You mean you only drink out of saucers, Skitty?

Oh, Tea! As an American from sorta-the-South (Texas), my first exposures to tea were iced tea. Being in Austin, rather than Houston or the proper South, the tea was rarely sweet tea. As a result, I found it bitter and unwelcoming. The tea I encountered was always cruddy bagged stuff, and never actually tasted good. I did like sweet tea, but more because omg sugar than tea.

But one day, my boyfriend decided we needed to order some proper, loose leaf tea, and a maker for it, from Adagio. I'm not sure what inspired him, but I insisted on green teas, as I wanted to drink the tea as a healthy alternative to soda, so no sugar, but I want sugar in black teas. I would drink White Monkey (a green) hot, and the Spiced Green from Adagio (from back then) as an cold tea I'd put in a bottle and take to work. But I returned back to my Dr Pepper (I'm a Texas girl, what can I say).

Finally, I decided a touch of sugar and milk were better for me than the large amounts of HFCS in the sodas. I started drinking black teas (Irish Breakfast and flavored varieties, mostly) with sugar and a touch of milk. In the summer, I'll also make a sweet tea from Golden Monkey (which makes an absolutely fantastic sweet tea). I wanted to bring this to work, but the stains the black tea leaves on the clear plastic ingenuiTEA wouldn't go over well there. I decided to make an $11 risk (not much, is it?) and get Adagio's white teapot (through Amazon, thus the cheaper price) and give it a try. Now, almost every day, I make at least one pot. I have a purple pot I use for blacks and oolongs at work, and a white pot for greens and whites. As these are glazed pots, they are not specific to teas. But I do not want to have to scrub out all the tannin deposits from the pot the few times I want a lighter tea, and I have space to store both pots, so I do. I'm drinking about 24 oz of tea a day, these days!

I do not like Earl Grey, no matter how I try to prepare it. I just cannot like the bergamot. I do, however, like the spiced teas (we call them chai, though I'm sure that's not correct elsewhere) with some sweetened condensed milk. I'm also really fond of Adagio's "Foxtrot", which is a mix of rooibos, peppermint, and chamomile (herbal, of course).

Last edited by equiraptor (December 12, 2012 1:49 am)

I just bought this so called Hari Tea Buddha Box, not just, but also because of the design, I must admit. It contains eleven varieties of black, green and herbal tea which are very good as far as I've tasted them. I think I'll keep the box once it's empty:

Lelli wrote:

LOL
My dad came home from work and told me about a tea he had drunk and it was called "Männertee" in English "Men's Tea" He didn't bring any but he described it as a "Currywurst" (does that exist in English?... "Curry sausage" maybe) only liquid
I can't imagine that tastes good... ^^'' but... you never know ^^

Sounds frankly disgusting. Trying to imagine what liquid Currywurst tastes like. A mixture of tomato and curry sauce with a hint of pork sausage. 

Lelli wrote:

LOL
My dad came home from work and told me about a tea he had drunk and it was called "Männertee" in English "Men's Tea" He didn't bring any but he described it as a "Currywurst" (does that exist in English?... "Curry sausage" maybe) only liquid
I can't imagine that tastes good... ^^'' but... you never know ^^

Hrm. Was it something like this, perhaps? Page in english

Ingredient list (from the English page):
ginger*, cardamom*, liquorice*, carob*, cinnamon*, barley malt*, roasted chicory*, peppermint*, fenugreek*, fennel*, mace*, anise*, ginseng flowers*, astragalus*, turmeric root*, chili pepper*, cinnamon extract (natural flavour), black pepper*, *= Ingredients marked with * are certified organically grown.

Dang, that'll be spicy. Also.. barley malt. For some reason, that makes me laugh.

As a trophy. Hahahahahahahaha

I suspect I've had some chai teas that weren't that far off from that Man's Tea, but of course, not quite the same since they had black tea in them. They're quite good, if you're looking  for something spice (flavorful spicy, not burn-your-tongue spicy).

Don't forget to warm the pot first. 

Davina wrote:

Has anyone ever seen the Japanese tea ceremony in real life?

Yes, I lived in Japan for 7 years and I saw it a few times. But I must say I'm not fond of maccha which I find very bitter. Of course it's a good contrast with the very sweet Japanese cakes. But I'm not very fond of the cakes either ;).

My favorite is Chinese black tea, in particular Yunan and Keemun, but I drink lots of sorts, I'm a tea addict and drink gallons every day. I also like smoky Lapsang Souchong, earthy Pu-Erh, refreshing Oolong, Japanese genmaicha with popped rice...

Stupid question, where does the Moriar Tea thing come from? Didn't notice it in the show, did I miss it?
 

Ha! Just been to a friend's house and her son made us a cup of tea. Hers was mint tea. He asked her whether she takes milk to which she replied, 'No. No milk in mint tea.' a minute later e muttered, 'This  tea looks a bit weird'. Of course he had not listened to her and ad put milk in it. Luckily I was there as 'referee' and could confirm that she had, in fact, told him. Normally, he would have told her she hadn't.

Davina wrote:

There's a whole range of Sherlock teas available, apparently. Personally I tend to drink more coffee but I like Earl Grey and breakfast tea. Rarely make it using a tea pot though, only on special occasions!

Has anyone ever seen the Japanese tea ceremony in real life?

Tea definitely has a big role to play in Sherlock. Mrs. Hudson is always offering to make a cup. In the Blind Banker there was all about the making of tea and how the tea itself is used to get a lustre to the outside of the tea pot. Then there is the scene between Sherlock and Moriarty in the flat in The Reichenbach Fall, where Sherlock anticipates Moriarty's arrival by making a pot of tea and their whole verbal duel is carried out over a nice cuppa.

And they had tea at the Palace!  

When I was living in London I shared a flat with three Japanese girls, one of them, whose mother teached Tea Ceremony, had all the necessary things to perform it and we did it often on rainy Sundays. It was quite instructive and I was told I was a natural, which means mostly I knew how to admire and praise the bowl and the other objects. I also learned to make the appropriate noises when drinking it. One doesn't want to offend the host implying that tea hadn't been been prepared well.
I still prepare it sometimes, the easier version, but the main problem is keeping the tea powder fresh. It lasts a bit longer in the freezer but you need to consume it quite quickly anyway.
So it's mostly Earl Grey leaves for the everyday tea.  
 

Last edited by tiharoa (January 15, 2013 8:48 pm)