I've been all up into the celestial seasonings teas as of late. My favorite being Honey Vanilla Chamomile, which is like drinking a graham cracker for some reason. Yum!
And Then, out of nowhere, I realised I've never posted in this thread, which is a clear mistake, since I'm absolutely rotten for the stuff.
For anyone In or visiting Brisbane, Australia(Our Fair city), there is Tlicious who have an extraordinary variety of teas, many of them very, very good.
English people and visitors thus - Whittards of Chelsea is quite good.
I actually wanted to ask a question to any cold-tea drinkers before I start brewing again.
I love tea of any kind of any type or temperature, but I love drinking iced tea the most of all. I wanted to ask, what is the best way sweetner/sugar I can use to make my tea sweet, without giving my mouth the dry taste and the need to drink something else right after finishing the tea? It feels like manufactured tea is always unsweet, or so sweet it'll put anyone in shock, so I want to know if anyone has a good ratio of sugar per cup or pitcher and what kind to use.
I've always found that the level of sweet should be tailored to the individual. The best way to sweeten a cold drink is by making a simple syrup and keeping it around in a squeeze bottle. No grit from sugar that won't melt.
I've always found that the level of sweet should be tailored to the individual. The best way to sweeten a cold drink is bymaking a simple syrupand keeping it around in a squeeze bottle. No grit from sugar that won't melt.
I agree with this, however, I recommend using Raw sugar/Cane Sugar over white sugar. It won't come out clear, like simple syrup you normally see, but you're putting it in tea, nobody will notice the colour. Also, I find that the very slight molasses flavour you get from Raw sugar really enhances the flavour of your iced tea, but that's simply personal opinion, your results may vary.
Call me a simpleton, but I'm absolutely MAD about Lipton's Peach Green Ice Tea and their Raspberry Ice Tea. It's just so good! ^_^
I won't, because I find myself in much the same state. Liking fancy home-made iced teas with creative flavours and experimental methods of making is fine, but if you can't enjoy the simple things, what point is there, really?
I'm going to try to Simple Syrup idea first. I mostly just hate the after-taste I get from drinking tea, like when you end up something with HFCS. It makes you thirsty from something else. I'm not sure if it's because sugar is there in the first place, or I'm adding it at the wrong time to the tea, but I'll have to see and find out.
Since the coffee thread was resurrected, I felt compelled to bump the tea thread as well (:
Both Philip and I are huge fans of tea. I generally order mine from Upton Tea. They have very reasonable prices, high to medium quality fresh teas and tisanes, various tea tools, and flat-rate shipping. That said, they are a company some tea drinkers love to hate, and I have been occasionally disappointed, as well. (Some cans I go through almost immediately, others I just ought to throw out...) So always start with a sampler pack.
For a daily black tea, I enjoy their Richmond Park Blend. It is a medium body black tea, with a slight hint of tabacco and minimal bitterness. I love it with milk and sugar.
For straight tea, I enjoy their Pre-Chingming Golden Monkey, which can be finicky (in terms of temperature and timing) but brews a delicious honey cocoa peach when done right.
Philip likes smokier teas. His daily go-to is Finest Russian Caravan. It is lighter than the Richmond Park, slightly smokier with a bit of citrus. But he really enjoys liquid smoke a.k.a. Tsar Nicolas Tea from House of Tea in Philly, or some Lapsang Souchung (we're still looking). He drinks these with a splash of milk and a 1/4-1/2t of sugar.
For special occasions, we bust out the Rose Congou, which is delicious and very reasonably priced.
Iced tea-wise, Upton's New England Harvest Blend is great! I make it concentrated, with some sugar, refrigerate it in a pitcher, and pour over ice on a hot day. The cinnamon-vanilla-almond flavor is delicious hot, as well, in the colder months.
Greens and green-like oolongs are by far my favorite. I enjoy a delicate and subtly sweet floral cup, e.g. Gu Zhang Mao Jian Organic(I finish this off immediately) or Tie Guan Yin Oolong (still looking for a better one than Upton's).
I realize this reads almost like an ad for Upton's, but the fact is, their good teas are great, their bad teas are meh. The community on Steepster is knowledgable and diverse, and I hope to find some new teas (as soon as I build a wall-mounted tea cabinet).
I have a bunch of tea at work I like to drink in the afternoon to keep my tummy at bay until dinner (instead of going to the vending machine for tasty yet bad snax). I really like Trader Joe's teas. The jasmine pearl green tea is just as good as Teavanna's, plus they've got other nice flavors. Its fancy looking loose leaf tea inside a large-ish clear tea bag, so its fairly close to full loose leaf tea (to me).
I adore mine. I just couldn't get through the day without my it. I'll never understand why I put up with a stove top tea kettle for all those years.
Not even a simple water boiler? For a tenner or two you have a decent one. Tea kettles are only still useful for camping when you have no electricity for a camping water boiler.
I've mostly been drinking Ketepa Safari Tea Which is a pretty good (if plain) black tea. It also helps that it's incredibly cheap. I need to restock on some Twinings Earl Grey but local stores rarely have loose leaf.
Word. I use an electric kettle, and I own a stovetop/fire kettle. Can't be arsed with those kind of water boilers, they provide no extra advantage, other than reducing boiling time, which isn't that much anyway - which really, isn't a problem or an annoyance, but rather a chance to rinse my cups, prepare my tea, ponder the ever-present magpies in the back yard, roll a smoke, etc.
Edit - And I should note, I drink a SHITLOAD of tea.
Your electric kettle is slow as fuck Churbs. The electric camping kettle I used before was faster than yours. Therefore I concluded that yours must boil like 5 liters at a time.
Your electric kettle is slow as fuck Churbs. The electric camping kettle I used before was faster than yours. Therefore I concluded that yours must boil like 5 liters at a time.
Two litres at a time, and most of the time, I'll go out for a smoke right after it boils. Usually it takes about six or seven minutes to boil, and about the same for me to have a smoke and play with the dog a bit, thus the fifteen minutes it normally takes me. When I'm not doing it that way, I'm normally back in six minutes, get back to it, and then pick up my tea in a little while, when it's really well steeped.
I would use my stove kettle - much faster - but it's a pain in the arse with the shitty electric stove in this place.
It's like 9 times faster if you fill it with a little more water than you are expecting to use. I usually boil about 3 inches of water every time I use it and it takes like two minutes.
Comments
For anyone In or visiting Brisbane, Australia(Our Fair city), there is Tlicious who have an extraordinary variety of teas, many of them very, very good.
English people and visitors thus - Whittards of Chelsea is quite good.
I love tea of any kind of any type or temperature, but I love drinking iced tea the most of all. I wanted to ask, what is the best way sweetner/sugar I can use to make my tea sweet, without giving my mouth the dry taste and the need to drink something else right after finishing the tea? It feels like manufactured tea is always unsweet, or so sweet it'll put anyone in shock, so I want to know if anyone has a good ratio of sugar per cup or pitcher and what kind to use.
Also, I find that the very slight molasses flavour you get from Raw sugar really enhances the flavour of your iced tea, but that's simply personal opinion, your results may vary.
Both Philip and I are huge fans of tea. I generally order mine from Upton Tea. They have very reasonable prices, high to medium quality fresh teas and tisanes, various tea tools, and flat-rate shipping. That said, they are a company some tea drinkers love to hate, and I have been occasionally disappointed, as well. (Some cans I go through almost immediately, others I just ought to throw out...) So always start with a sampler pack.
For a daily black tea, I enjoy their Richmond Park Blend. It is a medium body black tea, with a slight hint of tabacco and minimal bitterness. I love it with milk and sugar.
For straight tea, I enjoy their Pre-Chingming Golden Monkey, which can be finicky (in terms of temperature and timing) but brews a delicious honey cocoa peach when done right.
Philip likes smokier teas. His daily go-to is Finest Russian Caravan. It is lighter than the Richmond Park, slightly smokier with a bit of citrus. But he really enjoys liquid smoke a.k.a. Tsar Nicolas Tea from House of Tea in Philly, or some Lapsang Souchung (we're still looking). He drinks these with a splash of milk and a 1/4-1/2t of sugar.
For special occasions, we bust out the Rose Congou, which is delicious and very reasonably priced.
Iced tea-wise, Upton's New England Harvest Blend is great! I make it concentrated, with some sugar, refrigerate it in a pitcher, and pour over ice on a hot day. The cinnamon-vanilla-almond flavor is delicious hot, as well, in the colder months.
Greens and green-like oolongs are by far my favorite. I enjoy a delicate and subtly sweet floral cup, e.g. Gu Zhang Mao Jian Organic(I finish this off immediately) or Tie Guan Yin Oolong (still looking for a better one than Upton's).
I realize this reads almost like an ad for Upton's, but the fact is, their good teas are great, their bad teas are meh. The community on Steepster is knowledgable and diverse, and I hope to find some new teas (as soon as I build a wall-mounted tea cabinet).
I need to restock on some Twinings Earl Grey but local stores rarely have loose leaf.
Edit - And I should note, I drink a SHITLOAD of tea.
I would use my stove kettle - much faster - but it's a pain in the arse with the shitty electric stove in this place.