Tea...a beverage that puts the "steam" in Steampunk.

[SgtPepper]

You're welcome Sgt Pepper!! I'm still smiling over the whole experience. The tea house is about an hour and a half away from where I live, but I've already made reservations to go back twice in the near future.   I could post some pics if anyone is interested? Although I'm sure most of you have seen a tea house before.

On the contrary, tea houses are few and far between in America, at least in the bit of it that I live in.  I've only ever seen a tea house on film.  We do coffee houses instead of tea houses here - and if there is a good local one, don't worry, Starbucks will swoop in and drive it out of business.

[linnetfallowynd]

Good grief, after reading three pages of this thread I'm positively parched. It makes me sorry I am in a house with 1) a whistling kettle and 2) a household who probably wouldn't take kindly to be woken up at quarter past one in the morning by aforementioned whistling kettle.

[Renegade]

I'm lucky enough to be working my way through 1,600 bag sacks from the wholesalers. The fiancee despairs. I usually drink at least 8 cups a day :S

/I was going to post "Cup of Brown Joy", but presume that has been done pages ago

[elShoggotho]

I'm just drinking samovar tea leftovers refurbished into a heavily fortified iced tea. That stuff puts hair on your chest and makes you wrestle bears.

[Lady Ava]

Chocolate and Hazelnut tea. About to try it, I'm using it in an attempt to convince LYM that tea is in fact a wonderful thing <3

[Annabelle_Gorenberg]

I drink tea alot, my favourite is probably Earl Grey, but my mum (being the primary tea-drinker in the house) will only buy Tetley. I also love any kind of Green Tea and Peppermint tea.

[Grymm]

 For day to day 2 bags of Twinings Everyday in my pint and half mug, 3 sugars and some unleaded moojuice.
For pleasure 50/50 Assam and Kenyan in my 17thC teabowl, for fortification Russian caravan with rum.

[citizen_erased]

I drink a lot of Japanese/Asian tea. Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice) is my absolute favourite. Give me genmaicha and you`ll make my week, basically.

Most of the time, however, I`ll drink chai, "regular" green tea, or black tea. I also bought one that is nettle/cranberry/lemongrass. It`s pretty good.

I live in a house with 4 other women. We have a pretty good combined tea collection, and most of us have our own collection on top of it. You`ll often find part of the house or all of us in the kitchen in the evening in lounge clothing and a cup of tea (and whatever snack we could find), just chatting.

I must also admit I was also entirely too lazy to read through 14 pages, so I have no clue if someone posted this yet, but:
(not safe for work)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

RIP IT. DIP IT. SIP IT.

Fuckin Tea

[Prof Thadeus Q. Wychlock]

A good quality Assam all the way

Currently drinking 2nd flush Halmari FTGFOP1

[barb dwyer]

Peppermint for tummy probs and 'Sweet Dreams' before bed.

[Hez]

I have been an ardent tea drinker for years and have experienced the frustration of living in a coffee drinkers world.   I am therefore planning to form the Tea Drinkers Liberation Front.  First up against the wall will be the conference catering cads who put out 6 urns of coffee and one luke warm urn of "hot water" that tastes of yesterdays coffee.  Next to go will be the owners of fancy, expensive restaurants who charge $3 then bring you a tiny stainless steel ... thing... with an ill fitting lid that spills water all over the table cloth while revealing the teabag that had been hidden behind it all the time you thought the tea was steeping.

Rescued from the mayhem and elevated to General will be the conference waiter to whom I complained about the luke warm coffee flavoured water, apologising (I am Canadian after all) for being persnickety by pointing out that I had lived in England for a while.  His response was to say "so did I" and put out a kettle of fresh water at the next break.  He also came and found me in a room of 200 attendees and brought me my own personal tray with a china tea pot, a tea cup (not mug) and mild and sugar bowls.  I felt like the Queen Mother.

[Grymm]

expensive restaurants who charge $3 then bring you a tiny stainless steel ... thing... with an ill fitting lid that spills water all over the table cloth while revealing the teabag that had been hidden behind it all the time you thought the tea was steeping.

The evil and secretive Ministry of Crap Design are behind those, myself and several friends have taken it as a mission to rebend any we get 'issued with' so the lids work.

[Hez]

Can we still execute the people who hide the dry teabags behind them?

[Prof Thadeus Q. Wychlock]

expensive restaurants who charge $3 then bring you a tiny stainless steel ... thing... with an ill fitting lid that spills water all over the table cloth while revealing the teabag that had been hidden behind it all the time you thought the tea was steeping.

The evil and secretive Ministry of Crap Design are behind those, myself and several friends have taken it as a mission to rebend any we get 'issued with' so the lids work.

Ah ha !
I, myself, have been part of this mission for many years.  The MoCD has a lot to answer for !!

[Grymm]

Can we still execute the people who hide the dry teabags behind them?

With extreme prejudice (aka gurt big stick wiv a nail through it!).

[barb dwyer]

For the last three days,
I've been on a 'like I grew up with" kick

and have thoroughly enjoyed
"the house wine of the south"
good old SWEET TEA.

No frills, just ... like was always in the fridge
when we came in after a long day of 'tend like',
fort building, and supernatural immortals at pine cone wars...
(southern kid talk for 'pretend like')

(today, it'd be called 'role play')


Nostalgic.
Refreshing.
Cheap.
 

[TVC15]

Nostalgic.
Refreshing.
Cheap.
 

That's exactly what my last girlfriend said of me.

Ice cold sweet tea: the elixir of southern youth.

[Rosetta Anderson]

My first encounter with tea was a friend's mother ordering some at a restaurant. It came to her as a bit of hot water in a lidded tin (usually used for holding cream) with a tea bag on the side. The smell was like metallic dirt.

My second encounter with tea was a large breakfast mug filled with cloudy gray/brown water thrust into my hands. It had been microwaved. Little clouds of scum floated on top. I was encouraged to try it. It was scalding hot and the only flavor I got was an intense bitterness that made my eyes water. I swore off tea from then on.

My third encounter with tea was when a British lady brewed some English Breakfast Tea at my church. I tried it and it was all right, but there was still some sort of bitterness. I asked her if anything could be done about it and she added milk and sugar to the cup. Suddenly, I loved tea. It was like an elixir of the soul, healing as it warmed me from head to toe. I promptly went out and bought a large box of the stuff (bagged tea) and enjoyed a cup every morning.

To this day I drink all my tea with sugar. Those who object usually say that sugar eliminates the flavor of the tea, but I disagree. With the bitterness somewhat "tamed" I can taste all the nuances of the flavor. The key is to add just a little - it shouldn't be as sweet as soda! The only exception is if I know I'll be eating something sweet with my tea. Then I take it without sugar. Otherwise, I prefer sweetened tea with a hearty biscuit (like a buttermilk biscuit - I've never really understood the British biscuit, which I think might be a cookie?).

I now have a small collection of loose leaf teas. From the nearest (and only) tea store in my area, Teavana, I have:
Samurai Chai Mate
White Ayurvedic Chai
Azetca Fire (herbal)
Wild Orange Blossom (herbal)

Other teas I enjoy:
Good Earth Original
English Breakfast

My dearest bought me a proper teapot a month ago, and it follows me from home to work and back every day.

[Zthroo]

I drink a lot of Japanese/Asian tea. Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice) is my absolute favourite. Give me genmaicha and you`ll make my week, basically.

Most of the time, however, I`ll drink chai, "regular" green tea, or black tea. I also bought one that is nettle/cranberry/lemongrass. It`s pretty good.

I live in a house with 4 other women. We have a pretty good combined tea collection, and most of us have our own collection on top of it. You`ll often find part of the house or all of us in the kitchen in the evening in lounge clothing and a cup of tea (and whatever snack we could find), just chatting.

I must also admit I was also entirely too lazy to read through 14 pages, so I have no clue if someone posted this yet, but:
(not safe for work)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

RIP IT. DIP IT. SIP IT.
Fuckin Tea

That video is amazing. Thanks for sharing. 

[psn1der]

While I do enjoy iced tea (lemon no sugar) Irish breakfast tea has to be my favorite.  I have a special stash at work, since our tea is generic.  Oh the horror.  I'd never been inside a Starbuck's before 5 years ago when someone told me they served more than coffee.  Yes, naive, but was sticking to my tea roots.

[ayre]

I love tea, mostly black teas or herbal infusions. Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Chamomile, Blackcurrant and Lemon tea would probably be my favourites. Also, Lipton's Cranberry, Strawberry and Raspberry blend. 

[Tito Alba]

Too many to list but I'll give it a try:

Regulars:

Black
Assam in the morning.  Occasionally Keemun if I have any.

Ceylon or a high grade first flush Darjeeling in the afternoon and evening.  Darjeeling always without milk and steeped to a refreshing golden colour.  My rule is generally that I should still be able to see the bottom of the cup and not taste bitterness in the brew.  Expensive but a little goes a long way and if you are going to get Darjeeling you might as well do it properly.

Chai made mostly with milk boiled up in a pan with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, black pepper and ginger.

Sometimes I'll make my own blends mixing in two to four types.  This is one time when a bit of Lapsong Souchong can be good.  Too intensely smoky on its own, a pinch goes nicely into a pot of Russian Caravan to give a slightly smoky twist.

Green
Japanese cherry - standard sencha with cherry blossom
Sencha Genmaicha - with roasted rice grains.  Its bliss.

Other:
I've also found some oolongs, even quite cheap ones, make for excellent iced tea in summer which I usually prepare myself and take out because the ones you get in shops are all too sweet for my liking (I never add sugar, except to chai and then I prefer honey).

Add to that a few special treats including pu-erhs and white teas.  I couldn't give a name since they are treats so I vary them.

I do sometimes have to resort to tea bags when I'm not in my own place but even then, if I visit often I end up bringing around a box or two and then three and then four of my own twinings and sometimes even a bag of loose and a strainer or cage I've kitted out an office and a few friends' places with all the trappings of a professional tea shop when I'm the only one there who drinks it!

One thing I've been meaning to try for a while is Kahwah: a Kashmiri chai made from green tea with saffron, almonds, cinnamon and cardamom.  I see wikipedia has a recipe for it now so I must try it next time I get some saffron as I doubt I'm going to see it on a tea shop menu any time soon.  When I heard about it before I found no such thing, just that there was a kind of traditional green chai from Kashmir that used lighter spices and almonds.

I recently had an experience with a non-tea drinking friend of mine.  She bet I would not be able to pass a "blindfold" test of different types of tea so I got her to make me one without seeing what it was.  She brought it to me and I took one look and correctly identified it as assam.  Has anyone else here tried a blindfold tea test?  Or tried to tease out the components of a blend?  Its a very rewarding task if you are as enthusiastic about tea as me.  I even try to do it with cheap branded tea bags: "around 30% assam, 10% ceylon, 20% kenyan and 40% dust from the workroom floor"   It was through such experiments that I became a fan of Ceylon, as I discovered a commercial blend I liked and tried to find out what it was that made that one unique.

Oh dear, I'm rambling again.  I always do this when I start talking about tea.  Ramble on until I need the next cuppa.  Which is right about now.

[barb dwyer]

SOOOOO hot today I'd put iced tea in a bucket
and pour it over my head
or soak my aching feet!

Just made a LARGE (gallon+) jug
of Lipton 'Green Tea Citrus'
and is chilling in the freezer.

should be ready in about an hour.

[Tito Alba]

Has anyone tried making alcoholic tea?  Iced green tea punches used to be popular in the early 19th century at community parties in South Carolina and sound like they could be really good.  I've also found a healthy dose of spiced rum is a good addition to chai as a alternative to a liqueur coffee on a cold winters day.  A dash of amaretto, baileys and a few other things go quite nicely if you have them lying about too.

[Johnson and Co]

Good afternoon,

Just joined this most excellent forum 

I think a lot of tea and generally like it strong and slightly sweet. Asam teabags in the morning when I'm in a hurry but "proper" loose Assam when I get home from work.

My other favourite is Lapsang Souchong (sp?) has anyone mentioned this very strange, delicious and smokey tea? Unfortunately even the smell of it gives my wife a headache so I can only indulge when she's out

As for coffee I have the occasional esspresso after a meal as it goes better with brandy.