Totally not clutter related(for me anyway)
Here's a question for all you tea drinkers: what's your favorite?-
decaf, chai, herbal, white, green, black??? Do you use lemon, honey, cream,sugar?
Loose leaf, bag? Do you use a tea ball?a sifter thingy?
Also- what brands are your favs? Do you use a stove kettle, programmable kettle,
glass vessel with infuser???????? Oh so many questions!
I'd like to experiment a bit but I've no idea where to start. I saw a reasonably
priced programmable kettle yesterday and it got me thinking.
I'd like to try a few before I plunge headlong into without finding some
teas I actually like. I've never been a tea fan ever, but I tasted some at a new tea shop
at the mall and was surprised I liked their samples.( I will have to go back and see if I can remember
what I drank).
Thanks :)
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Posted 3 months ago #
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I love tea, so this topic made me sit up and take notice :)
Not sure I have one favourite tea, but I mostly drink green tea, rooibos, oolong and some herbal teas (mainly blends including copious amounts of mint). My current favourites are jasmine, rooibos chai, and Moroccan mint tea. I don't usually add anything to my tea, unless I'm sick in which case honey is omnipresent.
I prefer loose leaf tea. If I'm only making one mug of it I use a tea ball; if I'm making a pot of it, I don't use a ball or infuser, I have a little strainer that I rest on my cup while pouring. With teas like rooibos, which have some very small flakes, a tea ball lets a lot of the flakes through anyway, so it's easier to weed them out when pouring.
I have a variety of tea pots and accessories, but ideally here's what I'd love to have:
- for work, a tea cup with an infuser (the one I'm currently eyeing: http://www.bodum.com/ca/en-us/shop/detail/K10547-16/?navid=272)
- for home, a 1L teapot (preferably glass, ideally double-walled) with built in infuser, and a collection of mismatched pretty tea cups.For kettles, I really don't have a preference. My cheap, non-programmable electric grocery store brand one has worked perfectly well for the past 3 years; if and when that one breaks down, I might switch to a stove kettle.
If you're looking to try different teas without buying too much to start with, my advice would be to find a local tea shop that does guided tea tastings. They'll usually be grouped by type of tea (my new favourite tea shop has a white and green tea tasting, an oolong tasting, a black tea tasting and a Pu Er tea tasting; going to the oolong one this Sunday, yay!) so you can get an idea of what types you like and don't like and also what you like best within each type. Then based on that, the tea shop staff should be able to tell you what type of tea "equipment" to invest in.
For my part, I mostly pick teas by the smell; not terribly scientific, but it hasn't failed me yet.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Orange pekoe with a bit of milk, no sugar. I usually use a teabag but if I can find a good supply of open-ended teabags or an easily cleanable tea brewing system, I may switch to loose tea.
I'm currently drinking a supermarket's high-end brand after a disappointing encounter with a flavourless and high-priced batch of PG Tips from an imported food store. (Used to love the stuff, but it's getting harder and harder to find at a decent price.) I'm looking for tea that tastes the way Red Rose used to taste 30 years ago, when you could buy it in 15-packs.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Peppermint, lemon and ginger and liquorice. I used to love rosehip tea, but only with sugar. I love Jasmine tea at Chinese restaurants, but it's never as good at home.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Black with the flavor of forest fruit. No milk no sugar.
Posted 3 months ago # -
I have a copper-plated stainless steel whistling stove kettle (I'm a bit in love with it if you couldn't tell). Super cute and from my grandma -gift, not heirloom :-)
I mainly use loose teas, preferably ones I like without sugar. No milk except for an English breakfast tea. Right now I've got a black vanilla tea and a herbal plum-cinnamon blend. Local options for loose tea are too expensive or poor selection, but there is a basic chai I'm going to try next.
Posted 3 months ago # -
I've been a tea drinker since my nana introduced it to me with a whole lot of sugar when I was little. We have one whole shelf in our pantry dedicated to our teas, since that and wine are all we drink, other than water. These days, I like strong black tea in the morning and early afternoon (Tazo Awake, Numi Chinese Breakfast, or just about any brand of English Breakfast). I grew up on Lipton, but it tastes just kind of blah to me now. In midafternoon I switch to decaf. My current favorites are Tazo Honeybush and Good Earth green tea with lemongrass.
For both, I use a little less than a teaspoon of sugar, even less if the tea itself tastes a little sweet. Lemon tea with a lot of honey is great for a sore throat, though.
I have a mix of bags and loose tea, but mostly bags. A natural foods store just opened down the street from me, and they have a bunch of different loose leaf teas in bulk, so that might tip the balance a bit more toward loose leaf if I find some I like there. I really like my infuser: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=14596020
For a long time I used a stovetop kettle, but the whistles always seem to stop working after a while, and the last one I had sprung a leak. I switched to an electric kettle a couple years ago and have now gone through two of them (we use it 6-8 times a day, so I'm not surprised by that). It's hard to find one that isn't all plastic, which is important to me. To me, tea always tastes better with water boiled on the stove or in an electric kettle rather than in the microwave.
Tea tastes vary a LOT. You just have to keep trying stuff to find what you like. Earl Grey is one of those that lots of people like, but a lot of other people hate (count me in with the haters). Some companies make variety packs; those are a good way to try some different stuff without buying a whole box of one kind. Remember that buying a small box of tea at the grocery store is about equivalent to the cost of getting two cups at the coffee shop, so if you don't like it after two tries, pass it along to someone else and call it even. Don't forget to check out your local coffee shops, too. Most serve some kind of decent tea, and that's a nice way to try something new without a huge investment. If you have a natural foods store near you, they tend to have a much larger and more unusual variety than the regular grocery store, and if they have a bulk section, you can get just a little bit of different kinds to try. Don't be put off by the $20+ per pound price signs; a pound is a LOT of tea. And look for a tea store for tastings, like Anita said. They aren't very common, at least here in NE Ohio, but they are out there.
Good luck!
Posted 3 months ago # -
*waves to irish*
I have a programmable kettle (a Breville) and I adore it! Don't leave water in it -- pour out what's left after you've made your tea and leave the top open to dry the interior out -- and descale it with vinegar regularly, and it will last for years.
Everyone in this house drinks a different tea in the morning, and they all need a different brewing temperature: DH wants herbal, DS (when he's here) drinks green, and I need my Twinings English Breakfast. DH puts a little honey in, I need some milk.
Posted 3 months ago # -
I've never met a tea I didn't like, with the exception of Baldrian, which I bought on the advice of my vet. After DC took a tumble out the 2nd (3rd floor for North Americans) window the vet told me to try Baldrian tea to get her interest in food and liquid again. Some cats go wild for it apparently. She likes tea also, but prefers peppermint. In Vancouver I bought tea mugs with lids because she kept drinking my tea and coffee.
Well, so that's my cat's opinion, here's mine...
Don't invest in any paraphernalia until you find a tea you like to drink and can easily buy locally. All teas improve with precision steeping but none of that matters unless you actually like it and will drink it.
What attracts you to tea? The arcane Japansese ceremonial rituals, with great beauty and fragility and mindfulness, or the comfortable homeliness of a mug of strong English black tea with milk and a Brown Betty on the table?
A tendency to one of those two extremes will direct your required accoutrements.
Some terminology:
Herbal and floral tea are not teas, they are plant infusions. They are also fantastically delicious (but with honey or sugar rather than milk). Herbs from the garden can be chopped and dumped into boiling water and you've got a yummy, refreshing drink. I make extremely strong mint (infusion) tea, freeze it in icecube trays, and add it to cocktails, jugs of ice water, etc in the summer. I also drink it cold as is.
Tea is rated by degree of fermentation.
Green is unfermented, oolong is partly, and black tea fully.All 3 of those can be flavoured with other things. Earl Grey is black tea with bergamot added.
Orange pekoe is black tea with the leaves chopped in a certain way. Etc.Black teas can be decaffeinated, but they are a bit harder to find and require some hunting.
Procedure:
Why loose tea over a teabag?
-when I simply need a hot restorative, or I'm at work, I gladly use a cheap supermarket bag. It's fine. But when DH and I want to have a cup together after dinner we love to use our favourite Darjeeling or Earl Grey (last visit to the shop--about 65$ for one bag of each, OUCH).
I broke the last teapot so for the last couple of years we use a gravy boat with a wire mesh strainer which fits perfectly. We also use a single cup strainer, and disposable tea bags ( you spoon in loose tea into an empty tea bag and toss it all when done. You can also use a metal ring which sits on the rip of teacup or pot with a muslin strainer sewn on. You just dump it out, wash it, and use it again
forever.
Do nut buy a kettle until you are sure you will drink tea regularly! A pot has always worked just fine to boil water, and once you make tea for some months you will know if you will incorporate it into your life. Then go buy one. I have two--a gorgeous enamel stovetop Emile Henry (Henri?) and a cheap, cordless deal which boils water so fast and turns off by itself when the water is boiled.
Btw. Water. Boiled only. Not hot. BOILED.I had no idea I had such strong opinions on tea. Well. We're all about self-awareness here at the Cult of Unclutterer.
Process with black or oolong tea:
Heat the pot with boiling water. Swish and dump (i dump into our cups to keep the happy heat going )
Add leaves, pour boiling water over them for the recommended amount of time for that tea/blend/infusion.I always put milk or cream in my cup first because I swear the hot tea pouring into the milk carmelizes the milk sugars, yum!
DH thinks I'm nuts.Sometimes I add sugar, sometimes stevia, sometimes honey, sometimes nothing.
I'm so curious how this will go for you Irishbell! Tea is one of life's pleasures.
Posted 3 months ago # -
I don't usually brew more than one cup at a time, so the portion-sized strainers are mostly in use. I'd love to find a durable option with extremely fine pores, because many of my teas contain small pieces that currently find their way into the mug. I rarely buy bagged tea anymore. When I do use my 20 DKK (a couple of €) vintage teapot, I use either disposable tall bags or a larger pod of stainless steel, but the latter has the same problem as the smaller pods.
My water kettle is very simple, electric and manual. I use only the coldest of water to ensure a fresh drink. It boils the water quicker and uses less energy than the stove, which is why I boil water for potatoes etc. in it as well. I had a cheaper kind before, but it constantly acted up and once I decided I'd had enough of the temper tantrums, I chose a Tefal. It has stayed with me for years, even through the tough times of hard water in Denmark, but proper maintenance keeps it alive. If your area has hard water, I can't recommend enough filtering with Brita or other system the water you will use, because my experience is the tea even tastes better without so many impurities and ions/precipitate in the drink.
Very rarely there's anything but tea in the mug. Occasionally candied sugar or whatever those brownish golden rocks of various sizes are called, or a dash of honey; simply because I don't need the extra calories. Once I'm down on a healthier weight I might add them again. Never milk though, unless it's chai.
My parents think tea is Earl Grey, so that's what I was exposed to first. I rarely drink it anymore, because I find it a bit boring. Kusmi and Perchs The in Copenhagen are my favourite blend makers these days, but my sister has also brought some very fine green and white teas from Asia. I also enjoy the occasional non-tea such as rooibos, but currently have none in my huge stash.
I'd love to get the thermometer, which bandicoot told us about in the advent calendar thread. Boiled water kills anything but black tea, so you want to wait until the temp has gone down a bit before pouring the water over green/white/etc. tea. Make a test with two cups of otherwise similarly prepared tea and try to notice a difference; in my opinion "killed" tea can taste very bitter indeed. It also requires the correct length of infusion, neither too long nor too short; a good tea should tell you how to prepare it (well, the label should).
Eta:
I read djk's comment again and my kettle is automatic in the sense that it turns itself off once the water has boiled enough.Posted 3 months ago # -
Lol ninakk! I cannot bear any tea or infusion that doesn't have water that has reached a boil first! To each his own, and Irishbell will have to see which she likes best. For coffee the water can't boil, or the taste is really off. But it is exactly the other way 'round for me with tea.
Posted 3 months ago # -
Oh, for clarification, I'm all for boiled water for tea, too, hence the thermometer! Do you have one, djk, seeing you are a bit of a tea nerd yourself?
Posted 3 months ago # -
People- thanks a bazillon for all your help!
I think I will try the new tea store at the mall for more tastings.
There's several organic food stores round here so that's another option, plus
possibly a variety sampler. Thanks again. Feel free to add more advice anytime.Posted 3 months ago # -
I drink Stash Green Chai in the morning, with a tiny bit of Volcano Island Honey and a little milk. While I comb my Ragdoll cat and do some yoga.
I generally like Chai mixtures but many are sweetened, so it's been a process of trial and error to find the ones that don't already have sugar added. With black chai, I don't add any sweetener.
Peppermint tea occasionally after dinner, lemon-ginger tea if I'm feeling sickly. I just put a mug of water in the microwave with the teabag in it, no kettle required. Used loose tea on a few occasions, but at the core I'm just too lazy to go through the extra steps!
Posted 3 months ago # -
Um, uh, nerd, ninakk? *ahem* well in fact I do have a thermometer, now that you ask...(Nerd Alert!)
But actually I rarely if ever use it for tea. I've pretty much got the timing figured out (ok, read that as I'm too lazy to get kitty off my shoulder the instant the water comes to a boil so by the time she and I have come to a happy compromise the water's perfect)ETA when I lived in Lancashire a thousand years ago I was educated by folk who were staunch defenders of their particular method of tea-making. None agreed on the particulars, but on the basics they were as one. Milk first, no sugar.
Posted 3 months ago # -
@djk: :P
Posted 3 months ago # -
I like any tea with a strong flavor. Today I had some black tea with almond/rose/vanilla flavors, with sugar and vanilla almondmilk added. Dipped in some graham crackers. Yum yum! Usually I put loose tea into one of those strainer balls and then boil water in a kettle.
My best advice is to make sure that when you buy tea, it comes with steeping instructions. You can guess based on the type of tea, but if you're just starting out, it helps to have some guidance!
And, buy tea in bulk if possible, so that you can choose the quantity. Most pre-packaged tea is sold in a quantity that's way too large for me, at least, and it can be hard to use it all before it gets stale. It also gets boring ;)
Posted 3 months ago # -
I love The Republic of Tea brand's Red Velvet Chocolate tea...oooooh yum!
Also partial to Good Earth's Organic Original Sweet and Spicy flavor. Both are tea bags, and I heat water in the microwave for times sake...although I think it tastes better from a stove kettle...I use filtered water to rid it of the chlorinated smell...
and drink it straight, no add ins...unless you count the cookies or piece of chocolate I have to have with it! :)Posted 3 months ago # -
I recently invested in a Bodum single serve glass double walled tea glass with a nice stainless steel strainer. I'm a newbie to loose teas but so far I've been enjoying some herbal and fruit mixes from a local shop that lets you buy small amounts from the bulk jars. Quite tasty! Before that I drank mostly Celestial Seasonings, but I was getting bored after many years of the same flavours.
Posted 3 months ago # -
I'm intrigued by people who don't have kettles. In the UK it would be considered a completely essential bit of kitchen equipment! Albeit not programmable ones, that would be a bit poncy :) If I have any tradesmen in the house, they invariably drink cups and cups of tea, invariably with 2 sugars and milk. Plasterers have a particularly sweet tooth for some reason. Apart from the last one, he was Albanian so would stop for a coffee from the garage en route...
This is quite an interesting table: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_tea_con-food-tea-consumptionPosted 3 months ago #
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