Tea Appreciation Thread

[Daunting]

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

So, why'd ya start one 'bout tea?

Getting past Diet Coke, though, tea's pretty good. Part of a half-Japanese/Hawaiian culture family, so I've been drinking traditional green tea for a while, along with this ginger concoction from Ranch 99. I've also treid a few other varieties, though apart from this one peach kind (from Trader Joe's, I believe) most of the teas have been the same to me. But then...

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

...
must. find.

[IPadDoodler]

My sister asks to send her love to this thread.
We literally drink tea every day. It's normal for us. We know a great place down on Sacramento. Its called Tea Cozy, and it has lots of delicious tea!

[BRPXQZME]

You know a forum that is not about tea is pretty good when a thread about tea gets to three pages in three-ish days.

[AnatidaeCollector]

I wish my town had a cute indie tea shop. The closest thing we have is the chain store in the mall, and that doesn't have a cozy sitting area or anything, and there's an old-fashioned tea house a few towns over, but that's more for buying tea by the cup.

[trilbyulatingDungeoneer]

Oh man tea. this is the best thread.

I love a regular black tea, but my other favourites are Assam, Lady Grey, and a very peculiar orange and vanilla blend I found one time. ^^ Lately I haven't had much milk, but I've been adding honey to regular black tea, and it's just delicious. Honey tea and biscuits are all I've eaten today. ;D

that's not a bad thing, it's only twelve past nine in the morning here. :B

[BRPXQZME]

The local mall (Fair Oaks) has a Teavana where I would like to sample some fancier teas, but it’s too expensive, I’m too poor, and apparently the service sucks enough for several Yelpers to yelp about it.

[AnatidaeCollector]

Teavana tea is pricy, but for like, 7 dollars of tea, you can get around 30-40 cups, so it really goes a long way.
But then again, the service at the one in my local mall is pretty good. I chatted with one of the baristas about roller derby once and he gave me a free cup of tea for making a purchase. It was pretty awesome.

[BRPXQZME]

Hey now, if I could get a summer job there or something, that would be perfect.

Except, of course, if anyone asked me any questions harder than “is tea good”.

[AnatidaeCollector]

I was going to work there, but you have to be 18 for some reason. Which really sucks.

[BRPXQZME]

At least what they told me at Office Depot is that by working at the place you are being trusted, however indirectly, with basically all the assets, even if you can’t ever get near it. You have to be a legal adult for them to hold you legally responsible for lots of stuff.

(of course, even at an office supply store there are things that aren’t legal to sell to unaccompanied minors around here, like compressed air)

[IPadDoodler]

Teavana's teas are... way too sweet for me. I like non flavored teas, especially ones good with milk, so like Irish Breakfast and English Breakfast. I also drink barley tea and corn tea.

[sirbuttsalot]

green tea.
say what you want but it is delicious.
i drink it all the time; day, night, 5:30 am, whenever i can.

[AnatidaeCollector]

@BRPXQZME: True, but other places allow minors to work there. Similar places, at that, like Dunkin Donuts. Maybe Teavana just has a weird amount of problems with hiring minors or something? Also, maybe because it seems their salespeople work on commission, that could be part of it?
@iPad: Understandable. I like my teas sweet. Corn tea sounds... odd.
@butts: I'm not a huge green tea fan. Too savory. And bottled green tea is too tart- they always seem to add an annoying amount of citric acid.

[Andanism]

The only tea I ever drink is chamomile, and peppermint.
Peppermint just tastes good, and chamomile helps with my allergies.
It doesn't seem like much, but aside from Cream Soda, you'll rarely see me drinking anything else.

I drink a lot of peppermint tea...

[sirbuttsalot]

See, thats why I never drink tea from companies that mass produce it and then bottle/can it.I've tried one of those before, and it tasted as if it was carbonated. Tea is most definitely NOT carbonated. That is why I only make it traditional Japanese style, no sugar, no nothing. Just natural. Though, some people say it tastes bitter.

[Raynoson]

Any tea really is good for me, though a spot in my heart for homemade lemon, mint, and honey. That is each and every part comes from the heart and hearth, rather then a shop or factory to start.

[BRPXQZME]

@BRPXQZME: True, but other places allow minors to work there. Similar places, at that, like Dunkin Donuts. Maybe Teavana just has a weird amount of problems with hiring minors or something? Also, maybe because it seems their salespeople work on commission, that could be part of it?

Well, the size of the company and the hiring environment probably also matter. Yes, hiring younger is riskier. Ultimately, it might just be a business decision or a company-wide policy that stems from something relevant in some places but not others.

But some locations really have only one or two people there and they would have trouble opening shop that way!

Though on looking at their business practices, well, I could never sell on commission and the “hard sell” technique apparently employed at most of their locations puts me off when I’m buying. C’est la vie. At least you get to try out stuff you’re unfamiliar with. And it smells better than the tobacconist’s :S

See, thats why I never drink tea from companies that mass produce it and then bottle/can it.I've tried one of those before, and it tasted as if it was carbonated. Tea is most definitely NOT carbonated. That is why I only make it traditional Japanese style, no sugar, no nothing. Just natural. Though, some people say it tastes bitter.

I like me some unsweetened green tea. But I also like me some green tea ice cream. That stuff is dangerously addictive.

[sillySpindle]

What is the tea that they have in chinese resturants? In the tiny bowl shaped cups?
I had that the other day in a chinese resturant.
It was like regular tea but with this other extra flavour in addition to the regular tea taste.

I'm still not sure if I like tea yet, but it is growing on me.
I came home from a gig last night (possibly early this morning) and had a cup of tea and it was actually wonderful, so maybe I do like tea.

[BRPXQZME]

Probably oolong, but that’s not the only kind of tea a Chinese restaurant might serve.

[Akazani]

Assam man right here.

There's a really nice teashop on the sea front where I live, 150 odd types of teaaaa it is amazing (if slightly expensive).

[AnatidaeCollector]

I was offered free tea by a local sushi place because they recognized me as one of their regular customers. AWWWWWWWW YEAAAAAAAAAA.
But it was green tea, so I politely declined.

[ArmedRaptor]

I absolutely adore Tea, both the usual strong kind with lots of milk and chinese Green Tea, I usually drink Green Tea when reading a book or studying as it usually helps me concentrate.

[sillySpindle]

Probably oolong, but that’s not the only kind of tea a Chinese restaurant might serve.

I thought Oolong was a Dragonball character?
What other types of tea do they serve? Like I don't remember even asking for the tea it was just there... pretty weird. Unless my friends ordered it which is possible. I am pretty not observant at all.

I think I might want some tea now. I am becoming a tea person. It is me.

[sirbuttsalot]

Hmm, one time I had blueberry tea. It tasted just like a blueberry muffin though.

[BRPXQZME]

I thought Oolong was a Dragonball character?

Yes... that too. Considering he is joined by a bunch of people named after food and undergarments and such, it should not be a surprise that he is named after something else, too.

What other types of tea do they serve? Like I don't remember even asking for the tea it was just there... pretty weird. Unless my friends ordered it which is possible. I am pretty not observant at all.

I think I might want some tea now. I am becoming a tea person. It is me.

Some restaurants serve jasmine tea.

But the way you described it sounds like oolong.