Anybody drink TEA?

I prefer the British Blends of black tea. Also the chai tea from Tazo is pretty good with a tad of milk and sugar. Soothing and refreshing at the same time. I re-use the tea bag if I feel like it, you know just fill up the cup again and it seems to seep to nearly the same intensity; especially if I poke it with a fork.

*splutter* does anyone tea? *splutter splutter*

Being a Brit, ofc ourse! You can't surpase a good old British Breakfast blend for a good strong cuppa - and not just for breakfast. For the more refined moments a 50/50 blend of Darjeeling and Ceylon works well.

As for reusing tea bags, I will IF I use one. A good quality teabag will be good for two mugs. However, for the proper tea experience you need to use loose leaves and a china tea pot. Remember to warm the pot first, use properly boiling water and have a cosy to hand to keep the brewing pot warm!

Good Sencha, Kukicha, and Gyokuro, along with most quality Oolongs, usually can be infused 2 or 3 times if infused using appropriate techniques (short infusions, plenty of tea leaves, small amount of water, small pots). When it comes to quality Chinese or Japanese tea, the second infusion is usually the nicest.

Aromatized teas with added oils and so on don't hold up to multiple infusions. Generally, the cheapest teabags aren't worth reusing, as they're made from the "dust" or broken leaves and they have nothing left except astringency on subsequent infusions.

I wonder what is the shelf life of teabags sealed in airtight packages? Every time a friend goes to the U.K, they bring me tea. I have about 1000 tea bags which I am drinking as fast as I can before the tea goes stale. Lots of dark red British teas like Tetley, and Lifeboat, which have big teabags, with lots of room for the tea to expand. A four minute brew timed to the second seems perfect. For some reason a cup of caffeinated tea before bed sends me to sleep. Does this happen to anyone else? Any advice on tea shelf life would be appreciated.

I like iced tea, fresh-brewed, not the bottled kind.

If you want to learn an absurd amount about tea, check out The Harney and Sons Guide to Tea. My friend got it for me this last Christmas and it's amazing. History, production info, tasting info, etc on all of the major types of tea you can come across. Really informative book. Everytime I pick up a new type of tea, I browse through the section on it in that book to get a general idea of what I'm getting into and then I can learn what to look for in future purchases of similar styles of tea.

Logan wrote:I like iced tea, fresh-brewed, not the bottled kind.

Arizona Iced Tea is not half bad.

I make a gallon of sun tea just about every day. I like Tazo, Numi, hand blended teas, some Bigelow, Art of Tea, Revolution, Silky Road, Zen Bliss or The Republic of Tea.

I have a bit of a soft spot for 'sticky toffee pudding tea'. Rather decedant, but great for an occassional treat.

Joey wrote:I have a bit of a soft spot for 'sticky toffee pudding tea'. Rather decedant, but great for an occassional treat.

Sounds interesting! Who makes it?

Soapbuddy wrote:

Joey wrote:I have a bit of a soft spot for 'sticky toffee pudding tea'. Rather decedant, but great for an occassional treat.

Sounds interesting! Who makes it?

Whittard.

Joey wrote:

Soapbuddy wrote:

Joey wrote:I have a bit of a soft spot for 'sticky toffee pudding tea'. Rather decedant, but great for an occassional treat.

Sounds interesting! Who makes it?

Whittard.

Thank you! I found an online store in Tacoma, Wa.

Bushell's Instant is my current tea of choice.

I've substituted my morning cup of coffee this week with a cup of Lipton Black Tea w. milk.
It's a much more invigorating way to start the day.

Logan wrote:I've substituted my morning cup of coffee this week with a cup of Lipton Black Tea w. milk.
It's a much more invigorating way to start the day.

I’ve read that drinking tea with milk has a negative effect on human blood vessels. According to a recent study drinking two cups of black tea relaxes blood vessels, quadrupling blood flow. But adding milk to the tea counteracts this benefit. Drinking tea with milk is not bad for you, but it isn’t as good for you as drinking your tea black.

I only add milk to jasmine tea, but it's soy milk.

My favorite Tea is the
Long Island Iced Tea.

1800 Tequila,
rum,
gin ,
triple sec,
sweet and sour mix
and Coca-Cola

MightyA wrote:My favorite Tea is the
Long Island Iced Tea.

1800 Tequila,
rum,
gin ,
triple sec,
sweet and sour mix
and Coca-Cola

There's no tea in that drink! Why is it called Long Island Ice Tea?

Logan wrote:

MightyA wrote:My favorite Tea is the
Long Island Iced Tea.

1800 Tequila,
rum,
gin ,
triple sec,
sweet and sour mix
and Coca-Cola

There's no tea in that drink! Why is it called Long Island Ice Tea?

I didn't know that either.

Could it be that the color of the drink looks like an iced tea?
Not that I ever sampled one!

Another Tea Drinker In the House!

10 Tips for Better Tea

1)Water is important. You should start with good tasting filtered water. You might want to try some different spring waters.

2)Boiling water is not good for white, green, or Oolong tea. Boiling water will "cook" the leaves and this will ruin the flavor. SO DON'T BOIL YOUR TEA!

3)Select a good ceramic teapot, or a covered tea-cup, with a four to twelve ounce capacity. Some teapots have strainer on the inside base of the spout. This helps to keep leaves from pouring out the spout.

4)When making tea, be certain to warm the teapot with hot water first.

5)The ratio of tea to water should be approximately four grams of tea per eight ounces of water. Oolongs and Pu-erhs need twice as much tea for the same amount of water.

6)Teas should be brewed loose, not in an infuser or a tea bag. This allows the flavor to develop more fully.

7)After steeping, teas can leave varying volumes of leaves in the teapot, depending on the type of tea. If you are brewing a lighter tea, you will see more leaves in the pot after brewing.

8)When trying a new tea, you will need to experiment until you are familiar with it. At first, steep it for a minute or two, and then taste it. You can steep it longer if necessary. Pay more attention to flavor than to color.

9)When the tea tastes "right," you need to stop steeping. Remove the leaves from the tea to prevent oversteeping.

10)Most teas can be resteeped. For each additional infusion, add more water and increase the steeping time.

Enjoy the tea! Don't forget about the beautiful colors and shapes of tea leaves. If you can, watch them while you are brewing.

My current favorites are these blooming teas. Very surreal!

Thanks Levi!
Someone gifted me with one of these flowering teas and I didn't know what the heck to do with it.

If anyone is interested in a really good informational book on tea, check out The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea. Really, really useful. I've learned more out of it about tea than I'd learned in a few years prior that I've been really interested in tea. Not very expensive and it'll tell you what to do with basically any sorta tea you pick up.

Starbucks' newest caffeinated offerings are a series of Tazo Tea Lattes. How does Starbucks now want you to start your morning? Rather than a cup of Pike Place or a normal old tea, there's the London Fog Latte: "Full leaf black tea with citrusy Italian Bergamot and a hint of lavender. Sweetened with vanilla syrup and topped with steamed milk and velvety foam." Interesting.

But while the pictures in the ads look appealing (funny how ads can do that), the drinks themselves don't quite match. From the ad, I had expected something like a chai-style latte: a sweet, strong tea concentrate lightened by hot milk. The newfangled tea lattes, however, are just a normal cup of tea—bag and all—with sugar syrup and a bit of foam on top. Since the tea takes a moment to steep, these lattes are somewhat weak and overly sweet on first sip, growing stronger only over a bit of time. But by that point, the foam has flattened, if it hasn't already gotten stuck in the teabag. Not a good scene.

While the resulting "tea latte" is perfectly tasty, it's nothing but a new marketing spin. My suggestion for tea lovers? Just order tea (the London Fog just uses an Earl Grey teabag), add milk and sugar, and voila—a DIY "latte." You'll get to sweeten the tea to your liking, and the only difference is a few quickly disappearing bubbles of foam. And you'll save yourself at least a buck-fifty. Sorry, Starbucks.

AtomicGleam wrote:Starbucks' newfangled tea lattes, however, are just a normal cup of tea—bag and all—with sugar syrup and a bit of foam on top.

With a tea bag in it? Seriously??? I make chai or Earl Grey latte at home rather frequently (unsweetened only, can't stand sweetened tea or coffee) since I do like frothed milk in my tea or coffee. I make strong tea (similar to an espresso shot), then I froth the milk, then I combine the two. But never did it cross my mind to stick a tea bag into a glass of hot water topped with a bit of milk foam. It just sounds wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong wrong...wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong !(Doing my best Dr. Cox impression).