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Recipe Tea: What are you steeping these days?

Discussion in 'Tilted Food' started by cynthetiq, Aug 4, 2011.

  1. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    I've got about 20 different loose leafs and probably 100 different kinds of bagged (dust and fannings) teas sitting in my house. Stash just sent me a 4 packet sampler in the mail today.

    My favorite has been an Ali Shan. I learned about it from reading Harney & Sons Guide to Tea. It is the most sublime oolong I have ever had. It is $120/lb, my packet was $20 and I can steep one teaspoon of leaves about 6 times, each brew getting better than the previous.

    [​IMG]

    Another of my favorites is Irish Mocha La'Tea from [site=discoverteas.com]Discover Teas[/site] of Virginia. It is a rooibos with mocha notes and rounded out with Irish Breakfast giving it a full mouth and body.

    What kind of tea do you drink?
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'm currently drinking through a batch of Qi Feng, a smoky green tea from a small estate in Jiangxi Province, China.

    I also have a Darjeeling on standby. It's pretty much a mainstay.

    In my cup right now is a custom breakfast blend (organic). It's not bad, but I much prefer Irish blends that have a much higher Assam ratio. However, I can only seem to find Irish blends prepackaged in the grocery store. However, Twinings has a loose-leaf tin. I might have to give in soon. I haven't had an Irish blend in a while.

    As an aside, I bought a pound of coffee beans last week. This was after a long spell of drinking only tea. I think the verdict is finally in: tea > coffee.
     
  3. I developed a taste for strongly brewed black teas in my parents house, where there was always a pot to finish off every dinner. Any more, tea is a cool weather beverage, don't indulge much during the summer. Some green teas are okay, but many just don't sit well with me. I like English and Irish Breakfast blends, black... no milk or sweeteners.

    Despite the fact that Star Trek: TNG made it a cliche, Earl Grey is quite tasty, about the only flavored tea I enjoy. My daughter has filled my cupboard with a wide variety of teas: peach, cinnamon, herbal... on and on. She can have 'em. Something for every taste, I suppose.
     
  4. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    My friend visited a few months ago and left me with some Stash brand decaf Chai tea. It's a delightful treat in the mornings. Though I admit I have quite a few types of tea in my cabinet. I usually stick with herbal or decaf blends. Friends frequently give me tea, it's a wonderful delight to try something new.
     
  5. Zen

    Zen Very Tilted

    Location:
    London
    My tea has been PG Tips for as long as I can remember. A bit, but not much milk, and a tiny bit of sugar. I like it well brewed, and the milk and sugar are only there to reduce a slight amount of pungence. This summer, I have been making double mugs.

    From time to time I have had lapsang phases ... no milk or sugar. I Love Smokiness in tastes.
    I also just had a flashback to highly enjoying Jasmine tea with Chinese food.
    But most of the time, it is my PG Tips which hits the spot.
     
  6. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    It's been too hot here for me to want to drink tea lately...and I can't find my tea basket :(

    We've been drinking iced green tea that my husband makes. It's okay quality-wise...not my favorite, but he likes it.
     
  7. sgbsteve

    sgbsteve Getting Tilted

    Location:
    Treasure Coast, FL
    I like the occasional cup of tea but don't know much about it. Ive been considering expanding my tea drinking. If I want to try loose some loose leaf teas what do i need to know or buy to make this work?
     
  8. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    Ideally, you need one of these: http://www.finum.com/permanent-tea-filters.htm

    A tea basket gives the loose leaf tea enough room to expand, and for the water to circulate around the leaves. Tea balls don't work very well for this. And, surprise, you need a teaspoon.

    My advice: find a reputable tea shop in your area and visit it.
     
  9. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'd also wait for Cyn to respond, if he will. He's become quite the connoisseur of tea lately.
     
  10. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    sgbsteve, baskets are good, because they give the tea leaves space. I've had some teas that look like little small pop rocks, and after sitting in the tea basket, they turn into something looking akin to many whole leaves of spinach.

    Do you have any idea as to what kind of tea you like? Green? White? Black? Herbal/Tisane (not really tea)? Let's start with the teas you've been drinking what are they? Do you have any particular flavors you like?
     
  11. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    A coffee press reserved just for tea works for me beautifully.
     
  12. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    I used my first one the other day at a restaurant. I got a formosa oolong and I have to share the photo.... absolutely nuts how much oolong they put into the press.
     
  13. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
  14. CinnamonGirl

    CinnamonGirl The Cheat is GROUNDED!

    I've not gotten much into loose-leaf teas, but I'm sure I will eventually.

    Right now, there are 10 boxes of different Celestial Seasonings teas in my pantry (two of them are samplers.) My favorites are Bengal Spice (a decaf version of Chai) and Sweet Apple Chamomile. I always liked Republic of Tea Health Teas, but I'll admit to liking the packaging more than the actual tea a lot of the time.

    I tend to like herbal teas the best. No, I take that back--I like Chai the best, then herbals.
     
  15. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    If you can get the Republic of Tea loose, it's so much better than those little discs.

    For example, the [site=republicoftea.com]Republic of Tea[/site] Pineaple Lychee bags vs. 1lb is like night and day. The flavor is much more intense with the loose than the bags.
     
  16. sgbsteve

    sgbsteve Getting Tilted

    Location:
    Treasure Coast, FL
    thanks for the advice yall. cyn i think it has mostly been black teas ive tried. My favorites so far have been irish breakfast and earl grey. I think i have tried green and or oolong at various Asian restaurants and sometimes i liked them and sometimes not.
     
  17. snowy

    snowy so kawaii Staff Member

    I find the quality of loose leaf green tea to be much better than what's in the bags. Plus, there is a lot of variety out there in terms of flavor.
     
  18. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Once you've had enough loose leaf tea, it's difficult to settle for tea bags.
     
  19. Frosstbyte

    Frosstbyte Winter is coming

    Location:
    The North
    My wife and I really got ourselves into a tea kick in the last year and so last Christmas my sister and dad got us a gift certificate to Teavana. You'll have to excuse me for not knowing all the blend names and such, I'm not quite that advanced. I have a smoky oolong and a kind of grassy green that I've been enjoying. My wife, despite being Chinese, doesn't particularly like the traditional East Asian teas, presumably because she had so much more of it growing up. She prefers reds, chais and thai teas, and we have several of various flavors that we like including a particularly nice cinnamon spice red.

    We've found that, especially for making iced teas, it works better to use 1 tps. of the strong flavored tea and 1 tps. of a fairly basic (but high quality) black tea to smooth out the flavor some. That might be purist blasphemy, but it tastes better to us.
     
  20. ring

    ring

    I'm craving a yerba maté & black tea blend.
    That's what I used the first time I weaned myself off coffee in 1977.
    I ended up liking the flavour, very much.
    It was Celestial Seasonings - Morning Thunder Tea.

    I drink irish breakfast blends 80% of the time.
    The nearest tea-shoppe is far away. The next time I'm close by, I'll stock up a bit.
    The best way to store tea, is in metal tins, yes?