Your Favorite Teas

[jpr54_]

what types of suggestions would you like?

i used to drink 3-4 cups of coffee a day-

now i drink primarily tea with an ocassional cup of coffee-

why not try different types of teas-oolong instead of black,etc. or

brewing your tea without a teabag-loose tea,water and teapot -

[Ted Task]

A merchant from whom I used to buy Fortnum & Mason teas told me last month that F&M are no longer distributing their wares through other vendors, & will be selling them directly in the US henceforth.

The implication was that, sooner or later, there'd be a US website.

Now, teas, one of my favorite subjects........

I gave up coffee about 25 years ago but have remained a diehard black tea drinker. Rarely go for flavored/spiced/herbal teas.

These days, most of my teas come from Upton. Someone mentioned them above. They have a great website and a consistently superb quality. I generally have 5 or 6 of their Assams around for my morning tea, & a selection of Ceylons & Darjeelings & other teas from that general area for the afternoon.

I drank a lot of Chinese teas for nigh on 20 years but then for some reason lost my taste for them. Have yet to figure out why. Maybe my tastes have simply become less subtle with age, I don't know.

Now, we could have a lengthy discussion of which Assam gardens are the best, & whether a Ceylon Uva is superior to a Kandy, & so on. But I fear this would bore most folks to tears, so I'll stop. For now.

Must admit, never knew Assam until turned on to it by consierge at the Hyatt in Melbourn...Now, I've got to go exploring. Who knew that there were so many variations? Thanks

[psychobombshell]

My favourite tea is a simple one, Good Earth's sweet & Spicy original blend....it is so perfectly sweet on its own, no need for milk or sugar..and you can use the same bag at least 3 times.. mmm

I used to be addicted to this hawaiian fruit tea whose name is escaping me.. it was red when brewed and had a like a hibisucus flower on the label and tag.. I'll have to ask my aunt about it

[schaem]

Royal Yunnan from In Pusuit of Tea is my favorite everyday black tea. Slighty smoky with a natural sweetness and great aroma.

[rich_hudson]

I was a dedicated coffee drinker once upon a time, but green tea gradually won me over when I was living in Japan (island of Kyushu) for 10 years. I would get ordinary sencha but lately I've been getting something called "tamaryokucha" from MellowMonk. Fast, personable service and reasonable prices. They also buy from small, family-run farms, which I like the idea of. Anyhow, tamaryokucha is popular in Kyushu and is green tea processed in such a way to make the leaves curly instead of straight. Drinking the tea now takes me back to those days. I also feel like I'm doing something healthy for myself at the same time. --Rich

[petite tête de chou]

I haven't met a tea that I didn't enjoy in some manner. Flowers, fruit, spices, domestic or foreign. Most seem to shine up and stimulate the senses.

Has any one heard of tea served with milk/cream called "Boston Style?"

Where does this come from?

[beegew]

Lapsang Souchong. I used to cry for a week at the end of every summer when I had to leave my beloved summer camp in County Sligo. As well as not washing my sweater for weeks, to smell the campfire on it, I would drink this smokey tea and imagine I was back with my friends singing round the campfire, on a damp misty mountaintop. It really does smell like a campfire.

Hands down, my absolute favorite! But I have to order it from Twinings online, as it's so acquired a taste, no local markets ever stock it. (Sort of like we were told when looking for our next Scottish Terrier ~ "Frankly ma'am, they're so difficult, there's just not much demand for them..." )

[Majra]

After one strong cup of coffee first thing in the morning (Peet's, if I can help it), I drink tea all day. I am currently enjoying jasmine downy pearls from a lovely tea shop called Mountain View Tea Village in California. It is a family run place, with the main business near the family tea plantations in Taiwan, and a small outpost run by a local family member in CA. Really nice people, really fine tea. This particular jasmine pearl tea is like liquid perfume. I also have some of their "house" oolong which is very nice. I mix it with dried chrysanthemum during particularly stressful times.

[twiggles]

Ten Ren makes a good Genmaicha, and they reccomend that you add extra green tea powder to the mixture. i've tried it this way before, and it's quite good! They have a nice selection of Jasmine teas as well.

My favorites usually include loose Jasmine, darjeeling, and assam from various sources. But for a good strong morning tea, i'll usually just have PG tips, or Yorkshire Gold.

Ten ren

[bushey]

Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong.

When I was in high school my best friend and I had frequent tea parties and we would experiment with different varieties of loose tea. Lapsang was a frequent favorite.

Lapsang was also partially responsible for my husband and me falling in love. On our first date I was in his kitchen and picked up a mason jar of loose tea leaves to sniff. He asked me if I knew what kind of tea it was..................

He was impressed that I knew it was Lapsang Souchong and I was impressed that knew tea. The rest is history .

[fiftydollars]

Monkey Picked. It tastes great and although I know that what I buy isn't... I like the thought of monkeys picking tea.

[phaelon56]

Monkey Picked. It tastes great and although I know that what I buy isn't... I like the thought of monkeys picking tea.

I agree that the thought is cool - certainly more appealing than "cat poop" coffee (aka Kopi Luak).

Apparently, legend has it that monks trained special monkeys to pick the fragrant leaves but for at least the past few hundred years, it's been picked by human hands -

Monkey picked tea

[tigerwoman]

Paradise Tropical Mango and Passionfruit Ice Tea - a fresh brew that uses really good black tea, and leaves and flowers. The smell while it's brewing is magical and the taste is clean and fragrant. It''s distributed via California. I've rarely seen it retail (but occasionally, it comes in a bright yellow package with a hibcus flower on the front) We used to brew it and sell it by the glasses, gallons and gallons per day back in the day when we had the cafe (which coincidentally was called the Paradise Cafe).

a site that sells paradise ice tea leaves

[skunkbunny]

-My aunt bought me some pearl jasmin last christmas and in so doing will probably be responsible for bankrupting me as it is my new addiction

-Kennilworth orange pekoe, smells and tastes of honey

-Roehampton broken orange pekoe with milk for 4:30 pm

[panadero]

have you tried  other online tea vendor's?

www.imperialtea.com

www.specialteas.com

www.rishi-tea.com

www.kyelateas.com

joanne

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Finally, someone mentioned kyelateas.com. I love their stuff!

They carry only the best Darjeelings, specially chosen every season. Kevin Gascoyne, is a serious Darjeeling expert. He has written several excellent articles for Ed Behr's The Art of Eating. His online tea shop is great, very informative. Check it out!

Panadero

[jpr54_]

Finally, someone mentioned kyelateas.com. I love their stuff!

They carry only the best Darjeelings, specially chosen every season. Kevin Gascoyne, is a serious Darjeeling expert. He has written several excellent articles for Ed Behr's The Art of Eating. His online tea shop is great, very informative. Check it out!

Panadero

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If you visit Montreal QC the tea shop camellia-senensis carries their tea-

I met Kevin last year in Montreal at a tasting-

Joanne

[Kapuliperson]

My favorite is strawberry kiwi :)

[jschyun]

Like twiggles, I have been to TenRen (they have numerous shops, some of which serve tea, some just sell it) and like it a lot. It's cheap, and I find the tea to be good for the price.

I recently bought some $100 per lb. organic dragonwell tea that is not the absolute best quality (leaves are flat and sort of broken looking), but they sell it in large, 1/10 lb $10 bags which suit my budget and my tastes just fine.

My favorite location (Chinese mall in El Cerrito, CA) has a good selection of cheap and cheerful boxes/packages of tea, for those seeking common Chinese teas.

[mongo_jones]

My favorite is strawberry kiwi :)

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such things should be branded "atroci-teas"--is there actually any tea in this foul potion?

[jpr54_]

such things should be branded "atroci-teas"--is there actually any tea in this foul potion?

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I think we should be tolerant of all people including those who enjoy scented/flavored teas/tissanes-

I started out enjoying herbal tissanes and flavored teas-

the next step is exploring other teas-

please be patient-don't turn off the person drinking these "atroci-teas"

joanne

[mongo_jones]

I think we should be tolerant of all people including those who enjoy scented/flavored teas/tissanes-

I started out  enjoying herbal  tissanes and flavored teas-

the next step is exploring other teas-

please be patient-don't turn off the person drinking these "atroci-teas"

joanne

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bless you joanne--i'm still waiting for the ghost of christmas future.

but: i think things that don't have tea in them shouldn't be called tea. maybe hot, flavored water?

["T"]

atroci-teas. I like that. In fact I think I'll use the term tomorrow at work.

Cheers, T

[chow guy]

I"m not much of a tea drinker but I do enjoy Sadaf Special Blend with Earel Grey Tea

[spice]

I like so many....

A current favorite, though, is Golden Monkey Tea from Harney and Sons. They also make an Earl Grey Supreme variety that I find quite yummy. My other long term fave is Jasmine Green Tea.

[Liz B-F]

Top five favorite teas:

-Lapsang Souchong

-Rooibus

-Fresh-picked camomile tisane (hope this isn't an atrociTEA!)

-Taylor's of Harrogate mango tea with marigold blossoms

-Gunpowder