Big tea fan myself, I usually order my tea from www.specialteas.com, an online shop I got a recommendation from Ouch and Scotto. I've found this retailer to be a great combination of quality and price.
tea
- Thread starter Magnulus
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Great link, Jason. I spent an enjoyable hour or so perusing that Upton site. When my self-imposed online commerce ban lifts next month, I would like to order one of their sampler packs to get started on upgrading from tea dust.
You'll be very happy with Upton Dave!
Where in CT you from? I am a nutmegger too.
Right around the middle...North Haven. And you?
My dad has 2 boats he keeps in New London. I grew up in Eastern CT - now live on the Cape.
I love tea. I have several different pu erh tea cakes that will be enjoyed at a later time (se aside for ageing). Some of the puerhs have a good smoky flavor to the liquor which I really enjoy and its my favorite because if the multiple infusions that can come from just a few leaves. Gen mai cha is also another favorite and I have noticed that after going into a number of sushi bars, alot of them serve it with their meals. It consists of sencha, roasted rice, and some popcorn kernals and it has an enjoyably smooth, nutty flavor to it that I enjoy. Theres one good oolong that I found at a tea store near me called a milk oolong and it produced some good quality floral notes to the flavor. All in all, I drink tea on a daily basis and usually have a couple in the morning too. Thanks for the post as there are tea drinkers here.
James
James
My current favorite is a Ceylon tea (Kenilworth) that I discovered in a sampler packet from www.specialteas.com. It is an orange pekoe, I think. I also like English and Irish breakfast blends.
Pu-erhs are definately an acquired taste. I recall a particularly contentious thread about them around a year ago. It got nasty.
Tim - which teas have you tried and how were they.
I drink a lot of tea - both at home and work - green, black and everything in between.
I tend to drink some nice green tea in the morning (good jasmine, yunan, etc) and strong black tea in the afternoon - I really like the Earl Gray and "Afternoon Blend" from the Tea House in Covent Garden - I stock up whenever I can, but am running dangerously low and need to find a local supplier that sells good tea at a fair price - I'm not interested in the gourmet tea shops that sell very ordinary teas at extrordinary prices - especially since they don't necessarily move their tea quickly enough to guarantee freshness.
I also have a TenRen nearby - anyone have any recommendations for thier teas?
I was so impressed with the Fine Tea sampler from specialteas that I just placed my second order. Grabbed a few more samplers because I want to get a feel for several different varieties before I start getting more in depth with one particular type. I grabbed the green tea sampler, the oolong sampler, and something they call the Best Seller sampler, which has that Celyon Kenilworth that Roman414 mentioned liking (I like it as well; it came in the Fine tea sampler), as well as an Earl Grey (my favorite tea when I drank bagged teas), a chai (not a fan generally but I am keeping an open mind), and a few others. I still haven't tried any Darjeeling so I bought a 1/4 lb of their best-selling version (called Margarets Hope FTGFOP1). Finally, I picked up a sample of lapsang souchong, as I've always wanted to try that.
All-in-all, it was a pretty sizable order for me, and I'm excited to try them.
All-in-all, it was a pretty sizable order for me, and I'm excited to try them.
I'm a big tea fan, too, and like everything - black, green, white, even red (I know, I know, not really "tea", per se, but I had a roommate from Botswana that got me hooked on it - caffeine free and really good for you!).
Anyway, I made the mistake of going to a health food store today and proceeded to drop too much money on tea (shave soap order will have to wait a few weeks, grr), then went to a cooking store next door, and lo and behold, they had loose-leaf tea by the ounce. So I got a couple that looked interesting - a Russion Samovar (any info on this one? it smells great), some English garden variety because it just looked too darn interesting (flowers and all that), and some Lapsang Souchong because I've heard good things about it (man this stuff smells loud! exactly like Frog Morton pipe tobacco, I think). Anyway, I haven't tried any of it yet, but it sure smells good.
Now I want to try these sites you guys have been mentioning. I already have a cabinet full of tea. It has been an AD of mine since before wetshaving. You guys are all just no-good enablers.
Anyway, I made the mistake of going to a health food store today and proceeded to drop too much money on tea (shave soap order will have to wait a few weeks, grr), then went to a cooking store next door, and lo and behold, they had loose-leaf tea by the ounce. So I got a couple that looked interesting - a Russion Samovar (any info on this one? it smells great), some English garden variety because it just looked too darn interesting (flowers and all that), and some Lapsang Souchong because I've heard good things about it (man this stuff smells loud! exactly like Frog Morton pipe tobacco, I think). Anyway, I haven't tried any of it yet, but it sure smells good.
Now I want to try these sites you guys have been mentioning. I already have a cabinet full of tea. It has been an AD of mine since before wetshaving. You guys are all just no-good enablers.
I love a good strong Assam. I am English, along with some others on this thread, so tea is a great favourite!
I don't know if anyone has discovered this, but if you live in a place where there is an Indian grocery store, you can often find a great selection of loose Assam and Darjeeling teas at very reasonable prices.
A real treat for me is dunking McVities Digestive biscuits into a cup of hot sweet tea. Reminds me of my school days!
Enjoy your cuppa!
Jim
I don't know if anyone has discovered this, but if you live in a place where there is an Indian grocery store, you can often find a great selection of loose Assam and Darjeeling teas at very reasonable prices.
A real treat for me is dunking McVities Digestive biscuits into a cup of hot sweet tea. Reminds me of my school days!
Enjoy your cuppa!
Jim
It sounds as if most people on this thread are already experienced tea-drinkers, but I wanted to say a few words to the "tea-curious" who might be browsing. I used to drink bagged Earl Grey and English Breakfast teas with a little milk and sugar because it was the closest I could get to my beloved coffee that my stomach issues prevent me enjoying anymore. Over the years, I got very accustomed to the kind of smooth sweetness that those teas have when drunk with milk and sugar.
I was inspired by this thread and another like it to try some leaf teas, and my initial experiences with Assams, Ceylons, Oolongs, and green tea were not immediately gratifying. I found the teas to be almost universally bitter, and with the exception of the Assam, their flavors were not enhanced in the slightest by adding milk and sugar; rather they actually tasted worse. (I actually loved the Assam with milk and sugar). This was quite discouraging, but I kept drinking the teas, gradually adding less and less sugar and phasing out the milk entirely until I was drinking the teas straight. It was then that I discovered that what I had perceived as "bitterness" wasn't just bitter, it was a complexity of flavor that I just hadn't been prepared for.
I suppose objectively I would still describe most of the tea as bitter, especially the green tea, but to my great surprise I actually value that attribute. These are not milk-and-honey easy drinkers, as my previous tea had been. These are strong, complex drinks that take time to grow to appreciate if you haven't been exposed to real tea before. I suppose one could liken the experience to drinking good scotch...rarely is it love at first sip, but after a while you grow to love the product and you can't imagine life without it.
I just wanted to set the expectations of anyone who may be new to the world of fine teas in the hopes of possibly offsetting some of the initial disappointment that I had when I first imbibed a true cuppa. It may take some time to appreciate what's going on in your mug, but once you do you will never look back.
I was inspired by this thread and another like it to try some leaf teas, and my initial experiences with Assams, Ceylons, Oolongs, and green tea were not immediately gratifying. I found the teas to be almost universally bitter, and with the exception of the Assam, their flavors were not enhanced in the slightest by adding milk and sugar; rather they actually tasted worse. (I actually loved the Assam with milk and sugar). This was quite discouraging, but I kept drinking the teas, gradually adding less and less sugar and phasing out the milk entirely until I was drinking the teas straight. It was then that I discovered that what I had perceived as "bitterness" wasn't just bitter, it was a complexity of flavor that I just hadn't been prepared for.
I suppose objectively I would still describe most of the tea as bitter, especially the green tea, but to my great surprise I actually value that attribute. These are not milk-and-honey easy drinkers, as my previous tea had been. These are strong, complex drinks that take time to grow to appreciate if you haven't been exposed to real tea before. I suppose one could liken the experience to drinking good scotch...rarely is it love at first sip, but after a while you grow to love the product and you can't imagine life without it.
I just wanted to set the expectations of anyone who may be new to the world of fine teas in the hopes of possibly offsetting some of the initial disappointment that I had when I first imbibed a true cuppa. It may take some time to appreciate what's going on in your mug, but once you do you will never look back.
I agree that drinking such teas with milk and sugar is usually a waste, although there are some exceptions. If you think green tea is a little bitter, maybe you should try a good white tea. Usually a little more expensive, but IMO smoother than green tea and an absolute treat (remember not to use boiling water though). Also so called red tea's are worth a try, although they are technically not really tea. Rooibos has a very characteristic taste, which is not for everybody. However if you think Rooibos is too strong, try Honeybush tea (or a mixture) which is somewhat smoother and sweeter. Personally I have never cared much for black teas and grew up drinking those with milk and sugar. It has only been the last few years that I discovered the pleasures of green, red and white teas and I have gotten somewhat of a TAD... I am no longer allowed anywhere near tea shops and I think SWMBO might actually have spread my picture around with a warning not to sell me anything
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My current favorite are the Assam/Keemun blends.
Whittard's 1886 blend is very good for breakfast.
Palais des thés 'Big Ben' is lighter, nice in the afternoon. (For my Belgian/Dutch friends: they serve this at Exki.)
Whittard's 1886 blend is very good for breakfast.
Palais des thés 'Big Ben' is lighter, nice in the afternoon. (For my Belgian/Dutch friends: they serve this at Exki.)
I picked up most of their sampler packs, the oolong, fine tea, green and darjeeling and blended tea sampler. I like nearly all of them. I've also gotten packs English and Irish Breakfast teas as well Freisian, they were all very good as well.
I love green tea also.My favourite being Jacksons of Piccadilly.For a "cuppa" cup of tea Tetley Organic.
TenRen has some very good and very reasonably priced Dragonwell. Even the two cheapest varieties of Dragonwell they sell are exellent
One thing to do for those who don't like the bitterness of, especially, green tea, is to "wash" the leaves. Use a quick (10 seconds) steep of hot water and the bitterness (much of which comes from the caffine--the most soluable part of the tea) will go.
With many green teas (especially dragon pearl) you can get several steepings and the 2nd and 3rd are often better (more balanced) to my taste than the first.
The other tip I would offer is to make sure you don't over-steep your teas - doing so will guarantee a bitter cupa.
Good leaf teas should not be bitter - and this could be the result of too much tea and/or over-steeping.
Good leaf teas should not be bitter - and this could be the result of too much tea and/or over-steeping.
Good point, and this is something I have been trying to pay attention to. There are brewing recommendations on the packages, and I have been experimenting with the brewing times. I find that brewing right in the middle seems to do the trick; i.e. if the package recommends 2-3 mins, I brew for 2:40. However, one thing I have not experimented with is the amount of tea leaves...I pretty much use a rounded teaspoon at all times. I will try reducing the amount of leaves to see how that affects the flavor.
