# Your tea?



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

What do you drink? How important is it to you? How do you prepare it? Etc.?

Just to clarify, I am referring, here, to the beverages made from the tea plant (_Camellia sinensis_ var. _sinensis_ and var. _assamica_, primarily), not to herbal infusions ('teas' made by steeping aromatic parts of other plants).

I first got into tea when I was in my teens and have been hooked ever since (I got into coffee when I was well into my 20s). I preferred black tea with lemon (that's how we drank it at home) and oolong tea (they used to offer the choice of either oolong, jasmine or 'western', ie., black, tea at all Chinese restaurants around here when I was a youth).

I could write pages on my experiences with different types of tea  I am quite a connoisseur these days, having tried Chinese and Taiwanese, Japanese, Indian, 'Western' and others. I like green, oolong and black teas, especially, but I am also starting to get into pu-erh. Of the latter, I prefer the raw, not the ripened varieties. White tea hasn't appealed to me much, as I find it so thin that it is mostly just like hot water  Maybe I'm not preparing it correctly?

And you?


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

I drink many teas, depending on the time of day, the weather, my mood etc etc

Most frequent - Earl Grey - black in the office, with milk (shame, SHAME!) for breakfast

Most appreciated - Lapsang Souchong - black - from Harrods - very expensive per packet, but costs only a few shillings per cup and it is streets ahead of the best of the rest

Also on the shelf - Orange scented Pekoe, Darjeeling, Rose scented (can't remember what the base is), Jasmine and Oolong Formosa

Hidden in the cupboard - 'Builder's Tea' - ie blended tea-bags for those who prefer their tea with milk and three sugars

Perhaps we should have a separate thread for 'favourite type of tea-drinking vessel'?


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## Badinerie (May 3, 2008)

This is good enough for the likes of me. Though I have been known to chuck a green tea teabag in the pot to give it a bit of bite.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

My impression of actual tea(s), from the very first taste and through to now... I found it _not at all_ to my liking, so much so that it is difficult to imagine why people would want the stuff at all!

Ergo: I thank my lucky stars for coffee


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Any tea's fine for me but I prefer it strong, sweetish and with just a little milk. If I had to pick a favourite it would be Twining's Assam.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...FV5dWi21GHoVvGQmf6d_0b-IaqLIkPyPl2WAoQMjoAmSg


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Any tea's fine for me but I prefer it strong, sweetish and with just a little milk. If I had to pick a favourite it would be Twining's Assam.
> 
> https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...FV5dWi21GHoVvGQmf6d_0b-IaqLIkPyPl2WAoQMjoAmSg


May the force be with you, elgars ghost. Is there any other variety - apart from the same firm's green tea with lemon?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Ingélou said:


> May the force be with you, elgars ghost. Is there any other variety - apart from the same firm's green tea with lemon?


Hi Ingelou - I do sometimes buy their Darjeeling and Earl Grey varieties but that's always in addition to Assam and not instead of, and I prefer to drink those without milk and sugar seeing they are on the subtler side. I used to buy Lapsang Souchong occasionally but in the end I tired of the intensely smoky flavour.


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## Kopachris (May 31, 2010)

Usually Twinings Earl Grey, black. I do like a nice Moroccan Mint (green tea + mint), though, and Tazo has a nice tea called "Zen" which is green tea, spearmint, and lemongrass.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

I like a bit of posh tea. When I was little my best friend was from a very upper middle class background and her mum was really sophisticated and bohemian and spoke lots of languages, but the thing that impressed me most of all about this glamorous clan was the fact that they had Lapsang Souchong and Earl Grey instead of PG tips! When I was old enough to buy my own tea and not be limited to embarrassingly builder or chimp themed brands, I used to buy this ridiculously camp confection from Whittard that had pink rose petals in it. It had to be brewed in a glass cafetiere like you use for coffee, so that everybody could appreciate the visual effect of the pink rose petals swirling around. I was rather peeved that nobody was impressed by this affectation. These days it's me who tries to sneak English Breakfast teabags into the shopping trolley and my son who insists that only loose tea is real tea, preferably organic and biodynamic and costing £4 for a tiny amount!


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## Levanda (Feb 3, 2014)

My tea should be only black and with lemon that is my rule. Sometimes I like green tea.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Periodically, when I grow bored of coffee, I go back to tea. Green tea is ubiquitously present in the house, as my wife is Asian. Japanese green tea is best.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Lots and lots of loose tea, including the chai-version and Japanese green powder tea ... no tea bags. Usually with sugar and milk, though not so much the Japanese one.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

PG Tips, Typhoo, or Tetley. No milk or sugar. And strong enough so that I can cut it with a knife.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Hate the stuff. I only drink it when in a Chinese restaurant and I have little choice.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Hate the stuff. I only drink it when in a Chinese restaurant and *I have little choice*.


Poor you!!

Over here, most Chinese restaurants will also serve beer, wine, spirits, fruit juices etc etc :lol:


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> I was rather peeved that nobody was impressed by this affectation.


I would have been impressed ... if that counts for _anything_


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

When I was growing up, it was always Red Rose (only in _Canadar_, you say?) bagged black tea. They actually used to sell loose Red Rose green tea in the supermarkets back then, but that was before Red Rose was bought up by Unilever or some other multinational agri-pharma-industrial conglomerate  I have tried it recently, but it tastes like muddy paper or cardboard to me now. I suppose I'm noticing the taste of the bag more than that of the tea.

In my late teens/early 20s, when I was on my own, I went through all of the English brands they sold here: Typhoo, Twinings, Bigelow. Constant Comment was a favourite, with its strongly spiced oil-infused loose leaves. Twinings was my main brand then, as they used to sell tins of loose teas and I had all of them: Gunpowder Green, Lapsang Souchong, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Earl Grey, Prince of Wales and I can't remember them all. What quaint names, most of which don't tell you anything about the type of tea it is! :lol: They don't sell the tins of loose tea in the supermarkets anymore; you have to go to costly specialty shops to get them now. I was also into Japanese green tea: what Bohemian wasn't?  I discovered it at a Japanese restaurant, when I noticed rice floating in the teapot. Genmai Cha has become an enduring favourite to this day. I don't know what it is, dumbing down? but nowadays they rarely ever refer to it as Genmai Cha in the Japanese restaurants and when I ask for it by name, which I always do, I regularly receive stymied stares from the servers.

So, I got into loose tea early, along with classical music and all of the other things that accompany expanding one's horizons in early adulthood. Then the 'geographical' coffee fad hit in the late '70s or early '80s and I got drawn in, so my love of tea went to second place. I willed it back to top rank over the years, by buying quality loose, and even bagged, teas, but coffee held fast, until I began to become more sensitive to the effects of caffeine in the last decade or so. Even a cup of strong black tea has only a fraction of the caffeine content of a cup of average coffee.

I started by reacquainting myself with the fine loose leaf oolongs and Darjeelings, that I purchased at trendy and pricey specialty tea shops around town. The cost was pretty high, and I recall how affordable tea used to be when I was younger, so I explored other options. This led me to TeaVivre (a little friendly advertisement  ), a company in China that sells quality teas online. They have free shipping, too, if you are a bit more patient, otherwise you can pay for faster delivery.

My tea shelf is now overflowing with every type of tea imaginable (unflavoured and naturally processed, of course, by air drying, roasting, toasting, fermenting, etc.), although I stay away from the exorbitantly priced ones. I like to get good quality without having to give up motorcycling. Which brings me to a favourite pleasure: riding the motorbike out into the mountains and parking by the edge of the road with my vacuum bottle filled with exotic green, oolong or black teas, directly from China. That is luxury


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I drink tea, never do I drink coffee. I used to add milk, did for years, but in the past few years I've become intolerant of lactose, it makes me feel bloated. So now I either drink it black or add some lemon. I don't add sugar, I remember quitting sugar cold turkey as a kid. I drank tea as a young child too. I might live here in Canada, but I started life in London. 

I sometimes drink loose leaf tea, but usually I just throw a yea bag into the tea pot. I always make tea in a tea pot first and then pour into a cup, never do I make tea directly in the cup. 

My loose leaf tea is Yunnan. My bagged tea is Lipton, bagged tea is not often from a specific region, but a mix of whatever is leftover. At night I drink decafinated tea. 

This past summer we had posh tea at Fortum and Mason in London. Now I'm drinking tea bag tea in my modest apartment in suburban Vancouver.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

It must be a German thing, I guess, because we always had tea with lemon, when I was little. I noticed that Canadians drank it with milk or cream, and I fought against it for years, but it won out. Now, I almost always drink bagged black with milk. The deluxe blacks I order from China, however, are just too delicate for milk, so I drink them as is... and they are tasty! I don't add sugar at all, either. I never have. If I can't get milk or lemon, then I will have it plain. I like the slight astringency or tartness of some tea, perhaps a vestigial remembrance of my initial experiences with tea and lemon.

Yunnan is a personal favourite, too. There are really many types coming from Yunnan province. If I am not mistaken, Keemun is an Yunnan tea, and that is the tea that gives Twinings' Prince of Wales its characteristic flavour.

Decaffeinated? Puke  I don't know how you manage to stomach it. It tastes like dishwater to me. I tried dozens of types, when I was experimenting with low or no caffeine options, to deal with my sensitivity. I find it watery and flavourless. If I might suggest, Genmai Cha is a great alternative, as the rice makes up a significant amount of the volume, so there is actually much less tea in the pot, hence less caffeine. And there are all kinds of great herbs that can be steeped to make delicious beverages, some of which even have mild sedative properties.

Now, yours is the second mention of "posh" tea. What in tarnation is posh tea?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

When I was at university, my first-year room-mate (who became my best friend) was a Chinese girl from Hong Kong. Through her I became friends with two other Chinese university students and in my final year, we shared a rented house in the Easter holidays so we could stay up at Durham and study for our finals. When I poured them some lapsang souchong once, they laughed their socks off and said it tasted of leather. The tea that they favoured had a name that translated as 'Iron Kwan-Yin', and they gave me a supply which lasted for some weeks after we all parted company. It was lovely, but I suppose I'll never be able to track it down again...


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

Posh tea is nothing specific. Fortnum and Mason is an expensive shop on Piccadilly in London. Served in fancy tea pots and delicate china tea cups, we had some nice tea. It's the setting and the people watching that makes the event. The price for tea for two and scones was about $40-50. It's an event, not something I'd do everyday, or even weekly. 

My decaffeinated tea is Yorkshire brand, from London Drugs. Yes, it's weaker, but I can't drink caffeine at night. I also frequently drink Roobios tea at night, but that wasn't supposed to be part of this thread.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

http://www.talkclassical.com/34140-your-tea-2.html#post724639


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

There is a possible downside to all this, of course - I remember one friend being nigh on addicted to the stuff and I sometimes wondered how his bladder used to cope with cup after cup throughout the day. This turned out to be the least of his worries. One day I visited him on spec after not being in contact for a while and noticed that the omnipresent teapot was nowhere to be seen. I asked and he said he no longer drank it because after one particularly heavy binge he 'suffered the worst bout of prolonged diarrhoea I've ever had in my entire life'.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> When I was at university, my first-year room-mate (who became my best friend) was a Chinese girl from Hong Kong. Through her I became friends with two other Chinese university students and in my final year, we shared a rented house in the Easter holidays so we could stay up at Durham and study for our finals. When I poured them some lapsang souchong once, they laughed their socks off and said it tasted of leather. The tea that they favoured had a name that translated as 'Iron Kwan-Yin', and they gave me a supply which lasted for some weeks after we all parted company. It was lovely, but I suppose I'll never be able to track it down again...


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tieguanyin
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=479289247&pf_rd_i=B0048ERL1U

?


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## Cosmos (Jun 28, 2013)

I love tea! I just get the kind that comes in bags at the grocery store, or sometimes I'd pick up tins of better quality teas. Herbal teas are my favorite

Rooibos
Vanilla Chai
Mint
Orange Cinnamon
Chamomile
Lemon

All great with honey instead of sugar! Milk I only put in black tea or chai _sometimes_. Rooibos with milk is ok, but not optimal


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I am surprised at that, Ingélou. I guess it depends what part of China your friends came from. Lapsang Souchong, originating in Fujian province, is known for its leathery, smoky flavour. It was a favourite of mine when I was in my twenties--it was popular back then, I think--but I find it too smoky and tarry nowadays.

The tea you mention is one of the finest Chinese Oolongs: Tie Guan Yin or Iron Goddess of Mercy. It is of the green oolongs, meaning that they still have greenish leaves retaining a strong vegetal flavour. It is a personal favourite. I like the 'baked' types, too, which have a subtle roasted flavour. To think that you have deprived yourself of this famous and heavenly tea for so long, when it is readily available and cherished the world over for its peach-like aroma and exquisite flavour!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> There is a possible downside to all this... he said he no longer drank it because after one particularly heavy binge he 'suffered the worst bout of prolonged diarrhoea I've ever had in my entire life'.


That sounds like nonsense  He must have had mouldy or spoiled tea: perhaps it got damp?


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I keep some boxes of tea in the house for guests; away from my prized coffee beans....far, far away.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

MY SO is an avid tea drinker. I just don't get it. Her other qualities are good.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I don't drink tea often, but I don't drink coffee at all. I drink it iced more than hot. Still, I buy loose leaf tea in small amounts and try different types.

I like the smoky Lapsang souchong. Always straight; no milk, sugar or lemon.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

brotagonist said:


> That sounds like nonsense  He must have had mouldy or spoiled tea: perhaps it got damp?


It could have been something else entirely, but he was adamant it was the tea. I didn't pursue the inquiry but I could never forget what he said while his face was the living epitome of utmost misery...


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Iced tea is definitely a treat! With lemons, of course. When I was in Florida a few years ago, I noticed that a lot of restaurants offerred free iced tea. They had whirling coolers of it, with tea bags and halved lemons floating in the brew. It was very nice  and so refreshing in that withering heat!

Now, that 'just-add-water' powder that is sold in tins and pouches, or those ready-made ice tea beverages in cans...


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

You can hardly grow up in a Scottish household without drinking tea - my mother is, and my grandmother and her sisters were, 'Tea Genies' (women who drank a lot of tea). It was generally Typhoo, very strong, with milk (and if I wasn't quick at my grannie's house, sugar too).

Nowadays I drink supermarket generic loose leaf organic and we always have a selection from green Chinese tea, darjeeling, assam, orange pekoe or lapsang souchong to hand. To my son's and daughter's horror, I blend Sainsbury's SO or Booths Breakfast tea with the single varieties and drink it with just a spot of milk (my grannie's influence lives on!)

Mrs Vox has no patience with loose leaf tea and tea pots, and also drinks (oh, the horror) such abominations as rooibos and herbal infusions. But she's not truly Scots (brought up in Edinburgh, you see, with English parents too...). This is the sort of barbarism we're seeking independence from...


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

^^^^ yes, that's how it is. No matter what else is going on "_let's have cup of tea before we get started!_". Also,_ " okay, we're finished. Let's have a cup of tea"_


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

TurnaboutVox said:


> You can hardly grow up in a Scottish household without drinking tea - my mother is, and my grandmother and her sisters were, 'Tea Genies' (women who drank a lot of tea). It was generally Typhoo, very strong, with milk (and if I wasn't quick at my grannie's house, sugar too).
> 
> Nowadays I drink supermarket generic loose leaf organic and we always have a selection from green Chinese tea, darjeeling, assam, orange pekoe or lapsang souchong to hand. To my son's and daughter's horror, I blend Sainsbury's SO or Booths Breakfast tea with the single varieties and drink it with just a spot of milk (my grannie's influence lives on!)
> 
> Mrs Vox has no patience with loose leaf tea and tea pots, and also drinks *(oh, the horror) such abominations as rooibos* and herbal infusions. But she's not truly Scots (brought up in Edinburgh, you see, with English parents too...). This is the sort of barbarism we're seeking independence from...












:cheers:


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## TurnaboutVox (Sep 22, 2013)

Aye, weel, each tae his ain, nae doo't!


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

TurnaboutVox said:


> Aye, weel, each tae his ain, nae doo't!


The one on the top left has the taste of strawberries with whipped cream: a real whopper!


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Headphone Hermit said:


> Poor you!!
> 
> Over here, most Chinese restaurants will also serve beer, wine, spirits, fruit juices etc etc :lol:


Yeah, but since I'm the one who does the driving, I won't imbibe.


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## DamoX (Sep 14, 2014)

Hey in Japan, Japanese tea bottled in a can or a PET bottle is very popular.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

DamoX said:


> Hey in Japan, Japanese tea bottled in a can or a PET bottle is very popular.


I might actually have a _yen_ for that! :tiphat:


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

TurnaboutVox said:


> Mrs Vox has no patience with loose leaf tea and tea pots, and also drinks (oh, the horror) such abominations as rooibos and herbal infusions. But she's not truly Scots (brought up in Edinburgh, you see, with English parents too...). This is the sort of barbarism we're seeking independence from...


Overheard at Casa Turnabout:

Vox: No Scotsman drinks rooibos
Mrs. Vox: I am Scottish and I drink rooibos
Vox: Well, no TRUE Scot drinks rooibos


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

When I'm down with a cold or flu, a regular tea with milk 'n honey. Otherwise, I'm not much of a tea-drinker. 

Rarely, do I do ice tea. There's so much competition. Like a thousand beers 'n ales.

Thanks for asking.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> When I was at university, my first-year room-mate (who became my best friend) was a Chinese girl from Hong Kong. Through her I became friends with two other Chinese university students and in my final year, we shared a rented house in the Easter holidays so we could stay up at Durham and study for our finals. When I poured them some lapsang souchong once, they laughed their socks off and said it tasted of leather. The tea that they favoured had a name that translated as 'Iron Kwan-Yin', and they gave me a supply which lasted for some weeks after we all parted company. It was lovely, but I suppose I'll never be able to track it down again...


by the power of the internet, you can order it on-line from a number of places - for example http://www.teaspring.com/Tie-Guan-Yin.asp :tiphat:


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm usually trying to broaden my horizons when it comes to tea. It seems I enjoy most of it, even the stranger types. Right now I have in my cupboard some organic black Indian Darjeeling, Chinese yellow, Chinese white, and two flavoured varieties with orange zest. My Vietnamese oolong just ran out, because I gorged in it - it was just fantastic.


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

I like tea without caffiene i boil water then put tea bags in to let it steep.


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## Antiquarian (Apr 29, 2014)

I usually drink PG Tips. It is fast and good, as long as you let it stand for no more than a minute. Twinings is more expensive; I like the Darjeeling and Prince of Wales blends. For very special occasions I use Fortnum & Mason 'Fortmason' tea. I bought a large tin of it long ago, and now its nearly gone. I mostly drink tea; I drink perhaps half a dozen cups of coffee per year.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

TxllxT said:


> :cheers:


With regard to rooibos I've got to remark, that there exist huge quality differences. This rooibos on the picture (Aldi supermarket brand) is full of needles that give the strong taste I like. However lots of other rooibos lookalikes happen to consist of brown stuff with a little percentage of needles. Their taste is as indescribable as brown coloured hot water. So all the dislikers & haters of rooibos I would like to advice to give only this one a try. We like the natural rooibos (left bottom) without added flavour the best.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Personally, I am more of a coffee person, but my Shanghainese wife is a connaisseur of Chinese green tea, so that's what we usually have if we have tea. Pure leaves, no bags.


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

mtmailey said:


> I like tea without caffiene i boil water then put tea bags in to let it steep.


This is don't quite understand. What I did read once was a method to make decaffeinated tea. Make the tea in the regular way, pour boiling water over the tea bag in a tea pot. Wait about 15 seconds and then pour all that water out. Save the tea bag and pour a new pot of hot water on that used tea bag and let that steep for a while.

The reasoning is that the caffeine comes out into solution quickly, it dissolved easily in water. The caffeine dissolves more quickly than the tannic acid and tea flavour. I do this sometimes, and the tea is definitely weaker. I don't expect all the caffeine to be gone, but it isn't as strong as regular tea.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I don't think I get too much caffeine from tea, as I like weak tea anyway - I always add lots of hot water to any cuppas I have when I'm out. It has to be so clear that you could spear a shark at six fathoms.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> I don't think I get too much caffeine from tea, as I like weak tea anyway - I always add lots of hot water to any cuppas I have when I'm out. It has to be so clear that you could spear a shark at six fathoms.


That's another reason I don't like tea. Not enough caffeine.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Mostly, I also drink my tea plain (no milk, lemon or sugar), but I do like it a bit heavier, so that I don't have to imagine what it tastes like. I want to taste it! Adulterating the fancier (but not elite) teas I order from China would render them rank.

When I'm having bagged black, I like it quite strong and I do enjoy milk. Like with coffee, the fats in the milk seem to carry the flavour splendidly.

Another way to enjoy tea (with the second steeping, not the exquisite first), is to mix it with a bit of fruit juice. It's a twist on iced tea with lemon and is very refreshing.



hpowders said:


> That's another reason I don't like tea. Not enough caffeine.


I see that as a plus


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> Mostly, I also drink my tea plain (no milk, lemon or sugar), but I do like it a bit heavier, so that I don't have to imagine what it tastes like. I want to taste it! Adulterating the fancier (but not elite) teas I order from China would render them rank.
> 
> When I'm having bagged black, I like it quite strong and I do enjoy milk. Like with coffee, the fats in the milk seem to carry the flavour splendidly.
> 
> ...


Not I. I have to remain alert when I post. If it comes from hpowders, one must realize that I am putting my reputation on the line, 372 times a day. Caffeine is a plus!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Not I. I have to remain alert when I post. If it comes from hpowders, one must realize that I am putting my reputation on the line, 372 times a day. Caffeine is a plus!


Gordon Bennet - you'll be at 7000 posts in no time; I'll tell Taggart!


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> I don't think I get too much caffeine from tea, as I like weak tea anyway - I always add lots of hot water to any cuppas I have when I'm out. It has to be so clear that you could spear a shark at six fathoms.


or 'just wave the tea-bag at it and let it just see the water' as my Gran put it!

At Hermit Towers, the teapot is scalded, then leaf tea or teabag is left in the pot until all is drunk (by me) if the tea is Earl Grey, Lapsang or one of the flavoured pekoes (but absolutely not for jasmine) - the resulting tea is dark enough to hide Lord Lucan in


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> Gordon Bennet - you'll be at 7000 posts in no time; I'll tell Taggart!


No. That puts pressure on me. I might wind up with a mild case of posters' block.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Celestial Seasonings herbal teas for me.


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

hpowders said:


> No. That puts pressure on me. I might wind up with a mild case of posters' block.


Please warn us if this happens - I'd hate to be swamped by the outflow once the pressure forces the block out :lol:


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Jasmine green tea, or Earl Grey. I haven't had any for a year now since I already drink coffee and occasionally wine, I don't want to stain my teeth faster than I already do.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

hpowders said:


> Hate the stuff. I only drink it when in a Chinese restaurant and I have little choice.


All tea? Really?


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

Earl Grey is my favorite, but I'm trying to cut down on black tea. It's too acidic.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Tea is definitely the best thing if you're poorly or shocked; and coffee if you want to zing.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

"if you're poorly or shocked" :lol: That doesn't traverse the Atlantic very well at all 

What is that supposed to mean, Ingélou?


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Sorry, brotagonist.
'Poorly' means if you feel ill - 'sick' in American English? 'Shocked' means if you're upset by something and the adrenaline is flowing, so tea will calm you down.
Two nations divided by a common language!


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I suspected that poorly meant unwell, but shocked seemed like stressed. Well, I guess that's what you said, but they are definitely unusual word choices :lol: Yes, I am always amazed by the difference in the words in common usage. Canada is strongly influenced by that irresistible force to the south: the USA.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

marinasabina said:


> All tea? Really?


I've never been into tea. Earl Gray if forced.


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Black tea with sugar for me. Occasionally, I might add lemon or milk to it, depending on my mood.


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## Orpheus (Jul 15, 2012)

brotagonist said:


> I suspected that poorly meant unwell, but shocked seemed like stressed. Well, I guess that's what you said, but they are definitely unusual word choices :lol: Yes, I am always amazed by the difference in the words in common usage. Canada is strongly influenced by that irresistible force to the south: the USA.


This is probably not so much a cultural difference in the use of words, as a cultural difference in the use of _tea_. Tea (usually strong black tea, with milk and often several spoons of sugar) is viewed by the British as a highly effective remedy for just about any of life's afflictions, up to and including mild clinical shock. I'm confident that a modern British equivalent of Nero, on seeing there was little hope of extinguishing the conflagration, would cheerfully _drink tea while London burned_ (and feel a lot better for it - the tea drinking that is, not the burning of London).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Orpheus said:


> I'm confident that a modern British equivalent of Nero, on seeing there was little hope of extinguishing the conflagration, would cheerfully _drink tea while London burned_ (and feel a lot better for it - the tea drinking that is, not the burning of London).


Well, not ALL of London...


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