Thinking about switching over to tea...

[jwcarlson]

Well, my diet soda addiction has gotten rediculous... I'm up to a 2-liter a day and I feel that's probably pretty unhealthy. I'm intrigued by tea, particularly green tea (especially the possibility of ramping up my undesirable metabolism if nothing more than temporarily).

What I've been drinking for the past couple days is Lipton Green Tea with Mandarin Orange flavor in some little plastic pyramid tea bag. It's drinkable. But, like most mass-marketed shaving products, I have to think there's something better out there. Coffee seems to have bored me at least for the moment so tea is intriguing me.

I just placed an order for a mesh infuser and a bag of Davidson Gunpowder Green on Amazon. I won't be turned off by the smokiness as I love 10-year Laphroaig.

I'm wondering what suggestions some of you folks may have for someone switching to a hopefully more healthy beverage.

 

[Greg1911]

Diet and regular soda are flat out awful for you so tea or coffee will be a lot better.

I'd give up alcohol before I gave up my coffee.

 

[jwcarlson]

The little bit of reading on here I'm wanting to try loose leaf teas, looking for suggestions on vendors and good teas to start with as I cancelled my order from Amazon. I was on Jas eTeas and put together this cart but haven't bought yet. Looking for feedback:
Ceramic Gaiwan - White Elegance - 100 ml
2010 Spring Handmade Premium West Lake Long Jing Green Tea 25g
2008 Menghai Peacock Series Sampler 5x25g
2009 "Yunnan Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun" Green tea 25g

Eventually I will come back to coffee but it'll probably be to roast my own beans as I'm a bit of a do-it-yourselfer.

 

[JPDyson]

Just note that the peacock sampler - raw, or "green" pu'erh - is NOT the same as green tea. I think it's a fine start, though - raw pu'erh is like liquid crack.

 

[jwcarlson]

Yep, I understand.

Liquid crack is this Diet Dew I've been pounding for years.



Flavor-wise what's the main differences between this type of tea and the standard off the shelf stuff that comes in bags?

 

[jwhite]

The bagged tea is rarely the highest grades, custom bags are the exception but I feel the bags inhibit the blooming of the leaf during the steep. Bagged teas can be very stale and astringent. This is especially true with greens. Jas e Tea has good quality stuff so no fear in that regard. But there are vast differences among green teas as you'll find out when you get your sampler. It's very difficult to speak in generalities here, best to describe what your looking for in a cup and then find teas to fit that roll. Then experiment with differing regions/processing types to expand your horizons. That way you'll always have a solid cup around as you learn more.

 

[jwcarlson]

Excellent! I placed the above order but changed out the gaiwan for the same one but with the "starter pack"... bought gram scale on Amazon for about $7 shipped.

Until everything gets in I guess I'll continue to slum it with my Lipton.

 

[Proinsias]

Looks like a good starter pack, enjoy.

I drink mainly tea, but some fresh fruit juice is always handy to have in the fridge.

I'd advise brewing the green teas more gently than the Menghai peacock - cooler water and less leaf. They will be delicate and refreshing, the Menghai peacock sheng will be far more powerful, bordering on battery acid if overdone. All, of course, only my opinion.

 

[BladeDE40]

Enjoy the transition...I also recently found the wonderful world of quality "real" tea and there's no turning back for me. I was actually in LA over the last few days and went through tea withdrawls being away from the good stuff. There are some great folks on this forum who are passionate about their teas and are very knowledgeable about all things tea. Enjoy!

 

[awolff]

http://www.pgtips.co.uk/greentea/

Keep the chemicals on your face and out of your stomach

 

[bradyarz]

The little bit of reading on here I'm wanting to try loose leaf teas, looking for suggestions on vendors and good teas to start with as I cancelled my order from Amazon. I was on Jas eTeas and put together this cart but haven't bought yet. Looking for feedback:
Ceramic Gaiwan - White Elegance - 100 ml
2010 Spring Handmade Premium West Lake Long Jing Green Tea 25g
2008 Menghai Peacock Series Sampler 5x25g
2009 "Yunnan Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun" Green tea 25g

Eventually I will come back to coffee but it'll probably be to roast my own beans as I'm a bit of a do-it-yourselfer.

netsurfr (steve), is the owner of jas e tea. i just finished up a nice dialog with him about my dive into pu-erh. i know nothing about what i would like, but he recommended 3 teas based on my current habits. i'm currently waiting for my order to ship.

shoot him a pm. he's a very helpful guy, and he'll probably give you some nice suggestions.

 

[a_bit_crafty]

Congrats on looking at loose leaf over bags. Tea needs room to expand and it just doesn't get that in bags. And, like others on here have already stated, the bagged stuff is generally not good quality.

Steve at jas eTea is really great to work with and helped get us started on pu erh. I also buy from Mountain Rose Herbs for my "regular" teas (Earl Grey, English Breakfast, herbals, etc.).

 

[jwcarlson]

Talked with Steve via PM and he's setting me up right. Great guy to deal with as others have stated!

 

[Mycon]

There is one thing I must warn you about. Going off of the diet soda will make you feel awful for several days. Along with the teas, make sure that you drink plenty of pure water in order to flush out your system. I purged the diet junk from my diet years ago and I have never looked back. If I'm craving soda, I'd rather take the calorie hit than go back to the negative effects the fake sugar had on me.


Oh, and prepare for the influx of TAD. It can be worse than the shaving AD's

 

[sigthorson]

I just want to chime in too. I'm a tea freak I drink at least 3 cups a day if not more.

I also remember seeing this 100 year old guy being interviewed years ago and they asked him what his secret was. He said he had a cup of tea every day.

That's not why I drink it though I just like it.

White tea has the most antioxidants and Pu Erh has the deepest flavours.
They are all healthy though even that Lipton tea.

I do have to tell you though that when I was in the states I ended up buying a box Lipton in the red box to drink while I was down there and that is the best tasting big brand tea I've ever had.

 

[jwcarlson]

There is one thing I must warn you about. Going off of the diet soda will make you feel awful for several days. Along with the teas, make sure that you drink plenty of pure water in order to flush out your system. I purged the diet junk from my diet years ago and I have never looked back. If I'm craving soda, I'd rather take the calorie hit than go back to the negative effects the fake sugar had on me.


Oh, and prepare for the influx of TAD. It can be worse than the shaving AD's

I go on and off it frequently... besides the caffeine I don't have an issue. Tea should fill that gap just fine. I'm enjoying a cup of the lipton right now.
What's a good "everyday" at work kind of tea? Not going to be able to gungfu it at my desk!

 

[Drybonz]

Liquid crack is this Diet Dew I've been pounding for years.

It's going to be quite a transition from Mountain Dew to fine tea... I, for one, am interested in hearing your reaction... I hope it works out for you, as I'm sure all that soda is doing horrible things to your body.

 

[Mycon]

I would get a box of open-ended tea bags and keep them in your desk. It's a little tougher to get the brewing temps right while at work, but with a little experimenting it can work just fine. That way you can pretty much have any loose-leaf tea except black (the hot side on water coolers only goes up to 190 degrees.)
A good morning tea is Genmaicha, which is green tea with toasted rice in it.

Edit: Something like this might work too

 

[jwhite]

I go on and off it frequently... besides the caffeine I don't have an issue. Tea should fill that gap just fine. I'm enjoying a cup of the lipton right now.
What's a good "everyday" at work kind of tea? Not going to be able to gungfu it at my desk!

A small pot 100ml-150ml, or gaiwan if you're used to it, with several infusions of a decent loose sheng or oolong is pretty convenient, and efficient if you have room for a hot pot or kettle. You put tea in your pot once and add water, wait a few seconds and pour off. The pot waits until you need it for later cups, and one clean up at the end of the day. Maybe a clean up at lunch and after work of you go through a lot of tea. Personally I prefer to have my tea freshly steeped and at temperature as opposed to sitting around in a mug. I'd actually recommend ceramic or glass for at work as you can switch up your teas without worrying about confusing the pot. There are pots that are designed more for convenience rather than aesthetics but I tend be a bit more of a traditionalist with my tea ware. Steve sells them under glass tea ware. For larger mugs of tea in the western tradition Yunnan greens and blacks are pretty affordable, take to western brewing pretty well, and take a fair amount of abuse if you get distracted and leave it over long during the steep, the blacks are the most tolerant.

 

[jwcarlson]

I can microwave water and that's about it. I'm thinking about bringing my french press, microwaving a mug of water then brewing and pouring off the tea in the french press. Without mashing it down obviously.

What about one of the metal mesh infuser "orbs"? Not ideal I'm sure but better than running Lipton during the day.