuckiense said:


> Convenience store green tea in a half gallon jug.



Nice...


----------



## toddybear (Mar 17, 2007)

English Breakfast is my tea of choice, followed by Irish Breakfast, Chai, Green (the latter 2 with honey) and Lipton's Mixed Berry Green Tea.


----------



## MoreWater (Mar 17, 2007)

I'll have to check out teasource. I'm also a big fan of the slightly fermented whole leaf rolled oolongs and Earl Grey. (Haven't been able to find Jackson's of Picadilly's lately.....) I also like the Old Bush Shui Xian, and various other Chinese teas. During high stress periods I switch almost entirely to puerh (really does help with blood pressure) and recently started on rooibos (which is not a tea). Once in a while, I want the really grassy japanese green tea. I've also started drinking more tisanes - elderflower, linden, mint, fresh ginger - to cut back on the caffeine and to drink more water. 

I'm actually mostly an espresso drinker and have to really watch how much of the dark stuff I drink


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

I think I need to branch out a little with my tea selection. I had no idea there were so many varieties outside of the "bagged" section at the grocery store.


----------



## Mark (Mar 17, 2007)

Pull up Teasource. Get a box of the #1 Tee Sacs and order a variety of loose teas. "Do your own tea bag" each cup or two and you'll never look back. 

I'm planning on using my over-the-counter teabags for dying dishtowels.


----------



## gore42 (Mar 17, 2007)

Ki, I haven't been able to find Jackson's Earl Grey for the past couple of months either, I'll let you know if I run across some.

There's been a huge "gourmet" tea explosion around here... maybe it's all over, I don't know. But the gourmet teas I've had are mostly awful. I've been really unimpressed with Republic of Tea, or example. I don't like the fact that they take a white tea (which has a very nice but delicate flavor) and then FLAVOR it with pear or other random fruit, so you completely lose the tea flavor. Might as well just use cheap green tea. They probably do, actually... I don't see any silver tips in there. I don't even want to start ranting about Whole Foods.

So, I've mostly been sticking with graded teas from reputable estates or British blends for my black tea. I buy at a lot of my Ooolong from Lidia Lin at the TenRen/Seattle's best Tea in the international district in Seattle, since they let me try everything first (even though its pretty expensive).

- Matt


----------



## gore42 (Mar 17, 2007)

FWIW, I perfer Upton's tea to TeaSource, but there are lots of good places to get tea 

- Matt


----------



## Mark (Mar 17, 2007)

gore42 said:


> FWIW, I perfer Upton's tea to TeaSource, but there are lots of good places to get tea
> 
> - Matt




I agree. Although I understand McNulty's is closing if not already closed.  Just avoid anything like Republic of Tea, Lipton, Yogi Tea or Tazo (*gack gack*) and you're golden.


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

Republic of Tea is good though. If I didn't need the caffiene, I wouldn't be drinking it at all. 

Honestly, I didn't realize that people took their tea as seriously as they take everything else.


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

I am not even sure if I like the tea flavor since I haven't had anything but Lipton's. By the time I add sweetener to it, I might as well drink warm sugar-water.


----------



## Heather (Mar 17, 2007)

I'm not a tea afficianado. I don't like tannins much, but for a basic tea I do like Republic of Tea. Certainly better than lipton!

Not that I'm dissin' lipton's sugar water! oke:


----------



## gore42 (Mar 17, 2007)

It looks as though Jackson's of Piccadilly has discontinued all of their traditional teas; they don't make earl grey or russian caravan, etc. anymore... they sell mostly green (including white) teas and some single estate teas, it looks like. 

What awful news. I'm going to have to start a web search now for the last few boxes of Jackson's Earl Grey. Maybe I should offer a bounty...

- Matt


----------



## MoreWater (Mar 17, 2007)

:crazy:


PHRAG said:


> Honestly, I didn't realize that people took their tea as seriously as they take everything else.



tea is religious. :rollhappy: 

yeah, I buy from tenren as well - and sometimes from imperial tea. I don't think our local tea shops sell enough for the tea to be reliable. 

so anyone into yerba mate? I tried it recently and found that I can't take the kick the stuff has. (And this from a die-hard espressoist....)

oh hey, dairy (like cheese) is supposed to help keep your brain working. Someone recommended it to me for my late night snacks while I was studying for ... something. I forget. Must not be eating enough cheese. :crazy:


----------



## Persephone (Mar 17, 2007)

I usually drink Twinings Orange Pekoe tea. I brew it loose - the flavor is much stonger then. Actually I make quite strong tea and I drink it with half and half and sugar.  
Are the tea police going to come and take me away?


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

To each their own.

Does drinking coffee from Starbucks make you less sophisticated than someone who owns a french press? Who cares?

I am a "sun tea from an old milk jug" kinda guy. I ain't got time to be sophisticated.


----------



## gore42 (Mar 17, 2007)

I don't think that any of this is about being "sophisticated". If you're happy with the flavor of something that is cheaper and easier to find, then by all means, be happy with it! To me, they just don't taste good.

- Matt


----------



## MoreWater (Mar 17, 2007)

French Press is almost as bad as instant coffee. blech.

Whatever works is what works. Besides, if we were all opinionated about everything, we would be awful to be around.

and sun tea rocks.


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

Sophisticated = more complex.

Buying teabags at the store. Easy.

Constructing my own teabags from rare blends of various types of tea. Complex.

I didn't mean "sophisticated = snobby." I save that mentality for Heather's food threads.


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

MoreWater said:


> French Press is almost as bad as instant coffee. blech.



What do I know? All coffee is blech to me. Except one. Churchill's Banana Fosters brew with lots of sugar. Banana flavoring and coffee works.


----------



## smartie2000 (Mar 17, 2007)

Dim Sum.....
I always get iron quawn yin or iron buddha for tea. I dont know how to translate... quawn yin is the mercy buddha/goddess or whatever (I've become so white)


----------



## gonewild (Mar 17, 2007)

I like our very own Healing Forest Tea Blends. Just put one jumbo teabag in a gallon of hot water and it is ready to drink the next day, iced or hot. Can't get easier than that.
They taste quite nice but no caffeine.


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 17, 2007)

Yeah, the lack of caffeine probably wouldn't work for me. I should have started a thread called "Let's talk inexpensive and readily available fruit-flavored liquid caffeine delivery systems."

 

I had no idea there were so many types of tea.


----------



## gonewild (Mar 17, 2007)

PHRAG said:


> Yeah, the lack of caffeine probably wouldn't work for me. I should have started a thread called "Let's talk inexpensive and readily available fruit-flavored liquid caffeine delivery systems."



I rely on coca cola for my caffeine.

 



> I had no idea there were so many types of tea.



There are a lot of types of everything that someone will spend money on.


----------



## MoreWater (Mar 18, 2007)

Iron goddess of mercy.

Those types of teas are easier than tea bags. No packets to unwrap. Toss some tea in the pot/
mug, add hot water, drink. The little nuggets of tea unfurl into whole leaves so cleanup is a cinch.

But we are severely off topic....


----------



## MoreWater (Mar 18, 2007)

gore42 said:


> Ki, I haven't been able to find Jackson's Earl Grey for the past couple of months either, I'll let you know if I run across some.



If you do and can pick up an extra, I'd be very grateful. 

Oh, and agreed on the white tea products...


----------



## gore42 (Mar 18, 2007)

John,

There is really only one type of tea plant (two, depending on whether you consider them separate species) _Camellia sinensis_. Then there are three main ways of processing it: if you don't roll and oxidize the leaves, it becomes green tea. If you oxidize them slightly, its Oolong tea. If they are fully oxidized, its a black tea. 

All tea has caffeine, even green tea. Even de-caf. If an infusion doesn't have caffeine, it's not tea (Sorry Lance, you should call it an herbal infusion or Tisane  ). 

The rest of the types of tea depend on how it is processed, where it was grown, and where the tea plants originated. There are two origins, China and Assam, India. Elevation and moisture have a huge impact on the flavor of the tea.

Incidentally, Orange Pekoe is not a flavor of tea, it's a grade of tea. The orange pekeo leaves are the first 3 leaves on the new growth... they're basically the new growth on the bush. If older leaves are used, the flavor is not as good, and it gets more of a vegetable flavor. There doesn't seem to be a very good grading standard with tea, but its something like this:

OP = Orange Pekoe
BOP = Broken Orange Pekoe
FOP = Flowery (or sometimes Fancy) Orange Pekoe
GTOP = Golden Tippy Orange Pekoe
FGTOP, etc.

Generally, the more letters they stack in front of the region name, the better the grade is supposed to be. 

- Matt


----------



## gonewild (Mar 18, 2007)

gore42 said:


> If an infusion doesn't have caffeine, it's not tea (Sorry Lance, you should call it an herbal infusion or Tisane  ).
> - Matt



We do market them as herbal tea infusions. 
The Clouded Forest blend actually contains Peruvian black tea.

As far as the use of the word "tea" the FDA specifically has regulations allowing the use on any herbal blends for labeling. There is no requirement that to be labeled as tea it must contain caffeine. (In case you did not know it the FDA is the supreme body of all knowing all ruling and all controlling in the entire universe.) :rollhappy: 

The use of the word "tea" can be argued by tea purists but I'm afraid it is a loosing battle as rural people all over the world will tell you they make "tea" from plants they collect. They would not know what you were talking about if you told them to make a Tisane. Actually an infusion is not intended to be consumed for pleasure and it is, correctly, a very strong concentration of herbs prepared by boiling as a remedy.


----------



## gonewild (Mar 18, 2007)

PHRAG said:


> Yeah, the lack of caffeine probably wouldn't work for me. I should have started a thread called "Let's talk inexpensive and readily available fruit-flavored liquid caffeine delivery systems."



Here you go John... Guayaki Yerba Mate
This pretty much is what you asked for except maybe the part about inexpensive.


----------



## gore42 (Mar 18, 2007)

lol 

Thanks, I've think I learned something new, if you're saying that one of your teas contains tea but no caffeine. I didn't know that it was technologically possible yet to decaffeinate tea completely (and still retain any of the flavor). The Celestial Seasonings factory is not too far from here, and on the tour they describe the process and how much caffeine remains (since they actually sell decaf)... but I can't remember the exact numbers. Are you using a new process?

Anyway, my British family owned a tea estate in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) from the late 19th century until the mid 20th, and in the family tradition I've learned a bit about the tea industry and the science behind tea. I think that calling just ANY herbal infusion "tea" is simply a botanical mistake. Of course you're right, most people call water with stuff (usually herbs, but not always) in it "tea", and since word definitions are subject to the tyrrany of the majority, there's no doubt that this confusion in our lexicon will be legitimized by Webster or the OED at some point, if it hasn't already happened. But just because it happens doesn't mean that I have to accept it 

- Matt


----------



## Heather (Mar 18, 2007)

PHRAG said:


> Sophisticated = more complex.
> 
> I didn't mean "sophisticated = snobby." I save that mentality for Heather's food threads.



Hey! I resent that! 

Just because I appreciate good food doesn't make me a snob! 
Just like the fact that you put saltines in your chili and top it with velveeta doesn't make you white trash. 



gore42 said:


> I think that calling just ANY herbal infusion "tea" is simply a botanical mistake. But just because it happens doesn't mean that I have to accept it
> 
> - Matt



Damn taxonomy! oke:


----------



## likespaphs (Mar 18, 2007)

MoreWater said:


> ...so anyone into yerba mate? I tried it recently and found that I can't take the kick the stuff has. (And this from a die-hard espressoist....)...



i grow it, tried it once. too bitter for me, i think. being a one cup of coffee a day type of guy starting to drink a second cup (okay, so it's two to four shots of espresso in a cup of coffee....), if yerba's got super caffeine, i may have to learn to sweeten....
did you drink it with the straw with the little holes at the bottom?



PHRAG said:


> ...All coffee is blech to me....


blasphemy!!!!

did y'all check out the very bottom of Pine Ridge Orchids' page? lots of tea stuff, i haven't read it so i don't know how it is... WARNING: this page is very picture intensive!!! (so many photos broadband takes a while to load it...)


----------



## PHRAG (Mar 18, 2007)

Heather said:


> Hey! I represent that!




There Heather, I fixed your statement from above.


----------



## Heather (Mar 18, 2007)

:rollhappy:

One of these days I'm gonna come out there and kick your ass, John.


----------



## MoreWater (Mar 18, 2007)

likespaphs said:


> i grow it, tried it once. too bitter for me, i think. being a one cup of coffee a day type of guy starting to drink a second cup (okay, so it's two to four shots of espresso in a cup of coffee....), if yerba's got super caffeine, i may have to learn to sweeten....
> did you drink it with the straw with the little holes at the bottom?



LOL. No. I am a wuss and tried a blend from rishi tea. Actually two blends. Spoon into a tea envelope and steep.  Still tasted bitter (though perhaps I could acquire that taste too) but I was not prepared for the headache.




likespaphs said:


> did y'all check out the very bottom of Pine Ridge Orchids' page? lots of tea stuff, i haven't read it so i don't know how it is... WARNING: this page is very picture intensive!!! (so many photos broadband takes a while to load it...)



no kidding, takes time to load. But a nice little write up and I admit I was cackling over the teaware. If I ditched my teaware, I would have space for several dozen more pleuros..... :rollhappy:


----------



## gonewild (Mar 18, 2007)

> gore42 said:
> 
> 
> > lol
> ...


----------

