[NA] Tea drinkers?

CJones

CJones

Final Approach
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I have slowly migrated from coffee to tea with honey as my daily 'start the day' drink. I started with Bigelow Lemon Lift Black tea then saw that they had a Lemon Green tea and tried that out and like it. I've run out of the green tea and am down to the last several bags of the black tea. Before I just go order some more of the Lemon Green Tea, I'm curious if anyone here uses loose leaf tea and if it's any better than the teabag teas that I'm using. If so, what do you suggest? I've been using the reusable K-cups and just stuffing the teabag into it then popping it in the Keurig, but don't necessarily HAVE to use the Keurig, but it sure is convenient.

And before we go there - I'm not talking about Lipton or Luzianne or whatnot - I still use those for when I'm in the mood for some good sweet chugging tea, but I'm looking for a hot sipping tea in the morning.
 
I used to do loose leaf tea. Eventually gave up on doing that. It was more expensive, and actually did not taste any better than a good bagged tea.
I have not checked recently, but Earl Grey from Twinings was sold in both loose leaf and bagged. The loose leaf was almost twice the price :D

I have found with a high quality tea, that the water temperature matters. along with the water quality. e.g. standard chlorine in most municipal water systems has a outsized impact on the taste for me.
Therefore, I like to use filtered water along with an electric tea kettle that can set the target temp. For black teas, you want boiling, for green teas you want 180 degrees, for white teas I think it was 190 but not positive.

In terms of teas, the main brands I buy are Taylors of Harrogate, Twinings, Bigelow, and Ahmad.
I do black teas, my wife does green teas.

If you like the lemon lift, look at Constant Comment by Bigelow, Ceylon Orange Pekoe by Twining. Pretty much everything else I get is a "breakfast tea" variant. e.g. Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast, Scottish Breakfast....

I use Lipton and Luzianne mostly for iced tea.

Tim
 
My wife has been on a tee 'spree' for the last couple of years. At least it is cheaper than her purse and shoe spree... (don't comment on airplane expenditures...that's different LOL). She buys most of her tea from Harney and Sons. She drinks a large variety from green to black with other flavoring agents. I'm a Earl Grey sort of guy or plane (sic.;)) green tea when eating Japanese food. I have to say, their teas are fantastic; their Earl Grey is the best I have tried and nice and strong. She also buys a sort of compressed cake tea (also pressed into individually wrapped 'buttons') that is like the espresso of tea. The provide their teas bagged or loose. My wife mostly drinks loose tea and has a SS mesh type strainer that fits in her tea cup for steeping. Check out their website, I don't think you'll be disappointed. I grew up drinking strong dark roast French coffee's (a Louisiana thing) but the dark teas fulfill the same cravings.
 
My wife tries quite often, in vain, to get me to drink it, listing off the various types she has in the cupboard as if their names have any meaning to me. I thought we fought the Redcoats so that we didn't have to drink that stuff.

*Sips cappuccino*
 
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tspear said:
I used to do loose leaf tea. Eventually gave up on doing that. It was more expensive, and actually did not taste any better than a good bagged tea.
I have not checked recently, but Earl Grey from Twinings was sold in both loose leaf and bagged. The loose leaf was almost twice the price :D

I have found with a high quality tea, that the water temperature matters. along with the water quality. e.g. standard chlorine in most municipal water systems has a outsized impact on the taste for me.
Therefore, I like to use filtered water along with an electric tea kettle that can set the target temp. For black teas, you want boiling, for green teas you want 180 degrees, for white teas I think it was 190 but not positive.

In terms of teas, the main brands I buy are Taylors of Harrogate, Twinings, Bigelow, and Ahmad.
I do black teas, my wife does green teas.

If you like the lemon lift, look at Constant Comment by Bigelow, Ceylon Orange Pekoe by Twining. Pretty much everything else I get is a "breakfast tea" variant. e.g. Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast, Scottish Breakfast....

I use Lipton and Luzianne mostly for iced tea.

Tim
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering - does loose leaf add to the flavor at all. Good to know based on your experience.

I'll check out the other suggestions as well.

Thanks!
 
I enjoy my English breakfast tea (black tea) in the morning. I keep it simple using the keurig cups. My bride loves her coffee in the morning and at night she will sometimes have the Chai Latte'. It smells fantastic, just not sure i would like the taste.
 
I have English Breakfast Tea from Taylors of Harrogate. I drink 3 or 4 cups of it per day. It's not bad, and I can get it on subscription from Amazon, which means I never have to face the horror of no tea in the morning.
 
Only tea in our house is what April spills.
 
CJones said:
I have slowly migrated from coffee to tea with honey as my daily 'start the day' drink. I started with Bigelow Lemon Lift Black tea then saw that they had a Lemon Green tea and tried that out and like it. I've run out of the green tea and am down to the last several bags of the black tea. Before I just go order some more of the Lemon Green Tea, I'm curious if anyone here uses loose leaf tea and if it's any better than the teabag teas that I'm using. If so, what do you suggest? I've been using the reusable K-cups and just stuffing the teabag into it then popping it in the Keurig, but don't necessarily HAVE to use the Keurig, but it sure is convenient.

And before we go there - I'm not talking about Lipton or Luzianne or whatnot - I still use those for when I'm in the mood for some good sweet chugging tea, but I'm looking for a hot sipping tea in the morning.
Click to expand...

I have also migrated from coffee to tea for the most part (but I still drink one coffee in the morning). I have the sip club membership at Panera, and I get their "English Breakfast" tea per day. The water has to be boiling hot, but the water they have in their pots are never hot enough, so I have to always ask them to get hot water from the kitchen.

Regarding bags vs leaves, I've heard that some tea bags contain microplastics, so if you are drinking a lot, that is something to consider.
 
I don't remember if my English wife came before my tea drinking habit. I brew appx 1 gallon a day. Always black tea. She drinks espresso.

I loved T2 Australia loose leaf but they stopped importing it. My daily has been Murchie's from Vancouver. A big fan of Editor's Blend and Royal Gray (Earl Gray with blackcurrants)

I've been disappointed with Mariage Freres. They have amazing aroma, but they brew up bland. The tins are great.

Stash in Portland does a decent job also. Their Double Bergamot Earl Gray is pleasant to wake up with.

I use a continuous water boiler. The Zojirushi does water temp at 208 and I don't have to wait for slow kettles.

In summer, the Republic of Tea's "Celebration" iced tea will punch your eyelids open, but lovingly. It's amazing stuff. I brew that 2 gallons at a time in a giant saucepot on the stove.

On the road, Tejava is my store default, although the cringeworthy Liquid Death iced teas are all shockingly good. If you get iced tea from Starbucks you need to ask for it "no water" because they water their tea way down. No-ice/no-water black tea is a nice caffeine punch and free refills in-store so you can get a pair of Trente's in a bounce and then you'll feel no pain.

1745856848630.png
 
If you can get some Alishan tea from Taiwan, it is the best tea ever. It's really expensive and it brews up yellow. Has a natural taste that is kind of sweet so no extra sweetener required.
 
Mikey52 said:
If you can get some Alishan tea from Taiwan, it is the best tea ever. It's really expensive and it brews up yellow. Has a natural taste that is kind of sweet so no extra sweetener required.
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Great idea for a gift for my wife. Just looked it up...definitely pricey...almost on par with purses and shoes, damn it.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
 
I keep a supply of bagged black tea at home. Lately my go-to brand is Newman's Own, for no other reason than it's cheap and it tastes just fine. I have no problem with some of the non-caffeinated blends like chamomile at the office when I need a warm drink on a cold morning.

As far as Earl Grey goes, I don't like putting after shave on my face, much less drink it.
 
I used to drink a lot of tea, but not so much anymore. Back then I bought loose tea from Twinings and my favorites were Earl Grey and jasmine. I can't tell much, if any, difference between loose and bagged, though.

What does matter, as mentioned above, is water temperature. If you're brewing tea with your Keurig, you may not have it hot enough depending on the tea. Beyond that, it's also important to maintain the temperature during the steeping process. With my Earl Grey, I'll warm the teapot with scalding water while I'm bringing water to a full boil on the stove, then dump out the teapot, add the tea bags, and pour the boiling water over the tea. I then put the teapot into a tea cozy or wrap it with dish towels to keep it hot while steeping.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I have no problem with some of the non-caffeinated blends like chamomile at the office when I need a warm drink on a cold morning.
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A cup of chamomile tea with an eyedropper full of passion flower extract works great to help me fall asleep.
 
CJones said:
tea with honey
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Don't let a "proper" drinker hear that.
They'll talk your ear off about how you should never add anything other than milk to your tea.

That aside, brought some nice oolong tea with me from China a few years ago. One of the types was jasmine oolong. That stuff stands out.

I grow a few mint varieties in the garden. They make a great non-caffeinated refreshment.
 
I switched years ago from coffee to tea. I stick with the loose leaf black teas for the most part. I use one of the "cup" style steepers and find it more convenient than the little ball ones or disposable bags you fill yourself, especially when using some of the larger leaf teas. I tend to seek out the little tea shops when traveling and find some really unique teas. My two favorites which I can normally find readily are a Cream Assam and a black mango.
 
Half Fast said:
What does matter, as mentioned above, is water temperature. <snipped> Beyond that, it's also important to maintain the temperature during the steeping process. With my Earl Grey, I'll warm the teapot with scalding water while I'm bringing water to a full boil on the stove, then dump out the teapot, add the tea bags, and pour the boiling water over the tea. I then put the teapot into a tea cozy or wrap it with dish towels to keep it hot while steeping.
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YES!
(improperly heated water/vessels results in tea that tastes like dishrags to me.)
I have not had a great tea since I moved to 5000'msl, can't get the water hot enough.
Tetley and Red Rose here.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
YES!
(improperly heated water/vessels results in tea that tastes like dishrags to me.)
I have not had a great tea since I moved to 5000'msl, can't get the water hot enough.
Tetley and Red Rose here.
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You just need to install a hyperbaric chamber in your house and boil the water in there.
 
Morning Thunder, the tea "with the power of 1000 charging buffalos" Doesn't taste that great but has lots of caffeine! Not that I've seen it in years.

When I was drinking lots of tea it was mostly Twinings Earl Grey (especially for iced tea). Nowadays I drink mostly coffee, unless I'm sick, when I go for an unflavored black tea with honey and lemon.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Don't let a "proper" drinker hear that.
They'll talk your ear off about how you should never add anything other than milk to your tea.

That aside, brought some nice oolong tea with me from China a few years ago. One of the types was jasmine oolong. That stuff stands out.

I grow a few mint varieties in the garden. They make a great non-caffeinated refreshment.
Click to expand...
Yeah, My mom is English and it's milk or nothing.

My Wife is Korean and it's honey, never milk.

I hide under the couch when they used to discuss it.

Separately, I'm still strongly coffee first but I do drink and like tea a lot. One thing about tea is the shear variety of choices. Oolong, chamomile, green, black, etc., are widely different. It also seems to me caffeine free tea is less of a crime than decaf coffee.

Loose tea is better in the same sense grinding your coffee beans is. Better, but more work.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Black tea is the only one that needs water hotter than what you can get at 5000 ft. Everything else should be ok.
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Yes; black tea is my only hot beverage. I confess to disdain for herbal or flavored teas
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I had thought of a pressure cooker, believe it or not.
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My first thought too, but when you release that pressure you're going to either lose more water to boiling/have a temperature drop, or both. Of course you'll have to enjoy your tea in the hyperbaric chamber, because the same thing would happen when you open the door on that too.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I had thought of a pressure cooker, believe it or not.
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That would be dangerous, if you release the pressure when the water is above the boiling point in the unpressurized environment you'll get hot water instantly flashing into steam, with explosive consequences.
 
DJTorrente said:
My recollection is that we fought the Redcoats because their king put too high a tax on our beloved tea. :confused2:
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Huh, you're right!

Feel free to keep your pinky in the air while daintily raising your cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast or whatever it's called while I full-fist-grip a mug of something called Black Rifle or Cooper's Cask to my lips...

(All in good sport and jest of course) :biggrin::biggrin:

71ZFg0U0wHL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
 
DJTorrente said:
My recollection is that we fought the Redcoats because their king put too high a tax on our beloved tea. :confused2:
Click to expand...

I thought it was because of the Brits’ ill-conceived attempt at firearms confiscation. Tea and stamp taxes led to civil disobedience, but it was gun control that caused shots to be fired.
 
Do love a morning cup of coffee, no plan to change that. Did switch to tea for a mid-afternoon treat/pick-me-up. Tried a bunch, my go-to is PG Tips. A black tea with a nice crisp taste. Do like it with honey! Need the water boiling and let it steep a good 3-4 minutes.
 
I have ordered a bunch of samples from Upton Tea, but mostly I settle for their Irish Breakfast (either caf or decaf depending). But I have tons of various things in there.
Played around with macha for a while, too.
 
Half Fast said:
I thought it was because of the Brits’ ill-conceived attempt at firearms confiscation. Tea and stamp taxes led to civil disobedience, but it was gun control that caused shots to be fired.
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That is re-writing history. Same sort of thing stating as the civil war was about state rights.

Tim
 
Dana said:
Morning Thunder, the tea "with the power of 1000 charging buffalos" Doesn't taste that great but has lots of caffeine! Not that I've seen it in years.
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Old favorite...Morning Thunder got me through college back in the day.

As for current taste, mostly coffee drinker now but for tea here are my best recommendations from Elmwood Inn in Kentucky:

All time favorite https://www.amazon.com/Elmwood-Inn-Kentucky-Pyramid-Sachet/dp/B01M28FQGU/ref=sr_1_2

Pep you up and clear your sinuses https://www.amazon.com/Elmwood-Inn-Lapsang-Souchong-16-Ounce/dp/B0040WG1LQ?th=1
 
Half Fast said:
Really? When was the first shot fired?
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The US War of Independence, or Revolutionary War; was in hindsight predictable. England had largely ignored the colonies, effectively leaving them on their own from a government perspective. In the 1760s, the tension between the local elected councils and the governors appointed by England's parlement started to become untenable. In addition, the Seven Year war between England and France ended in the early 1760s. After which the US no longer needed a standing army to protect the colonies from French forces in Canada. England did not want to pay for the standing army. Neither did the colonies.
England eventually passed the stamp act, which was designed to collect revenue from trade to support the standing English armies.
The Colonies rebelled against the Stamp Act; this is what started the whole "taxation without representation" that became the impetus for the revolution.

Tim
 
I am and remain a coffee drinker, but I have started drinking tea as well. I used to like Earl Grey, but for some reason it does not like me. I got terrible acid indigestion from drinking it. In fact, tea in general made me feel queasy until I started drinking something other than Lipton.

Now I keep Twining's English and Irish breakfast teas on hand. Almost always drink them with a little milk, occasionally a scant teaspoon of sugar. I'm still all coffee in the morning, but in cold weather when I want a big mug of something hot it tea kettle time. I've learned to let it steep long enough and that made a big difference in the taste too.
 
tspear said:
The Colonies rebelled against the Stamp Act; this is what started the whole "taxation without representation" that became the impetus for the revolution.
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Which could have been resolved without war, had Parliament agreed to colonial representation, and we might be part of the Commonwealth today. When Britain decided not to do so and moved to disarm the colonists, the shooting war started. Had the colonists allowed their means of resistance to be removed, they would have placed themselves in utter subservience to Britain.

The stamp act might have placed the fuze in the powder keg, but it was the march on Lexington and Concorde that put the match to it.
 
I love a great cup of black tea. I make it with loose leaf. I normally order from Upton Teas but also from British Tea. I tend to like East African teas like Chisunga Estate or Golden Kenya. I use a pot ranging from 2 cups to 6 cups depending on whether I"m drinking alone or with friends. I enjoy loose tea because I like the whole "ritual" of making tea. For just on-the-go, I still like a cup of black coffee. But taking the time out to make a proper pot of tea and enjoying it is a very relaxing little ritual during the day.
 
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