Tea drinkers: What's in your cabinet?

[crispini]

I'm just brewing up my evening mug of "Sleepytime" and I was amused by the selection:

Caffinated: Earl Gray, Raspberry, and Ginseng Green
Herbal: Sleepytime, Peach Detox, Lemon Balm, and Fasting Support.

How about you?

[supernova]

1. Lets see

Caffeine: Lipton Cold brew for summer, a holiday spice tea

Esoteric: Pear white tea, Jasmine white tea, persimmon white tea (want it? Yech!)

Herbal/Decaf: Apricot, ginger peach

[crispini]

3. What is white tea?

That's a new one on me! Is the persimmon not nice? It sounds lovely.

[supernova]

5. White tea

is the youngest leaves. That's all. It's supposed to have even more antioxidants than green tea. I really like the pear. It does, in fact, taste like pears.

But I bought the persimmon not knowing what persimmons taste like. It has a very perfumey taste to it. That's why I don't like it. But someone else might like it.

[crispini]

11. Sounds good, I'll have to keep an eye out for white tea.

Too bad about the persimmon, can you take it to work or give it to a friend?

[swag]

2. Tazo "Green Tea Tips"

and some other brand's "Earl Grey."

[Lavender Brown]

4. Licorice, Chamomile, Ginger for my tummy, Earl Grey and Lady Grey

Lapsang Soushong (sp) and some generic Lipton stuff... :) I love tea.

[supernova]

6. Lapsang Souchong is heavenly!

I love that smokey taste. :9

I can't seem to drink Earl Grey anymore. Anytime I've tried it lately I get vaguely nauseous. Must be the bergamot. :-(

[Lavender Brown]

9. Isn't it good? I went out and got it because some characters

in an English novel had it. I'm a dork. :silly:

[supernova]

10. As good a reason as any

to try something new. :thumbsup:

[Sequoia]

43. Agree!

Even the name conjurs up dreams of the far east.

[crispini]

12. Ginger's always good.

I bought some candied ginger at Whole Foods and nibble on it if I get an upset tummy.

[XemaSab]

27. I used to be all about candied ginger,

eat it before ocean trips, but now whenever I even get a whiff of it I feel slightly seasick.

Go figure.

[Spacemom]

7. I'm a tea addict

caffinated: Several brands of green tea, earl grey, darjeeling, chai

herbal: tension tamer, peach, raspberry, ginger, lemon and some awesome stuff called Bengal Spice that tastes just like chai but it caffine free.

[crispini]

15. Wow, caffiene free chai?

Bengal Spice... I'll have to look out for it. I love chai a lot but I don't want it in the morning, and I can't drink caffein after about 5pm.

[AllieB]

8. Lemon Zinger Green Tea, decaf green tea, blueberry tea

all Celestial seasonings. I'm a tea virgin. I used to drink strong Irish and English tea, and now I'm weaning myself off coffee. I would like any and all suggestions, since I tend to like more traditional teas, though I HATE Earl Grey.

[politicat]

17. darjeeling or oolong

The former's very crisp, almost acidic in ways, but in a good way. It's a tea that goes well with a single lump of sugar, but no milk; lemon is optional. It cleanses the palate.

Oolong is what most chinese restaurants serve (though most chinese restaurants use a pedestrian tea and over or under brew it). It's very delicate and well rounded, halfway between a green and a black. Oolong mixes really well with fruits and flowers if you like flavored teas. (I have build oolong and rose, oolong and citrus, and oolong and peach mixes in the summers and been very happy with them.)

Those are my recommendations...

[politicat]

13. Hmmm....

A big box of Chinese restaurant type oolong
Cans of Zhena's Gypsy Teas: Raspberry Earl Grey (the only Earl Grey I like, in fact), Gypsy King Chai, Lemon Jasmine Green, Sense of Peace White tea. (The founder is an absolute feminist icon, by the way...)
A box of Celestial Seasonings white tea
A box of CTC Assam Taj Mahal brand
A Very Special sealed black bag of Dragon Pearls of Jasmine (a very expensive pearled green jasmine DH bought for me for a Happy nothing's day present)
My own Lemon Ginger blend of black tea

(and all of the ingredients I use for blending... but those aren't "tea" yet.)

I just finished up a Mango darjeeling blend I made (made excellent iced tea, but mediocre hot) and I'm drinking the last batch of Bourbon Vanilla black (which kind of tastes like a Thai iced tea, but without the cream).

Yeah. I'm a tea fanatic.

[crispini]

16. You blend your own? That's badass!

How does one do that?

[politicat]

20. Trial and error....

Start with a decent base of loose tea (I tend to use a darjeeling or an assam if I'm doing black or a chinese green... and I have some varietal favorites, too). Drink a few cups of it and get an idea of the real basic flavors - drink it hot, warm, room temp, and chilled. Make lots of notes, either mental or physical. Get to know it. Usually a tea will suggest what it wants to be blended with. (Example: roses go well with teas that have a medium level of acid, but little aroma, while jasmines go well with fruity greens. Citrus does not blend well with acidic teas.)

Then for a fruit flavored tea, go find dried fruit from a reputable source. I get mine from Wild oats usually. Freeze a piece, then slice it very fine with a mandoline, a knife or a grater. Let it dry further, until its no longer "sticky". Now chop it into fine pieces and do an experimental cup - one teaspoon tea to about a half teaspoon of fruit. Again, you're looking for balances and compliments - this is like perfume blending and you experiment until you find something you like. For my mango darjeeling, I ended up using about 4 ounces of Margaret's Hope 2nd Flush (this is the plantation it comes from, and second flush means that the leaves were the 2nd harvest of the season) to 2 ounces of dried, chopped mango, an ounce of orange peel and a half ounce of dried strawberry. That made about 60 cups of tea, or about 15 pots of iced tea. Things I use on a regular basis are rose petals, orange peel, lemon balm, pineapple mint, peppermint, lavender flowers, dried mango, dried strawberry, dried apple, jasmine petals, ginger root (usually sliced and dried), white peaches, passion fruit juice (concentrated by evaporation in a food dehydrator or the oven), cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, pomegranate seeds, hibiscus flowers, vanilla beans, calendula, corn flower, chrysanthemum (not the american ones - those are poisonous, I've been told).... And then there are the edible essential oils and natural extracts (because sometimes fruit alone is not enough.) Those I order online, and fortunately, a few drops are more than enough.

For flower teas, any edible flower can be added directly to the tea - usually at a 1:4 ratio, but sometimes higher. For spiced teas, the best way is to blend a melange of the spices, then shake with the tea.

Then there's actual tea blending, which is another art entirely. That's when you take specific varietals and blend them for specific uses (like to produce a consistent product, or for a specific flavor), and that's another beast. (I'm just getting started there, because I like Russian Caravan blends, but most of them are too harsh, so I've been playing with Lapsang Souchong and Ceylon.)

My next project is to get a camellia sinesis (tea plant) bush and learn to grow my own, but I have to improve at taking care of my houseplants before I do that.

[crispini]

29. That is so incredibly cool!

Do you give away your teas as presents for special occasions and stuff? That would be a great gift. Sounds like you are quite the tea connoisseur. Do you have a website? I have to admit, I had no idea one could do this at home. How did you get started in this pursuit?

[politicat]

33. Yes, I do give it as gifts (if I get it right....)

I give away a lot of chai and a lot of mint blends; the fruits and flowers are harder to get consistent, so I don't give those away as often.

No website. I'm not in it professionally, at least not yet. I kinda think that way sometimes, then think it would ruin a really good hobby to have to do it every day.... If I could have a tea/coffee/book/gaming/computer store, then I'd do it, maybe, but we'd have to be able to live over the shop, because we'd never leave!

I got started because we used to have this fabulous tea shop in the next town north and among other things, they had a divine passionfruit flavored tea that made the most incredible iced tea.... and they went out of business suddenly, so I never got to ask the owner where he got his teas from.

In desperation, I started reading how tea was made and blended, and started messing around trying to make my own. That was four years ago, and it's starting to take over my life a bit.

Plus, Celestial Seasonings is just down the road from me, and there are a lot of tea experts in the area because of their presence. It gave me a chance to learn from some really knowledgeable people.

[crispini]

34. That is really neat.

Ok, I have a question for you. I have a lot of lemon balm growing in my yard, and I pick it and use it for herbal tea by itself. But I think it would probably be nicer if it had something else in the mix. I'd prefer a decaf, because I actually mostly drink decaf. What do you think might be nice to add to it? Also, when you're using leaves and stuff, do you grind them up in a spice grinder and if that's the case do you find they come out of the holes of your infuser? I was using the lemon balm whole, but my infuser is too small to hold much, so I just toss the leaves in and drink it that way, but I am always in danger of slurping down a leaf or two. :)

[politicat]

52. I mix ginger, green tea and lemon balm.

That still has caffeine, but there are decaf greens (not that I recommend them; the anti-oxidant properties are pretty much neutralized by the decaffination process, and you lose a lot of flavor, but you need to make that decision for yourself.) If the caffeine bothers you, you might try either roobios or yerba mate; they're both herbals that have very similar properties to tea, and their flavors are pretty decent, but they are not tea. (I like them... occasionally.)

With Lemon balm, I pick it, rinse it, then dry it in either a muslin bag or between a couple of towels (depends on outdoor weather, how much space I have inside, etc.) It usually dries in 2 days here, but I live in a dry climate. I crumble the leaves in my hands (roll it between your palms like you're washing your hands) but never in a grinder - that's far too fine even for a paper tea bag, let alone an infuser. The ginger is usually thin slices of fresh root, though in a pinch I can and have used dried ginger; I just have to use more. With a black or oolong tea, I add lemon peel for a more citrusy taste and to bring out the tannins in the oxidized tea; with green, it's overkill. I don't use much honey or sugar anymore, but hot, lemon-ginger green goes really well with a spoon of honey or agave or brown sugar. When iced, I prefer it with Splenda, because the Splenda dissolves better than sugar, honey or maltitol. (I have to be a bit careful about sugars, so I know all of the subs....)

Instead of an infuser, when I'm making big batches of tea, I use #2 or #4 cone coffee filters and staples. I put a couple of tablespoons of my mix in the filter, then just fold and staple until I have a ginormous tea bag. If I'm making a single pot, then I use a French Press (just like for coffee, but not the Coffee French Press) and have fewer escapees. With the press, I don't have a problem leaving the tea leaves at the bottom of the press until I finish the pot; it doesn't get stewed or stronger because water can't circulate as easily in the press. Then I don't have anything to discard and the tea leaves go in the compost heap. I have an infuser; I don't like it for exactly the reasons you stated - escapees and it's too small. I have a lovely collection of tea pots that I almost never use because they're just not practical for the way I drink tea.

[crispini]

53. Wow, thank you so much!

How wonderful and informative! I will have to try the lemon-ginger green. Sounds wonderful. Thanks for all the great tips! Now I feel like I know a real tea expert! :)

[Beware the Beast Man]

14. Plantation Mint, Red Bush, regular old Black Tea, Green Tea,

Tension Tamer, and Nutcracker Sweet.

i couldn't, for the life of me, find Candy Cane Lane this year.

[SiobhanClancy]

18. I have Barry's Gold ,Bewleys's, African Red herbal...

some chamomile,Earl Gray,various Greens,jasmine,and Twining's Irish Breakfast:)

[lavenderdiva]

19. I love tea!

Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Plantation Mint, Constant Comment, Luzianne Iced Tea, Raspberry, and Jasmine. My new 'thing' for steeped iced tea, is to take 2 family-sized Luzianne Tea bags + 3 Jasmine tea bags, and steep in 1 gallon of boiling water for a short time. Add Splenda and put in the refrigerator to cool. This makes the most refreshing iced tea (no calories either)!

[RevCheesehead]

21. I have way too many to list.

But my all-time favorites are Constant Comment and Earl Grey. :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. Tea

[Porcupine]

23. Earl Grey, Lapsong Souchong, Ceylon, Assam, Tazo Chai,

Trader Joe's Chai (almost as good), Imperial Red (I love red teas), some pearled jasmine tea and a dragon legs green from china somebody brought back for me.

Uhm, Mate, roobios, gunpowder.....that's what I know I have. I have more.

I have about 8 teapots. Evil ex-wife is keeping some of my collectors items just to spite me. Sugar, honey and Stevia to sweeten and always whole milk.

I need a source of Russian Caravan; any suggestions?

The tea garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park has free entry for the last hour of every day. You can sit in the teahouse and drink tea and eat crackers and cookies as the fog blankets the place. Please go. It's been years since I've had the privilidge.

[JCMach1]

24. Just bought some Kenyan tea and some Iranian Saphron

sugar cubes to drink it with...

Should be yummy!

[crispini]

36. Saffron sugar cubes?

Get out, that's wild. I have never heard of those. Where do you buy them?

[NMMNG]

25. White Tea, Green Tea, Decaf Black Tea, Chammomile,

Throat Coat (herbal mixture), Respiratory Care (herbal mixture)

[Kool Kitty]

26. Mary Twinings Spiced Tea, English and Irish Breakfast,

Celestial Seasonings "Nutcracker Sweet", Tazo "Joy", Night Owl White, PG Tips and "Star of Persia" which is a black tea with red sugar crystals.

[amitten]

28. Coffee.

:)

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. White Tea, Spring Tea, Lapsang Souchong, Cherry, a few Greens, Gunpowder

I think that's everything in my cabinet. All loose leaf.

And I have some tea bags for throat comfort and other herbal remedy crap, and a box of giant lipton tea bags that I only use to make iced tea, and a box of delicious Taiwanese Plum Tea (in bags) that I use for drinking but mostly for iced tea - they make a FANTASTIC iced tea.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. I'm a coffee drinker at heart, but I love

Stash's Chai Spice with milk on a winter evening. I'm also fond of Stash's Licorice Spice herbal tea.

In the summer, Republic of Tea's white tea with honeysuckle makes a great iced tea.

Summers spent in Japan have given me a fondness for iced green tea, iced oolong, and iced mugicha (barley tea).

[LynneSin]

32. I'm drinking The Republic of Tea's Green Tea Apple Blossom

I love their teas but the bags are a bit expensive. But once in awhile I'll treat myself to a jar of their teas. Actually I also have the Green Tea Kiwi Pear

[mcar]

35. Here's mine

Earl grey, green, regular lipton

Decaf: sleepytime, decaf green

[bikebloke]

37. Peppermint

And vanilla, which some mates in Holland turned me on to.

[kick-ass-bob]

38. Vodka, Tequila, Rum, Gin, Triple Sec.

and some Coke in the fridge.

:silly:

[Squatch]

39. Rosamonte Yerba Mate, Stash Chai, Yorkshire Black, and Tazo Chai

Plus some other random stuff.

[crispini]

40. Tell me about yerba mate.

That's .... Brazilian, right?

[Squatch]

42. I had it in Argentina and fell in love with the stuff.

It's a great pick-me-up. Has an aromatic woody character. You should try it!

Tazo makes a Lemon Mate, but it's not nearly the same. For the true experience, try a brand like Rosamonte.

[crispini]

45. I think my mom told me about it.

She went to Argentina a couple of years ago. Don't they make it in a bowl, and pound up all kinds of roots and stuff? It sounded very interesting.

[crispini]

46. delete, dupe

[grateful581]

51. I love the Mate

It wakes you up and does not slam you down like coffee.
Although I do drink allot of coffee too

[seemunkee]

41. Twings Earl Grey, Twinings China Keemun, lemon ginger

Good Earth Chai, Celestial Seasonings Chamomile, Celestial seasonings peppermint, jasmine white, Yama Moto Yama Roasted tea, Tenren Oolong. At work I have a big box of Red Rose.
I think that is all.

[LostinVA]

44. Murchie's loose Irish Breakfast, Jackson's Afternoon bags

[Spider Jerusalem]

47. Let's see...

Earl Grey (regular and double bergamot); English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Lapsang Souchong, Assam, Ceylon, green & black chai, and probably a few others (all caffeinated).

[Paladin]

48. Brought Back Some Great Stuff From London

Assam Superb loose leaf, from Fortnum & Mason; it's probably available at F&M's online site. Great tea, grown in India---I like it unsweetened, with just a splash of milk.

I'm also partial to Twining's loose leaf Irish Breakfast tea, again, unsweetened with just a little milk.

[samplegirl]

49. appricot

almond and sleepytime.

[StoryTeller]

50. Lots of Chai...

Chai, chai, and more chai, (LOVE chai!)

Also an assortment of herbal teas, as well as two very special canisters-- one of jasmine tea, and one of black tea...both from Kunming, China, that we bought when we adopted our daughter from there. The jasmine tea comes in little twists that are very strong, one or two twists can easily steep an entire pot of tea. And if you make it just right, you can smell the fragrance of jasmine blossoms in the tea.