wow, ya, thanks for livening up this thread. I love tea, and have a vast selection of loose fannings that I brought in from Sri Lanka. There's about 3 kg of fannings wrapped in foil, in my freezer, waiting to be enjoyed.

While I was in SL, I had the priviledge to live and work on a Tea Estate, in the highlands, past Kandy. This used to be a British run tea plantation back in the 19th century, but was nationalized in the '70's. I learned to make a distinction between the types of teas that were sorted and bid upon by the world's tea houses for mixing later. that's why I was lucky to get some before it left the country.

In Sri Lanka the prefered metehod to imbibe is about 2/3 orange pekoe (which i believe is the term for picking the three tender-most shoots on the twig of the tea plant) black tea with 1/3 condensed milk. They may froth it up with a bamboo whisk, and then pour it in a tea cup. Add about 5 - 10 tea spoons of sugar, and then pour into your saucer to sip.

In the saucer is usually a piece of fudge called jaggery which FURTHER sweetens the tea. this jaggery is made from palm tree sap much like maple fudge is made from maple sap. This jaggery is either left to soak in the saucer of tea or placed in the mouth, tucked between the molars and cheek for extra-added flavour.

As you can imagine, this way of drinking, in the very homeland of tea, was astonishing to me, who drinks tea plain, no milk no sugar. The feeling was mutual, and I often was served up my tea free of charge!

sounds like an amazing experience Leto! i'll have to try tea like that (minus the jaggery, would maple fudge be a substitute?) just to see what it is like. Though, I will probably go back to enjoying tea plain.

by the way, i have to share the best name of a tea i have ever come across (and one of the best tasting too). it's an oolong called "iron goddess of mercy"! such a great name for tea : )
i think there is a story behind the name, but i will have to find out what the story is...

I'm a big fan of Chai teas anything hotter, more peppery?

This is a great thead! Thanks all...

Oooh, yes!! Some of the Rooibos teas have quite a bite, and they're very good for you! Rooibos aren't exactly tea from tea plants, it comes from a bush in Africa, and its very hearty and very suitable for really solid blends that wake up the taste buds.

If you go to buy loose green tea, be sure to try gunpowder tea (a Chinese tea) if you haven't already. I like it because it's cool to watch the little pellets unfurl before your eyes in the water, plus they tend to keep longer than other loose teas, since they're tightly bound up. I should get more of it myself; it's a tasty tea. I've wanted to try matcha myself, but cost was always an issue. In terms of Japanese teas, I've mainly had sencha and bancha, and sometimes kukicha (twig tea). The latter is certainly different and is worth a try if you haven't had it. I've also had hōjicha (roasted or pan-fried tea) and really enjoy the flavour.

i worked on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka.

Anyone know about tea?
 

Like, loose teas? Stuff you put in tea bags yourself? Or you use those mesh balls?

I got a catalog with a whole bunch of varieties and would like to start drinking hot tea. I know it must be so much better than the coffee I consume daily. Some blends just look so pretty! But I honestly have zero clue on what's good for what or what tastes good with what, etc.

ty

Actually, what the hell - just post about tea period. I'd like to know what's good. I have a massive collection of Celestial Seasonings that are probably all expired. And I do drink green tea whenever I hit an Asian restaurant. Yeah, that's about it. Oh - and Luzianne tea that's sweetened with 2 cups of sugar :drool:. lol

Can a mod please merge the threads to bump the old one?

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:36 PM ----------

It hasn't had a post in 2 years.

I like'a da tea. You like'a da tea?

This is a very good thread. Though I used bagged teas, loose teas are better. I find that I can taste the bag when I used bags, it tastes like cardboard. I really should invest in the proper hardware and quit the bags again.

And for the record, I do not go to teabagger parties.

Man, I bought 2 boxes of tea yesterday. Tried one (chocolate mint,) and it smelled sooooo good. But it was just lightly flavored water! What's up with that? I followed the directions and all. Maybe I'm just used to strong coffee?

you need lebanese coffee..thats some strong shit

If it's going to grow hair on my chest, I'll pass. I have enough already. :p

I just thought it'd be nice to switch to a healthier version of a warm, comforting beverage. But if all 'real' tea is like what I had last night, then I dunno if I can do it. Now I did go through a Celestial Seasonings phase. Their teas were fine for me. Some were even flavored too much. But from what I'm reading, those teas are crap. I dunno.

i feel so lebanese.. :/

It probably needed milk, especially to bring out the chocolate flavor.

Do you think because I drink my coffee w/Splenda and cream, I should add that to tea as well? Or just play around maybe to see what works.

Play around and see what works. I used to like sugar and milk with my tea, and I still do with certain teas (English/Irish Breakfast, for instance). If you're used to strong coffee, you should definitely check out English and Irish Breakfast teas. They are strong black teas, very robust flavor.

Right now I am drinking some Echinacea Immune Support from Yogi Tea: Welcome To Yogi I love their herbal teas. Yes, they're all bagged teas, but I really think tasting the bag depends on the quality of bag used. Loose teas are good but they're not always practical. I keep a "cold care kit" in my backpack made up of Yogi Teas. My cupboard is just about overflowing with Yogi Tea.

For loose teas, I have a couple different infusers that I use, one from Bodum and the other from the Republic of Tea. I like both. I buy loose tea from a variety of shops around town. If you are interested in loose tea, look for a shop with knowledgeable personnel; it's really nice to be able to go in, talk to the shopkeeper, and walk out with the perfect tea and some good advice on how to brew it. I have a really lovely stoneware teapot that I love using, especially during cold season, because then I can just brew a giant pot of whatever it is I feel like drinking.

One thing to remember is temperature: Tea Brewing Temperature Guide and steeping time. Different kinds of tea require different water temperatures and steeping times.

Seconded on the Irish breakfast tea.

Steep it along with the sugar and cream.

It's to die for.

Ok. I'll check into Yogi as well as Irish Breakfast teas :check:

BTW, Yogi makes an excellent cocoa spice tea.

duly noted!

If you never had this tea... GO GET IT NOW!! Thank me later.
Constant Comment.
http://www.bigelowtea.com/Assets/Pro...e/lg_00105.jpg

I'll check into it.

I can't seem to get the whole tea thing down just yet - back on coffee. But maybe I'll try some again later tonight lol.

YES.

I was drinking a cup of this just the other day, actually. It's one of my favorite all-around wintertime teas.

Sounds like it tastes like chai?

Kind of. But without the cream.

I've tried Bigelow before when I was on a tea fetish. I'll look out for it.

Drinking this now. It's good. But I think next time I'll steep it longer and add a little more sugar.
I loved this one:

http://stores.cuppajane.com/catalog/...een%20tea1.jpg

I should have brought home both the Irish Breakfast and the English Breakfast by Bigelow, now that I read the posts I forgot about. But just bought the English one. Probably try that later on today.

The Yogi Tea site is way do'able. I was expecting overly priced teas but everything seems more than reasonable.

I'm on a roll. :o

Yes, I like a little sugar in my Constant Comment.

And the Tazo green tea you posted is a favorite.

I got a hold of some Yogi tea - found a shop not too far from me that carries it...

Green Tea Energy - Yum.
Kava Stress Relief - Barf. It would be good w/out the Licorice. However I did wake up on my couch at 5AM, so it did it's job I guess lol.

I also got the Moon one for women, Peach Detox and the Kava one came in a Sampler, so there's 3 others to try in there.

So yeah, got me some Yogi.

---------- Post added at 01:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------

Oh dammit I forgot about this post. I eyed the tea even but decided against it.

Next time.

Such a delight to see a thread about tea. Reading from the beginning, as I do try to do, I see it is quite old.

I absolutely love Stash and Numi teas.
Stash produces seasonal blends that I do enjoy. One may buy them loose or bagged. My personal favourite is Christmas Snow.

You're right. It's delicious - unique.

I need to steep it longer than 5 minutes though I think. I already use 2 bags in about 12oz of water but this still needs a lil more kick.

I'm stocked on Yogi Tea now lol. I went through the site and made a list of what sounded good. Got it all today. I'll post about some flavors as I try them. Thanks so much for the recommendations everyone :).

Egyptian Licorice tea is like dessert for me. It's sweet, with the added benefit of easing stomach discomforts (and a sore throat). However, it can increase blood pressure, so it shouldn't be enjoyed by people with hypertension.

See that's been my one problem with Yogi teas - I despise licorice lol. And a lot of their teas have licorice root in them. I didn't realize that until I had already purchased like, 5 boxes. Didn't read the ingredients. I tore open the packet and smelled it right away blech.

But like I mentioned, I'm such a nerd that I actually went through the website and made my list of licorice-free teas. I'm good now. I think I have about 10-15 flavors.

I really am enjoying this tea thing so much more than coffee. I still have my Cafe Verona in the morning, but for the rest of the day, it's mainly iced green tea, water and these Yogi hot teas. I think I feel a lot better too - less caffeine in me. Plus the whole 'comfort' thing of making a cup of tea.

Yeah, I'll have to get some more of it myself. I also like the Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut and the Classic India Spice.

I love Stash as well. They seem to be a no-frills tea company that aims to give you decent quality at a good price. (Yogi and Numi are priced significantly higher comparatively.)

I buy the Stash decaffeinated green tea. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they indicate right on the package that they use the carbon dioxide method to remove the caffeine, which keeps the EGCG intact. And at that price, you can't go wrong. I can't find a green tea (regardless of caffeine content) at that price point or lower with the same level of quality. It's not the best quality by any means, but the price is right if you drink a lot of green tea.

* * * * *

What I miss is Galway's Irish Breakfast Tea. It's the earthiest, most hearty blend I've ever had. It stands up to milk and sugar just about as good as coffee does, more so than any other Irish breakfast I've tried. I used to buy it at a local grocery store when I still lived in my hometown. You buy it by the 100, and it wasn't very expensive. I haven't seen it since moving up here to Toronto, so I haven't had it in a number of years. I should hunt it down.

I've been drinking Twinings' Irish blend, which is good, but it's not the same. Maybe I should find Stash's version and see how that is.

lol
Out of those 'dessert' type teas, I went with that Cocoa Spice and the Sweet Thai Delight. I wish I went with one of the others instead. It's not that bad, but I won't buy it again.
Just Googled and found nothing. Do you mean Bewleys maybe?

I need to pick up the Twinings version next time I go to the store. I saw it there but picked up the English Breakfast instead. I like it - no frills though - just a basic black tea.

I am certain it was Galway. It was imported from Ireland prepackaged. It's the kind of tea company that wouldn't have a website, so it doesn't surprise me. Maybe they're no longer around. *shrug* I should experiment with other Irish blends.

The Irish side of my wife's family is partial to the Barry's line of teas.

I just found a tea shop in the Beach area of Toronto that sells Bewley's and Barry's. I just might have to come up with an excuse to head out that way.

The pursuit of tea is a good excuse in and of itself.

I get to go tea shopping on Saturday! One of our local purveyors just expanded their store. I'm planning on getting some black tea flavored with currant, some variety of white tea, and probably a few other things besides. Mm, tea.

I'm excited for you snowy lol. I'm loving this world of tea thing.

Post what you get and stuff.

Bought both today. I'm on India Spice. This tea's crazy. I've never had anything like it before. It's almost too much. But I'm pretty sure I like it. It might be better with cream instead of milk maybe?

I drink it plain. I'm crazy like that.

It's sort of like a chai but without the black tea. Chai is good brewed with milk, of course, but it's rather infused. Have you tried brewing the India Spice with a lot of milk? Maybe 1:1 ratio of milk and water? Try simmering it for a bit, say, 5 or 10 minutes.

I definitely didn't use that much milk.

I probably could knock it down to one bag too. I dunno - I'll play around with it though. It's still a keeper.

Love it.
I could see myself sucking this down instead of my coffee in the mornings for a change of pace.

See, now most of these teas you folks have introduced me to are fantastic! But when I've tried tea in the past, it was just flavored water. I probably used one bag when I should have used two (I always use large mugs.) And I probably over steeped a lot of the fruit flavored teas (some of those came out like syrup - Celestial Seasonings.)

But for a no-frills plain ol' cup o' warm comfyness, I'll be enjoying this Irish Breakfast Blend loads this winter. Thanks to all of you.

snowy - what did you get Saturday?

Multiple Infusions
 

Does anyone have any experience with multiple infusions?

I've been reading up on the differences between bagged tea versus loose leaf, and I'm going to be switching more to the latter, partly because I'm working from home now and using my French press to make tea is now my norm.

There's a tea boutique around the corner from my place that sells loose decaf sencha. It costs a bit more than what I would pay for a bagged equivalent, but the quality should be much higher.

I've read a bit about infusing your leaves multiple times, but I've never tried it. I figure it's possible to get 2 to 3 infusions from the same leaves and still get a decent tea, but I don't know yet.

I read somewhere that the trick is to infuse subsequent rounds longer than the first. So, for example, the 2-minute infusion for green tea becomes 4.

I'd save a lot of tea money doing this.

Has anyone done this? Does anyone do it regularly?

I've found that 2 parts water to 1 part milk works for me. If you simmer loose leaves for 5 or 6 minutes, you probably only need 1 bag per cup of liquid.

That's exactly how I drink it now lol.

---------- Post added at 03:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:23 PM ----------

The place I purchase my Yogi from had them on sale the other day. $2.99-$3.49 / box. Normally they're $4.99 here. I stocked up.

Himalayan Apple Spice - blech. But I think it'd be better w/out milk.
Also got the Mexican Chili Spice or whatever. Haven't tried it yet though. Will soon. Is it like India Spice? Like, just need one bag?

I've never seen the Aztec Sweet Chili stocked at any of the stores that carry Yogi. Let me know how it compares to India Spice, and I might ask one of them to stock it. I have a feeling I'd like it either way. It looks like much of the spice in the India spice, but with a base of cocoa shells and with cayenne added. Mind you, it also has licorice and orange. Didn't you say you don't like licorice?

Son of a whore lol. Didn't even read the ingredients before I bought it. And I just tore open a bag to see if I could smell it and yeah, it's potent. {barf} Damn. I'll be passing it on to a friend who has been enjoying my licorice hand-me-downs.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/...a2ac2990a2.jpg

Picked up some raw (green) bo-lay/pu-ehr tea in Chinatown. It's got that great muskiness that this tea type has, but lighter flavor due to it still being a green tea. It cost $4 for an 100g nest, but I only used about a tablespoon's worth so this is going to last me a while.

---------- Post added at 10:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 PM ----------

I've been able to pull multiple steeps from some fermented bo-lays/pu-erhs as well as gunpowder greens by using the method you describe. It definitely is an issue of tea leaf quality, as lower quality will get bitter faster or won't have any flavor at all. I like to use a gaiwan with a thermos of hot water, pouring out each steep into a separate teacup.

Last time my gf was in San Francisco, she stopped by the Samovar Tea Lounge after hearing about it on Diggnation. She got the blood orange Pu-Erh and they refilled her teapot 12 times! The 12th steep wasn't as strong as the first, but was still very strong and flavorful. I'm tempted to buy some to experiment at home.

There's a great video section on the Samovar site, but this one briefly mentions multiple steepings about 4:40 into it. David Lee Hoffman, Tea Pioneer: Part I | Samovarlife

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2683/...b1db607f72.jpg

"Queens Blend" Earlgrey tea from A.C. Perch's Tea Shop. From their website:
"A strong Earl Grey tea on a Ceylon base and blended with green Chinese Gunpowder. Elegant tea. This tea IS actually enjoyed by the Danish Queen Margaret II."

I'm still trying to get over the donut thing. I've never seen anything like it. Really interesting.

I usually use my white tea leaves for multiple infusions without any problems. I use an infuser basket like the black one here:
http://www.finum.com/images/brewingbasket.jpg

You'll taste it if the leaves have stewed. Trust me. Generally, though, loose leaf is better, if you're drinking actual tea. Good loose-leaf tea can be spendy, but I've found that if you're good at preparing it, it's worth it. When it comes to herbal tisanes, I still like bags a lot.

I've also discovered that Mighty Leaf bagged teas can be infused three times before the flavor goes kaput. You pay more for Mighty Leaf teas, but they're really superior bagged teas--the quality of loose-leaf in silk sachets.

Gross, that tea donut thing reminds me of when a dog eats too much grass and fiber and then poos it out :P

Otherwise, yay for tea! I just had a cup of green. There really is a difference in quality. I've also just discovered I really like mint with my green tea. I originally hated the idea, but they go so well together I liked it the instant I tried it!

Hahaha, can't argue with that visual, Zeraph. But it does taste much better than it looks.

For the mint do you use leaves or extract? I had a box of Stash Peppermint tea, but I always ended up steeping it too long so the flavor gets overwhelming.

Yeah, I've been reading how certain teas are more robust and can stand up to multiple infusions. Maybe I'll experiment more. I'm on the threshold of moving toward loose-leaf brewing exclusively. I'm currently having success with multiple infusions of gunpowder tea. It works well, indeed. I haven't tried a pu-erh, but I know where to get it locally. I'm not too keen on trying it yet, but it might happen soon enough.

* * * * *

My next purchases, a couple of Chinese teas:

Ti Kwan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy): It's probably most accurately translated as "Tea of the Iron Bodhisattva." I found this available locally and reasonably priced. It's described as having a very light musty taste.

This is an oolong that is amongst The Ten Great Chinese Teas. I don't think I've had anything from this list yet, but either way I'm looking forward to this tea. It's been a while since I've had oolong.

It's good for double infusions.

Lung Ching (Dragonwell): This is available at the same place as the above, and it doesn't appear to be too overpriced. This is also on The Ten Great Chinese Teas list. It's a green tea described as being full-bodied with a slight heady bouquet.

It's good for multiple infusions.

This thread's getting too complicated for me now. But I'm still keeping up with it. Maybe I'll do the 'real tea' thing in the future lol.

Okay, so I changed my mind. I went with the Ti Kwan Yin and some sencha. I haven't had Japanese tea other than bancha for a while, and I missed the flavour. But wow! A decent looseleaf sencha makes a tea so delicious you'd think there must be calories involved! I'm so happy to ditch the bag, now that I realize how much better looseleaf actually is.

I will soon try the Iron Goddess, which will be interesting because I haven't had oolong and ages, and only cheap teabags at that. And I also picked up some Formosa Oolong (Taiwan) to see the difference. The latter is more oxidized that the former, it being closer to black tea, while Iron Goddess is closer to a green tea. I might as well find out which type of oolong I prefer.

Anyway, I'll report back on this later.

I have the Ti Kwan Yin sitting in my cupboard but I have yet to try it; I've kinda gotten hooked on the hojicha.

ididntdoit! :paranoid:

Some "green tea triple echinacea" to batter this cold into submission

I had some of that I bought by Yogi. Haven't tried it yet but think I need to.

Something's buzzing around in the head / throat area.