Need More Tea!

[RealPretendPsychic]

Ok so SWMBO may disagree, but I have turned her into a tea drinker so I’m sure she will come around. I have recently moved on from cigars and pipes and anything smokable in search of a new vice. I’ve always been a tea drinker and usually have a few different bagged and loose teas in the house along with a stovetop and an electric kettle.

So my question is what’s next?! Any suggestions on furthering my tea drinking journey?

 

[Pepin]

Loose leaf tea, so many different types.

Look for a local seller, or try some online.

I have used Tealish a Toronto tea shop for years.

Black, white, green teas, Rooibois, herbal, flavoured black teas.

All are different and very nice.

 

[Doc4]

Get a gaiwan, and start exploring traditional Chinese tea ... oolong and even puer.

 

[SharptoothC]

I actually like to make mine in my French press. Rooibos, green teas, black teas...I enjoy a wide variety.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Scarry Knight]

Try yerba mate.

 

[TinyTim]

I've been drinking and learning about tea for a long time. Tea quality has improved in recent years. Even the commodity tea market is pretty decent. For less expensive. but enjoyable teas, Harney and Sons, Smith Tea, Adagio, and others are solid companies. For the more expensive specialty teas, I've had good luck with Floating Leaves (excellent Taiwanese oolongs), Silk Road Teas, Hatvala, Teawala, for starters.

The best thing to do if you're wanting to try specialty teas is to buy a sampler pack. Also, you can get some samples and ideas by attending a tea festival. I attend the annual NW Tea Festival in Seattle. There are others throughout the country.

 

[natenaaron]

So, you are looking for a new addiction...I mean hobby. I have to tell you that B&B's policy toward enabling is completely positive and we wholeheartedly support the taking up of new addict.....hobbies.

Teavivre
Tea Lyra
Yunan Sourcing
and several other places are ripe with tasty pickings. Order up a few sample packs to broaden your horizons. Don't shy away from the harder dru....I mean teas. Who knows, you just might like the Puers or a good Lapsang Souchong.

 

[Cepasaccus]

Lapsang Souchong (Lapsang souchong - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong) Smoked tea. It is not really a black tea, but it is very similar with a smokey smell and taste. It does not really become bitter even when brewed for a longer time.
Matcha (Matcha - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matcha) It is IMHO the espresso among the teas. Finely powdered green tea. It is the most expensive tea I know. I have seen up to $70 for one ounce. There is special equipment for making matcha tea, i.e. a bowl, a bamboo whisk and a bamboo spoon.

 

[sneefy]

I get many of my teas from here:

TeaSource | Buy Quality Tea Online

TeaSource brings you the highest quality teas and tisanes from around the world. Buy tea online or at our store in St. Anthony Village.

www.teasource.com

The world of tea has endless variety. I'm a fan of many. Puerh, dark teas, oolong, Chinese and Japanese green, white, black, flavored and not, even now more herbals as I've cut my caffeine significantly. I have an entire kitchen cabinet devoted to tea.

I suggest trying a few different kinds. Do you want to go more unflavored tea, or some fancy blends?

 

[Proinsias]

+1 on a gaiwan & all the tea in China. ~100ml gaiwan for a few dollars can brew the best teas in the world just fine.

Teaspring do a lot of stuff in 25g samples which is nice when starting, all Chinese tea there: Chinese Tea Store - TeaSpring.com - http://teaspring.com/

A wide selection of good quality loose leaf from China, Japan & India is a good place to start.

 

[musicman1951]

My last purchase was a pile of samples from Loose Tea | Buy Online | Free shipping over $49 - https://www.adagio.com/

Good website with good descriptions based on my samples.

 

[chente12]

I agree, get yourself a Gaiwan if you're going to be making Chinese looseleaf teas (oolongs, pu erh, green tea, white tea, etc) or a kyusu if you'll be making Japanese teas. My personal favorite is a Japanese Oolong, but it is pricier than your Senchas or lower end (doesn't have to mean bad) Chinese Oolongs. Although I guess coffee and a lot of other things are just as pricy if not more.

 

[CurtisB81]

I like arborteas.com. It has some very good teas..

 

[old_school]

Upton Tea has treated me well, has a huge variety of tea and plenty to read and study.

 

[FireDragon76]

I actually like to make mine in my French press. Rooibos, green teas, black teas...I enjoy a wide variety.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I like Rooibos also.

Green tea or Rooibos are really detoxifying.

 

[Doc4]

I order from Yunnan Sourcing and pick the slow surface shipping. By the time the box arrives from China I've practically forgotten about it and it's like Tea Christmas.

 

[oldtree]

I order from Yunnan Sourcing and pick the slow surface shipping. By the time the box arrives from China I've practically forgotten about it and it's like Tea Christmas.

+1

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Thanks all! I think a gaiwan is in my future. I tend to enjoy citrus teas and that’s pretty much the only green tea I drink. So many teas I’ve never tried. I’ll have to test rooibos and puerh and there were a few others mentioned I’ve never even heard of! Looks like my Christmas list has a few new things to add.

 

[FireDragon76]

I have a a purple clay yijing teapot I picked up at a thrift store that I use for oolong, but never really bothered to get a gaiwan. That's a little too fussy for my tastes to have an item like that.

I like green tea like Dragonwell. I have discovered low temperatures makes excellent grean tea, lots of flavor with very little bitterness. Usually, I just heat up a cup of water in the microwave for a little over a minute and steep thirty seconds to a minute. I use teabags but sometimes I also use loose tea.

 

[Pattorashu]

Jasmine oolong is really nice. For a night time tea (evenings and what not, I'm sensitive to caffeine), I really like Genmaicha, which is a green tea with toasted rice in it. Nice deep flavor with the backing of green tea.

Rooibos is really nice as a chai mix.

Other than that, PG tips is my go to tea bag, with Lipton being the source of my iced tea in summer.

Though you know what you like, definitely explore some of the weird ones IMO. We used to love going into Teavana and just asking someone what they think is new and exciting that day, but I don't know if those stores exist anymore.

Invest a bit of money into good tea storage as your collection grows, it'll keep them "fresh" for a long time.

https://www.amazon.com/Tins-Canister-Airtight-Double-Loose/dp/B0716X94RS Something like that.