Tea Appreciation Thread

[Carboload]

Best tea I ever had was called Valentines. It was strawberry and chocolate .

[AnatidaeCollector]

Mint and chamomile teas.

Green tea is also made of excellence.

I got a thing at a Chinese restaurant once called "flower tea", and sure enough when I looked in the pot there were flowers steeping, but I never figured out what they were the flowers of and I've never gotten that tea again. :< Which is a pity, because it was great tea.

That sounds cool. I've had what they call "blooming white tea", which is pretty much white tea leaves and bits of herbs and dried fruit tied together in what appears to be a flower shape, and you put that in your kettle and it "blooms" into a fuller flower, and can be used again and again. It tasted great, and it was fucking gorgeous.

[clockworkWyvern]

Oh gosh, I love tea. I had this one cup of tea once, and I'm not entirely sure what brand it was, but it was some sort of Egyptian Spice blend. It tasted like ginger root, nutmeg, and a tad bit of cinnamon mixed in with a small amount of milk. One of the most relaxing brews I've ever had.

[Wycca]

Being from the south I practically live on sweet tea. especially what my dad calls sun tea in the summer. basically all you do is take a gallon of water put in a few tea bags. (I like to use four family sized ones) and leave it out in the sun all day. When it's done you add the sugar and enjoy. I don't know what it is but that just makes it taste better than anything.

I only recently got into hot tea and I have fell in love with green tea. Especially this one pomegrante green tea that I can't remember who makes it. That and lemon herbal teas. I'd love to try those 'blooming teas' you guys are talking about they sound really good.

[TheEmptypot]

Oh my goodness, pomegranate? That sounds amazing!

Do you guys drink tea outta mugs, or do you go all out with the tea cups and stuff?

[AnatidaeCollector]

Sounds like some sort of chai.^ Chai usually is made from those spices, is served with milk, and is hella relaxing.
I have some sort of Egyptian licorice tea lying around. It has a slight grassy flavor to it- I can't really say I'm a huge fan.

[BRPXQZME]

Why am I out of Prince of Wales? This is horrible. It must be corrected.

[PaladinFoster]

PaladinFoster

Whoa, and my dad says that I put too much sugar in my tea! Sounds really good though!! I've never had sweet tea, maybe if I can find some I can try it.
It's supposed to cold when you drink it if I understand correctly?

Ah I see. The only kind of mint tea I've had tasted like toothpaste unfortunately, but that's what I get for buying it at a coffee shop. :I
I do have this one sample of mint tea in my room that I've been too afraid to open. It definitely smells good but I'm not sure if it tastes good yet!

That sounds intense!
Then again I don't think I've ever had a gallon of tea.
Do you brew it in a giant container? Like you would with like...home made lemonade?

Oh boy, I love giving this speech(not sarcasm).

Southern sweet tea is kind of like, but different from, all other forms of tea. Instead of being brewed within minutes of consumption, sweet tea is usually made hours before considering that it must be chilled to ice-cold temperatures. It is usually made in quantities ranging from 1 quart to several gallons as it is intended the highly-interactive Southern society. Neighbors come over, you serve them a glass of sweet tea. It's high sugar content is where it gets it's name from, and the sugar is added during the brewing process. When you brew it, you usually intend the batch to last the week. It is a drink intended to refresh a person after spending time working in the intense Southern heat. It is usually served in tall glasses with lots of ice cubes in it, often garnished with lemon slices or mint leaves. Basically, it's a symbol of Southern culture, right up there with NASCAR and banjo music.

[ArmsAreLoud]

Tea is for throwing off of boats

AMERICA!!

[sporb]

Tea is by far the coolest drink ever I have never encountered such a drink so perfect. My favorite flavor I would have to say is peach Mango, really peach mango anything is boss.

[Nimz]

I seem to recall seeing a thread a few months back that talked about teas. Distinguished between teas and infusions and other tea-snobby stuff. I can't find it, so it must have never existed. Never mind.

I've tried several kinds of teas, from chais to earl grey to mango black tea to green tea to arnold palmers to sun tea... loose leaf, bagged, powdered... so I've been around the tea block maybe once or twice. I've got a sweet tooth, but I don't mind a good smack of bitter. I'll take tea with or without sugar, though usually without. Same with coffee - strong black coffee is fine, though I enjoy half and half with milk as well.

I don't know that I have a favourite flavour or blend or whatnot. I'm too casual of a tea drinker and I like too many uncarbonated beverages to be able to come up with a numero uno. All I can really say on that is I prefer unsweetened to syrup.

[Basil]

I'm more or less apathetic to tea, seeing as how my parents practically tried to force me to drink it as a wee child. Also seeing as how they act like stereotypical Asian parents by keeping a cabinet of tea AT ALL TIMES, it is pretty much overflowing with tea leaves and bags and such (golly the aroma can knock out a horse), but I digress.

I can't really stomach the non-sweet teas besides Green and Jade tea. All I drink are fruity things like pomegranate-mango blend which is like a magical unicorn fell into your mouth, had a pillow fight with some elves, and absconded to your stomach on a rainbow. Also gallons and gallons of sweet tea.

Also apparently I hold my teacups strangely? What are you's guys thought on proper teacup etiquette?

[Wessolf27]

I love tea, it's something I grew up with, and I find it really relaxing since a lot of the food we eat can be somewhat overpowering. Though some herbal tea is a bit weird. My mother would usually steep chrysanthemum flowers whenever I got sick, it's not bad, but the sour-bitter-something taste is a bit overwhelming. I tried some spice tea once as well... though that didn't work out as I hoped it would.

Anyone here tried milk tea before? It's awesome, especially with the tapioca pearls. Mint tea is just as awesome, kinda tried making a lemon-mint-strawberry ice tea once, it was nice.

EDIT: Also, on proper teacup etiquette well this is an oriental teacup right? I guess you just hold it however though if you want to hold it with both hands, I guess you kinda put the base of the cup on your palm, kinda cradling it. It's not exactly the most proper thing I guess, but it's very calming

[hiltti]

I love tea! Chai is probably my favourite, but the house staple seems to be jasmine green tea, yum. I'm just glad that my parents outgrew the foul brown flavour of Tetley when I was younger. :/

[Softspoken]

I just recently started drinking tea, so I am limited to three low-quality flavours so far. An apple-cinnamon (quite good), peach, and peppermint. A spoonful of sugar to a cup of peppermint and the peach tea, nothing in the apple-cinnamon. It's just nice to have a drink that tastes like something and is kind of warm. With all the praise for Chai around here, I'll have to acquire some.

On teacup ettiquette: Right now I don't have proper teacups, and I don't drink tea publicly anyways, but here's my guess on what you should do in high society: hold the cup with your dominant hand, holding the saucer (if the location is fancy enough to provide those little saucers) with the other. As long as you are going to be drinking tea soon, hold your saucer at about chest height, gently holding the cup to stabilize it. Leave the cup resting on the saucer unless you are taking a sip. Don't slurp, and don't stick out your pinky*. If you feel satisfied and won't take a drink soon, place the cup + saucer combo back onto the table with both hands.

*Someone told me once that sticking your pinky finger out was a way of implying dislike of the conversation or tea. I have no idea if it's true or not, but I figure you should hold the cup like you want it, and securely. Leaving out a finger seems careless.

... I can't believe I wrote that much about teacup ettiquette. I have no idea what I am doing you guys don't listen!!!

[Carboload]

That's it! Now I need to go buy a bunch of tea. I'm thinking....chai.

[Walliard]

I tried chai once and didn't really like it. Maybe my mom didn't make it well, but it just tasted sweet in the wrong ways.

Normally I like things sweet, but I can't stand sugar in tea unless I'm also adding milk. So it's usually milk+sugar for orange pekoe, honey for green, and nothing for most herbal teas.

[sporb]

It almost seems unethical to put too much sugar in tea, like you're breaking some kind of unwritten rule of tea. Same thing with coffee I don't know why I feel this way about it.

[Walliard]

Yeah, I tend to keep sugar to a minimum.

All bets are off with coffee though, no rules there.

[pirrou]

I like iced tea to be practically hummingbird food, but sugar in hot tea isn't that great because it makes my brain and mouth expect it to be coffee, or something.

[ReaperOfFlames]

This place needs a thread dedicated to the beverage of the gods.

Thank you kindly for this statement, I doubt many could find a way to introduce a thread better, especially considering just how true those words are~

I find that starting off my day without a cup of tea is an ill advised idea, as it leaves me feeling less than agreeable with people, so I try to make a habit of remembering that particular step in the morning. I myself am partial to either Mint or Peppermint Tea as I find them highly relaxing, though there is the rare occasion where I can treat myself to Mint Chocolate~ Those days always tend to be my better ones~

[PaladinFoster]

So much love for Chai tea, I should probably try it sometime.

Opinions on coffee:

I usually take it with cream and sugar, vanilla if I can get it. However I do sometimes take it black if I'm eating something with it. Like Moravian sugar cake. Some hot sugar cake and black coffee is like a sweet taste orgy in your mouth.

[Draga]

As an Englishman, I am very quite fond of tea. English Breakfast, strong and milky with 3 sugars =3

[Karhs12]

Iced tea is great, and I've only had one variety of hot tea so I'm not really qualified to have an opinion on it, but when I took a sip of it, it suddenly was on the table and my sister instead of in my mouth and I have no idea how.
Of course, this was years ago, so I should probably give it another chance at some point.

[MetaphysicalMaestro]

I've been a tea drinker since my youth; everyone else in my family drinks strong coffee, but I could never stand it. While I try to stick to Tazo teas, I tend to favor most varieties breakfast teas (be it Irish, Scottish, or English), Earl Grey, and any sort of Mint Tea.

I also like Red Rooibos tea, but it's technically an herbal drink, not a tea...