Tilted Tea
 

I was looking for a tea threat this morning, but I only found a few threads that were single question specific. I figured it would be nice to have a thread devoted to the cooking, medical and health benifits, quality, availability, and enjoyment of tea!

I'll start. I usually go to Trader Joes or some local shopps to get my tea. I have yet to plant tea in my yard, despite the fact I can assure the quality if I did. I enjoy green oolong, jasmine, black, cinniman, peach, rasberry, vanilla, ginger, and earl grey tea. I know many teas have antioxidents and supposedly has some weight loss beinfits, though I have yet to read anything conclusive.

earl grey and scottish breakfast tea's are my two favs. There is a tea house I go to on special occasions (really fun old timey place where you get to play dress up with old clothes, gloves, hats and furs) that has some of the best teas I've ever had, unfortunately at the moment I dont remember the names, I only remember what I like when Im looking at the menu.

gosh I love going to High Tea

I love good tea...

I am very fond of strong black teas like oolong and Darjeeling... Wittard's also puts out a nice one call Sticky Toffee Tea. It is a dark tea with small chunks of toffee... it has a great taste.

I too like going to High Tea although my favourite tea experience was in a little village in the hills of northern Taiwan. A friend took me to his favourite tea house where we spent the day talking and drinking tea in small cups brewed in ancient tea pots...

I loooove tea...I usually buy Twinings (loose or bagged) where I can find it...and store it in a Tupperware container. It keeps it fresh and keeps the flavor pure. My favorites are Darjeeling, Lady Grey, and Blackcurrant. I like Tazo green tea and chai. Mmm, chai.

My roommate got a Tazo sampler for Christmas and I'm currently working my way through that one cup at a time. There's just something inherently appealing about a warm cup of tea. Methinks I must go get one now...

Yogi Teas are my favorite (if you go to their website, www.yogitea.com, you can request a sample or two sent to you.) They have a great selection of green teas, and, a lot of organic teas as well. Their green chai is one of my favorites, and some of the other green teas make a great iced tea for the summer.

I love the warmth of the Chai teas, especially this time of year. (and the yogi teas all have fun little fortunes on the tea bag tag.

Summer I love the fruity teas -- they make a great iced tea, with just a bit of honey in it - I'll drink it by the gallon...Right now, I've got a hazelnut spice tea, not sure who makes it... but the smell is wonderful. (and this is coming from someone who people who know me well, insist I don't have blood inmy veins, but coffee)

You just opened a Pandora's box for me. I am a tea enthusiast in the highest degree. I usually drink about a pot a day, and am very touchy about the subject, hehe. I have a teapot for each major type of tea; a very cool looking glass one for my black teas, a ceramic one for my greens, and a Yixing one for gung-fu style of preparation for oolongs. I am also a purist. I stick to only true teas - those that come from the plant camellia sinensis, and taken with no additives (like milk or sugar), and I aviod bags as much as I can. I know if I get started rambling, I could make this post way too long, so I'll end here.

RoboBlaster, do you grow your own tea? I've been thinking about growing my own to ensure quality.

Robo Blaster... I think it would be great if you posted a little refresher course on the proper preparation of tea... I'd read it anyway.

I'm no connoiseur (good, old fashioned Yorkshire Tea is my brew) but I can't let a tea thread go by without having my name attached to it.

It takes tea to make a thing go right,
It takes tea to make it out o' sight.

I love tea, me.

Nope, I don't grow my own tea. I would, but tea is a very particular plant and it takes just the right soil and climate to grow, not to mention produce a drinkable cup of tea. So unless you live in a warm climate in a high elevation with a wet season and dry season like India, China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, etc, you probably won't get too much luck.

And now, the proper preparation of that prime potable...

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There are three major types of tea: oolong, black, and green. All come from the same exact plant, but are prepared differently (but that's a topic for another post). They each have much different tastes, and there is a lot of variation within the types as well. Now, I would bet that most Americans who hate tea have actually not had a well prepared cup of tea. Which is sad, because tea is very simple to make and is relatively cheap. A very high class of wine could cost $10 a glass, whereas the highest quality of tea (which, I would argue, has the same complexity as great glass of wine) will cost around $.50 a cup. Not a bad deal.

Before I get into the method of preparation for the different types of teas, here are my three cardinal rules to ensure a quality cup...

The Three Cardinal Rules For A Good Cuppa

1. Use quality loose leaf. Ditch the bags, they are evil. Especially lipton's. They use the lowest quality of leaf they can get away with, it goes stale quicker, and is blended more for the color of the liquor than the flavor. You can find many good teas at www.specialteas.com or www.uptontea.com or if you really would like to indulge, www.inpursuitoftea.com

2. Use quality water. This rule is simple. Tea is 99.9% water, so if you have bad water, you'll have bad tea. It is best to either use bottled spring water (not distilled, you want the minerals to interact with the tea compunds) or filtered tap water.

3. Follow your own tastes, not mine If you disagree with any points above or below, that's all right. Everyone has their own tastes. Do what you like.

How To Prepare Tea (by type)

Black

Get some water boiling. You want a good healthy boil for this one. A kettle is best, I use an electric one, I got it a Wal-Mart (shudder) for about $10 bucks and love it. It even has a water temperature dial, which is important.

Prepare your vessel. A teapot is best for this. You want the teapot to be good and hot so when the water goes in from the kettle, it doesn't cool down too much to where it is at below tea prep temp. To heat the ole sucker up, either take some really hot water from the kettle and swirl until you feel the outside get hot, or just run hot tap water through the pot till it gets hot.

Measure your tea. For black, you'll want about a spoon per 6 oz. Normal coffee mugs hold about 12 oz., so use that as a gauge.

Put the tea in the pot or infuser. An infuser is usually a wire mesh thingie that fits into the pot. If you don't have an infuser, you could just let it sit in the pot and then strain the tea into your cup as long as you use all of the tea and don't let the leaves sit around in the rest of the tea in the pot. If you are making it in a mug, this can get a little tricky. You could use a tea ball, which is a metal ball made of mesh or perforated steel which you put your tea in. But tea needs room to expand and let water pass all around. Tea balls aren't very good for this. A better alternative would be to find an infuser on the internet that is mug sized. I have one, and it is great.

Pour tea in pot/mug over the leaves. Do not put in the water then the leaves. You want the water to cascade over the leaves so they don't just float on the top.

Wait. How long? Black tea takes from 3-5 minutes. Do not let black tea steep longer than 5 minutes! If you do, the bitter compounds in tea will be released, resulting in a nasty cup. If you want to make tea stronger, use more leaf, never increase time.

Remove tea and enjoy.

Green

Green tea needs a much lower temperature of water, else it will release nasty compunds. When this happens, the tea is considered to be stewed and will taste like grass clipping stew. Not pleasant. The ideal temp if you have a thermometer lying around is about 175-190 F. This is a brisk steam with no bubbles making it to the surface.

Prepare your vessel.

Measure your tea. Still, about a teaspoon per 6 oz.

Put water on tea.

Wait. Green teas need about 1 and a half to 2 minutes tops. Much shorter than black tea.

Serve and enjoy. The really cool thing about green teas is that they can undergo multiple steeps. That's right, the used leaves can be used again. Just repeat the process, adding about 30 seconds to each subsequent steep. The higher quality the leaf, the more infusions you will get. Keep steeping until the flavor recedes. The last steep where just a hint of tea flavor remains is called "magic water."

Oolong

Possibly my favorite tea, oolongs take water temps between green and black. Hotter than green, less than black. The water should be at about 200 F. Not quite boiling.

Prepare your vessel.

Meaure tea. Same as the others. Many vendors will give recommendations on teap prep on the package itself. It's okay to follow them. I suppose I should note that the shape and size of leaf could affect how much you use. A teaspoon of tightly rolled compact leaves is going to be different than big bulky flat leaves. Try to do your best: experimentation is half the fun.

Pour water on tea.

Wait. For this method, steep for about as long as green, maybe a bit longer, but not more than 3 minutes or so. Oolongs can be tempermental, so I would recommend following the vendor's recommendations.

Pour and enjoy. You can also squeeze out a few infsions out of this type of tea, usually more than you could from green. In fact, it is said that the first infusion of oolongs is the most fragrant, but the second has the best flavor - try and see. For oolongs, there is an ancient Chinese tea preparation called gungfu, which uses a special teapot. If there is any interest, I could talk about it as well.

Make Your Own Decaf

Most grocery store tea is bad. Most grocery store decaf tea is Satan's natural assault on the sophisticated human palate. Even higer quality teas lose a lot of flavor during the process of decaffeination. Fortunately, there is an easy and tastier way to do it. Right when you get your water ready, pour just enough into your pot/mug/whatever to cover the leaves. Wait about thirty seconds. Discard the water and make tea as you normally would. Since caffeine is so water soluable, most of it will release in that first 30 seconds and be thrown out with the water. Presto, good decaf.

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And there you have it. RoboBlaster's guide to tea preparation. I hope it's useful. Have fun and, above all else, enjoy!

RoboBlaster, you are my hero. That is the most complete article on tea I've ever seen!

Glad you enjoyed it! (Note my addition to the oolong section as well as the decaf section.) I always love discussing tea. Unfortunately, not many people around me are into it 1/5 as much as me.

Oooh, tea. My favorite beverage ever. *grins*

I purchase 90% of my tea loose. Some I buy online from TeaVana or another vendor of quality teas. I also buy from a local shop who carries superb quality loose teas.

Living in the Deep South, we are surrounded by the pervasive Iced Tea, which I do indeed enjoy.... I still make it the way my mother did, loose black tea in doubled cheesecloth, in a gallon jar, sitting in the sun. Sun tea is the best way to drink iced tea, imho.

I am with RoboBlaster... I own several different teapots, each designated for a different tea. Glass, pottery, Yixing... I even have an electric tea steeper, which I usually only use for "commercial" teas.... the occasional Celestial Seasonings or Twinings flavor that catches my eye and I can't pass up.

I'm less of a purist though: I enjoy not only the teas from the camellia sinensis plant, but I also enjoy a good rooibos (African Red Bush) and herbal teas as well. I do sweeten, usually only with a touch of honey, although the Russian black requires a little milk, too, as it's stronger than coffee (I drink coffee black, no milk, if you're curious. *grins*) I've never grown tea, and rooibos doesn't do well here in the swampy, humid South. I have made teas from my own herbs, though, and my chamomile/mint blend is still one I make myself from my own herbs.

For the record, I thought I'd add the preparations for Rooibos and for herbal teas. *winks* They are really good for you.

For Rooibos (or red bush tea):

Hot Tea Brewing: Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1/2 teaspoon of African red bush (Rooibos Red Tea) for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the pot, cover and let steep for 2-4 minutes. Pour into your cup, add milk and sugar to taste.

Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 4teaspoons of Rooibos into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the Rooibos. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the Rooibos into the serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste.


For Herbal tea:

Start with fresh, pure water. Bring water almost to a boil in a glass pot or teakettle. *It's best not to use aluminum for herbal tea*

While your water comes to a boil, warm your teapot by swirling just a bit of hot water in it and then pouring the water out, or just hold it under the hot water tap briefly. (This is to protect the pot and keep it from cracking due to the extreme heat change)

Measure 1 level teaspoon of loose herbs per cup into your warmed teapot.

When the kettle just starts to whistle, carefully remove it from the heat and slowly pour this nearly boiling water over herbs to just below the top of your teapot. Put the lid back on and let it steep for at least 15 minutes, although more time would be best.

Swirl the teapot gently and pour through a strainer (if you like a clean brew) into your cup. You can use bamboo, cheesecloth, a coffee filter, whatever you have on hand.

For a single cup of tea, you can put tea in a teaball. Be sure to not stuff these to tightly - and let it steep for more than a couple minutes (at least five to ten for a single cup of tea).

You can use an electric percolator to brew and keep herbal tea hot for hours.

If you don't finish the pot, you can pour and strain the rest of your brew into a quart or other glass jug (if you like it sweetened, be sure to add honey while it's still warm) and refrigerate.

Good addendum, Bryndian_Dhai. I like rooibos a lot, as well. It's about the only herbal I drink. Sometimes I do add milk to certain black teas. I've found that milk can also mask some of the more aggressive and nasty flavors of poor quality tea. But always remember... milk goes in the cup first!

*grins* Thank you very much, from one connessieur to another.

And of course, milk goes first. *winks*

I actually started drinking herbals before I went to regular (hot) blacks, oolongs and greens. I have several health issues that I have always preferred to treat holistically, and tea is a major part of my daily routine. Dragonsclaw tincture for my arthritis masked by a fragrant cup of something soothing for my headaches have been part of my daily preventative for as long as I can remember. I'm a bit of an amateur (for myself only, of course) apothecary, growing and making my own recipes under the tutelage of a local holistic healer.

Iced tea is as much a part the culture in the South as drawls and tractor pulls. *grins* And with a hippie revivalist mother, I was born to discover the joys of tea as they were truly meant to be consumed.... hot and fragrant. *grins*

This is definately my favourite thread of the week! While I knew a lot of the process for making tea I've never had it all in one place or broken down into the various types of tea...

I've just always had various tea pots and infuser around for making tea... just apeing what my Mom always did... I asked her last night and she just does what her Mom did... Her Mom was very English.

Unfortunately, like most things in life, I find myself rushing through the process and just throwing a bag into a mug followed by some boiling water... must endeavour to make better tea.

Ah, that is the best thing about tea. It forces you to take a moment and relax. To truly enjoy tea, you must sit back, take a breath, sip, and take notice of all the complexities. For that one moment, the universe exists on the tongue.

Reminds me of the Japanese proverb...

Without tea in him, man is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.

I think they were talking about Tea Leoni but maybe that's just me... :p

For christmas this year I made truffels flavored with tea. I made Eral grey, moraccan mint and chai and they all turned out really well. you just use a basical truffels recipe and before pouring the warm cream and butter over the chocolate steep a few ounces of tea in it then strain.

Wow, roboblast, that is quite a list - I've printed it out and also e-mailed it to a number of friends. Thanks so much!

I drink a lot of tea although I'm not a purist at all - although after reading your instructions, maybe I'll become one! I have a box or two of Yogi tea but I have a lot of Celestial Seasonings boxes around, and that's what I drink the most. I generally drink it for health benefits - I drink a lot of echinacea tea when I'm sick (I'm having some right now), as well as Vitamin C tea, "Sleepytime" tea before bed...I really enjoy having a cup of tea before I go to bed. I wish I had time to drink a cup in the morning, but it's so hard to just sit and have a cup while I'm trying to get ready...

Great thread!

Yeah! I am honored that my post was email worthy. I love spreading the awesomeness of tea.

Ooh! Good thread! My favorite black tea is gotta be Tetley. In the evening I go for any of various Celestial Seasoning teas (Sleepytime, Tension Tamer..). Chai or cinnamon spice teas from Yogi Tea are also great.

Okay, you guys might kill me for getting a bit low class but....

Learn me the ways of makin good Southern Sweet Tea!! You can't get that nectar of the Gods up here in the Northeast. They give you regular tea and a packet of sugars. That just doesn't cut it.

Ok, here it is..... the recipe for sweet tea, southern style. There is a hot brew method and a cold brew method. This is the hot brew method. Cold brew is slightly easier, but needs sunlight to work right.

You'll need 7 - 10 regular tea bags (orange pekoe or an orange pekoe and black blend, usually)

Hot water

A Gallon container (Glass is best. You can use <i>hard</i> plastic, if you have to, and <b>never</b> use metal.... we always used an old pickle jar, but you can buy one that will work. Walmart and Kmart and Target all carry something that will work)

Sugar to taste.... My family always used about a cup of sugar. I use about a third to a half cup of Splenda, since I have to watch my carbs. I wouldn't use Equal or Sweet'n'Low, they make it taste funny.


Heat your water to nearly a boil. (I've used tap water at its hottest, but we keep our water heater VERY hot....) You'll want to temper the container if you're using glass... you can run it under hot tap water to do that, it works just fine. Drop the teabags into the gallon container (I personally use 8. Some like it stronger or weaker, but I've found 8 to be perfect) and pour the hot water over them. Put the lid on the container (if it doesn't have a lid, plastic cling wrap will work) and put it aside on the counter. Let it sit for at least a half hour, though longer won't hurt it. (As a matter of fact, if you leave it and forget it, this is the only tea that won't get bitter if it sits for a long time.) As soon as the water is cool enough for you to touch, it's perfect.... Open the container and fish out the teabags and discard. Sweeten to taste.

If you don't drink it quickly, you <i>must</i> refrigerate it. It will go sour if you leave it out for any length of time. (by length of time, I mean more than a couple of days, lol.... it does keep for a while)

We drink enough of it at home that my mom keeps two jars.... one in the fridge and when it's low, the other one has tea in it brewing. It's the steeping that gives southern tea such a full bodied flavor that works well with the sugar.... the stuff you get in restaurants is drip brewed, or instant, and doesn't taste like tea at all, to me.... tastes like brown water with sugar in it.

For the record, cold brewing, to me, tastes even better.... takes a little longer, but it's so good in the summertime....

Same recipe, but leave out the hot water. Pour cold water over the tea bags, and leave in the sun. It takes at LEAST an hour.... you'll know its ready when the tea is a that beautiful deep red-brown color. My mom calls the cold brew method "hippie tea", lol.

Oh, and in the summer, either method ROCKS if you add one or two mint tea bags to the recipe. I actually substitute at least one, usually two teabags with mint, but I like it REALLY minty.... adding it is best the first time. It makes a crisp, refreshing southern mint tea that is wonderful when it's hot. You can do the same with peach tea bags, and any other that catches your fancy. Your fruit flavors and mint are best for that.

Have fun.... Southern tea is a staple down here.... We drink more of it than we do cokes.

Hey thanks Bryndian! That's what I figured, but I haven't tried it myself yet. I think I shall tonight :)

Let me know how it goes, Averett! I've been looking for a GOOD southern-style sweet tea recipe for ages!

You're welcome.

I was rereading the directions and realized I skipped a step.... Well, technically I didn't, since I don't do the step, but the omission will be obvious if you make it how I said here....

When you're brewing tea the hot way, there are two ways to achieve it..... the most common way is to use just one pot of hot water from a teapot.... then add water after its brewed and you've taken the teabags out (It simply makes a concentrate, since a teapot doesn't hold a gallon of water.) I don't make it that way, so I didn't think to include it. I use a whole gallon of hot water. I don't like using concentrates at all.... If you boil the water and then add your hottest tap water, you should be fine combining them.... the water will stay hot enough to brew the tea.

If you have nasty tap water, then all I can suggest is using a bigger pot than a teapot. When I was in college, I made hot water by running water through my coffee pot (without coffee or filter, obviously, lol). *grins* it's not a gallon, but it makes the water plenty hot. There are lots of ways to get the water hot enough.... To be honest, I've been making this tea so long, that I <i>always</i> use just hot tap water, and let it steep just a little longer.

You beat me to the punch on the sweet tea, Bryndian_Dhai, but I am sure that is all for the better considering you are further south than I am, and are probably more of an expert on the subject. When I make it, I use the concentrate method using 20 bags per gallon and only steeping four minutes. I have never tried the slow method using few teabags. Perhaps I will try tomorrow....

Also, I would be careful using hot tap water, as it is really not meant for human consumption. A look at the bottom of a hot water heater would tell you why.

Well, I'm drinking my first attempt at sweet tea. It's not bad. Not great either. I don't think I let it steep long enough. I used 5 bags for my quart pitcher. Its too weak and not sweet enough. But still not half bad. I'll have it perfected soon :)

True, lol, but I like to live on the wild side. *wicked grin* Nah, I have a Pur water filter on my tap water these days. Although, I didn't always, and the hot water actually kills a LOT of the nastiness in tap water. *shrugs*


I wish I liked the outcome of the concentrate method.... I just find it sort of watered down, I guess (which, technically it is) and lacking in the fullness of flavor of hippie-style brewed tea.

I will say, for brand snobs (which I am about some things but not really about tea for iced tea), Luzianne is best, followed by Community (a local brand, so if you can't find it, don't worry about it) and Lipton after. Generic is what I usually buy, only because it's cheap and I go through it so quickly....

For Averette.... You simply CAN'T over-steep iced tea. It's not possible, unless you let it sit so long it goes sour. The longer it sits, the better it is. And I would start with "not enough sugar" and work your way up to "enough".... it's easier to add more sugar than it is to take it out.

If your quart try isn't good enough, try steeping the same number of tea bags and let it sit overnight. Start with a third cup of regular sugar (or a quarter cup of Splenda) and work your way up from there.

When you find <i>the</i> perfect proportions for you, you'll know... Southern iced tea is one of those things that's great at your neighbor's house, but ambrosia at your own. *grins*

I can understand steeping for a really long time as per the cold brewing method, but how does a really long steep time work with hot water? What keeps all the bitter compunds coming through?

One thing that bugs me about sweet tea at restaurants and stuff is that the tea is always way too sweet. I prefer just enough sugar to notice it's there. This is about a half a cup per gallon. Most places have it so sweet that most of the tea flavor is masked. I know, I could order unsweetened, but then I have to use one of those packets, and then stir forever, as the sugar dissolves so slowly. Not worth it.

I have no idea what keeps the bitterness out... Maybe its the orange pekoe... I've never actually had any success with <i>any</i> other type of tea with sweet iced tea..... Maybe its the fact that the water cools so incredibly quickly. Whatever the reason, all I really know is that it does NOT get bitter, as long as you use an orange pekoe or blend.

As far as sweetness.... most restaurants here have gone to a sweet tea "on the gun", which means it comes pre-mixed for beverage guns.... I find those WAY too sweet, and ALWAYS, without exception, order "half and half", to mitigate the sweetness. Even in Southern restaurants, if they don't do "gun" sweet tea, they do the drip method, like coffee, which is always nasty.

I have to say, this is SO cool... I LOVE talking about tea..... It's been awesome talking to someone who loves it as much as I do.

Yeah, it really is cool. If you are into usenet at all, be sure to check out food.rec.drink.tea.

Orange pekoe is not a type of tea, but a level in a grading system that refers to the size of the leaf of a black tea. Strange words to refer to a tea grade, but that's what Thomas Lipton used, and it stuck. Though the quality of a black tea is not determined by it's grade, I definitely see a correlation a lot. Here is a small rundown...

Dust/Fannings - This is basically tea powder. Many companies add it to teabags to release color quicker. Because the bits are so small, they go stale quickly.
Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP) - These are small bits of the tea that have been broken off the
leaf. Many top quality Assams are made from BOP leaves.
Orange Pekoe (OP) - This is the largest leaf size, though it may still be broken somewhat.
Flowery Orange Pekoe (FOP) - Like OP, but the leaves are even more uniform and intact
Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (GFOP) - Teas of this type include the immature tea buds. Good to have as they add a mellow complexity to the tea.
Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (TGFOP) - Even more tips.
Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP) - Really high quality version of TGFOP.
SpecialFine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (SFTGFOP) - This is a tea that the estate thought was extra good. If you see one of these, it's at least worth a try.

One thing to remember about grades is that they are not controlled by any standardized means. Each individual tea estates does their own unregulated grading. Also, these grades are only used for Indian black teas. Green teas and oolongs all have their own grading system, which can vary by even the type of tea it is and are often graded by quality and not leaf size.

Learn something new every day. *grins* Thanks for the info..... Now I'm looking forward to shopping for new tea again. lol...

Tazo - Awake


This stuff rocks, I am a total addict.

Here is something I'd like clarified... cleaning your tea pot and/or cups. What is the proceedure?

I believe you aren't supposed to wash a tea pot just rinse it with hot water... Is this correct and are there different rules for different types of pots?

I never clean my pots with soap. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that most surfaces in quality teapots are somewhat pourous. If soap were to get down there, it would be really nasty. Second, by not completely removing the particles of tea, you allow them to stick to the sides of the pot. This is called seasoning the pot, as the particles strengthen the flavor of the tea. That's why I use a different pot for each different type of tea; I don't want the seasonings of a black tea to get into my green tea.

Wow, this is a great thread!

Good guide RoboBlaster, its always pleasing to see the proper method for the preparation of tea spread far and wide :). I also think you agree with the saying "Not my cup of tea" ;)?

I would add something if I may - the cup shaped infusers are a fantastic and quick way of making a nice cup of tea but make sure you have a *metal* one. They are much easier to clean! (Can use bicarbonate of soda or a scourer) The plastic ones eventually seal up with all the tea remains....

Is the gungfu method of tea preparation the same as a tea ceremony? Where you use chopsticks and pour three times, etc? Fascinating bit of culture there.

The Tea Companion (Connoisseur's Guides) http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...823994-0493228
is a good book and it has more information on different temperatures for different teas.

My personal fav is Rawanda tea (splashy of milk) and chen mee (green tea) or gunpowder (mum and dad brought me some back from Morrocco). In Afganistan they drink gunpowder with a few cardamon pods - very nice indeed (beware, gunpowder is especially horrid if stewed).

David

I seem to reacall there was a Russian way of drinking tea... Something to do with drinking our of the saucer... anyone know about this?

By the way, regarding the cleaning of pots... what about glass tea pots?

I rinse my glass pot with hot water. On the <i>very</i> rare occasion that I need to do more than rinse it, I use baking soda or vinegar, and rinse it <i>thoroughly</i> with hot water, very similar to how you clean a coffee pot. Glass, of course, is less porous than metal, porcelain or pottery.... But its still difficult to get all the soap off.... And its not necessary if you are diligent about rinsing it when you're done.

The Russian custom of drinking tea from a saucer is considered one of those things that you do in the company of friends or family. It is not to be done in a formal setting. The reason to do it is when your tea is really hot and you don't want to wait for it to cool, pour it into the saucer and let it cool there. Russians customarily enjoy very very strong tea, so they often like to add marmalade to the tea, or hold a lump of sugar in their teeth as they sip.

You could probably get away with using soap with a glass teapot, as glass is relatively nonpourous and won't hold on to the soap and looks bad if it is dirty.

I am a bit strapped for time, but I can talk about gungfu later.

I've never had a problem with my plastic cup insert.... I have a couple of dozen floating around my house at any given time, most of them designated to a particular mug. *grins* Plastic being porous, too, I like to keep my strainers separate for certain different kinds of tea. I use them when I'm making tinctures and other herbal decoction, too, and I've never really had to ditch them for getting gunked up with herbs...... Occasionally heat will warp one, or a batch of something goes bad and spoils the strainer. But the ones I use particularly for tea never gunk up.... I have a small toothbrush I bought at the dollar store that I use for small, specific cleaning, and if I have to, I use it to scrub the holes clean, though that's rare.

I like my metal one, but I find that it sometimes gives the herbs a funny, tinny taste. *shrugs* I used to have a glass one, but I broke it and I can't find another one.

Man, you guys are hardcore about your tea! This thread is so cool :)

I can attest to that: I customarily drink a Russian black tea in the mornings.... it has a bigger kick than coffee, and it tastes so goooooooood. *grins*

Maybe its the water around my area, I don't filter it you see *sheepish* and it leaves a terrible residue. Tooth brush is a good idea though.

You're really crazy about your teas eh? I though I was into teas.... I get my teas from a chap who calls himself The Tea Man (http://www.wiltshiretea.co.uk/), he'll give me free samples too. The other day I had Genmaicha, which has rice in it(?!?), and this delicate Wild Cherry Tea with cherry blossom.

David

What is the difference that makes Russian tea so strong? Do you just use more? Where are the leaves from... I'm pretty sure there is nowhere in Russia where tea can grow.

What brand or source to you drink for Russian tea?

Oooh, toasted rice in tea makes it yummy yummy. It makes it so much more.... robust, I guess. Changes the flavor just enough to make it a whole new animal. *grins* And I love cherry blossom tea.


I never use more of the Russian... it makes it too strong to drink. There's a fine balance between strong and robust and bitter and nasty.

As for the rest, I really have no idea. A friend who works for the American embassy in Moscow sent it to me originally, and continues to send it to me. The box is white and blue and black and in Russian... So I have no clue what it says. My friend says it's a fairly common brand of tea that is pretty popular in Moscow.... Sort of like Lipton, I guess, or Twinings. Its a loose tea, not in bags.

He keeps talking about coming back to the States to work, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do for it after that. I'll just have to find another source, I guess.

Russian teas are often a blend of strong black teas, such as assam, and I think they use a black tea called lapsang souchong, which is a chinese tea that is smoked over pine needles. Also, they use a very fancy brewing apparatus called a samovar, which might lend to strength, I'm not sure. Anyway, Russian tea is all in the blend.

I've never found that a samovar makes it stronger.... although one of the nice things about a samovar is that it keeps it hot without making it bitter. Sort of like a percolator, I guess. I wish I could afford a samovar, given my penchant for Russian tea, but I can't, so I must stick with my teapot.

Some different Samovars

From what I've read you brew the tea in the pot on top and keep hot water in the samovar below... The tea up top becomes quite strong just by brewing it for a long time. It is then watered down using some hot water from the samovar below... So how does the brew up top not get bitter?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...4f/Samovar.jpghttp://www.baboushka.net/images/Samovar%2014b.JPG
http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/onli...ic/samovar.gif

It might get really bitter, but the hot water added to it cuts the bitterness somewhat

Great Thread! :)

I'm not a conniseur (coffee's my thing) but the bf is ... and I'm the one who does everythign but drink the tea.

Don't feel like writing a long post right now .... but I might change my mind ...

One thing I've not seen mentioned in my quick look thru the thread, is Storage of The Tea?

We have a small collection of loose teas (black teas + a rooibos) and I need a storage solution.

I would like to store in clear glass jars (since I have lots of those) and I don't have cupboard space, my best location for the collection is on a countertop ... not in direct sun at all, rather dark in sort of a corner really...
anyways - exposure to light, is it OK if the tea is consumed within X amount of time? (I would likely label the jars, which would block some light as well).

...

and just a comment re: equipment - I make the tea by heating the water in my water cooker (tefal vitesse) and the teapot is a .5 liter porcellain (thick) pot, the tea goes in a gold-plated filter thingy .. after brew, the pot has a little teastove w/tea light that it sits on.

oh, and I wash it all in the dishwasher :eek:

:p

Tea has three enemies: heat, light, and air. As long as that place you put it is cool and somewhat dark, you will probably be good as long as it doesn't sit for longer than a few months, I'd guess.

I have to ditto this... Your glass canisters will probably be fine, as long as they are not in direct sunlight and are sealed against air and heat. And moisture.... Don't put them anywhere incredibly humid, either (like don't store them above your stove, even high enough to avoid the heat will still get steam)

I keep mine in stonewear canisters, that have rubber gasket seals around the edge of the lids. Because you can't see inside the canister, I keep several different kinds of tea in two medium canisters, in plastic ziptop baggies, each labeled with the date purchased and the type of tea. I don't buy much at a time, since I like so many different types, and they shouldn't sit for much longer than a couple of months. My Russian tea has a canister to itself, as does my herbal headache blend, since I use so much.

I had mentioned earlier that I would go through the gungfu method of tea preparation when I had more time. Well, the time has come. Gungfu is also known as kung-fu in our western bastardization of the Mandarin dialect. This term means "art" or "skill" and is not only used for fightin'. In the gungfu method of tea preparation, a special type of pot is used, made of a special type of clay in the Yixing (pronounced "eee shing") area of China. This "purple clay" is special because of its ppurous nature and the craftspersons there are very skilled in the art of pottery. The pots are usually small, holding about 6 oz of liquid. Though somewhat expensive, the pots aren't too hard to find online.

The gungfu method is used primarily for oolong teas for a couple of reasons. One is that oolong is very popular and abundant in China. Another is that it is suited for multiple steeps, which is important. So, if you want to do gungfu, use oolong and the proper Yixing teapot.

Assuming you have a teapot, you will need a shallow bowl, about the same proportions and shape of a pasta bowl. Put the teapot in the bowl.

Insert twice the amount of tea you would normally use. If the teapot holds 6 oz, use two teaspoons. Then, pour the hot water on the leaves, just enough to coat, and immediately pur off. This is called rinsing the leaves.

Now, pour water all the way up to the top of the pot. Put the lid on. There should be a hole on the top of the lid. That is there so that you can pour the water over the teapot and seal it on a layer of water; you will know when it is just right when water comes out of the spout. The water that goes over the pot collects in the bowl, keeping the pot hot throughout the brewing process. The Yixing clay is also very good in keeping heat.

Wait 30 seconds. Yes, I said 30 seconds. Though the steeping time is short, the great amount of leaf makes up for it and gives a great complexity and flavor to the tea.

You can repeat this process up to six times or at least as many times as the tea gives up flavor. As far as oolong goes, this is the only way to go.

If you want to be really traditional, you will need two small special cups per person. As per tradition, you would pour the tea into a tall narrow cup and immediately pour it into a short squabby cup (the cups and bowl are all made of Yixing clay as well). You are supposed to drink out of the second cup and smell the tea vapors out of the empty first cup.

If you do get a Yixing teapot, never ever ever clean with soap. It will cling to the pot and be nasty. Yixing teapots are supposed be seasoned and retain the flavors of teas past. In fact, Yixing teapots seasoned over the years can be worth mucho dinero.

This thread rocks!
Coffee was drunk that way until very recently in (rural) Sweden, some of the oldest generation still drink it that way. There's a special kind of sugar lumps for this that are very thightly packed and take forever to dissolve. I do stir down a spoon of jam every now and then in my tea, but most of the time I take it without anything. I like black and green tea best, the spicy red stuff makes my mouth and throat feel weird. I'm a sucker for the fruity flavored ones and herbal tea. As long as it smells nice! It's the smell that is the best in my opinion, I love holding a steaming cup in my hands and just breath in the goodness.

Wow, what a great thread! I feel very rewarded for stopping by Tilted Cooking today. :D

I am a bit of a tea snob, although not a terribly sophisticated one. My family has a lot of British influence, so I grew up seeing my grandparents and mother drink black tea every day. I do use tea in bags though, since I'm usually the only one drinking it and it doesn't make sense to brew a whole pot. I put cream in it, as my stomach won't tolerate it without. I generally buy imported tea, although Tazo "Awake" is alright in a pinch. I also drink a lot of herbal teas, the kind with medicinal uses or for relaxation. I can't tolerate any sort of flavored tea - to me, things like cinnamon, almond flavoring or fruity flavors just aren't "tea." I won't touch them, and I've had some embarassing moments after accepting the offer of a cup of tea only to find that the person has a cupboard full of "almond spice" or "roasted blackberry" or whatever. :lol: I also love green tea, having spent time in Japan as a child.

I'll have to try some of the teas mentioned here - this is great!

I just came across a little "essay" on tea by George Orwell. Though I disagree with a point or two, I find it to be pretty interesting.

Great description... this is how my friend made tea for me at the tea house in northern Taiwan (I mentioned it a few posts up)... I was facinated by the process. At the end the pot was literally stuffed with leaves as they had expanded in the water to fill the smallish pot... This was after a few steepings...

A small kettle of water was kept warm beside the table on some sort of heating device so we could keep filling the pot and pouring water over the pot...

It really was a wonerful day and very nice setting in which to drink tea.

This was great, RoboBlaster.... Thanks for sharing it.

Good advice Roboblaster! I work part-time in a tea room and steeping time and temperature makes a huge difference!! I love the Victorian Earl Grey by Harney Tea and the Japanese (sencha) green cherry is also fantastic!! There's one green tea called Bangkok which is a blend of lemongrass, ginger, and coconut with sencha that rocks! I also Like Indian Nimbu (black) and Honeybush Vanilla (rooibos). The name "Honeybush" is enough to make you want to try it, yes? :lol:

I'm enthralled by yerba mate (a type of green tea that I believe is from South America). It's supposedly amazingly good for you (especially your energy), and it's really mild yet flavourful (mild in that it's not as "bitter", for lack of a better word, than other teas). I also like black tea (I drink Earl Grey specifically, simply because that's what I was raised on) as well as mixtures of green and herbal teas, and oolong tea occasionally. I normally add sugar, and sometimes milk or cream to all of the teas with the exception of mate (there's supposed to be an accent on the e, but I'm too lazy to instert it).

My fellow classmates are convinced that I am addicted to caffeine. To prove me wrong, they bet me that I couldn't go this next week without anything caffeinated. Unfortunately, all of my beloved teas contain caffeine, which sucks big time. I hope I know what I am getting into...

Good luck man.... Giving up caffiene, even temporarily, was a pain in the ass for me. I'm not addicted, but my body sure let me know when I didn't get as much as it was used to.

Get some aspirin.... Your head will be the worst.

How much caffine are you drinking everyday? I would say that I am mildly addicted to caffiene... I function much better after a cup or two of coffee in the morning...

Anyone try any pu-erh? It is one of those teas that some people really love and some really hate. I'm just wondering what others think.

I've never had mature pu-erh... I'm interested in trying it, though, since I liked what I tasted in spite of the fact that it had been aged less than a year. No one here carries it, though, so I'd have to order it if I did want to try it.

What do you think of it?

About damn time I respond, eh? I like pu-erh, though I haven't had any really old stuff yet. I have a cake or two sitting around, though. The cakes I did drink were pretty good, it had that musty flavor to it that most people speak of. It is not my most favorite of teas, but I wil definitely have a place for it in my rotation. One cool thing about pu-erh is that you can let it steep for hours and hours if you wanted and it would never get bitter. I have heard that some people put a couple of cakes in a thermos and sip away at it all day long. Hmm, not a bad idea, maybe I'll give it a try.

Thanks for the great tea thread, and the wonderful advice on tea Roboblaster. that George Orwell article is priceless.

I have always loved tea, and always wanted to become more of a coniseaur, But up until now I've limited myself to drinking Bigelow earl grey using a tea bag. Now, however, I will be a tea snob for life!

Muwahaha, we have a convert in Iccky. I also began my tea "journey" through Bigelow tea. Then I said, well if I like this so much, I may just like loose leaf even more. I did. Then I said that I might just like to try it without all this honey I am putting in it. I did. Then I said, well, if earl grey is this good, I bet regular ole tea may be great too. It was. And so the snowball rolled...

Hahaha... I started my journey with Celestial Seasonings tea. *grins* I have tried every single variety, and have used their Chamomile Mint for years... I was working with my apothecary to make some natural tinctures for my arthritis and my migraines when he suggested his headache tea, and I started investigating herbal loose teas. Then my hubby and I made friends with a local shop owner who owns a gourmet kitchen shop... Teapots and coffee pots and kitchen utensils and pots and pans and such. She sells whole bean coffees, and suggested I try her Jasmine loose tea when I bought a teapot for my herbals. And thus, my journey started. She regularly gets loose teas for me, and has suggested several that I still get from her and still love. I always stop when I find a tea shop or something, and have learned to try lots of new stuff... *grins* And so the monster was born. *winks*

Wow. I love tea, especially a nice iced Earl Grey in the summer. I've never tried loose tea (yes, I use bags, usually Tetley's), but this thread makes me want to try some. I feel like such a beginner now!! :)

I do have a funny tea story. I visited my mom in North Carolina (before I moved there) and ordered a glass of iced tea at a restaurant. I didn't know about "sweet tea", and when I got my glass, proceeded to pour two sugar packets into it. I took a sip and made a face, and the waitress walked over laughing. I decided I didn't like Southern tea at that point and just had a diet Coke instead. After I moved there, I always had to ask for unsweetened tea because most places automatically brought sweet tea to the table.

I right there with you Medusa99. I cannot stand sweet tea at restaurants, as the tea is wayyyyyyy to sweet. I don't even bother with ordering it. And it's not the same to order unsweetened tea and add sugar to it because then you hafta stir and stir to get that sugar dissolved.

I've started ordering my tea in restaurants "half and half" (I live in the deep south and they always offer sweet or unsweet). For the most part, that combats the horrid sweetness of sweetened tea, and I don't have to sweeten unsweet tea, which is chancy at best, as either the regular sugar doesn't melt, or the artificial sweetener makes it taste funny. I just don't drink a lot of sodas, and in general unless I'm drinking wine or other spirits, I prefer tea when I eat.

I don't know why I never thought to do that.

It's funny but iced tea is just not something we drink a lot of up here... It's available but mostly in the mix form or pre-bottled. It is hard to find brewed iced tea.

I much prefer hot tea anyway.

I've actually just stopped putting sugar in my tea because of the dissolving issue....and I rarely order ice tea in a restaurant either because it just doesn't seem to be big here in Utah and it always tastes like it's been sitting for ten hours. I miss the south :(

I like iced Earl Grey because it seems to have a sweet flavor to begin with.

I love iced tea. We make our own sweet tea here in the summer. But I have made the mistake of ordering iced tea in a restaurant and receiving that awful Nestea crap. Ew. I only like it if it's fresh-brewed. Mm. Two packets of sugar and I'm good to go, though I will drink it unsweetened from time to time.

I also really enjoy Arnold Palmers--half iced tea, half lemonade. Starbucks has it on their menu as Iced Tea Lemonade in the summer--they do make a great one, with fresh brewed Tazo black tea. Delicious. The lemonade sweetens the tea just enough.

I wish it were summer.

You and me both...

Since when did Arnold Palmer become a parragon of tea?

heheh, the only reason I thought to do it myself is that I had a waitress top off my glass of sweet tea with unsweet... Light bulb!! lol.... A happy accident, as it were.

Ah, the forces of fate we smiling in your favor, and mine. If you want to make your own sweet tea, you can't go wrong with making your own simple syrup. Just throw some sugar into some water in a sauce pan and boil away until it turns into a syrup. Add some mint or lemon into the mix, and you have yourself a sweetener to put into tea. Sweeeet. The plus is that it is already in liquid form, so no need to worry about dissolving. Yay.

Yay, me, whose hubby is a chef, lol.... We *always* have simple syrup, lol. I prefer honey myself, even in iced tea, but its nice to always have the syrup to whip out for guests. I have asked for honey in restaurants, too, depending on the place. *grins* I'm all about having it *my* way, lmao. *winks*

I'm glad that someone besides me knows what a samovar is. I've always gotten a very negative response when I use that word in conversation.

My tea related question: is there any way to revive honey once it's become cloudy and crystallizes? What causes this?

Someday I will save enough pennies to have my own samovar, lol... *grins*

As for honey, which btw is the world's purest food, you can revive honey by popping it in either a pot of hot water or in the microwave. Once it gets hot the crystals are reabsorbed into the still-liquid part.

Most honeys do not ever go bad, but if you find it smells funny, toss it. Better safe than sorry, lol. But cloudy and crystallized by no means indicates that its bad... Heating it in a pot of hot water on the stove is the most well known method, but microwaving it is faster... Just make sure to remove the metal top if there is one, of course.

Found this thread in search and am really glad, you all have some great ideas when it comes to teas. I've been drinking Chai teas lately they remind me of the original Celestial Seasonings Bengal spice tea before they "New & Improved" it, to death!

I'm looking forward to trying Charlatan's Sticky Toffee Tea. Sounds wonderful!

I'd like to say for the record...

I'm only 18! I have time yet to establish myself as a tea guru.

I drink at least one cup of Teatly a day. I've been drinking tea for as long as I could hold a mug, (A Cornish gramma will do that to you.) but I haven't ventured too far.

I love floral teas, and a good cup of chai. The wonderful Indian woman I used to work with would make her and I chai on Sunday mornings. She'd bring the tea, I'd bake the cookies. I like green tea, but I don't know if I do it right. But to be honest, I've never made a cup of loose leaf tea. One day I will.

And I'll follow the excellent advice given here!

My friend told me that drinking lots of green tea can give you energy. And since i am working out, he told me i should drink that more. Should i use green tea as a substitute for water since green tea is already water with green tea? (sorry for the confusion). :)

Well, yes, green tea gives you energy, but that's because it has lots of caffiene in it.

I would not substitute water for tea during a workout, as your body craves water to rehydrate it during a workout. You can supplement your water intake with tea... At any other time, tea can be a substitute for a glass of water here and there.... Experts are now saying that any liquid is better than no liquid, and that there is such a thing as too much water.

When tea is brewing in the pot, this process is known to me as 'Masting'.

e.g: "Let it mast for about five minutes before pouring."

I can't find any reference to this word (in relation to brewing tea) on google or in the dictionary and I'm wondering if anybody outside of my locality is aware of it.

OK, I was going to feel bad posting this, but it goes with the Southern tea so I will. I always drank southern tea because I grew up down south. However, I put a new twist on it, which I think probably makes it more low-class, but it tastes good anyway. I boil a kettle of water then put in 6 tea bags and let it steep for however long I forget about it. Then I put it in a glass pitcher (the ones people take on picnics with the spout at the bottom and fill the rest of it with water. Then instead of sugar I use the Lipton Raspberry tea mix. It doesn't make it as sweet as the sugar, but it gives it a refreshing fruity taste. I used to make suntea and sweeten it the same way, but now that we live in a highrise, I don't get enough sun to brew it.

Well, there's my 2-cents, don't shoot me for making cheap tea.

I was pulled back to this thread having found this on a gadget site:
http://www.gamilacompany.com/
http://www.gamilacompany.com/tea/images/teacup.jpg
http://www.gamilacompany.com/tea/ima...stickparts.jpg

Any thoughts?
I find I end up wasting a bit with the remains of the pot getting cold because I can't get to it fast enough.
A one cup solution would be cool. Especially for work.

Robo, after having read this thread, I can't claim to be as uhm, strict about my tea process as you, but I have spent some money on a nice Bodum glass teapot and some good loose lea teas and the difference was astounding.

Luckily in th UK we can have a lot of places to buy from, what with our tea heritage. I mean hell, the last time you guys poked fun at our tea, we had a war! ;)

<img="http://teasource.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/teeli_filter.gif"> I think this is a really nice tea filter for loose leaf teas.. really makes them taste better than the iron filters I see at the grocery stores. If ya'll are serious about tea, www.teasource.com is a nice place to find good teas.

I started drinking tea in college when I was trying to quite smoking. Then, after I met my current girlfriend, who is very into tea, I got even more sucked into tea. But tea is really great - much better than drinking a bunch of weird chemicals that people call 'soda'. I'm drinking more green tea lately, however, I like black teas like "English Breakfast" and "Earl Grey". I'm a big fan of mint leaf for making a nice herbal tea (mint is great for studying too- mint taste/smell somehow improves memory abilities).

Trying to post the image of the tea filter:

<img src="http://teasource.com/merchant2/graphics/00000001/teeli_filter.gif">

I am glad rofgilead dug this up. Great thread.

Blueberry tea

1 oz of Amerrato

1 oz of Grand Marnier

1 cinnamon stick

fill glass with a nice tea (pick your fav)

I like suntea, shesus :) My mom often made it when we were growing up, and I still make it in the summer time.

I've been expirimenting with different teas in the past few months, but no loose leaf yet.

What is Grand Marnier? Some sort of liquour?

Yeah. A British couple used to run a breakfast/lunch restaurant in our town, and they served tea in pots that came with matching filters for loose tea that looked just like that. They offered 10 or 15 varieties of tea, always loose, and served the best pot of tea in town.

Because they were Brits they were pretty liberal with the tea leaves -- the husband would literally grab a fistful and drop it in the pot -- so you had to drink fast before the tea got too strong, or ask for more hot water when the pot was still half-full!

They turned me on to Irish Breakfast, which I still love.

Grand Marnier is an orange flavored liqueur, used for flavoring in a lot of classic drinks, including top-shelf margaritas.

this thread is amazing! i love tea and probably drink too many cups a day. Also, who doesn't enjoy sitting down with someone for a cup of tea : ) hehe, i've probably been responsible for a few people beginning a tea addiction... Lately I am really enjoying oolongs, and i always like black tea.
Teasource is a great place for tea, and i'd like to add Rishi teas, www.rishi-tea.com
Rishi is fair-trade certified, and the owner is very involved in making sure he buys tea in a responsible way from quality sources.