The International Guild of Tea Drinkers

[Maxime D.]

I dedicate this thread to the drinkers of the most drank drink in the world. Here I'd like you to tell us when did you started to drink tea, where do you buy it, what are your favourites blends or brands and how do you prepare it.

I started to drink tea about 8 years ago, my sister gave me a sampler pack for my birthday that she had purchased in a tea shop named 'Camelia Sinensis' in Montréal. If I remember well, in the sampler there was some Assam Banaspaty, Jin Die, Darjeeling Seeyok, Rooibos (not a tea), Yu Zhen and a small amount of Jasmin Royal. I drink tea almost everyday, I usually have 3-4 teas on the shelf, these days I have a crush for the Tan Huong from Vietnam, the Du Yun Mao Jian 2 & the Jasmin Yin Zhen Organic from China. Recently I've purchased a Kitchen Aid timer and a new kettle with which I can adjust the temperature, now I can make a perfect tea everytime


My tea shops:
- Camellia Sinensis if you want an infinite choice of non-aromatized teas or expensive rare ones.
- David's Tea if you like aromatized teas.

Montréal, Canada.

 

[N1CK]

I started drinking tea as an alternative to coffee. Honestly it tastes better.

I like black tea. Early Grey, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast and occasionally a Darjeeling. Milk or cream is mandatory for me. I buy loose leaf as much as possible either locally where I can find it, or online at places like Intelligentsia.

For prep I use either the clam shell type or two piece egg shaped type single servers. If I need more cups I use a Bodum press and the Kitchen Aid kettle.

 

[Gary29]

I'm British, I've drunk tea all my life. It's the beverage that allows me to function in the mornings.

 

[coyotewhisper]

My Grandmother, who was originally from Cronwall introduced me to tea. We would have tea time together. I have used loose leaf tea in the past but have gotten lazy using tea bags .

I enjoy both hot and cold tea.

 

[ouch]

It's a rare day that I don't have any tea. Today was a 2005 Xiaguan Cang Er tuo.

 

[jovan]

I had drank tea my entire life till I turned 51 when my doctor said it was causing gout in me. Had to stop cold turkey and now drink only water (and wine, etc.). How I miss it. I use to buy my tea at a tea shop / importer in the Ferry Building in San Fran called imperial tea court www.imperialtea.com . Very nice as they educated you on the tea prior to you purchasing them. How I miss my old dark mistress.

 

[Doc4]

I had drank tea my entire life till I turned 51 when my doctor said it was causing gout in me. Had to stop cold turkey and now drink only water (and wine, etc.).

You may want to check with your doctor, but I suspect wine can cause gout too.

I started drinking tea as an alternative to coffee. Honestly it tastes better.

I like the taste of both ... although I like mediocre tea a lot better than mediocre coffee ... but somehow tea makes me "feel" better than coffee.

 

[lowjax]

When I was a child, I would at times get some tea from my grandma. She made it all the time. Just about a year ago I've started drinking it again. I have gotten into loose leaf (from a PIF here) and really love it. I'm now starting my TAD. 6 kinds of loose leaf and 3-4 boxes of bagged stuff.

 

[N1CK]

I like the taste of both ... although I like mediocre tea a lot better than mediocre coffee ... but somehow tea makes me "feel" better than coffee.

Yes. Despite the caffeine, which I'm not sensitive to anyway, tea is much more relaxing.

 

[netsurfr]

I got serious about my tea drinking in about 2007. By getting serious, I mean that I discovered loose leaf tea and the difference between that and all tea that I had had previously just blew me away! First, it was green tea from Teavana (ok, stop guffawing about my choice of vendor). Then I began exploring whites, oolong, black and finally discovered pu-erh. OMG, I never cease to learn enough about tea and pu-erh is a constant fascination. I even did some group buys for the B&B members in the 2008-2009 timeframe. Well, enough rambling on... time to fix some more tea.



Cheers,
Steve
www.JAS-eTea.com
www.facebook.com/JASeTea

 

[coonskinner]

I like Lapsang Souchong, but mostly drink it in cold weather.

Coffee is my daily driver.

 

[Doc4]

First, it was green tea from Teavana (ok, stop guffawing about my choice of vendor).

Everyone spends at least one night at base camp before climbing the mountain.

 

[Kazeryu]

Well, naturally I had tea from time to time growing up, mostly anonymous tea and earl grey I suppose. I don't think I developed any real interest in tea, however, until I was exposed to a bit more variety as a teenager / twentysomething. That was when I started getting into various asian foods and of course, tea is always served in those restaurants - jasmine, oolong, and in one notable establishment, some sort of barley oolong blend. This lead to a few years doing some tentative toe-dipping with canned and bagged greens and oolongs from asian grocers and the occasional teaopia.

It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I found my current hobby winding up and I turned my attention to The Cafe` and tea in a more serious fashion. Fast forward to today and I have more tea on hand than I can drink in a year, including a wide variety of greens, whites, oolongs, puerh, and even a few reds.

The bulk of my tea is from Yunnan Sourcing, although I have also purchased through It's About Tea, Good Tea, and even a B&M asian grocer or two.
I did place a large order through JASeTea although for some reason neither one ever arrived (he was kind enough to try sending it a second time). There were a number of outside factors which may have contributed to this situation (including international delivery) so this is merely an anecdote, not a complaint. I never followed up after the second mailing as I felt that we had both lost money.

 

[DEAddict]

So, I've never thought about getting into teas as a hobby but now my interest is piqued. I'm going to sound dumb but what is wrong with Teavana? I only ask because that's the only place I know that does tea (other than Lipton bags from the grocery store). I really want to get into this tea thing!

 

[Kazeryu]

So, I've never thought about getting into teas as a hobby but now my interest is piqued. I'm going to sound dumb but what is wrong with Teavana? I only ask because that's the only place I know that does tea (other than Lipton bags from the grocery store). I really want to get into this tea thing!

This question sometimes leads to a lot of hot air, so I will attempt to summarize both sides:

The Good:
-> You can walk into a local store and smell the teas.
-> Depending on your own level of knowledge, the employees may be able to teach you some things about teas, including preparation and storage.
-> Their tea equipment is generally acceptable (or even good) entry-level stuff, and it may be cheaper to buy it there rather than getting glass and/or clay and/or porcelain etc. shipped to you from the internet.

The "Depends Who You Ask":
-> The majority of their inventory is flavoured, generally with a black, white, or rooibos base. For many people this is exactly what they are looking for (hence why Teavana stays in business), but for tea afficionados/purists this is a real bummer. (In the same way that a wine afficionado is generally not very excited about drinking sangria, even though they may partake from time to time.)

The Bad:
-> It's a bit expensive, even compared to other brick & mortar vendors. Sometimes outrageously so. They get away with it since other B&M retailers are few and far between.
-> The quality of their tea (even their "premium" oolongs) has been called into question by tea fans.
-> The selection of greens, oolongs, and whites is very limited. Pu'erh basically doesn't even exist to them.
-> Employees are sometimes aggressively ignorant.


My 2 cents would be to visit one if you can, smell some of the teas and see if anything interests you. Perhaps buy a teapot or mug with a strainer so you can brew loose leaf teas. Buy a few teas in the store if you're really curious, and then consider looking at different tea samplers sold by online vendors.

 

[DEAddict]

First off, thank you so much for the detailed response! I really appreciate it. It seems safe to assume that, in a nutshell, Teavana is the Starbucks of tea? Haha

 

[StillShaving]

Ha. That literally is the case, since Starbucks has bought Teavana. I'm being a optimistic without any specific knowledge, but I would not be surprised if their quality improves in order to support their expansion plans.

Starbucks's Teahouse Ambitions for Its Teavana Chain

 

[Zeke]

I like Lapsang Souchong, but mostly drink it in cold weather.

Coffee is my daily driver.

Lapsang Souchong is one of my favorites too. I like it especially on a cold rainy night while reading a got mystery... so mysterious.

Tonight I just made a London Fog latte... mine is MUCH better than that mess they serve at Starbucks.