any Tea fans ?

[LisaS]

I want to begin drinking more tea - probably substitute tea for my afternoon coffee at work. Black or green or white (never had white though).

Any favorite blends or brands? Reviews and suggestions welcome - whether available in the local megamart or mail order/internet only.

[BeccainSC]

Lisa I recently added hot tea to my semi-regular list. I've only tried Tetley Decaf Green and I like it okay, but then again I add 1 packet of splenda and a splash of half-n-half (down from 3 packets of splenda when I was first starting it). I've been wanting to try new flavors as well, just haven't worked up the nerve yet.

I found it in one of my local grocery stores, but not at every place I've looked. :(

'becca

[bluejay111]

Just bought some green tea yesterday and tried it today. Added some DaVinci SF Peach syrup to it. Not too bad. Will have to experiment some with the syrup though. Going to try green ice tea next.

[LisaS]

I've got Stash Green Tea (bags) at home & at work they provide Yokohama Green Tea bags (I'm sure it is the generic coffee supplier version) - not sure if there are others with better flavor or more ECGG or if loose would have more flavor/polyphenols than bags.
In black tea - I've liked regular Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey, Oolong, Darjeeling & one of the smokey ones - but usually in the cheaper mass market bags rather than loose. I'm willing to make the jump into loose, more exotic ($$) tea - but would like some recommendations too. not $$$$$ but $ or $$ would be fine.

[Gaelen]

Lisa, my favorite teas, hands down, are Bigelow's Constant Comment (either bagged or loose), any basic Earl Grey, and Salada Green Tea in bags. I like all of them both hot and ice cold. Iced unsweetened tea is my favorite hot weather beverage.

I drink my tea clear (no sugar, no cream)--although I do like a wedge of lime or lemon in iced tea and in the hot green tea. Tea is my 'no calorie' beverage, when I need one of those.

[Cacky]

Lisa - I have always been a tea drinker, even as a little kid. You'll always find regular Lipton tea bags and Chinese green tea (from a local Asian market) in my house. When the weather is warmer, there is always a pitcher of iced tea in the refrigerator. I use a Mr. Coffee Ice Tea Machine - much more consistent than sun tea (which I usually forget about and it becomes undrinkable). For flavored teas I enjoy Celestial Seasonings Nutcracker Sweet, a cinnamon tea, and Celestial Seasonings Vanilla Rose Decaf. Both are black teas. I usually mail order them directly from C.S (can sometimes find them at Trader Joes). For my summer iced tea, there is a local coffee roaster here in town (Arbuckle's) who makes Desert Flower tea in bulk. Yummy! They custom blend it for you. They also have a wonderful assortment of flavored coffees you can get as whole bean or ground. They are online and will ship also. I put a spoonful of Splenda in my tea, no milk.

If you try bulk, you can get spoons with covers that are spring loaded that will hold just enough tea for a cupful, or you can get a "tea ball", a perforated metal container that is used to hold bulk tea if you are making a potful. You can usually find either the spoons or the balls in any good housewares section (even my Ace Hardware). If you want to go loose in a pot, there are also tea strainers that fit across the top of your cup and catch the tea leaves as you pour.

My best advice - experiment and enjoy!

[Mitra]

Lisa, I'd only ever drunk black tea with milk until recently - it's what everybody drank when I was a child. I pretty much switched to coffee later, and only got back to tea in the last few months. Oddly, I just can't drink it with milk now, so whatever the kind of tea, I'm drinking it hot and plain (no milk, sweetener or lemon). I find that it's better for me to use loose tea, because then I can use very small quantities. If I use a teabag, I have to pour out the water, then dip the teabag in very briefly, and it feels very wasteful. Until my recent time away from home, when I've been separated from my tea, I'd fallen into a pattern of drinking green tea after lunch, black smoky tea in the afternoon, and white tea after dinner. White tea is similar to green tea, but even lighter.

I'd always thought green tea was unpleasantly astringent, but letting the water cool a little (to about 80°C) and not using too much tea made a big difference. I still prefer the Chinese ones, and find the Japanese can easily get that astringency that I don't like.

I generally avoid flavoured teas, except for the traditional ones like smoked black tea, and occasionally jasmine (white or green, though I think black ones exist, too).

I've been buying it on the internet, but a UK source probably isn't much use to you ;).

[Gaelen]

When I make tea at work, I tend to use bags because it's just easier, but I do use loose tea in a mesh tea ball at home. However, I've always been intrigued by these 'Tea Server Ball' pots, QVC item K6810:
http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail

The tea looks so...beautiful...when they demonstrate it.

I have two teapots--an inexpensive white porcelain pot with a blue oriental rice design and bamboo handle, and one of my grandma's china teapots. At home, I usually make a pot, but at work I just make a single mug with the hot water from the bottled water dispenser.

[Gaelen]

Lisa...this just came in my Whole Foods newsletter...a whole 'primer' about tea. Thought it might help.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/tea/index.html

[cmcole]

Love experimenting with various teas, either bagged or loose.
Have a variety of infusers with which to use the loose, but my favourite at-home (and I have used it at work, too) is a pot I bought in China Town in Victoria. I had to get someone to get me a new one recently, because the screened insert fell apart (I even had someone put it back together, once), and then, it fell on the floor and the whole thing came apart, so it was unsafe to use.

Lapsang Souchong (sp?) this and Russian Caravan are some of my favourite Robust teas. They have a smokey undertone, and smell like a camp fire (everyone at work always used to walk by and know when I was brewing that one).

Various green teas

For loose teas, you can order from Murchies in Victoria - they have hundreds of blends, and you can even make your own and register it with them. A very cool place to visit, either in person or on-line (although, obviously, on-line is less of a sensory experience).

Stash teas are good

Newfoundlanders seem to prefer Tetley, Red Rose, King Cole, with Tetley winning, hands down, I think (I don't necessarily have a preference with those, as I try so many different ones).

I like Earl Grey from Murchies or Stash best. Some others, like Tetley, only have "essence" added, whereas others actually use the flowers (or whatever Bergamot comes from).

[Karole]

Lisa...this just came in my Whole Foods newsletter...a whole 'primer' about tea. Thought it might help.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/tea/index.html

Thanks for this addy Gaelen- I read most of the articles and found it very interesting. I think , based on what I read, that I will cut a lot of coffee out and increase the tea consumption. Lots of good stuff in it !!
I really love the white tea with an essence of pear which I find at Wal-Mart.

[gitfiddle]

I have tons of different kinds of tea, but I particularly like Constant Comment GREEN tea at the office. That and Bigelow Orange Spice because the fragrance of each of them is a treat.

[banshee]

I have to put in a plug for red tea, roiboss. It's not "tea" in the sense of being made from tea leaves. It's made from another plant, and African bush. I think it has a lovely taste and scent. I also love it because I don't do caffeine, and roiboss is naturally decaffeinated. It used to be hard to find, but lately I'm seeing it more and more at the grocery stores, so it must be getting more popular. Another advantage I found out quite by accident - it won't get bitter no matter how long you leave the bag in the pot.

[shulameet]

Dear Lisa,

I am a big time flavored tea fan. For ready made tea bag varieties, I recommend Celestial Seasonings and Bigelow. They both have vast selections, aren't expensive, appear on most supermarket shelves and have consistent quality throughout.

My fave flavors are CS Blueberry Blast Green Tea, CS Red Zinger, Bigelow Green Tea with Peach, Bigelow Cinnamon Stick, and Bigelow Constant Comment (Orange Spice). I usually make a pint mug from a single bag and sweeten to taste with Splenda. You can also get medicinal herbal teas. My fave medicinal brand is Traditional Medicinals, available in supermarkets and chain stores like GNC.

Actual tea, a plant in the camellia family, can be plain or flavored and is labeled white (top uncured buds), green (uncured leaves) or black (fermented or cured). Orange Pekoe, Russian and Brick are types of black tea. Consumer Reports recently published that the phytochemicals in actual tea boosted the immune system and retarded osteoporosis, as well as containing antioxidants having other health benefits.

Other 'teas' or tisanes are herbal infusionsYerba Mate is an herbal tea that has more caffeine than coffee, but red african bush tea (roobios) and other herbal teas are naturally caffeine free, to the best of my knowledge.

Shulameet

[Always]

Wuyi Rock Tea (http://www.wuyirocktea.com)is my fav. It's a concentrated green tea liquid in a single serving (use it cold or hot) - lemon or raspberry sweetened with sucralose are my favs. I keep a box at work and use it in my ice water.

[ladydoc442]

I love a nice hot cup of tea in the evening - puts an end to those pesky carb cravings. I drink it plain (no milk or sugar), just like my coffee. I drink coffee only in the morning and tea in the evening.

I use Stash brand for bagged teas, and for loose I prefer Harney & Sons (on-line or at Barnes & Noble stores). The vanilla flavored ones are awesome, as are their Chai Spice and Chocolate Mint teas. Expensive but worth it to me. My local supermarket (Wegmans) carries organic loose tea that I can buy in bulk, so I'm constantly trying new flavors.

For loose teas, I have a Bodum "tea press" - very similar to the French press I use for my coffee. You put the loose tea in a cylinder, add the boiling water, brew for the alloted time depending on type of tea, and then push the plunger when it's the right strength. The plunger closes off the tea from the holes in the cylinder so the tea doesn't get any stronger (or become bitter). Easy clean-up, too, and no stray tea leaves or grounds in your cup!

For bagged teas, I usually just do it per cup. If I'm making more than one cup, I'll use the tea press - works just as well with bagged as with loose.

And I love to drink tea out of my English bone china cups (complete with matching saucer) - makes me feel rather British :D . Got a whole bunch of different ones at yard sales for like $1.00 per set ... such a deal!

[gitfiddle]

Oh, now I want a tea press! :eek: