What is a nice tea to drink?

[mhardy6647]

Serious question, for you or anyone else who might know.

Is there even enough loose leaf tea sold for the smaller bits in standard teabags to be the "leftovers"? Just looking at the relative quantities of each type sold in grocery stores this seems impossible.

(the following are very black tea-centric comments and observations, with apologies to those focused on other kinds of teas!)

Most store-bought bag tea is what's called "fannings grade" -- it' s essentially dust, ends, and pieces of tea leaves. It's not "used" or recycled in any sense, and it has one advantage of sorts... it steeps really fast. It is generally, at the least, considered inferior quality.
I use commercial bag teas occasionally (and usually use it for iced tea, which we DO enjoy in the summertime).
There are better commercial bag teas -- here is one that we actively like and always keep some on hand (FWIW).

Lifeboat Tea 80's

As well as caring for our farms we also care about the RNLI, having raised money for nearly 40 years for the charity through our ‘Lifeboat Tea’.

www.williamsontea.com

We buy it from Mark T. Wendell here in the US (FWIW):

Lifeboat Tea | English Breakfast Blend | Mark T. Wendell Tea Company

Lifeboat tea is a hearty English Breakfast blend of Kenyan teas. This rich breakfast tea is sourced from Williamson Teas’ Fair Trade Kenyan tea estates and sold on behalf of the world famous Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

marktwendell.com

The better (??) choice for serious tea drinkers may be to buy loose leaf teas, and also purchase 'bags' for steeping the tea separately -- simply "bag your own"
Here's an example (Finum), from my favorite "local" (US, New England) vendor.

Finum Loose Leaf Tea Filter Bags | Upton Tea Imports

Find high-quality, Finum disposable loose leaf tea filter bags at Upton Tea Imports. Free shipping on domestic orders $75+.

www.uptontea.com

There are also all sorts of single-cup strainers for steeping loose leaf teas.

Many drinkers of green teas steep the tea 'free range' in cups. Green and oolong teas are often amenable to multiple steepings, yielding different flavor profiles from steep to steep... but that's another story for later or elsewhere.

EDIT: Strictly for completenetss Here's a bulk version of a 'fannings-grade' tea blend. It's cheap I have tried this particular blend, and found it OK at best but utterly unremarkable (FWIW).

Black Label Breakfast Fannings | Upton Tea Imports

Black Label Breakfast Fannings

www.uptontea.com

 

[Marc v E]

Serious question, for you or anyone else who might know.

Is there even enough loose leaf tea sold for the smaller bits in standard teabags to be the "leftovers"? Just looking at the relative quantities of each type sold in grocery stores this seems impossible.

Yes. It's just the lowest quality available for which they charge a high price. Great business case for the manufacturers.

One of the evidence provided is by a consumer program that analysed the contents of the high priced, pyramid shaped bags from Lipton. The tea used was of the lowest quality. It contained small balls of sugar. I will check if I can find it and if English translation is available.

 

[maverickronin]

Most store-bought bag tea is what's called "fannings grade" -- it' s essentially dust, ends, and pieces of tea leaves. It's not "used" or recycled in any sense

So is that leftover bits from what gets sold as whole leaf, ground up form what could have been sold as whole leaf if it was left whole, or ground up from a grade that wouldn't have been sold as whole leave in the first place?

 

[JeffS7444]

Serious question, for you or anyone else who might know.

Is there even enough loose leaf tea sold for the smaller bits in standard teabags to be the "leftovers"? Just looking at the relative quantities of each type sold in grocery stores this seems impossible.

Tea destined for tea bags is generally going to be CTC ("Cut Tear Curl") processed, and dust is a useful byproduct:

 

[JeffS7444]

So is that leftover bits from what gets sold as whole leaf, ground up form what could have been sold as whole leaf if it was left whole, or ground up from a grade that wouldn't have been sold as whole leave in the first place?

Lots of tea is commodity-grade stuff which likely has it's greatest value as an ingredient, to be blended with other teas to make familiar supermarket brands. I've tried such tea by itself, and it was perfectly drinkable but unremarkable. As whole-leaf tea, it still would have been unremarkable, because there are other factors which determine the ultimate quality of a tea, such as the growing conditions.

 

[JeffS7444]

This is how a high-grade powdered tea (matcha) is made:

The leaves used to make matcha and gyokuro are from plants shielded from direct sun early in the growing season, and typically, only the fresh shoots ("two leaves and a bud") are used, and harvest time takes place only during a very short period in spring, during the so-called "first flush". Additional harvests may be done throughout the growing season, but those leaves exposed to more intense sun and hotter growing conditions will taste different, and will be used to create different sorts of tea.

If I were eating a heavily seasoned or oily meal, the subtle complexities of higher grade teas might be wasted on me, and here, a more assertive and astringent tea like sencha might be a better complement to the meal.

 

[Pretorious]

Call me whatever you’d like but I do love a strong, malty black tea. My fiancé and I recently tried this blend from Smith’s:

British Brunch Tea

Just found them and am pleasantly surprised. The tea itself is powerful, malty and delicious, and it’ll give you quite a jolt. One of the best ‘traditional’ style English black teas I’ve had.

 

[mhardy6647]

So is that leftover bits from what gets sold as whole leaf, ground up form what could have been sold as whole leaf if it was left whole, or ground up from a grade that wouldn't have been sold as whole leave in the first place?

I think it's the leftover bits from the leaf grading process.

Tea destined for tea bags is generally going to be CTC ("Cut Tear Curl") processed, and dust is a useful byproduct:

CTC tea itself is (can be) OK enough, and it's certainly cheap.

 

[raif71]

Nice tea to drink... the one that Dr Strange had in Khamar Taj

 

[spacevector]

Sorry in advance - I know the thread title is "tea to drink" but has anybody tried smoking tea?

Degenerate that I am, I mixed some spent oolong leaves with other stuff and rolled my mixture up. It wasn't pleasant.

 

[JeffS7444]

I've just tried my first cups of Yorkshire Gold, prepared as per instructions on box, save that at my altitude, water boils at 90 degrees C, not 100. Flavor wise w/o milk it seems alright, actually kind of similar to the inexpensive Wagh Bakri but with more body and a hint more astringency, but smooth and pleasant, if unremarkable. If there were any malty or muscat notes, I wasn't sensing them. Perhaps exactly what it's makers intended: A solid reliable cuppa with a hefty amount of caffeine, I think.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

Sorry in advance - I know the thread title is "tea to drink" but has anybody tried smoking tea?

Degenerate that I am, I mixed some spent oolong leaves with other stuff and rolled my mixture up. It wasn't pleasant.

No, I haven't smoked tea, but I like smoked tea (Lapsang Souchang); pun intended. Jim

 

[spacevector]

Tea obsession continues. I found a few vendors who I have ordered teas from:

High Mountain Oolong Tea from Taiwan

High Mountain Oolong Tea Direct from Taiwan

www.puretaiwantea.com

I have had all of them except the Lishan High Mountain - saving that one for a special occasion. All other teas have been excellent. The Jin Xuan and Golden Lily are quite similar to me so will stick to one in the future.

Current awaiting packages from https://www.farmer-leaf.com/ and https://www.harney.com/

I have never tried Chinese Puer or Japanese Sencha teas so quite excited for these.

Harney and Sons is currently running a sitewide 20% off promo for those interested - I have tried their Earl Grey and found it quite delicious!

 

[Doodski]

Tea obsession continues. I found a few vendors who I have ordered teas from:

High Mountain Oolong Tea from Taiwan

High Mountain Oolong Tea Direct from Taiwan

www.puretaiwantea.com

View attachment 237663
I have had all of them except the Lishan High Mountain - saving that one for a special occasion. All other teas have been excellent. The Jin Xuan and Golden Lily are quite similar to me so will stick to one in the future.

Current awaiting packages from https://www.farmer-leaf.com/ and https://www.harney.com/

I have never tried Chinese Puer or Japanese Sencha teas so quite excited for these.

Harney and Sons is currently running a sitewide 20% off promo for those interested - I have tried their Earl Grey and found it quite delicious!

View attachment 237664

View attachment 237665

That's a wonderful selection that you compiled. I have probably never tasted any of them but I can imagine some are sooper dooper.

 

[Djsedaw]

I like this one

 

[bt3]

Two small cups (one AM, one PM) of good quality Japanese Sencha suits me best.

 

[NiagaraPete]

I like vanilla bourbon.

 

[spacevector]

That's a wonderful selection that you compiled. I have probably never tasted any of them but I can imagine some are sooper dooper.

Have you tried some of the teas that were recommended in this thread? I blame you OP for my ongoing 'problems'. Kitchen cabinets are already overflowing a bit and my wife does not even know about the impending packages...

 

[Doodski]

Have you tried some of the teas that were recommended in this thread? I blame you OP for my ongoing 'problems'. Kitchen cabinets are already overflowing a bit and my wife does not even know about the impending packages...

I emptied the tea and stuff cupboard the other day to clean inside and it was stuffed with tea and sugar... I bought tea but I have not been drinking it much. Mostly going for the rye. It's not such a bad deal because I bought vacuum sealed tea in packages. It will last awhile.

 

[mhardy6647]

Drinkin' a very nice (and very unassuming*) Nilgiri even as I type this.

Iyerpadi Estate OP Organic | Upton Tea Imports

Iyerpadi Estate OP Organic

www.uptontea.com

Actually, the one I'm quaffin' is a BOP, but the BOP's apparently OOS at the mo'.

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* i.e., inexpensive cheap.