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Tastes in teas - just like tastes in wine, cocktails, pastry and just about anything else culinary - vary widely. A recent post in the "What teas are you drinking today" topic had me thinking about this overnight: I did not care for a particular tea hot, but then tried it iced and liked it a lot. But over the long haul it has been Earl Gray - just too much bergamont in my face. (Add to that a lot of Scented and flavored teas.) However, I have found blends that are not a traditional Earl Gray with less bergamont in them that I enjoy. Any that are "just not your cup of tea"? Any that you did not like at first, but developed a taste for later?

It's not that unusual for a tea to go stale if it is old. My understanding is that you probably need to re-roast many teas if you keep them more than a year. Teas that are purposefully aged are re-roasted annually. Interestingly this came up with an aged tgy that I got from Greg at Norbutea.com a few months ago. I contacted Greg and told him the vacuum sealed package I got was off when I opened it and asked if this was a general problem or if I just happened to get the bottom of the bulk dregs. He was really surprised because he had opened a couple of packages when he received the shipment and it was fine. But he opened a couple more and they were off, too. So he emptied all the vacuum packs, re-roasted all of it, gave me a replacement and offered to re-roast my first batch. Greg has a cool little tea roaster made of bamboo. You can get these from several tea merchants - Hou de and Yunnan Sourcing both carry them I believe. Less than $100. It looks similar to a stack of those bamboo steamers, and has a low-power heating element in the bottom. You can re-roast in the oven also if you are careful. So I may try the oven. Trickier than the bamboo roaster and makes me a little nervous. Has anyone else re-roasted in the oven? What temp and time did you use? Did you put it on a half-sheet covered with aluminum foil or something else? Leave it on the sheet to cool or dump it?

Hoping that someone here can direct me. I was visiting a tea factory once and in their lab/tasting room they had these very specialized cups. The cups were porcelain with lids but had comb-like tines on the rim - allowing one to steep the tea then pour it out using the lid and the tines to strain the leaves from the liquid. I'd like to order a bunch for myself but don't know how or where to source them. Any leads? Thanks!

eG Society member Kyle Stewart at The Cultured Cup is contributing three Japanese green teas for tastings here in the Coffee & Tea forum. The first is a Kukicha Fukamushi. In the interest of having tasting discussions about more teas this year while holding down my cost of shipping samples, I am now asking participating tea merchants to supply samples for three members plus me. So Kyle has provided three samples of 10 grams each that I will mail to the three eG Society members participating in this tasting. While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least five substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight (EDST) Tuesday to those who have not yet participated in either of the three previous tastings. As always, everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion. So, please PM me if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion. Here is some background information on Kukicha Fukamushi. As I have mentioned in other topics, I have known Kyle Stewart for some time now, having bought tea from his shop for many years, at least 10 years I believe it is. And for the past three years or so Kyle has been instrumental to my tea education through the T-Bar Club at The Cultured Cup. I have had many pleasant times with Kyle and his staff, trading teas and sharing new tea discoveries. More than just a tea merchant I happen to buy tea from, Kyle is a culinary friend as well as a tea friend - the wonderful tea pairings at Sharon Hage's York Street restaurant and a shared interest in Thai food with dinner at Thai-riffic. Kyle attended the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas recently and completed his three years of training with the Speciality Tea Institute to become the first certified tea specialist in Texas.

Last night we had dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant in Toronto and enjoyed lemongrass tea with our meal. The owner of the restaurant assured us that they brew the tea themselves (ie it's not a reconstituted product). It was a bit sweet and wonderfully redolent of lemongrass. So how does one brew lemongrass tea? Is it the fresh herb, dried, frozen? And what do you suppose the sweetener would be?

In the search for my ideal Orange Pekoe I've picked up a box of tea from Lee Valley. It's a nice tea, kind of leathery and a bit smoky - not what I'm looking for for my daily cuppa - but I realize it would make a great base for chai. I'm pretty sure that I'll put green cardamon pods in there and probably some black peppercorns, maybe some saigon cinnamon - but I'm curious to know what folks like as their spice blend in chai. Do you grind, crush or just mix the whole spices together with the tea?

Some of you may recall my plight a while back when my favorite orange pekoe was discontinued. Thanks to a number of eG'ers who were kind enough to pick up boxes for me, and with the help of Beth Wilson (an eG'er who lives up north) - the Ontario Provincial Police were dispatched to various small communities to fetch any last boxes remaining - I have been supplied until now. But a crisis looms - I'm down to my last 4 boxes! So I need help finding a new brand. I used to drink Tetley - but my favorite President's Choice brand was a cut above. I understand from reading on the Upton tea website that orange pekoe isn't actually a type of tea (like Darjeeling) - instead it is actually a measure of leaf size. So that makes my search even more difficult I expect. What I would like to find is a nice strong, but not bitter tea - the classic english cuppa - somewhat sweet and floral. I've tried Red Rose, PG Tips, the replacement President's Choice Orange pekoe - none of them do it for me. I'm willing to use loose tea if necessary - although I'd prefer sticking to bags if possible (that way a nice hot pot is waiting for me when I get home from work - not likely to happen with loose tea). Let's hear it - what is your favorite orange pekoe? Help me find an excellent replacement for my soon to be depleted President's Choice.

Although I started out learning gongfu style brewing with Yixing tea pots, I don't recommend that to my friends. If I knew then what I know now, I would have started with a Gaiwan - the traditional porcelain Chinese tea bowl with a saucer and a lid. The complexities of the effect of the many clays and shapes used for Yixing pots make things more difficult than they need to be for learning gongfu style, and have clear advantages in trying new teas. Since the porcelain does not absorb tea oils, it does not add anything from your previous teas into the one you are drinking now. Since you do not have to factor in whether it is a clay that absorbs aroma or not, you have a constant in your brewing rather than the complexities inheirent in using a Yixing clay teapot. And it is much easier to see what the tea leaves are doing and what the tea liquor looks like during the process. I think that for a first gaiwan, one in the 100 - 120 ml size is about right for one or two people. There are some subtle (and not so subtle) differences in design and material, but any inexpensive gaiwan in that size range is a good start. Have you tried using a gaiwan? If so, what has your experience been?

The spring tea harvest season is upon us in tea regions around the world. What teas are you looking forward to drinking this year? Are they your old standbys or are you exploring new ones?

This is the third tea tasting of 2009 thanks to eGullet Society member Greg Glancy of Norbutea.com. This time around we will be tasting and discussing a 2008 shu (ripe) pu-erh, a classic 7572 recipe from Menghai Tea Factory in China. The samples were taken from a 357 gram beeng. Greg has provided five samples of 10 grams each that I will mail to the five eG Society members participating in this tasting. While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least five substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight next Tuesday to those who did not participate in either of the two previous tastings of TGY Oolong and Imperial Dian Hong. Everyone is welcome to participate in the discussion, of course. So, please PM me if you would like to receive one of the the free samples and participate in the tasting and discussion. Here is some background information on this Menghai shu pu-ehr from Norbutea.com. (Copyright Norbutea. Used with permission.)

Recently a co-worker of mine and I got into a discussion about "cream tea" and "afternoon tea', and the types of teas that go best for each occasion. He thought that for cream tea, where the tea is usually accompanied by scones or cakes, a strong tea like Assam matched well and cut through the sweetness. Do you take afternoon tea, and what thoughts do you have on matching the food to the tea?

Another matter to keep in mind when tea shopping: 4 ounces of loose tea will brew 40 to 50 cups on average (this is Western style, one infusion). Do the math; tea can cost considerably MORE per pound than coffee, but less per cup! From the TeaSource.com website: "Tea is the most affordable luxury in the world. But at first glance it may seem expensive. A tea that costs $100.00 per pound only costs 50 cents per cup when brewed. A pound of tea will typically yield 200 cups (vs. 40-50 cups from a pound of coffee). Also, many of the teas in our collection will yield as many as 4-6 infusions from the same leaves (particularly oolongs and greens). For many teas, those later infusions yield the most interesting flavors. Since most of the caffeine is released in the first infusion, this is also a way to reduce the caffeine content."

I am an everyday tea drinker. I came to the US 20 years ago, and gave up tea for coffeefor many years because it was too hard to find tea that didn't taste like vegetable water. My budget is basically very very low. I am laid off at the moment and trying to keep costs down. But here is what i drink, and my strategy for maximum tea, minimum budget. from the Indian Store: Brook Bond ( I think) Green Label. Green Label is Darjeeling. No flushes mentioned, but as long as it is made properly, makes a great cup of tea, for my taste. Tetley Massala Chai bags, decent but not fabulous. For real masala chai i get CTC tea, i like Taj Mahal, and boil it up with cardamom, ginger and pepper. from China Town: Keemun in a little orange tin oolong in a pretty tin (this is not good oolong, but it brews up fine for a quick cup of tea.) I also have some lychee tea in a lovely pink tin, its pretty disgusting, but it was $2 and the tin is cute. On Top of this i have the ends of a bag of Lapsang souchong, this si my favorite and I ration it out. When i get really broke i mix it with assam or something of that nature. I have a little bag of golden tippy assam also from the tea shop. its ok but not worth the money Also i have a box of barry's tea bag, irish brekfast and gold blend, because they taste like home. I always drink my tea with milk, so my choices reflect this. I only put sugar in Massala Chai, but i find that needs it. so there... there are my teas. Cheap and very basic.

Hello tea lovers, I'm new to the tea forum, having recently stepped forward to learn more deeply the fine points of tea beverages. I just received a very nice tea samples from Anupa at Silver Tips Tea, as recommended in this forum by Gautam. I don't mind making a cup or two at a time while learning and studying a specific tea, appreciating it's unique color, aroma, and taste. After trying a few variations in steep time, tea to water ratios, and additional infusions, I can get an adequate idea of what works and if I like it and if I do, I just want to brew up a thermos full and draw out of it for the next few hours. No more fussing with water, boiling, strainers, etc. I did not see much howling about doing this in the forum, so none of you do this or it is not a big deal or or or. As long as I keep the cap tightened it seems not much aroma would be lost. If all the tea leaves are carefully strained out during the decant to the thermos, color and flavor changes would not occur. Very small particulate would get into the pot such as the powder in some Japanese green tea but the majority of teas would strain out completely. This topic is not about the fine art and etiquette of formal tea preparation or serving as pouring a pot of freshly brewed tea into a thermos jug would I'm certain constitute a sin, rather just a practical way to lessen the time spent preparing (fiddling) tea to drink throughout the day. When preparing an amount such as a litre, is there much practical difference in taste and aroma between using a quantity of tea leaves so a single infusion produces the desired amount in the least amount of time and assuming the tea can take a second infusion, using half the amount of leaves, brewing half the desired amount of tea and pouring into thermos, followed by a second infusion producing the remaining half? Thanks

This is the second tea tasting of 2009 thanks to eGullet Society member Greg Glancy of Norbutea.com. This time we will be tasting and discussing an Imperial Dian Hong -- a Chinese red tea. Greg has provided five samples of 10 grams each that I will mail to the five eG Society members participating in this tasting. While the tasting is open to all members who have posted at least five substantive posts in the Coffee and Tea forum, preference will be given until midnight next Monday to those who did not participate in the last tasting of TGY Oolong. Please PM me if you would like to participate in the tasting and discussion. Here is some background information on Imperial Dian Hong from Norbutea.com. (Copyright Norbutea. Used with permission.)

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?

can someone help in description of teas==

I'm putting together a gift basket for a couple of people who enjoy cheese. I took my first trip to a real cheese shop last night, and spent over an hour tasting cheeses to get the right ones. I ended up getting five different, strong cheeses: - Cashel Blue - Trou du Cru - L'Ami du Chambertin (tastes like shellfish) - Leyden - Carré du Berry - sweet, with golden raisins instead of herbs Now I'm thinking that, in addition to the cheeses, crackers, and other accompaniments, it would be nice to get some coffee that would go well with the cheese. These people aren't wine drinkers, and they also enjoy having a breakfast of cheese on bread or bagels, with the usual morning coffee on the side. I'm considering searching out a couple varieties of coffee that would go well with some of the cheeses. Is this something I can pull off? Can I find coffee to pair with those cheeses? Any other ideas for accompaniments or pairings are certainly welcome.

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?

Lapsang souchong was always my favorite tea. i drank it growing up and for years afterwards. Usually the Twinings in the purple box. It was always a mighty tea. It reminded me of an island scotch, the way it was so robust, and the way that people who didn't share my tastes would smell it from across the room, and then leave the room. But over the last few years, the lapsang i've had, especially the twinings (but to a lesser degree Taylors) has started tasting insipid. Like a watered down shadow of its old self. I've had a couple of cups of loose leaf lapsang that tasted better, but nothing as good as what I remember. Have I just developed some kind of tolerance, or has anyone else noticed this?

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!

Over on the Tea 101 topic the issue of measuring water, leaf and timing has come up. My impression is that the tea world is roughly divided into those who are inclined to measure and those who are inclined to wing it. Much like the baseball fan world tends to be divided into those who are most concerned with the stats and those who are most concerned with the human dynamics. Personally, I tend toward winging it, especially when it comes to weighing the amount of leaf. But I have found that I can be way off with estimating the amount of leaf needed. One teaspoon full of a CTC leaf is a lot different than one of a wiry Indian leaf or a large Oolong leaf. So I finally broke down and bought a small pocket scale that weighs to one-tenth of a gram. And it has definitely helped with the learning curve for new teas. With inexpensive teas and ones I know I can replace easily, I often still wing it, but for teas that are hard to find or expensive it is more than helpful. I do use a timer (or count off the seconds with Puerh and Oolongs brewed gongfu style). Although I use a thermometer to check the water temp, I now know my water kettle well enough that I can tell the temp within a few degrees by sight and sound...but only about 75 - 85 % of the time. How about everyone else? Do you tend to wing it, or measure?