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This has got to be the best drink in the world. Nothing else I drink gives me as many health benefits as these beautiful leaves do. Whenever I'm feeling stressed or tense it relaxes and calms me. Whenever I'm feeling tired or bored it stimulates me. It increases my metabolism. It tastes great! If you're not a tea drinker I dare you to try one of my favorite teas starting with the top ones, the bottom ones on my list are for more refined tastes.
My favorite teas right here:
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_black.jpg)
Good ol' black tea. Nothing special, nothing fancy. Drink it as iced tea, or drink it hot, its great no matter how you prepare it. I prefer it as hot as possible. One of the most commonly drank teas outside of Asia.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_green.jpg)
Ah but here, this is the other great classic. Probably more popular than black tea, except more so in Asian countries than everywhere else. Drink it warm, always. Protip, brew anything with lighter teas like green or white at lower temperatures, usually ~145F is perfect. Its a pain to find a way to get that temperature quickly every time but its worth it if you can. Green teas brewed too hot become very bitter and some tend to get a fishy odor.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_lemonblack.jpg)
Want a bit of lemon in your black tea? Well sure you could squeeze some lemon juice in there and add a bit of sugar, but why not try this instead. I find this tea tastes great on its own, just brew it hot and drink it strait up.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_chamomileherbal.jpg)
Ah, the herbal tea. Whenever I'm feeling sick or want to relax or sleep faster I drink a nice warm cup of this. The most relaxing tea I have, I suggest this to anyone.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_vanillachaiblack.jpg)
Now we're getting into the more exotic teas. Chai is a great tea no matter how you prepare it, but vanilla chai, with a little milk and honey? Oh man is this shit good. I still want to experiment with using other plain chai teas and some vanilla extract but until then this stuff is great. Its a very flavorful tea, not something to toy around with this is a pretty serious flavor.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bentley_pomegranateblack.jpg)
This is my most recent favorite. I first tried this tea christmas of '10 and was blown away at how great it is. Its the perfect blend of pomegranate and black tea. Now whats the trick to preparing this tea for me? Brown sugar. Crazy I know, but its one tea combination you won't regret.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/stash_whitegreen.jpg)
This should probably be higher in the list but it found its way down here. White tea is one of those odd not very popular teas but it stands on its own just fine. However when I tried this white tea/green tea combination I was sold. It has a deep flavor that you can taste more and more you drink it.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/numi_chaiblack.jpg)
Another chai tea, but the better of the two. Doesn't have vanilla in it but it does pack a strong bold flavor. Its a very different creature than the mass produced tea from above and it is best drank with nothing but a little sugar. This tea tastes better every time I drink it.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/stash_pomegranateraspberrygreen.jpg)
A weird little creature this tea is, if you can taste the green tea in it then I tip my hat to you but I cannot. What I can taste is a strong but not bitter raspberry flavor with a hint of pomegranate. Its a great morning tea, and its when I usually drink it. This is the kind of tea people smell across the room and go "oooh whats that great smell?"
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_orangespiceherbal.jpg)
Orange spice is not something I always enjoy, but every once and a while I just get a craving for it and can drink once or twice before I'm done again for a month or two. Its a very odd flavor but it tastes great. This one in particular I haven't had a lot of but I couldn't find Bentleys orange spice tea, so this takes its place.
![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/numi_gunpowdergreen.jpg)
The final tea from my collection and one of my most favorites. Green tea was great, I loved it, but one day my boss showed me this stuff and I just had to try it. Gunpowerder green tea lives up to its name by being a green tea with a bit of smokey flavor. It feels more like a black tea but still tastes like a green, I don't know a better way to describe the flavor. Its something you gotta try for yourself and its probably the most acquired taste of all the teas on this list.
Well thats all, if you're not a tea drinker I hope I've inspired you to go out and try one of these for yourself. Tea is not a drink you'll quickly regret trying and its cheap and relatively easy to prepare. For beginners just take a coffee mug full of water and microwave it till its hot and steep the tea packet for the suggested time (typically 2-5 minutes). If you're a tea drinker already please share what you enjoy drinking most and how you prepare it, I would love to hear what else people drink and how they prepare it. I do have one last tea on my list...
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n99/chuiu/tea/bigelow_oolongblack.jpg) Chinese Oolong black tea... whenever I eat out at chinese places sometimes I'll order hot black tea. What they serve at some of these places is _NOT_ plain black tea though. I noticed a distinct difference in flavor and no matter how many times I asked they always insisted it was 'just black tea'. Well after trying many different flavors of black tea I found this stuff that tastes exactly like their tea. They're not lying about the black part, it is black tea, but its oolong black tea and it has a much different flavor. This isn't something I can drink a lot of, just a small cup every now and then.
  
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I just tried the orange and spice tea yesterday and i also think it has a very unique and great flavor.
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My gold standard of tea is
![[image loading]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_h6nSfQpJPV4/SqaDcoAUHOI/AAAAAAAAAF4/A16l8ge_g10/s320/Yogi+Egyptian+Licorice.jpg)
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I tried Twinnings Oolong and Celestial Seasonings Pomegranate one, and I didn't like any of them D:
Maybe I just had the wrong choice of tea brand, or maybe I just want to keep it simple. Like red tea with basil leaves, or with a little bit of cinamon, oh god tea's maybe the best drink in the world. Nice blog!
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Oh man seeing all those teabags makes me hurt a little bit inside. Please get some loose leaf tea and look up the appropriate steep times at what water temperature, it will make your tea drinking experience so much more enjoyable.
I especially recommend some quality jasmine tea.
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If you are really a fan, i cannot recommend enough switching to loose leaf. It's far cheaper, generally higher quality, resteeps better, and is healthier for you, as the antioxidants in tea are absorbed better when they come from straight from the leaf. With tea bags, you're generally drinking low grade tea ground into a powder, and the flavor is far weaker than what you'd get with leaves. Plus, you can usually find many more variates of loose leaf teas, as tea shops will often do their own mixes and blends.
There's no good reason to stick with tea bags when loose leaf is available.
Few other comments
Never drink decaf tea. Ever. If you want tea without caffeine, drink herbals or Rooibos. Decaffeinated tea has been fucked with even more than most tea bags already have been, don't touch it.
Gunpowder tea is called that because the leaves are rolled into little balls that look like unground black gunpowder. Honestly, I'd really hesitate to call any tea in a bag "gunpowder tea" since it doesn't have the characteristic shape.
Oolong tea isn't black tea, it's oolong tea. Green and white teas are roasted right after being picked and processed, and black teas are allowed to oxidize for awhile before being roasted. Oolong's are allowed to partially oxidize, some are much closer to green, some to black.
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xmShake, I don't brew with bags anymore. I started brewing with loose leaf about a month ago and only use bags for teas I want to try or cannot find loose leaf for. But for most people bags is the easiest introduction into tea drinking and the most convenient. I don't exactly want to brew loose leaf when I'm at work, but a tea bag fits perfectly into my pocket.
deafhobit, you're correct about the gunpowder tea, but not for the shape. It does for the most part retain its shape in bags as long as its not smashed. When Numi packages their teas they leave a small pocket of air in the bags to prevent damaging and put plenty of room in the boxes. Though I don't drink their teas in bag form any longer. As for the oolong, the one I put up there is closer to a black tea and tastes more like a black tea. It might as well be oolong black tea because of how closely it resembles it.
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On March 31 2011 12:23 xmShake wrote:
Oh man seeing all those teabags makes me hurt a little bit inside. Please get some loose leaf tea and look up the appropriate steep times at what water temperature, it will make your tea drinking experience so much more enjoyable.
I especially recommend some quality jasmine tea.
that reminds me of reading this article!
http://www.slate.com/id/2279601/
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cheap and tasty
![[image loading]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tJ7vF5PHZZc/S3l5v4f4_zI/AAAAAAAAAgg/wNy3JBwwlxw/s400/Fujian+Tea+036b.jpg)
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On March 31 2011 12:30 Chuiu wrote:
xmShake, I don't brew with bags anymore. I started brewing with loose leaf about a month ago and only use bags for teas I want to try or cannot find loose leaf for. But for most people bags is the easiest introduction into tea drinking and the most convenient. I don't exactly want to brew loose leaf when I'm at work, but a tea bag fits perfectly into my pocket.
If you want to brew looseleaf at work check out this.
It's a thermos with two different tops, a drink one and a mesh bowl for steeping. I've owned one for years, and it is amazing. The tea cools down much less when steeping, and it's easy to steep on the go anywhere with hot water. Just bring a tin or a ziplock with some leaves in it and a teaspoon and you're good to go. It also makes resteeping a far easier process as you can just take out the mesh top, set in it a cup, and once you're done with your current cup of tea you put the mesh top back on and steep again.
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Fuck yeah Tea.
All about the ability to save heat from one container to the next
mmmmm yeah
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On March 31 2011 12:34 Terrakin wrote:cheap and tasty
LOL we always had this tea in our house too. I didn't mind it when I drank it, but I rarely drank tea
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jasmine tea is where it's AT.
that green tea is pretty good. they have those at my dorms. other green tea's taste very different. of course there's super hi quality green tea with recipes handed down thousands of years, but there's always super hi quality everything to compare to, so we'll exclude those.
jasmine by far is my fav. the smell, the smoothness, everything. i often find other kinds of tea's have a "rough" feeling / taste. maybe it's the ashes, maybe it's the burnt-ness? anyhow, jasmine is awesome cz it be smooooth
terrakin knows what's up
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That vanilla chai tea is amazing and it smells incredible. Definitely my favorite bigelow tea
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On March 31 2011 12:34 deafhobbit wrote:Show nested quote +On March 31 2011 12:30 Chuiu wrote:
xmShake, I don't brew with bags anymore. I started brewing with loose leaf about a month ago and only use bags for teas I want to try or cannot find loose leaf for. But for most people bags is the easiest introduction into tea drinking and the most convenient. I don't exactly want to brew loose leaf when I'm at work, but a tea bag fits perfectly into my pocket. If you want to brew looseleaf at work check out this.It's a thermos with two different tops, a drink one and a mesh bowl for steeping. I've owned one for years, and it is amazing. The tea cools down much less when steeping, and it's easy to steep on the go anywhere with hot water. Just bring a tin or a ziplock with some leaves in it and a teaspoon and you're good to go. It also makes resteeping a far easier process as you can just take out the mesh top, set in it a cup, and once you're done with your current cup of tea you put the mesh top back on and steep again.
Wow I'll have to check that out, thanks! I think I'll look for a glass or plastic one though so I can make sure I'm getting the right color, I can see a couple in the related items.
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Vatican City State2594 Posts
Classic.
![[image loading]](http://tea-gift-set.info/_cache/Lipton%20Tea/img/y_images_lipton%20tea%20earl%20grey_2.jpg)
Boil water, pour into a standard cup, dip the bag in and out until gold then save for another cup (personally this is distasteful to me but I grew to appreciate economic approaches), then add a half teaspoon of sugar and half-squeeze a lemon slice then drop it in. Fucks your stuffy nose and sinuses UP.
Read This Before Rage
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I'm surprised no one or the OP haven't mentioned my favorite tea of all time:
+ Show Spoiler +
Earl Grey Tea baby!
*Edited* DAMN YOU POSTER ABOVE ME FOR NINJAING MY POSTTTTTT!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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I love tea too. Green tea especially. Nothing quite like a nice oolong with a meal. Oh man and it is the shit when you are sick.
One of the best things I discovered in Japan is Shouchu(preferably tantakatan) and Green Tea. Best drink ever!
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On March 31 2011 12:37 Chuiu wrote:Show nested quote +On March 31 2011 12:34 deafhobbit wrote:On March 31 2011 12:30 Chuiu wrote:
xmShake, I don't brew with bags anymore. I started brewing with loose leaf about a month ago and only use bags for teas I want to try or cannot find loose leaf for. But for most people bags is the easiest introduction into tea drinking and the most convenient. I don't exactly want to brew loose leaf when I'm at work, but a tea bag fits perfectly into my pocket. If you want to brew looseleaf at work check out this.It's a thermos with two different tops, a drink one and a mesh bowl for steeping. I've owned one for years, and it is amazing. The tea cools down much less when steeping, and it's easy to steep on the go anywhere with hot water. Just bring a tin or a ziplock with some leaves in it and a teaspoon and you're good to go. It also makes resteeping a far easier process as you can just take out the mesh top, set in it a cup, and once you're done with your current cup of tea you put the mesh top back on and steep again. Wow I'll have to check that out, thanks! I think I'll look for a glass or plastic one though so I can make sure I'm getting the right color, I can see a couple in the related items.
You can generally gauge the color pretty well by the drippings. The tea leaves expand when steeping, and some water gets trapped between them. When you lift the mesh bowl out, the water drips down and you can see the color just fine.
If it has one problem, it's that the mesh isn't quite tight enough for rooibos. Most loose leaf rooibos's will have some seeds in them, and those regularly drop through. They're very scratchy, and it makes the last bit of the cup hard to drink. I don't drink very much rooibos, so it's not really a problem for me, but for someone who does it would be a problem.
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I only use dried tea leaves as opposed to blends or from tea bags since my family has friends that bring it back from China, its usually in a giant molded shape or some sort. I personally only drink green tea, so accustomed to it I rarely try other types. Though, the black tea that majority of the people drink in Chinese restaurants are cheap powdered stuff, bleh!
I was taught to always do a quick rinse of the tea leaves in the pot first and then fill it up. Also been told not to drink too much tea since the overdose of caffeine will result in being "tea drunk"(literal translation), sounds bizarre but its suppose to be worse then a terrible hangover.
Ive tried 2-3 day old green tea still in the pot along with the leaves, it felt like a falcon punch to my internals. After that I felt dreadful, guess a sort of fermentation process began. So I learned lesson since I was told before hand not to drink it. :/
edit: Oh, I never drank Milk tea or anything related. Sad to know but its true...
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EPT![[image loading]](http://www.gabrielteas.com/taylors-of-harrogate-teas/images/EarlGreyTea.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://yesteryearsnews.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/earl-grey-tea.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.gongfugirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/jing_earl_grey.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://rlv.zcache.com/earl_grey_tea_t_shirt-p2359587275772900003ly8_400.jpg)
