Different kinds of tea...

rainbowbow

MaitreyeeMAYHEM wrote: »

rainbowbow wrote: »

Oh, i forgot to mention. At first i thought teavana was good, until i realized that they price up your tea like none other. It's also a pain in the butt to make loose-leaf tea IMO.

Also, i could never figure out why the samples in the store never tasted like the tea i made at home. Apparently their rock sugar that they sell is key. They sweeten it 6x the amount they recommend on their packaging to sucker you in.

It's also important to note that their tea-mistresses will scam you hard. First time i walked in there i got a blend of their pineapple kona pop and blueberry bliss and was asked "Do you want a pound or half a pound?". I had no flipping idea how much that was so i said "i think half a pound is more than enough". I had to stop her halfway because she was going to give me a half pound of each! I made sure she only gave me a 1/4 pound of each. She acted like i was a cheapskate. And i STILL walked out paying $80.00 in tea.

Teavana is way expensive I agree. I do have a tea pot and a steeper I use that I got from there. I do not mind paying more for those but $80 for tea? No thanks.

Yeah. They also use a lot of artifical flavors in their tea (where the fruit peices dont contribute to taste) which means they use weight fillers in dried fruit peices. It's a shame.

Although their matcha is the bomb, if you're into that thing.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

What is the matcha?

kristinegift

I love the celestial seasonings fruit teas. No caffeine, but they're sweet enough that I don't have to add sugar or anything. You can get an 18 tea bag sampler for around $3 at most grocery store chains.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

This may seem like a dumb question, but what classifies it to be a "fruit" tea besides the idea that fruit is in it?

softblondechick

I am a compulsive tea hoarder and tea shopper! I have a full cupboard of tea in my kitchen. And then, I am at the store, and find a flavor I absolutely must have, immediately! I have to sneak the tea into the pantry. Otherwise, SO will ask about why I am buying tea...he thinks one box is plenty. We have decided that I won't ask about the cupboard of hot sauce he has, and he won't ask about my tea stash!

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

newmeadow wrote: »

I like the tea they serve in Chinese restaurants. It washes down the food well and I was told it's best to drink it unsweetened and I agree.

But I don't get the whole constant cups of tea at home thing. It's quite an ordeal between the boiling of the water, getting the cup ready, steeping the tea just so, disposing of the boiling hot steeped leaves, running the risk of burning yourself in the process (big klutz here ). Then sipping the tea and hoping you don't burn your mouth. Or getting distracted during the whole preparation ordeal. And now you're stuck with a cold cup of tea and that's no good.

And then the extra washing involved to wash the tea cups and possibly the saucer and the teaspoon and keeping the tea pot clean too.

All for ... a cup of tea?

Oh well. Tea lovers must see something in tea that I don't to commit to this sort of thing on a daily basis.

Tea is very classy and civilized though. I'll give it that.

It's just like eating food.
1- go to the grocery store and buy food
2- go home and unpack all your groceries
3- cook the food
4- eat the food
5- do dishes and put them away.

Same thing.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

softblondechick wrote: »

I am a compulsive tea hoarder and tea shopper! I have a full cupboard of tea in my kitchen. And then, I am at the store, and find a flavor I absolutely must have, immediately! I have to sneak the tea into the pantry. Otherwise, SO will ask about why I am buying tea...he thinks one box is plenty. We have decided that I won't ask about the cupboard of hot sauce he has, and he won't ask about my tea stash!

I have 2 tea tins plus a tea box. You can't have one box of tea, it all depends on your mood.

Alatariel75

newmeadow wrote: »

I like the tea they serve in Chinese restaurants. It washes down the food well and I was told it's best to drink it unsweetened and I agree.

But I don't get the whole constant cups of tea at home thing. It's quite an ordeal between the boiling of the water, getting the cup ready, steeping the tea just so, disposing of the boiling hot steeped leaves, running the risk of burning yourself in the process (big klutz here ). Then sipping the tea and hoping you don't burn your mouth. Or getting distracted during the whole preparation ordeal. And now you're stuck with a cold cup of tea and that's no good.

And then the extra washing involved to wash the tea cups and possibly the saucer and the teaspoon and keeping the tea pot clean too.

All for ... a cup of tea?

Oh well. Tea lovers must see something in tea that I don't to commit to this sort of thing on a daily basis.

Tea is very classy and civilized though. I'll give it that.

I only drink constant tea at work and I'm super lazy, my first cup I fill my infuser and for the rest of the day I just keep filling my (very large) cup with boiling water from the urn! By the end of the day I'm drinking hot, vaguely flavoured water.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

Alatariel75 wrote: »

newmeadow wrote: »

I like the tea they serve in Chinese restaurants. It washes down the food well and I was told it's best to drink it unsweetened and I agree.

But I don't get the whole constant cups of tea at home thing. It's quite an ordeal between the boiling of the water, getting the cup ready, steeping the tea just so, disposing of the boiling hot steeped leaves, running the risk of burning yourself in the process (big klutz here ). Then sipping the tea and hoping you don't burn your mouth. Or getting distracted during the whole preparation ordeal. And now you're stuck with a cold cup of tea and that's no good.

And then the extra washing involved to wash the tea cups and possibly the saucer and the teaspoon and keeping the tea pot clean too.

All for ... a cup of tea?

Oh well. Tea lovers must see something in tea that I don't to commit to this sort of thing on a daily basis.

Tea is very classy and civilized though. I'll give it that.

I only drink constant tea at work and I'm super lazy, my first cup I fill my infuser and for the rest of the day I just keep filling my (very large) cup with boiling water from the urn! By the end of the day I'm drinking hot, vaguely flavoured water.

I need to start doing that to re-use my tea. i always dump out my infuser when I can just use the same herbs over again.

Alatariel75

MaitreyeeMAYHEM wrote: »

Alatariel75 wrote: »

newmeadow wrote: »

I like the tea they serve in Chinese restaurants. It washes down the food well and I was told it's best to drink it unsweetened and I agree.

But I don't get the whole constant cups of tea at home thing. It's quite an ordeal between the boiling of the water, getting the cup ready, steeping the tea just so, disposing of the boiling hot steeped leaves, running the risk of burning yourself in the process (big klutz here ). Then sipping the tea and hoping you don't burn your mouth. Or getting distracted during the whole preparation ordeal. And now you're stuck with a cold cup of tea and that's no good.

And then the extra washing involved to wash the tea cups and possibly the saucer and the teaspoon and keeping the tea pot clean too.

All for ... a cup of tea?

Oh well. Tea lovers must see something in tea that I don't to commit to this sort of thing on a daily basis.

Tea is very classy and civilized though. I'll give it that.

I only drink constant tea at work and I'm super lazy, my first cup I fill my infuser and for the rest of the day I just keep filling my (very large) cup with boiling water from the urn! By the end of the day I'm drinking hot, vaguely flavoured water.

I need to start doing that to re-use my tea. i always dump out my infuser when I can just use the same herbs over again.

I find that with the size of most infusers you get a good few cups from one!

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

I bought a new one that looks like a tea kettle. it's cute!

Nataliegetfit

I love bigelow brand earl gray and vanilla chai tea, also found a peach one that was nice. I had a white chocolate bigelow one and it was awful.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

Nataliegetfit wrote: »

I love bigelow brand earl gray and vanilla chai tea, also found a peach one that was nice. I had a white chocolate bigelow one and it was awful.

for some reason chocolate teas don't sound that great.

Joannah700

Love tea. Sometimes for the ritual, sometimes just because it's delicious.

If you like to add honey - Tazo's passion tea, either loose leaf or bagged - is delicious with honey. It's my go to tea when I'm sick.

I've also had some good luck with Fresh and Easy teas. Not sure if that store is by you - but they have some fun flavors of bagged teas like ginger peach and each bag is wrapped in plastic so it seems to keep it 'fresher'.

MaitreyeeMAYHEM

Joannah700 wrote: »

Love tea. Sometimes for the ritual, sometimes just because it's delicious.

If you like to add honey - Tazo's passion tea, either loose leaf or bagged - is delicious with honey. It's my go to tea when I'm sick.

I've also had some good luck with Fresh and Easy teas. Not sure if that store is by you - but they have some fun flavors of bagged teas like ginger peach and each bag is wrapped in plastic so it seems to keep it 'fresher'.

Do they have a website?

rainbowbow

MaitreyeeMAYHEM wrote: »

What is the matcha?

Matcha is an incredibly awesome Japanese green tea (you may have seen this in traditional japanese tea ceremonies). You digest the entire tea leaf, not just brewed water.



It comes in powder form and is whisked with a bamboo whisk into hot water. It has a ton of vitamins, minerals, have 6x the caffeine of a cup of brewed green tea (so boosts metabolism). I cannot recommend matcha enough.

You can also make matcha lattes, matcha candies, matcha tea cakes, etc. It's an awesome ingredient in cooking.

As far as fruit tea is concerned, my comment may have been a little confusing. I meant that teavana uses artifical flavoring which is infused with the tea leaves themselves. In other words, the tea will taste the same with or without the fruit chunks they add in to the mix. This means that they charge you for tea by weight, and the fruit is a filler which just makes it more expensive.


Lastly, to the person above who said it's too much of a pain to make tea, i HIGHLY disagree. When i was in the U.S. i thought the exact same thing because the method of making tea WAS too much of a pain in the butt. Now that i moved to Scandanavia and i've seen a ton of europeans it has totally changed my mine.

Almost everyone has an electric kettle. They are SUPER cheap, and fantastic. You can get a nice and stylish one for under $20.00.

You just fill it with water, press a button on the handle, and it will beep when it's ready. It also keeps the water hot for a super long time. You just place the teabag in the cup, fill with water, and go on your way. You can also brew another cup by just putting in another bag and grabbing and pouring again. You can make instant coffee (which is the norm here, it's WAY better than even the ground coffee you buy here), you can add the water to ramen, you can use it for cleaning (pouring down the drains), etc.

It's pretty awesome to have super hot/boiling water on hand at all times.

Alatariel75

MaitreyeeMAYHEM wrote: »

I bought a new one that looks like a tea kettle. it's cute!

I have this one!

MoiAussi93

I like a lot of different teas. I drink mostly green...I like it with jasmine. But I will try anything.

My absolute favorite is a black tea called lapsang souchong. You have to get it from a real tea place...a grocery store won't have this. It's a smoked tea...very distinctive. Give that a try if you are looking for something different.

rainbowbow

Oh yeah, one more thing... does anyone else love Thai Tea?

lovematthewchristopher

I dont drink coffee at all, never have. Tea on the other hand, i have been drinking since about the age of 4. One of my neighbors was from England, and would invite me over for tea time every afternoon, for many years. I learned to appreciate tea. Since then, i have become a tea hoarder. I have every type of tea, in every flavor that you can think of. One of my favorites is a blueberry tea from Three-Rivers, Canada. It is the most wonderful stuff i have ever tasted.I also have a customer who brings me loose green tea directly from Japan, he travels there on a regular basis. Everytime i go somewhere and i see a type or flavor of tea that i dont have, or have never tried, i pick it up and add it to my collection. I suggest that you just do the same, and experiment with all the different ones you come across. You will learn of new flavors that you like as you go along.