What's your favorite tea?

I've always enjoyed tea but never really drank it enough to appreciate any really differences in teas. I'm interested in incorporating more tea into my diet.

I've heard lots of good things about Green Tea and Oolong Tea and how they can help your general health. I also am specifically interested in teas that can help me get to sleep.

So, MFPers, hit me with your favorite types of tea and (more importantly) your favorite BRANDS of tea. :happy:

If you have a teavana near you can sample teas there and pick out the one you want

Oh good god. I have a tea obsession. If I had to estimate, I probably have about 150 kinds of tea in my tea closet. Yes, I have a tea closet. Yes, tea does get old, and I know I have too much.

That said, I primarily drink green tea in the morning, keeping a variety in it. I love lightly flavored green teas as part of my variety in food. The flavors also keep me from missing the sugar I used to put into them, but recognized with the amount of tea I was drinking, I was adding about 50 calories on my day without noticing. I avoid caffeine after about 1pm, so I choose decaf teas then (go with a high quality tea if you're choosing decaf, lower quality tend to suffer on the taste). Or I chose a naturally decaffeinated tea like rooibos (red tea) or another herbal tea. If you just want less caffeine, pour your hot water over your tea, then discard that first steeping after about a minute and steep again. Most of the caffeine comes off in the early steep to my understanding.

Republic of Tea has some WONDERFUL flavors, and are good quality. They seem expensive, but have 50 bags in their tins of bagged tea, so it isn't that much more than most other brands.

Zhena's Gypsy tea has some crazy and tasty flavors as well, and are on about the same price point as RoT.

If you have a Teavana at your local mall, they have some really out there teas, often with some amazing flavors, and their matevana is a staple in my house. Their teas are sold by the 2 oz measure, and range from under $5 for that to $25 for the rare stuff. 2 oz lasts me forever. All their teas are loose.

For less exotic teas, I still like Celestial Seasonings and Twinings, I make my iced tea out of Red Rose. The only brands I DON'T like are Bigelow and Lipton.

Tea really is an adventure, and adds a lot of no calorie options into your drink arsenal, just start trying some different kinds, it is a lot of fun! And remember, if you don't care for something hot, the flavor isn't as pronounced over ice. Pay attention to steeping temperatures, as steeping tea at too high a temperature can really bitter it in the case of green tea, and ruin the flavor of white tea. Herbals teas usually need the water up at a full boil to extract all the flavors and health properties (but not always!). Different people also like different amounts of steep time. Black teas can get bitter for me when steeped for too long, so when trying a new tea, I steep for about 2 minutes at the first go, and increase if necessary. Also, many teas can give you two good steepings out of the same leaves! Give it a try.