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Tell me about tea

xanis

xanis

Lifer
I'm getting sick of coffee and am looking for something else to drink at work in the morning. I've been drinking the "office" tea (some cheap earl grey, Nestea, nothing that good) lately and I think tea might be a good thing to get into. That being said, I know next to nothing about tea, but I do know that I want whatever I get to come in bags. Any suggestions/knowledge nuggets for a tea noob? FWIW I like stronger flavors and more caffeine. Would I want a black tea then? Maybe a spiced tea of some sort?
 
I've been drinking tea my whole life and a lipton tea bag does just fine. Back in Europe we drank some Lipton equivalent.

But many "hard core" people will tell you that my taste buds suck and I'm drinking piss not tea.

In general, tea bag is made out the shavings from the bottom of the pile and "quality" tea is made of actual leaves.

There is # of stores that will make tea seem like gold and charge you similar price. Sure it tastes better but it comes down to price/difference.

I can't justify it. But I'm not anal about it....whatever.
 
Just get whatever you like. I prefer green tea.

Also different brands have different tastes. You should just try some and see how they are.
 
I would make you're own.

I've been drinking loose-leaf for years, and have been ordering from these folks for years:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/home.asp?UTid=4910-9-12051214&afterCart=/shopcart/home.asp&

I love a good Irish breakfast, or the Scottish Breakfast Blend cannot be beat. Making tea this way can be strong and pungent, which is the way I prefer, or lighter, if that's your... er, cup of...

And don't even get me started on how freakin' amazing the green tea is from these peeps.

It's also possible to brew all tea to be decaf, if you're into that sort of thing:

http://www.arborteas.com/pages/decaffeination-at-home.html

Teabags suck. They're generally weak, often processed for mass-consumption and preservation, and they're more expensive, pound for pound.

A $10 250g packet will last you a very long time, much longer than coffee:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=TB14&from=search.asp

You can brew with one of these, which includes filter:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=AP06&begin=0&parent=Accessories%3ETeaware%3ETeapots&category=Chatsford&sortMethod=0&categoryID=0

Or if you want to brew cup at a time (which I do when I'm in a hurry, and at work) use this:

http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html

Cliffs:
-Teabags suck. Pound for pound, more expensive, they don't taste fresh, and it's generally weak, shitty tea.
-Loose-leaf is easy to brew, cheaper than coffee, and tasty as hell.

Good luck.
 
ViviTheMage said:
I never made it...I have gotten it from restaurants, tried other people who said it was 'awesome'

In the end, it always tastes like dirt.
Click to expand...

Some tea can be shitty, I agree. Anything bought in a store nowadays falls in that category.

What kind did they push on ya?
 
Good info below. I love upton tea for blacks, but not for anything else, though I haven't explored much beyond a cheap oolong. I love these guys for greens and oolongs, as well as their brewing accessories: http://www.enjoyingtea.com/

Adagio is overpriced for what you get, imho

Here's my tea setup from a few months ago:
piGsY.jpg


Rakewell said:
I would make you're own.

I've been drinking loose-leaf for years, and have been ordering from these folks for years:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/home.asp?UTid=4910-9-12051214&afterCart=/shopcart/home.asp&

I love a good Irish breakfast, or the Scottish Breakfast Blend cannot be beat. Making tea this way can be strong and pungent, which is the way I prefer, or lighter, if that's your... er, cup of...

And don't even get me started on how freakin' amazing the green tea is from these peeps.

It's also possible to brew all tea to be decaf, if you're into that sort of thing:

http://www.arborteas.com/pages/decaffeination-at-home.html

Teabags suck. They're generally weak, often processed for mass-consumption and preservation, and they're more expensive, pound for pound.

A $10 250g packet will last you a very long time, much longer than coffee:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=TB14&from=search.asp

You can brew with one of these, which includes filter:

http://www.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=AP06&begin=0&parent=Accessories%3ETeaware%3ETeapots&category=Chatsford&sortMethod=0&categoryID=0

Or if you want to brew cup at a time (which I do when I'm in a hurry, and at work) use this:

http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html

Cliffs:
-Teabags suck. Pound for pound, more expensive, they don't taste fresh, and it's generally weak, shitty tea.
-Loose-leaf is easy to brew, cheaper than coffee, and tasty as hell.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
 
preslove said:
Good info below. I love upton tea for blacks, but not for anything else, though I haven't explored much beyond a cheap oolong. I love these guys for greens and oolongs, as well as their brewing accessories: http://www.enjoyingtea.com/

Adagio is overpriced for what you get, imho

Here's my tea setup from a few months ago:
piGsY.jpg
Click to expand...

LOL

Looks a lot like mine, except yours looks organized.

You're right about Adagio, the only thing I've ever ordered from them is the IngenuiTea (which I use daily and can't live without).

I really like a couple of Oolongs from upton, particularly these:

https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?from=catalog.asp&itemID=ZM44&begin=0&parent=Teas%3EOolong%3EChina&category=Oolong&sortMethod=0&categoryID=0

https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcar...ina&category=Oolong&sortMethod=0&categoryID=0

And for Green Tea, Gen-mai Cha has an amazing roasted rice flavor, not to be beat. (You'll often have this in upscale Sushi Restaurants):

https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=TJ21

Also,

Upton's Chai's are excellent, and I always order this around holiday season. Really freakin' good:

https://secure.uptontea.com/shopcart/item.asp?itemID=TE90

Also worth noting that the people who run upton are really great... I know a couple of them by first name through orders. Everything gets to me with 48 hours, no matter where I am in the country. It's amazing.

Enjoyingtea.com looks interesting... I'm going to check out their selection.
 
Vdubchaos said:
I've been drinking tea my whole life and a lipton tea bag does just fine. Back in Europe we drank some Lipton equivalent.

But many "hard core" people will tell you that my taste buds suck and I'm drinking piss not tea.

In general, tea bag is made out the shavings from the bottom of the pile and "quality" tea is made of actual leaves.

There is # of stores that will make tea seem like gold and charge you similar price. Sure it tastes better but it comes down to price/difference.

I can't justify it. But I'm not anal about it....whatever.
Click to expand...

Tea can be very cheap, even if you go towards the expensive stuff. My favorite tea cost me $30 for a bag, but when I price it out per usage it comes to something like $1-$1.50, and that's enough to stretch for maybe a liter of tea. I've found that if you buy it loose, even the expensive end will generally be cheaper than if you bought a cup of tea or coffee at a restaurant.

My suggestion would be get something like a French Press and get some loose teas via online. The French Press is nice because it's versatile and rarely have I ever found any worthwhile teas in a brick and mortar outside of a specialty tea shop (and even then not in the US). Try a variety of teas. I particularly like the Chinese pu-er.
 
Black tea for the caffeine. Different blends do taste different, you should find one you like.

Twinings has samplers with 4-5 different black teas, but 2-3 of them are usually Earl Grey & Lady Grey.

English Breakfast is a good starter tea. Strong flavor but it's just black tea with no oils, smoke, fruit or herbs.
 
WOW.. I will keep watching this thread fo rmore advice.
Coffee drinker here. Almost a quart and a half a day.
Went to England last week of August.
I have a thing... When in Rome......
So I went with:

Tea and biscuts.

OMG. THIS LIQUID. WHAT IS IT? IT'S NECTAR OF THE GODS.
Fabulous, delish, full bodied and tasty. I drank MOSTLY Earl Gray and English breakfast. Maybe 4 cups of coffee the WHOLE week I was there.
And the kicker... NO MILK. Not that I put a lot of milk in my coffee. But its in there.
UK tea... Just a little sugar and off we go.
To date, I have found NOTHING to compare here.
 
> To date, I have found NOTHING to compare here.

You can by Twinings in most decent supermarkets or from http://www.twinings.com/home.php

They've been around for 300 years and have many good blends both loose and in bags. I usually drink Irish Breakfast (a little stronger than English) but also like their Darjeeling, Prince of Wales, and Lapsang Souchong.
 
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