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At the risk of sounding incredibly ignorant... I am traveling with a Ziploc baggie of PG Tips that I packed at home in the US three weeks ago. Since I've been visiting family in the Emirates, I bought a new box of PG Tips upon arrival for drinking here. I worked my way through 40 tasty cuppas, then ran out last night. This morning, I didn't feel like heading to the market for a new box, so I dug into my Ziplog baggie of tea bags from home and brewed it the usual way. But something was definitely wrong with the flavor and aroma. How can I describe it? It tasted metallic, bitter, musty... smelled a little rusty and very faintly like raw egg. A little fishy, even, after the milk was added. Thinking it might be the milk, I tossed it and brewed another cup a few minutes later, adding fresh bottled milk this time: same thing. I am completely grossed out. The tea bags I packed were from a brand new box of tea that I had just opened at home. Are these the typical taste markers of tea that's way past its prime, or are my taste buds playing tricks on me? Thanks for any help figuring this one out.

Anyone have a good recipe for making a holiday spiced tea?

Since the tea people have been posting interesting shots of their wares, I though it would be interesting to see what everyone is using for coffee. Should be an interesting contrast, since I expect coffee brewing setups to be more industrial and high tech whereas tea brewing setups tend to lean artisanal and low tech -- for the fanatics, anyway. The must obvious comparison would be a tricked out espresso machine versus a yixing teapot. This contrast is not universally true, of course. I'm sure there are some high tech tea brewing setups, and some coffee lovers use a simple cone filter. But it seems more or less accurate in a general sort of way. Speaking of tricked out espresso setups, here is mine. Relatively humble compared to many other machines, but does the trick for me. On the left is a Rancilio doserless Rocky grinder. The machine is a Rancilio Silvia hacked with a dual-setpoint Watlow 96 PID controller that regulates both the brewing and steaming temperatures. This was fairly tricky to install, because you have to partially remove the front panel of the machine to gain access to the steam switch (you also have to remove the front and internal splashplates and the top and back panels, but that is not so tricky). Once installed, however, it's been sweet. All I have to do is turn on the steam switch like normal and the PID automatically kicks over to the higher setpoint for steaming. The other material modification I did on the machine is to replace the regular steam tip with a three-hole steam tip. As it so happens, I have three portafilters. Overkill, I know, but I acquired them at different times. In the machine is a bottomless portafilter with a La Marzocco triple basket inside. That's what I use pretty much all the time. Over on top of the knock box is a regular (with bottom) double spout Rancilio pro portafilter. I got this when I first bought the machine, because it was considerably heavier than the stock portafilter. This was back before people were doing the bottomless portafilter thing. Also on the knock box is the stock portafilter, retrofitted with a single spout. I really never use this for its intended purpose, and keep it mostly fitted with a blank insert for backflushing. On top are some Miscela D'Oro branded espresso and cappuccino cups. I have cups from a number of different brands, but I like the Miscela D'Oro ones the best because they are the thickest. Especially the espresso cups, which are the thickest I have ever found. Down on the tray are my tampers. On the right is the Ergo-Packer from Espresso Vivace (aka "old busted") and on the left is my new C-Ripple tamper from Reg Barber (aka "new hotness"). As you can see, the whole thing is on some Metro Shelving, and I store some sheet pans underneath. This is really convenient when it comes to cleanup, because I can just sweep away any coffee grinds and the fall through onto the sheet pan, where they are easily dumped into the sink. Who's next?

Ever since I PIDed my Silvia (including the steam temperature) I've had great steam power. But lately I've noticed that the microfoam isn't everything I'd like it to be. In particular, what I find is that the microfoam looks great until I swirl the stretched milk, at which point medium sized bubbles coalesce that are resistant to knocking out. We normally have 2% milk around the house. I've noted that this doesn't seem to be an issue when I use whole milk. Has anyone else noticed this sort of phenomenon?

A friend may be going to Korea early this year and has offered to bring back some Korean tea and tea-things for me. Anyone know anything about Korean teas and have suggestions?

Please tell us what you have learned that makes for better tea brewing. I'll kick it off with a few basics --- 1) Use the correct amount of leaf (leaf:water ratio) 2) Use the correct temperature for the type of tea leaf 3) Violate 2 & 3. That is, experiment with all the variables and see what pleases you. More later. What have you learned in making your tea?

By and large most of the black teas I drink are without any added flavorings - natural or otherwise. The Darjeelings and Assams from India, blacks from Ceylon and red teas from China (called black teas in the west) have all come from The Cultured Cup (TCC) over the years. I also have another Chinese red tea on the list for my next order from jingteashop.com. More recently, I have neen drinking a Keemun Mao Feng and a Dian Hong Imperial, both Chinese red teas and both from TCC (though I see the later is no longer listed on their website). What black or red teas do you enjoy? Do you have any suppliers you can recommend to us?

Several posts have raised the issue of tea bags vs using tea filters with loose leaf tea, including these: What's your preference and why?

I know that some people think the Brown Bettys are not only traditional and great, but brew tea better than other glazed ceramic teapots. If you use one how do you like it? Have you had any problem with a new Brown Betty crazing? I read on one web retailer's site that during the past year there has been a problem with new pots crazing when first used. They say it's rare but happens and it has not been noticeable in the past. They speculate that there has been a change in the manufacturing process, but don't know. I talked to a guy today who almost bought the company many years ago when it was up for sale. He knows quality pottery and seemed not sure that the crazing is a new problem, just something that can happen. What's your experience with these teapots? Recommend them?

There are some wonderful teapots in this thread! Does anyone have experiences - good or bad - with Freud brand teaware? I have fallen in serious like with this pot: Freud Tea Pot, but have only found overseas sources...

While I have been drinking more tea these days, I still have coffee first thing in the morning. And use an I-Roast 2 each week to keep supplied. Most of my green beans come from Sweet Maria's plus some from a local Dunn Brothers francisee. I like to buy only a pound or two of each of several green beans. That gives me enough of each to experiment with 150 g at a time, but keeps me from getting into a "favorite bean" rut. I would rather continue to explore than to go for a single type I like a lot. Of course one person's rut is another person's perfect cup of coffee. For me this week it's a cafe and a decafe. A Peru from Dunn Brothers. A Sumatra Lintong Nihuta KVW Decafe from Sweet Maria's. I like both, but like the Peru the best. All you home roasters - what are you roasting this week?

Let's see your teaware - cups, teapots and all types of tea-things from around the world. To start off, here are a few Yixing tea pots from Yixing China. Each pots gets dedicated to a specific tea or at least a narrow range of teas, such as Dan Cong Oolongs or Shu Pu-ehr. So, what do you use to brew and drink your tea?

While I have been drinking a few Senchas over the last few years, I have recently been interested in learning about other Japanese green teas. I had a Kukicha and two Machas last month at the T-Bar Club of The Cultured Cup last month and look forward to trying Gyokuro in particular. What Japanese Green teas have you tried? What are your experiences with vendors of Japanese Green teas in your local area or based in Japan? Do you have any you recommend?

I'll have to admit I hated Earl Gray tea until recently. I think that's because I almost always drink my tea without milk, cream or sugar. A month or two ago I finally tried an Earl Gray Imperial from The Cultured Cup with milk and liked it just fine. This was a quality Mariage Frères loose leaf tea, with a First Flush Darjeeling as a base tea and perfumed with bergamot oil from the rind of a Mediterranean citrus fruit. I got several steepings out of it. Unfortunately, many flavored teas are made with low quality tea leaf, which is covered up by whatever flavoring - natural or artificial - is used. These have an underlying bitterness (not the often desireable astringency of teas) and do worse after the first steeping. So what flavored black teas have you explored? Great, good, so-so, poor, really bad? What can you recommend to us?

I often have chamomille tea in the evening, a nice relaxing mug, but have not explored other herbal teas. What are your favorites? Can you describe them and your experience with their effects.

I am curious to see why people became tea drinkers and how they became interested in learning about tea. If you have a story, please share!

I've already paraded my baking dumbness over in the Baking 101 topic, and as I try to learn a bit about tea I'm going to do the same. I mean, really, just a few weeks ago I learned that most tea was fermented. Who knew?!? So let's use this topic to ask really stupid questions about tea. My first comes from reading this post by Richard Kilgore: After reading this, I felt like an American listing to a UK sports report on cricket. So here are a few introductory questions: 1. I see that most teas have recommended steeping temperatures, with some being "boiling water." Of course, by the time water hits the leaves, it's likely to be below 212F/100C immediately if not before. So when do I take the temperature of the water? Or is it a feel thing? 2. What's up with these second and third steepings? Are these for another cup later in the day, using the reserved leaves? And you increase the steeping time with the older leaves for pretty obvious reasons, yes? 3. Why rinse the leaves? I read that it's to reduce caffeine, which I don't need to do. Is it also to rinse off oxidation? Why would that be a good thing? Is it comparable to cheese rinds?

My fiance and I are in the process of building a wedding registry at Sur La Table - and we could really use some advice about espresso machines! Apologies in advance if this is a redundant question - I couldn't manage to uncover any answers in the coffee/tea thread... The question: Espresso I've had in Italy always seems much more concentrated (more flavor and MUCH less liquid) than 'espresso' in the US. I really prefer the Italian style - is achieving that as simple as just putting less water in the machine? Or do I need a machine that is specifically designed to produce that kind of espresso? If so, any particular brands? We're looking to stay in the <$800-or-so price range - this will be the most expensive item on our registry by far and we know that it will be an EXTREMELY generous gift - but we're hoping for a high-quality machine that we'll be able to enjoy for years to come! (Because after all, isn't good espresso an important part of a happy marriage? )

A couple of posts in the Coffee and Tea forum have raised the issue of the importance of water quality to getting the best cup. One by naftal and this by andiesenji. I use a simple Britta filter jug and also have started experimenting with bottled mineral water for my best teas, but am not far enough along to report on that yet. How important is the water you use to your coffee and tea brewing? What do you use to get the best out of your beans and leaves?

Greg emailed me the name of the market where he found this Ding Dong Oolong. It took me a while to find it -- three aisles of various teas and herbal/medicinal teas and it was tucked back in a hard to reach corner -- but persistance paid off. Now marked $7.99, and still a bargain. I also found one lonely tin of another tea that looked promising, but have not brewed it yet. Greg is right. This tea is worth looking for. ← Greg Glancy recently posted ( see above) in the What tea are you drinking today? topic about finding a drinkable Dong Ding Oolong in an Asian market. I tried his recommendation and agree it is okay - not a high quality Dong Ding, but okay and worth trying. Given a litle tea exploration courage by Greg's find, I have picked up three other teas that looked like they might have some potential and will report on them here as I can get to them. Has anyone else found a tea in an Asian market that you can recommend?

What do you use to store your teas and how well do they work? Which containers for which teas? Are the aesthetics of tea containsers important to you, or do you just want whatever will protect the teas from air, heat and light? I have been working to understand what different teas require in the way of storage and how well different storage containers work to provide the level of protection they need from their common enemies: air, heat and light. I have tried: - single lidded tins - single lidded tins with synthetic seal - double lidded tins with plastic inner lid - double lidded tins with tin inner lid - quart Mason jars - opaque zip lock bags - opaque stand-up zip lock bags - Yixing clay double lidded containers - porcelein containers with synthetic seal I'll post some pics and more about my impressions of these and how well they work, or how well I think they are likely to work, with what teas later. All of them have good and bad points to consider. How do you store your teas?

The new edition of The Great Tea Rooms of America by Bruce Richardson came out this summer. In this edition, he also included for the first time a section on The Great Tea Shops of America. (For a discussion of the Great Tea Rooms of America go here.) All lists are fodder for discussion, so what do you think of Bruce Richardson's list of the Great Tea Shops of America? Which ones have you been to or ordered from and what did you like or dislike about them. Any you think should have been included that he left off? Any on it that you think should have been left off? Great Tea Shops of America The Cultured Cup - Dallas, Texas The Perennial Tea Room - Seattle, Washington The Tea Cup - Seattle, Washington Tea Embassy - Austin, Texas Teance - Berkely, California Teaism - Washington, D.C. Tea Source - St. Paul, Minnesota

The new edition of The Great Tea Rooms of America by Bruce Richardson came out this summer. In this edition, he also included for the first time a section on The Great Tea Shops of America. (For a discussion of the Great Tea Shops of America go here.) All lists are fodder for discussion, so what do you think of Bruce Richardson's list of Great Tea Rooms of America? Which ones have you been to and what did you like or dislike about them. Any you think should have been included that he left off? Any on it that you think should have been left off? The Great Tea Rooms of America Alice's Tea Cup - New York, New York www.alicesteacup.com Butchart Gardens - Victoria, British Columbia www.buchartgardens.com Cliffside Inn -Newport, Rhode Island www.cliffsideinn.com Disney's Grand Floridian Resort - Lake Buena Vista, Florida www.disneyworld.com The Drake Hotel - Chicago, Illinois www.thedrakehotel.com Dunbar Tea Room - Sandwich, Massacheusetts www.dunbarteashop.com Dushhandbe Teahouse - Boulder, Colorado www.boulderteahouse.com The Fairmont Chateu Lake Louise - Lake Louise, Alberta The Fairmont.com/lakelouise The Fairmont Empress Hotel - Victoria, British Columbia www.fairmont.com/empress Grand American Hotel - Salt Lake City, Utah www.gradamerica.com Lady Mendell's The Inn at Irving Place - New York, New York www.innatIrving.com Miss Mabele's - Dickson, Tennessee www.missmable.com Queen Mary Tea Room - Seattle, Washington www.queenmarytea.com Rose Tree Cottage - Pasedena, California www.roseteacottage.com Samovar Tea Lounge - San Francisco, California www.samovartealounge.com St.James Tearoom - Albuquerque, New Mexico www.stjamestearoom.com The St. Regis Hotel - New York, New York www.stregis.com Tea Leaves & Thyme - Woodstock, Georgia www.tealeavesandthyme.com The Tea Room - Savannah, Georgia www.savannahtearoom.com Windsor Court Hotel - New Orleans, Lousiana www.windsorcourthotel.com

I understand that if a tea has begun to lose it's aroma and flavor that you can perk it up by a quick re-roast in the oven or in a small dedicated roaster available through a few sources like Hou De. Has anyone tried this? How well does it work?

This past Sunday's NY Times ran a big article about New York's coffee "renaissance," which is all well and good, but I have a concern and wondered how everyone else felt about this. My problem is that I can't seem to get a properly (to me, at least) drawn espresso or doppio at the cafes that I've been to. The shots are too short, not hot enough, and they're friggin' bitter, but not in a good espresso way. Some of these cafes are pulling ristrettos (triples even - seriously, who drinks a triple ristretto, 20 or more grams of coffee to make 1 ounce of "liquid?"), which I wouldn't mind if they were good ristrettos. The other day I was in one of the cafes mentioned in the article, and I asked for a double drawn a little long - I was told that it couldn't be done that way (so they've never heard of a lungo, a double drawn to about 2.5 ounces) , but the barista said he could pour two ristrettos into a cup...he did, it sucked. Last week my wife and I were at a fancy cafe, where I went to watch the barista make our doppios - everything was at the ready (the $15,000 espresso machine, the scale for tamping, the great beans, etc.); the barista actually pulled a shot or two first to get into the groove of pulling an espresso, then drew our two doppios - they sucked. My set-up at home is a PIDd Silvia/Rocky combo. I pull mainly Black Cat or Kid-O, both from Intellegentsia. My coffee hits the cup at around 172 degrees. I pull a 1.5 - 1. 75 ounce shot in 25 - 30 seconds, using 15 - 18 grams of coffee - depending on which basket I happen to have in my portafilter. The shots are delicious - the equal we've had anywhere in Italy on a number of trips (my point of reference). So, what's going on in all these fantastic cafes? Do the baristas really know what an espresso should taste like and how hot it should be,or are they pulling all their shots based on how they'll be in milk based drinks (my guess), when the temperature of the shot doesn't really matter. How can I get a decently pulled shot when I go to one of these cafes participating in the renaissance? That's what I want for my $3 - a true espresso, served hot; not something that's meant to be diluted with 5 ounces of steamed milk...it's also why I bought the Silvia and rarely have espresso outside of my kitchen.