Tea Time
 

I seem to go through phases when I forget that I really like tea. Yesterday, though, I rearranged the cupboards (I bought new dishes, so I had to make them fit) and then I was trying to find something on the spice shelf (turned out it was right in front of me) and I found a canister of Wild Berry Plum Green Tea.

I guess I'm back in a tea-drinking phase.

I highly recommend the Republic of Tea's Wild Berry Plum Green Tea. I'd like your recommendations.

What are your favorite teas? Do you prefer hot or cold tea? Do you like sweet tea (blech) or plain? Do you add milk? Do you dip biscotti in it?

Please also feel free to write odes about your favorite teacup, if your muse so inspires you.

My all time, favorite tea is Earl Grey with Lavendar. I usually add a bit of honey and cream to make a delish snack. It is impossible to find here so I make my own mixture. The only place I know to buy it is at the tea shop at Pike Place Market. I think I need to go to Seattle soon.

I drink tea in glass, usually. I have a set of four cobalt-colored tea mugs that are soothing to me.

Earl Grey is my favorite, and I first sampled it in a drink native to Ann Arbor MI (at the University of Michigan) called the Dharma Bums. Half Earl Grey, half steamed milk, shot of almond. It's delightful. Plain Earl Grey is good too. Or, as in the Earl of Sandwich shop in DTD/WDW, Earl's Grey Lemonade is the tastiest Arnold Palmer ever.

But I'm always willing to try something new. Greens, reds, any floral or herbal... I dig on the tea. Usually plain, or sometimes with a little lemon and honey if it's Lipton (and) or not fresh.

Sometimes a tea latte is nice. Audra got me hooked on this blueberry pomegranite latte from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Delightful.

I like my tea like I like my coffee. Strong and black. However, I like my men weak and of non-descript ethnical origin.

Favorite tea is Fortnum and Mason Royal Blend. Not a better tea to be had. It's not sold in the states, and it's a rather exhorbitant expense to get in imported. So my parents make a point to give anyone who happens to be going to London anyway a shopping list. It's oh so worth it.

I recently had a bagged tea that was surprisingly good. I don't remember the name, but I saved the paper wrapper, so I'll check it when I get home.

I don't get very adventurous when it comes to flavored teas. Earl Gray is as far as I go. Other than that, give me a good English breakfast, or other blended black tea.

And I LOVE iced tea. I'll most any iced tea, including mixed stuff, but nothing beats a real brewed iced tea. I've found English breakfast works best. So refreshing and satisfying. Sometimes I sweeten it, sometimes I don't, depends on my mood and the particular tea. I'm not a huge fan of passion fruit iced tea and the like, but I'll drink it.

Oh, and I've recently discovered that Cost Plus sells loose leaf tea. I've only had one cup of the English breakfast, so I don't have a complete verdict, but I enjoyed my cup. Next on the tasting list is the Earl Gray (I don't think I've ever even had loose leaf Earl Gray).

PG Tips. Pyramid bags. Splash of milk. Yum.

I think it was Bigelow that used to sell large cold-brew iced-tea bags (one bag would make 2 liters or something like that). My favorite was Peach.

Does anyone know if that's still available? My goodness I loved that stuff.

I have to admit, I've gotten hooked on the bottled tea/juice blends from the supermarket. There are a couple different brands. My favorite flavor is peach. Mmm. They're like 3/4 sugar, but soooo delicious.

Ooh, Arizona does a Splenda iced tea in blueberry that's tasty.

Tea: It's not real if it's not loose. :coffee:

I say that about a lot of things. ;)

I'm totally liking Green Tea at the moment. This week it's Yogi Tea from Trader Joe's. Super anti-oxidant formula. I try to drink at least one cup a day. I also like Ceylon tea in the morning or an Assam, at night it's usually Chamomile or something decaffeinated.
:)
Love tea!

NA--if you do come up to this neck of the woods, you'd best let me take you to the Sassy tea house in Redmond. Their house blend is amazing.

My favorite bagged tea is some vanilla rooibos tea I got at the tea room here at work. If one heads down the looooong hallway to the hospital part of the building, one finds in very close proximity the gift shop (with drop coffee), the espresso stand (giant), and the tea room (loose teas and premium bagged teas.)

I tell 'ya, tea time is hard-wired into some people, like my English other-half. I laugh about it mostly, but there have been a few instances where I don't know what to think. I remember a day in Orlando a while back, and he INSISTED that we take a break at 4 pm; not just any break, but one with a traditional 3-course finger sandwiches, scones, and cream, and of course tea. I argued that we weren't even in our "home" time zone. But nope, off to Epcot World UK Pav it was.

That's one anglo-ism that has rubbed off a bit on me. I love exotic flavoured teas, not big on the regulars.

I go in waves with my tea drinking. But at work I drink either Lipton (if I'm out of my own good stuff), Stash Chai or Lemon Ginger (depending on if I want caffeine or not). Other times I'll go for a nice mint.

I used to dring Earl Grey, but only Stash - then I tried another brand, and it was just too lavender-y for me, so now I can't drink ANY Earl Grey.

If I'm drinking iced, it's cheap stuff made with my iced tea maker.

bah... I'd rather pour the stuff into Boston Harbor

Pickwick English Blend was the bagged tea that I had and was surprised by. Closest thing (flavor-wise) to F&M Royal Blend I've tasted, state side.

On second tasting of the Cost Plus English Breakfast...don't bother. It has some decent flavor, and is pleasingly dark in color, but it's got just a bit too much bitterness to it.

The verdict on the Earl Gray remains to be seen.

Breaking News! (because I know you're all just hanging on the edge of your seat waiting to hear more about my tea). It may have been a brewing issue. Long story, but I had another cup, brewed much more correctly, and it was far better. I took a shortcut (or rather, I attempted to correct an error with a shortcut) with the first cup and paid for it. Shame shame.

I am on the edge of my seat.

Wait.


OK, now I'm on the edge of my seat.

What was your brewing issue shortcut?

I like iced tea made from Nestea concentrate sweetened with Torani sugar free watermelon or peach syrup. I'm enjoying a watermelon iced tea right now, as a matter of fact.

Hot tea, once in a while, green tea always with my sushi.

I'm really a coffee drinker. As any of you who run into me in the Park should know, by the fact that I'm always carrying around my refillable Grand Californian travel mug. My favorite coffee lately is an Americano. With splenda and half-and-half. :coffee:

I underbrewed the pot. Instead of pouring the cup back into the pot, I took the tea ball (which at this point had been sitting for a couple of minutes) and put it diretly into my cup of tea to strengthen it. I figure either the large ammount of tea in the small cup did it, or just the fact that that tea ball was soaked with super-strong tea that mixed in with my cup to cause the bitterness. I should have just poured the tea back into the pot and steeped the whole thing for a bit longer. Which is what I did with what was left of the pot, and that turned out much better for the second cup.

:eek: Splenda! Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!


Tried the peach syrup in a Coke once. I couldn't taste Coke or peach. To my palate, it was nothing but bubbly Splenda. Disgusting.

Kat and I love Jasmine tea. She loves it so much when friends of ours were going to Thailand..they asked her what she wanted...she wanted a little tin teapot and cups and some Jasmine tea.

So we have Jasmine at least 4-5 nights a week...She likes hers with Splenda, I like mine plain. Ahhh...Jasmine tea.

I'm also fond of Earl Grey, Green or Chamomile. Mornings are for coffee! Afternoons and evenings are for tea!


And don't get me started on Iced Tea! Hello...Southern girl! Sweet Iced Tea - House Wine of The South!

I was raised on it!

Seriously...both my sister and I used to get bottles of sweet tea when we were infants!

I love english breakfast, but I'll drink any black tea. Served hot, with honey. I'm not too big a fan of spice/fruit teas but I dig them once in a while.

I have a dislike for iced tea, which means that when I go to a restaurant with Greg's family, I feel like the child in attendence. "What to drink?" "Iced tea." "Iced tea." "Iced tea." "Um, I'll have a Coke."

It's similar to my alcohol quandrary. "What'll it be?" "Martini." "Long Island." "Vodka tonic." "Um, I'll have a beer....and a goddamned kids menu."

Not so good, the coke and peach. Try black cherry or vanilla next time. Some flavors work, others, not so much. Watermelon coffee? No thanks. But yummy in iced tea! :cheers:

ooh... Hot Green Tea with sushi...
in the mornings.. Good Earth sweet and spicy... no sugar, no honey... just straight.

For reasons I dont understand, I dont like iced tea.

Early Grey any time, any day. No better smell in the world.

Irish Breakfast with sugar and milk.

I like Jasmine when it's late at night and brewed *just* right, otherwise it's soap and not tea you think you're drinking.

Spiced plum or rose petal tea in the afternoon.

Russian Caravan in the early morning or evenings.

And right now The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has tea latte drinks. There's this one that I love, love, love: pomegranate blueberry tea brewed like an espresso with steamed milk and vanilla added. Lordy, it's delicious.

English Breakfast or Greeen Tea for me. Depending on my mood I have one or the other evening evening with a small plate of cookies.

Ahh, The Good Life.

Are they small cookies?

They are, in fact, quite larger then the plate. This is inconvenient as I have to rest the plate on the cookie.

Ditto! I can't take it so sweet any more though.

Hots? Earl Grey, English Breakfast or Mint (I'm such a rebel)

Heh, I like your wording! I'll drink hot tea that sat around and got cold, but iced tea is gross. I don't understand it either.

Maybe it has to do with trying to dissolve sugar into a cold drink. Eeew.

But I dont put sugar in my tea... that, I would understand. But thank you for agreeing!

My grandmother's version of iced tea involved a some tea, considerable amounts of lemon, and more pepsi than seems reasonable.

Iced tea. I have absolutely no explanation for my taste regarding the drink. At home or at a restaurant I'll enjoy the drink with no sweetener at all. Put sugar, splenda, anything into it and it is rendered undrinkable.
However, hand me a Snapple Ice Tea on a hot day (just chock full 'o sugar) and I'll chug it like there's no tomorrow.

[as I type this, I am sipping a 'Coca-Cola Zero', which beats 'Pepsi One' by one]

And 'C2' by two. Can't wait for 'Pepsi Negative.'

I like iced tea when its been brewing in the sun all day. Sun tea!

And unsweetened over ice.

I like Thai iced tea, which is very sweet. So it's a mix-match kinda affair for me.

Ilikethatjustfine.

When I was growing up, we had suntea EVERYDAY in the summer months! And your right...there's nothing better as far as ice tea goes!

Makes me wish I had made some today... :(

My hubby is the same way! He has coffee with his sugar...but won't drink iced tea if it has sugar in it!

And Coke Zero rocks! I was getting used to the Coke with Splenda..but they are a little too sweet! Coke Zero hits the spot!

Therein lies the beauty of sweet tea. You put the sugar in when it's hot so it will actually dissolve. (But you'll have to brew it yourself if you want some in this house.) If you can handle the artificial sweetners, they actually dissolve much easier in the cold drinks then the real stuff.

Lipton Iced Tea. Brewed at home in what used to be a huge restaurant sized jar of marachino cherries. Boil filtered water in a tea kettle, wait for obligatory screeching. Pour over two Lipton Iced Tea Brew tea bags, steep for ten minutes and top off the jar with more filtered water. Let cool and place in fridge.

Place seven ice cubes(thats half an ice cube tray for those who have ice makers) in a large cup. Add three spoonfuls of sugar and pour tea to fill. I drink two or three of these a day. Everyday. For like the last 5 years. It occurs to me that, ladies and gentlemen, we have a rut! Or maybe not. Maybe iced tea is my comfort food. Hmm.

It further occurs to me that taking into consideration the marachino cherry jar, the lack of an ice making refrigerator, and the plastic cups(celebrating such landmark events as Jurrasic Park in '92, Batman in '89, and the '95 NBA All Star Weekend, all courtesy of McDonalds) that I could be misconstrued as a red neck, not that there is anything wrong with that. However, I assure you my house has a foundation, the only car we have has all of its wheels and is in the driveway, and that I cut off my mullet in 19mblbml. Why does posting here always create such fascinating self-revelation? Its like noticing that piece of spinach in your teeth at 7pm when you had spinach in your omelete at like noonish. That is all. I'm pretty sure.

You know, there is a LoT confessional if you'd like to discuss that mullet further...

It wasn't really a mullet per se, but a tail. Remember that lovely hair 'style'? I liked it because I could have long hair and a job due to the fact that it could be braided, wound, and hidden under the regulation length hair. I know. What a rebel.

I termed it a mullet in the previous post as it seemed more redneckesque. Perhaps I was only redneck-curious.

I enjoy iced tea of the Long Island variety.

Mmmmmm. Long Island iced tea.... Mmmmmm.....

Two teas I've loved but haven't had for ever are

Lapsang Souchong
and
Gunpowder.

Yummmmmmm! Smokey Chinese tea.

Tea Time at the World
 

Downtown Disney
Someone mentioned the Earl's Grey Lemonade. For the life of me, I cannot find that post now.

Anyhow, I went to the Earl of Sandwich this afternoon, and decided to have the Grey Lemonade. I think that anyone who likes sweet tea would like this beverage.

I like tea, especially Earl Grey. I like iced tea. I like lemonade. So I should like this Grey Lemonade, right? Well, what I forgot was that I didn't like sweet tea, and that I don't put lemon in my tea ever unless (a) the tea is really, really bad or (b) I'm sick. The Grey Lemonade tastes like lemon sweet tea to me, which makes sense, but wasn't what I was expecting. I drank it with my meal, but I won't like order it again. At $1.75, it's still the best beverage bargain at WDW.

EPCOT Center
Mitsukoshi in Japan has a good selection of tea. (Hey Steph, it's loose!) I bought some Gold Sen-Cha to try later. It's in a non-resealable bag, so I need to find an air-tight canister before I open it up.

Tea is not on the menu at the Rose & Crown. You can buy Twinings tea at the tea shop, but as far as I know, it doesn't come with hot water.

The Espresso cart also had tea. It is neither loose nor international.

That's all for today. My feet are tired.

The other day I recieved a delightful gift of tea from Matterhorn Fan. The Tea is from Teavava and the 2 varieties I received were

• Lapsang Souchong - Carefully withered and dried over fragrant pinewood fire, this tea from the Fujian province of China is famous for its smoky fragrance and malty flavor.
  
• Mrs. Earl Grey - Our classic Earl Grey spiced up with cinnamon, orange peels, cloves, and vanilla bits.
  
  

This afternoon, while chatting with Matterhorn Fan on the tele, I sat down for a cup of the Mrs. I am an Earl Gret lover. I have been for years. I have tasted all of the things that can go wrong with a cup of EG. This cup was perfection. The tea was fresh and lively, the flavors strong and evenly balanced, all in all a delightful perk to my afternoon.

Tomorrow, I will be trying the Lapsang Souchong, which I haven't had in many years and am quite looking forward to being enveloped in it's smokey flavors.

Told ya.

I'll be drinking a mix of the Peach Oolong and Plum Harvest later today. For now I'm having a root beer.

I am trying to resist getting so excited after just one cup that I blow a wad at Teavana.

You wouldn't be the first I know to do so. ;)

Tell everyone about how it almost gets better as it cools off.

OOOH!

Yes, as MF and I were chatting, my mug of tea was cooling. As I drank, it got cooler - AND better! The flavors were more pronounced and delicious. There wasn't that increasing bitterness that I ysyally experience as the tea cools. It was amazing! I'm having more this afternoon. YUM!

Who is MG?

And why wait until afternoon? I'm on my second cup today (peach-flavored white tea).

I guess I'm a tea enabler. A teanabler.

Buy more tea . . . . you know you want to . . . all the cool kids are doing it . . .

MG = Matterhorn Goy?

I am about to try the Lapsang Souchong...

In a Shag, Tomorrowland mug, no less.

I went for Adventureland.

I think we need to buy some:




OOH! There's a Teavana in Water Tower Place in Chicago! That's very close by! I can get tea the get come sinful chocolates.

Mmm - I declare the tea tasty and a perfectjob-destressor for the day

Green Tea Mojo: (Black Tea) Full-leaf Ceylon black and Japanese Sencha green tea mixed with cactus blossoms, guava, strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb, and sunflower petals.

Sounds interesting.

Yes, I'm being an enabler.

Store Locations:

CALIFORNIA:
Polk & Vallejo, San Francisco
Valley Fair, Santa Clara
Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto
Coming soon: Escondito, Glendale

FLORIDA:
Town Center, Boca Raton
Florida Mall, Orlando
The Avenues, Jacksonville
The Galleria, Fort Lauderdale
International Plaza, Tampa

GEORGIA:
Phipps Plaza, Atlanta
Lenox Square, Atlanta
Mall of Georgia, Buford
Perimeter Mall, Atlanta

ILLINOIS:
Water Tower Place, Chicago

KENTUCKY:
Mall at St. Matthews, Louisville

MARYLAND:
The Mall in Columbia, Columbia

MASSACHUSETTS:
Shops at Prudential Center, Boston
Coming Soon: Chestnut Hill

MINNESOTA:
Mall of America, Minneapolis
Arbor Lakes, Maple Grove

NEVADA:
Fashion Show Mall, Las Vegas

NEW YORK:
Roosevelt Field, Garden City
Coming Soon: Lake Grove

NORTH CAROLINA:
South Park Mall, Charlotte

SOUTH CAROLINA:
340 Kind St., Charleston

TEXAS:
Houston Galleria, Houston
Coming Soon: Dallas

VIRGINIA:
Tysons Corner Ctr., McLean

WASHINGTON:
Bellevue Square, Bellevue

Also coming soon: Bridgewater, NJ; King of Prussia, PA; Nashua, NH; Paramus, NJ.

You guys suck.

Today we stopped by our Teavana.

I left with:

Rooibos Sweet Amore

Vanilla, cinnamon, almonds, apples, peach, pear, and red Rooibos tea. A tea you could easily fall in love with.

and

Rooibos Chai

Delicious caffeine-free Chai with cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and lemongrass.

He got:

Irish Breakfast

A strong-flavored blend of Assam, Nilgiri and China Black. This tea lives up to the old Irish saying, “a cup of tea should be strong enough for a mouse to trot on."

and

Thai Tea Blend

A delightful Thai restaurant blend of black and red teas, Hawaiian coconut pieces, almonds, and authentic Madagascar vanilla beans. Enjoy this delicious tea chilled with milk and Rock Cane Sugar.

Although right as we were leaving we smelled:

Caribbean Breeze

Tropical mélange of rose hip, apple, elderberries, citrus peel, and hibiscus blossoms. Extremely rich in vitamin C.

Which would make a really great iced tea.

We do NOT. We SIP. ;)

That sounds really good. Oh wait--red tea. I was going to ask for a full review (though I would never enjoy a tea with the rock sugar), but I don't like the rooibos, so never mind.

Oh, yes. It also mixes well with many of the other teas. Yummy.

Do you like green tea? The mandarin orange one is really good.
Do you like oolong? Peach Oolong is still my current favorite (I add Plum Harvest, but it's also good with Pina Colada or Spiced Melange or . . . . unm, yeah, the tea part of my last month's Visa bill was a little scary).

:coffee:

N/A, I know that you two are big fans of Peet's. The one by our house has a wonderful selection of teas and usually has samples of one of the varieties out each day. I don't know if yours does the same thing but I have been able to sample a lot of their different varieties over the past few weeks and have been pleasantly surprised a few times. The gunpowder variety that you mentioned is one of my favorites.