EPTTea enthusiasts - Page 7
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peacenl
550 Posts
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Cipher32
United States52 Posts
If anyone is new to tea and is browsing through on where to start, I do have to agree with many of the other posters that celestial seasonings brand is great and easy to access in many places. | ||
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yakitate304
United States655 Posts
I started drinking a lot of tea about 6 months ago, and picked up one of those Teavana infusers (pretty much identical to Adagio's "IngenuiTEA"), and some of Teavana's tea... The ones I've bought so far... -Gyokuro Genmaicha Green: Really savory green tea mixed with brown rice. It sounds strange, and it smells strange too, but the flavor is so wonderful! A little nutty, a little smoky, a little floral in a non-flowery way (if that makes sense).... http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/green-teas/p/gyokuro-genmaicha-green-tea -Earl Grey Creme: Fantastic flavor, you can really taste the slightly sweet, full creaminess added to the traditional Earl Grey flavor. I prefer this over Teavana's normal Earl Grey. http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/black-teas/p/earl-grey-creme-black-tea -White Ayurvedic Chai: Great on its own, or as a half-and-half blend with the Honeybush Vanilla Rooibos. This was the first tea that I really fell in love with. The cinnamon is nicely measured and it's generally a really solid slightly spicy tea. http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/white-teas/p/white-ayurvedic-chai-tea -Honeybush Vanilla Rooibos: Really smooth, it's not overly "creamy" or overly thin in taste, I think it's just right. http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/herbal-teas/p/honeybush-vanilla-herbal-tea -Kamiya Papaya Oolong: It's good but not great. I loved it at first but I've come to like it less over the last few months. -Green Tea Heaven: I wouldn't recommend it. Tastes artificial and like they tried to force too much fruit into it. My next purchase will probably be from Adagio. I'm looking for something rich and nutty. | ||
bkrow
Australia8532 Posts
White tea sounds amazing  thanks for all the info | ||
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Arghmyliver
United States1077 Posts
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Deleted User 135096
3624 Posts
On May 31 2012 09:03 bkrow wrote: With the amount of tea i drink (3 - 6 cups a day) you'd think i'd know at least a small amount about the different types lol. All i know is the difference between black and green haha! White tea sounds amazing thanks for all the infoIf you try white, Bai Mu Dan or Bai Hao Yin Zhen might be a good place to start though I'm more partial to Bai Hao Yin Zhen (also known as Silver Needle, and one of the more famous types). | ||
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UmiNotsuki
United States633 Posts
Look forward to reading the opinions of the fine tea-loving gamers of the world! EDIT: Forgot to include my own opinion! My personal favorite teas are usually green. The light caffeine is the perfect amount to focus me without making me restless, allowing me to do low-activity but high-concentration activities like writing and playing Go much better. Plus, the flowery, fruity, and bitter taste combinations are to die for. (But not StarCraft. Apparently the pressure I feel during a game is so much that coffee is actually better!) But often times I'm just in the mood for BITTER (my favorite taste of them all!) In that case, I find myself dramatically over-saturating black tea... mmmm, the bitter. I might go do that right now. | ||
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peacenl
550 Posts
On May 31 2012 10:05 UmiNotsuki wrote: Sweet, tea thread :D I have a Japanese style tea house called Kucha and a Taiwanese style house called The Dushanbe Teahouse both only a few minutes drive from me... I love this town :D Look forward to reading the opinions of the fine tea-loving gamers of the world! EDIT: Forgot to include my own opinion! My personal favorite teas are usually green. The light caffeine is the perfect amount to focus me without making me restless, allowing me to do low-activity but high-concentration activities like writing and playing Go much better. Plus, the flowery, fruity, and bitter taste combinations are to die for. (But not StarCraft. Apparently the pressure I feel during a game is so much that coffee is actually better!) But often times I'm just in the mood for BITTER (my favorite taste of them all!) In that case, I find myself dramatically over-saturating black tea... mmmm, the bitter. I might go do that right now. Nice :D What kind of green ones do you like? | ||
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Ale.
United States25 Posts
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Ale.
United States25 Posts
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KharadBanar
Austria463 Posts
Also, props to Trozz for writing all those haiku. That's quite difficult. | ||
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ticklishmusic
United States15977 Posts
I'm not a big fan of flavored or fruit teas generally-- like to stick to the old fashioned kind. I usually just drink whatever my parents get from Taiwan. Its all loose/ full leaf, and I think most of them are pretty decent quality, though I doubt much (if any) is really high-grade. There's one big bag my mom got from China though-- its wrapped in actual leaves, and its getting a bit old and losing its scent, but its really good. I'd have to ask them for specifics. We've also got Dong Gua Cha (my pinyin is terrible, excuse me if I make any mistakes), which is really sweet (though not an actual "tea"). We've also been getting some Costco matcha (its the only kind we can find, sadly), which isn't too bad. I've got some peach tea from Japan stashed away somewhere as well. I usually just take a small spoonful of leaves and put it in the bottom of my mug, then fill it up with hot water. I usually use my tea leaves a few times though-- I don't like using more than one serving a day. | ||
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Windd
United States161 Posts
On May 31 2012 08:26 yakitate304 wrote: Great thread! I started drinking a lot of tea about 6 months ago, and picked up one of those Teavana infusers (pretty much identical to Adagio's "IngenuiTEA"), and some of Teavana's tea... The ones I've bought so far... -Gyokuro Genmaicha Green: Really savory green tea mixed with brown rice. It sounds strange, and it smells strange too, but the flavor is so wonderful! A little nutty, a little smoky, a little floral in a non-flowery way (if that makes sense).... http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/green-teas/p/gyokuro-genmaicha-green-tea -Earl Grey Creme: Fantastic flavor, you can really taste the slightly sweet, full creaminess added to the traditional Earl Grey flavor. I prefer this over Teavana's normal Earl Grey. http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/black-teas/p/earl-grey-creme-black-tea -White Ayurvedic Chai: Great on its own, or as a half-and-half blend with the Honeybush Vanilla Rooibos. This was the first tea that I really fell in love with. The cinnamon is nicely measured and it's generally a really solid slightly spicy tea. http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/white-teas/p/white-ayurvedic-chai-tea -Honeybush Vanilla Rooibos: Really smooth, it's not overly "creamy" or overly thin in taste, I think it's just right. http://www.teavana.com/the-teas/herbal-teas/p/honeybush-vanilla-herbal-tea -Kamiya Papaya Oolong: It's good but not great. I loved it at first but I've come to like it less over the last few months. -Green Tea Heaven: I wouldn't recommend it. Tastes artificial and like they tried to force too much fruit into it. My next purchase will probably be from Adagio. I'm looking for something rich and nutty. I have heard a lot of bad stuff about teavana (specifically from reddit). Mostly as being overpriced. For example the Gyokuro seems very high priced to this organic one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-Gyokuro-Organic-Jade-Dew-Japanese-Green-Tea-/220860340364?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item791561b81c Teavana also recommends to steep it at 170 F while it is usually suggested to be at around 140. The other issue is similar to the first. Rice AFAIK is not usually added to gyokuro, but doing so is rather in expensive additive to something that is priced very high per lb. Anyway I personally usually buy numi loose tea in bulk off amazon (the lung jing). I want to try some oolong and have been thinking about getting some Iron Goddess of Mercy. Anyone tried it? I have also been thinking about getting a Gaiwan (seems like the mechanical keyboard of tea community), but I'm not sure yet. Anyone have any recommendations about where to look for Gaiwans? Reddit also has a huge tea seller list with coupons and notes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApCZ-sUhC2egdGtTVFNjMzFfZzdDUnVVTVgxQ2RxNVE&authkey=CJLgu5IL&hl=en&authkey=CJLgu5IL#gid=0 | ||
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Aerisky
United States12129 Posts
However, I'm also afraid of iced tea caffeine content. How does it compare to normal tea and could it have a large impact in general? I'm a very strong believer in how caffeine sucks for your system through first-hand second-hand (i.e. friends) experience and always have been a bit afraid that iced tea will also screw me over in the long run. So awesome though, seems like TL has a group for everything ^^ not to mention educated and awesome members in said groups~ | ||
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Abort Retry Fail
2636 Posts
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meeple
Canada10211 Posts
On May 25 2012 09:35 Trozz wrote: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QOOxr.png) Some unfurled oolong. You've gotta love swamp-like teas. Just can't stop drinking. I'm drinking some right now... I love swamp tea... taiwanese yuelu shan oolong is my favorite... I never got into the higher fancy teas... I drink it for effect... the taste and the caffeine... I drink a lot of pu-erh and oolong... and some longjing when I go to china... but the differeences in class are never apparent unless its real shit tea... | ||
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forgehammer
United States79 Posts
Also, Oolong is pretty sick, but a good Pu'er from Yunnan takes the cake. | ||
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Trozz
Canada3456 Posts
Nothing seems to beat that place. I love their pu-erh. | ||
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Probe1
United States17920 Posts
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r.Evo
Germany14080 Posts
http://www.teekampagne.de/en This is imho the best and cheapest (yes, both) store for Darjeeling. They only sell Darjeeling, only in 500g and more packages, only online and they have very solid information on what they get from where and how and why it is priced like it is. Also you only get certain variants depending on which season it is currently, they don't seem to keep large stock. It's one of the most specialized stores I know, have yet to find a Darjeeling that beats theirs. Their shipping costs are quite high outside of Europe, but since this is also a great gift (make sure to include instructions as to how you actually make good tea) it's still possible to buy it in bulk and be happy. For shipping within Germany we charge 4.60 Euro for order up to 34 Euro and 3.20 Euro for order from 34 Euro, to Austria 5.00 Euro, to France 6.00 Euro, to other EU-States and Switzerland 10.00 Euro, to all other countries 20.00 Euro. Also I'm a huge sucker for stuff like this: + Show Spoiler + ![[image loading]](http://www.teekampagne.de/download/images/Calculation_retailprice_2011.jpg) Edit: Fun side fact about why you get screwed so much when it comes to tea: 1988 The Tea Board of India, the official Indian tea authority, grants the right to use its seal of authenticity, which certifies 100% pure Darjeeling. Teekampagne is the first German company to receive this right. It is one step to create awareness for the fact that worldwide four times as much tea is sold as Darjeeling tea than actually can be produced. Sales: 80t | ||
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