What is a nice tea to drink?

[jkasch]

This is proper tea:

Wife and I got back from London touring Tudor historical sites and some others a few weeks ago. A couple of historians/authors told us that Earl Grey was crap and said Yorkshire Gold was the one to get. Since I don't like or drink tea, I have no idea.

 

[Doodski]

The ones we really like are lemon ginger, orange ginger, raspberry mint, orange & turmeric

Now I'm interested. I tired of testing this and that with only a couple of choices at a time and so I ordered in ~$40 of various herbal tea bags and some mint tea which is always appreciated. I like the individually packaged pouches. They seem to last a long time, keep the bags fresh and ready.

 

[spacevector]

I got hyped after reading through this thread and ordered some supplies - an infuser basket by OXO and some loose leaf teas from Adagio. We already had an electric kettle.

All the teas we got are quite good - my favorites are Jade Oolong and Assam Melody. The White Darjeeling is very tasty stuff but as you can see quite pricey.

Adagio sent some free samples with our order but all had additions like cinnamon, rose, etc. I did not care much for these teas - I thought the fruity/spicy flavor took away from the tea.

We are becoming obsessed with tea and drink ~4-6 cups (8 oz) a day. Going to go through the recommendations in this thread after we run through our current supplies.

Thank you to the OP and others for this wonderful thread!

 

[Frank Dernie]

I got hyped after reading through this thread and ordered some supplies - an infuser basket by OXO and some loose leaf teas from Adagio. We already had an electric kettle.

All the teas we got are quite good - my favorites are Jade Oolong and Assam Melody. The White Darjeeling is very tasty stuff but as you can see quite pricey.

Adagio sent some free samples with our order but all had additions like cinnamon, rose, etc. I did not care much for these teas - I thought the fruity/spicy flavor took away from the tea.

We are becoming obsessed with tea and drink ~4-6 cups (8 oz) a day. Going to go through the recommendations in this thread after we run through our current supplies.

Thank you to the OP and others for this wonderful thread!

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I agree, I am not keen on fruit infusions, a lot don’t even include anything from the tea plant.
I have quite a few different teas in stock but nearly always drink a robust black tea - the nearest on your list would probably be Scottish breakfast though I am not familiar with Adagio’s blend.

 

[xaviescacs]

Sencha alone or sencha with other species and fruits. No sugar nor milk.

 

[sully45]

Summer time I like cold brew, especially greens. Jasmine green tea is a personal favorite. Harney has a good affordable Jasmine, and their Black Currant tea is good brewed this way too. While not technically tea, 'Fruit Blends' are also really good this way, recently had Indigo Tea's 'Red Fruit Tango' this year and was excellent. I can serve my kids those instead of juice if I think they are getting too much sugar.

Winter is time for hot tea. I like grassy senchas that time of year, and peppermint herbals. Earl grey is also good.

 

[mhardy6647]

The cool guys (and gals, and... well... others, this being 2022 and all) tend to refer to brewed beverages not made from Camellia sinensis as tisanes (or herbal infusions, if they're slightly less cool, but still cooler than the folks who'd call such things tea).

 

[A Cute Earring]

I highly recommend brewing in a t-sac filter bag as you don’t get any bottom-of-the-cup residue.

 

[JeffS7444]

Matcha's been a tricky one for me, and my impression to date has been that shelf life is especially brief, at least once the package has been unsealed. Initial impression of Ippodo's "Kuon" was of rich, almost buttery smoothness and a little bit sweet:
https://ippodotea.com/collections/matcha/products/kuon-eternity
But as it ages, the first thing to go is the sweetness. Size-wise, 20 grams is actually quite a bit for me, as I mostly drink matcha in the morning due to high caffeine content (you are drinking the entire tea leaf). But I don't recall ever feeling jittery from it.

Speaking of consuming the entire leaf, next time you brew a pot of gyokuro (shade-grown Japanese green), try eating the leaves afterwards, because they can be tender and tasty in their own right.

 

[Alexanderc]

I’m pretty new to tea and haven’t tried anything fancy yet, but one burning question: do you squeeze the liquid out of the tea bag into your cup before discarding?

(Edited for clarity)

 

[Jds81]

The cool guys (and gals, and... well... others, this being 2022 and all) tend to refer to brewed beverages not made from Camellia sinensis as tisanes (or herbal infusions, if they're slightly less cool, but still cooler than the folks who'd call such things tea).

All my cool points are from drinking tea...
Anyone have any spare cool points?

 

[BinkieHuckerback]

Tea with fish and chips. Otherwise coffee.

 

[Jds81]

I had a magnolia oolong that grew to be one of my favs, and I usually don't go for floral in my tea. Stash Tea in Portland had it, and some others. You can find their bagged tea, and tisanes, in many grocers in the US, but the real good stuff is their whole leaf, available online.

 

[JeffS7444]

I’m pretty new to tea and haven’t tried anything fancy yet, but one burning question: do you squeeze the liquid out of the tea bag into your cup before discarding?

I don't see the harm in it: The residual liquid contained in the tea bag should taste the same as what's in your cup, and who wants wet garbage?

 

[sully45]

I don't see the harm in it: The residual liquid contained in the tea bag should taste the same as what's in your cup, and who wants wet garbage?

My personal preference is no, I'm clumsy and would burn myself.

 

[Alexanderc]

I don't see the harm in it: The residual liquid contained in the tea bag should taste the same as what's in your cup, and who wants wet garbage?

I heard that it could be more bitter that way, but since this is a science forum….

 

[alpha67]

To OP as well to all of you, please try this and you won't regret it. All the herbs come from the Greek Island, Crete, from the mountains straight to the cup, just pure magic!

Karteraki (40 teabags) Saloustros Tea

Traditional blend of Cretan herbs 'Karteraki' for hot tea, slightly relaxing, ideal tonic for the stomach, perfect for any time of the day and all seasons.

www.mycretangoods.com

Enjoy.

 

[mhardy6647]

I don't see the harm in it: The residual liquid contained in the tea bag should taste the same as what's in your cup, and who wants wet garbage?

When I use tea in a bag, yes, I squeeze it out (FWIW).
We usually brew loose leaf teas in an old Chatsworth pot using a Chatsworth mesh infuser, though.

 

[Marc v E]

I heard that it could be more bitter that way, but since this is a science forum….

Well, the tea contained in tea bags is usually not the highest quality. If you want better it's almost always better to buy loose tea leaves. In fact, I've heard several times that the tea in tea bags is the leftovers of the tea leaves. Regarding your question I don't think it makes any difference but a slightly stronger tea.

Btw: if you want to get the most out of it you could either try to filter your water or try a better tea quality. (I do the latter as the first is effective but I always forget to buy filters)

 

[maverickronin]

In fact, I've heard several times that the tea in tea bags is the leftovers of the tea leaves

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.