Did you know that you can put leaves in water and it makes a good drink? It’s true! There’s also a ton of different teas that vary from culture to culture so there’s a lot of variety. Post about tea you like or ask other people about tea if you don’t know much about it. Or I dunno, post about tea history? It’s a general thread about a drink, you’ve got wiggle room.
Anyway, 80% of the reason I made this thread was because oolong tea? Pretty darn good stuff. It ranges from “kinda like black tea” to “kinda like green tea.” This one’s closer to a black tea, and is also very good.
Lemon and ginger tea is usually what I have if I’m as sick as a dog, and because of that I have a bit of a fondness for ginger in general (and galangal by extension)
I used to be a big coffee drinker, but these days it upsets my stomach pretty bad, so I can’t really drink it anymore (which kinda sucks because I still like coffee a lot). So I had to switch to tea, which works better. Although black tea also tends to give me stomach problems, so I mostly stick with green tea. I like it a lot though, you get kinda used to it.
Anyway, my girlfriend is like way into tea, and she’s hooked me up with some good stuff. I just tend to go to the store and buy some green tea and peppermint and maybe some fruit tea or whatever, but she gets these really fancy teas from an online store, and they’re excellent. She gave me this herbal tea that was just amazing. I should try some more of those.
So what do you guys prefer, tea bag or tea ball? I tend to go for the latter with green tea, for most of the other stuff I don’t really care.
Given how much tea I drink, I burn through sachets far too quickly. A few ounces of loose leaves lasts far longer, so tea balls or teapots with built-in infusers work far better for me.
I looooove iced tea but never have been able to get into any hot tea. Not sure what it is! I admit I haven’t tried that many but I’m hesitant to spend money on good tea if I’m not even sure I’ll enjoy it.
Oops! Um… oh… oh dear… I can explain. Moroccan mint tea is probably some of the best tea out there and the lady working at Teavanna that day was just so goddamn cute and wearing flannel and… I’m sorry. I swear Teavanna is crap.
I’ve drank tea pretty much since I was 5, which is pretty nice until you’re on a coffee date with someone and you feel you have to drink coffee for the first time since you don’t wanna be a weirdo. though that story fits in better with the Mental Health thread, lol
Only used bags so far, but hoping to get into loose leaf whenever I can afford it more regularly.
Any particular Brands™ you all like? I grew up drinking Tetley, but I’ve heard good things about Yorkshire, at least when talking about tea bags.
I don’t generally like black teas. I much prefer green or white teas, especially genmaicha. It’s a green tea with toasted rice, which gives it a really nice flavour.
I’m a dyed in the wool Tetley drinker, but I don’t generally dislike other brands. Except maybe Thompson’s which is a local company in Northern Ireland.
I just got into Iced Tea like six months ago and I love the stuff. Green Tea and Mate too.
I actually ran out of my stash of Tetley a week or so ago due to a combination of making iced tea (and guzzling it down) and wasting single bags for cups instead of making kettles, lol. Now I’m using Lipton, which is fine, but yeah.
I definitely need to try earl grey for the first time, and try to find a green tea I might actually like.
how do you make delicious chai? when I brew it at home it’s never as good as the shit I can just buy in a jug and throw in the microwave with some milk.
I was making a bit of a joke but to be honest that brand of bagged chai is not bad for pre assembled low effort stuff. But if you want the real deal I’m delighted to help. Here’s a bit of a run down first:
Chai itself just means tea, but I assume when you say chai you’re thinking of masala chai which is the spicy tea (emphasis on the spice, the spice is that distinct flavor you’re looking for.) To get that flavor you can go two routes:
:effort: method: Get a bagged spiced chai from like Twinings or the Stash brand I linked above and brew it 7-10 minutes like normal (and add hot milk and sugar to taste)
MLG PRO Uncle Iroh method: Using your own spices and black tea. (BYOC, build your own chai) which involves:
Brewing the spices in a sauce pan with water because it takes longer to get flavor out of them.
Adding the tea leaves and brewing it for however long the tea is supposed to be brewed (tea has a tendency to become bitter if steeped too long.)
Add milk, sugar, etc to taste then strain and serve.
Now, if you’re committed to the Iroh method then you’re probably curious what spices, and what tea. So I’m gonna elaborate:
For spices, you’ve got a world of spice at your fingertips but here are some of the common spices to use: Cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, anise, nutmeg, black peppercorn, fennel, and such.
For tea, most black teas will do but some work better than others (I like Assam.)
So right there you’ve got your base for home made spiced masala chai. But if you wanna kick it up a notch and just go extremely Iroh you can add some herbs and other stuff too like: Mint, honey, and vanilla.
You’re not gonna wanna add all these things, mind you. Some ingredients compliment and work with each other better than others. You’re gonna have to find your own taste but if you’re looking for a recipe to get ya started here’s one of my spouse’s brews (beginner level):
Heat 1 1/2 cups of water and half a cup of milk in a saucepan with 10 cardamom pods, a pinch of fennel, a pinch of ginger, and a small cinnamon stick (bonus: 4 kernels of black peppercorn but that’s optional) until it comes to a boil.
Immediately, once it comes to a boil, turn down the heat to low/medium. Leave it there for maybe 10 mins. (Don’t let it boil again at this point.)
Add one tea bag or a teaspoon of loose leaf tea and maybe 1-2 spoons of sugar. Take it off the heat and let it steep for five minutes.
Strain and serve. (Good accompaniment: Girl Scout treffoil cookies.)
If you are ready to take the plunge @heyboots I can send you some good quality black Assam from the Spice and Tea Exchange here in NOVA (since I know where you live) to get started with if you want.
I’m sorry. I swear Teavanna is crap.