Attention Tea Drinkers -- Are My Preferences Out Of Whack?

[Huerta88]

So I drink a fair amount of tea to combat my self-diagnosed narcolepsy.

I like a wide variety of tea.

But . . . in restaurants, offices, hotels . . . I disproportionately find that they offer (a) plain old Lipton/Tetley, which is fine; OR
(b) if there's a broader assortment, it will skew away from caffeinated tea, or at least from regular caffeinated tea.

I've probably been in five restaurants in the last few months where the tea selection included three or four herbal teas, and for caffeinated at most, Earl Grey. Now, I don't mind bergamot, but it's an acquired taste and Earl Grey is not always my tea of choice. Or, in lots of offices, the only, or one of the only, caffeinated versions will be that fruity/perfumy "Constant Comment" stuff.

Are more people than I think devotees of herbal tea only?
Are fewer people than I think interested in plain old (English Breakfast, Assam, Ceylon, call it what you will) black tea, and more than I think interested in the perfumed stuff?

[Sage Rat]

*wants to know the answer too*

On a sidenote: I recommend the Original Spice tea Blend (http://www.todd-holland.com)

[My Darn Snake Legs]

Well, I buy Earl Grey because I like just being able to drink tea without needing milk/sugar to make it drinkable. I don't care for breakfast tea because it's too bitter.

This may accidentally answer your herbal tea question as well. "If the tea that I drink is not too rough then I don't have to put sugar (which I try to avoid) in it." I've never said something like that, but I can imagine it pretty easily.

[Tamex]

I like black tea, but I don't like Lipton much, especially hot. Thing is, Lipton's got the black tea market so cornered, I think, that most people (in the States, at least) don't think that there is anything else as far as tea is concerned. So, in a restaurant, hotel, etc., I would probably pick the herbal tea over Lipton. Maybe that skews the results. In fact, I don't even usually order hot tea in restaurants, because I'm likely to be disappointed. I will order tea in Chinese restaurants, but of course, that's green tea.

My favorite black tea is Red Rose, which I've never seen in a restaurant, and I don't always see in the supermarket. That's what I drink at home, though--and what my mother, sister, and sister's husband drink.

I've always wondered if my tea preferences were out of whack, because you do see Earl Grey a lot, and I'd pick Lipton before I'd ever drink Earl Grey. Bleah.

[Podkayne]

This makes me nuts, too.

Part of the problem is that most people in the US prefer coffee over tea, and many of those who do drink tea instead of coffee do it for various health reasons, be it to avoid the caffeine or because of the supposed health benefits of green teas.

If you're lucky you get a Twinings assortment. If not, limp bags of Lipton and about a dozen fru-fru herbals. Bleh!

I'll try not to go into a tea snob rant about how tea only comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, and peppermint, camomile, rose hips, and whatever else you use to pollute a perfectly good cup of hot water are tisanes.

Well, I can't promise to try. But I'll try to try. ;)

[Stark Raven Mad]

Ceylon is of course still the standard, AFAIK. I gave up on herbal/flavored teas when one day I realized that the tea people are just randomly picking plants out of a hat now (I mean turnip tea and raspberry tea I can reluctantly accept, but no, not that banana and onion tea).

I usually pick out a tea a week. This month I started out with darjeeling, followed with iron buddha, gorged myself on berber whiskey* last week, and right now am sipping a cup of some blend my parents picked up when they were in Norway last month. They had to smuggle it into Australia inside a baggy, and without the original packaging none of us has any idea what the hell it is. Strong stuff, though. It's 3am right now.


*is fancy Moroccan term for saying Really, Really Thick and Sweet Mint and Green Tea. I like going half and half. Google tells me it's usually taken with a lot of sugar, so unless you're a Splenda junkie like myself it's probably not in your best interest to have this everyday.

[Cheez_Whia]

I usually avoid ordering tea from restaurants just because most of them just Don't Get It. I don't want one little wimpy tea bag to make 2 cups of tea. I want a whole pot, dammit, and don't make it weak, either! When they ask, "Do you want more hot water?", I just want to retort, "What for, if I can't have more teabags?". Bleah. I'll make my own at home. Mmm...Lady Grey, maybe?

[Caricci]

I usually avoid ordering tea out because, in addition to the 1 bag for 2 cups, they often give you water for 1 1/2 and no place to put the bag when you're done steeping. I have a real hatred for keeping the bag in while you drink it. Other tea at restaurants peeves include: getting those little half and half cups instead of milk (way to heavy for tea) and the grosses of all, hot water that's been heated in a coffee pot and, thus, tastes like coffee.

[ddgryphon]

Put me on the list of frustrated tea drinkers in America: I contend that the best way to drink most varieties of Lipton is to merely show the bag to the water -- that way there's no danger of it becoming immensely bitter.

I like Earl Grey, but unfortunately have developed an allergy to Bergemont.

When most people think tea, they seem to think Herbal and Decaf. WHY? WHY? WHY?

I like Oolong, Breakfast Teas (English or Irish, though I prefer Irish-- more body), Darjeeling and black Jasmine blends.

I like to sometimes dabble in Camomile, and the Zinger line from Celetial Seasonings. And though I really like most of the Republic of Tea Black Tea Blends, especially the Mango, I find it way to expensive to indulge in.


So, at a restaurant my tendency is to just order coffee with desert and let it pass. I've grown tired of trying to explain tea to people who can't get enough coffee.

[gotpasswords]

In December, I've been known to work at a tea shop at the local Dickens / Christmas festival, and the basic black tea there was PG Tips (http://www.englishteastore.com/brands-pg-tips.html) I found it odd that our black tea was genuine British tea, our Jasmine was a wonderfully fragrant specialty blend that we had a dickens (heh!) of a time obtaining and keeping in stock and our orange spice was Lipton.

As for teas here at work, I've got about 15 to pick from - plain ol' Lipton black and green teas, plus Bigelow and Twinings ranging from decaf herbal on up to English Breakfast and Darjeeling.

[Stranger On A Train]

Third time's a charm (I hope):

Here's (http://tom.carlson.org/tea/) some advice on making tea, including essays from such English luminaries as George Orwell and Douglas Adams.

To me, most bag tea tastes flat regardless of what fragrant junk they put in there to try to give it some kind of flavor. However, Mighty Leaf (http://www.mightyleaf.com/default.aspx) makes some damn good bag tea. The only bottled stuff I've found to drink is Honestea (I tried linking but it crashes Firefox, damnit). Don't talk to me about Snapple; that stuff is more sugar than tea.

As for the OP, I think the reason flavored and herbal "tea" is so popular is because the standard teas that are available, like Lipton and Nastea, are just plain bad. Tetley is marginally drinkable, but I daresay that most Americans have never had a good cup of tea, either hot or (especially) iced. There's a coffeeshop in Hollywood which I sometimes patronize while waiting for a movie which charges and extraordinary amount for iced tea ($3.25 as I recall), but it's such bloody good tea, brewed from actual leaves, damnit (instead of sidewalk sweepings) that I shell out for it once in a while. Oddly, they don't stock loose leaf for hot tea; it's back to the bag stuff, in which case it's Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast Tea for me.

Stranger

[Charlie Tan]

I actually like Lipton's Earl Grey and prefer it to Twining's. The bergamot is a bit too pungent in Twining's for my taste, even though they "invented" the stuff.

Quite a few of my UK friends swear by PG Tips (http://www.pgmoment.com/), but I can't understand that.

Fruity tea is terrible. If I want tea, I want the taste of tea - not strawberies or apples.

[Doug Bowe]

Here's the site for Stash Tea. I got it from this board last year and gave it a try. Since then they've gotten my business.

http://www.stashtea.com/

At work I do my tea thing in the early morning when nobody's looking. When people see you making tea they seem to brand you a "tea snob." Geez.

One thing I've learned about using loose tea and an individual cup infuser...follow the directions. When they say 3 to 5 minutes, keep it to that. Longer steeping doesn't make it better. It makes it bitter.
When in doubt, lean over and sniff it. If it smells ready it is ready.

[Eonwe]

I daresay that most Americans have never had a good cup of tea


Oh come now! I'm sure you and I are not the only ones to have a tea shop in our towns (or available online).

My mom grew up in India, so I've definitely got a taste for heavily miled/sugared tea, but my favorite teas are those that I can enjoy without all that (Earl Grey being one of the more obvious).

I do have to admit that I've had a hard time coming to love green tea. Most of the green tea I've had (even from 'specialty' shops) is just too bland. What's green tea supposed to taste like?

[Stranger On A Train]

I do have to admit that I've had a hard time coming to love green tea. Most of the green tea I've had (even from 'specialty' shops) is just too bland. What's green tea supposed to taste like?Green tea is generally bitter with a very delicate flavor, hence the tendancy to add jasmine or other fruity flavors to it. (Nothing wrong with this, actually, so long as it is done to offset the bitterness, not cover it up.) Not sure what to tell you about it; some people just don't like it. I'm not an expert on teas (sadly, a topic on which I have yet to read up on) but I assume this has something to do with the short period of oxidation relative to oolong and black teas.

Stranger

[dwyr]

Enough people are interested in real tea here in Lexington such that we've got a pretty nice tea room. Their menu changes every month as does the tea-unfortunately they only offer one at a time, but it's quite good. There used to be a lovely place in Perryville but the tearoom portion of the business closed so they could expand their retail sales. You can order their teas online at the Elmwood Inn (http://www.elmwoodinn.com/teas_foods/traditional_black.html) site. They're excellent in my opinion. Plus the owner is a very nice fellow. :)

[tremorviolet]

I do have to admit that I've had a hard time coming to love green tea. Most of the green tea I've had (even from 'specialty' shops) is just too bland. What's green tea supposed to taste like?

Green teas have a delicate flavor that may be tough to get used to. I tend to like the more strongly flavored green teas, like gunpowder (a smokey flavor) and genmai (has roasted rice and tastes kinda nutty). I started drinking green tea for health reasons and now I'm addicted (6-8 cups a day). Another thing to keep in mind is that green tea usually only needs to seep for 2-3 minutes compared to black teas. Many people let it seep too long and then complain about the bitterness.

[Sarah Woodruff]

Well personally I can't get out of bed in the morning without having a very strongly brewed black cup of English or Irish Breakfast tea, with one sugar. I love the dark teas, but at night I sometimes have a Peppermint tea - good for the digestion and I like the taste. Nothing but Twinings for me.

[Lars Aruns]

I also like all of the Twinings line, but a favourite of mine is something they don't have: Pu-Erh Tea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu-erh_tea). It is Chinese, but it's not green tea. Most definitely not. Quite similar to black tea, actually, only, uhm, unique. The first time I tried it I thought it tasted of mud, but now I like it!

Kudos to Mrs Aruns for making me try it, and for insisting that I tried it again after I went "Bleah".

[Agrippina]

I prefer Twinings, but recently I've tried Stash's White/Green Tea combo and it's pretty good.

I too hate most herbal teas except for Peppermint. Other non-teas I like are Rooibos (Red Tea) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos) and Yerba Mate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate).

[LifeOnWry]

I'm quite fond of a number of herbal tisanes (yes, I do know the difference!), but the Celestial Seasonings brand is not one I care for. They tend to go rather heavily on the hibiscus, which is simultaneously too sweet and too bitter. I like chamomile, peppermint, and one or two blends. My current favorites are Stash's Licorice Spice blend and a ginger one that I can't recall the name of.

No one has mentioned chai, which in the US is black tea blended with spices like vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon and usually served as a latte. That's the only tea I drink with milk and sugar. For me, it's more a dessert-y treat than a beverage. It's also become much more widely available in recent years.

For TEA tea, I like jasmine a lot, and I bought a big box of Tetley's British Blend, which is quite good. As for restaurants, if I'm in the mood for tea I simply smuggle in my own teabags.

[Barbarian]

The restaurant buyers who buy the crap mentioned in the OP don't drink tea-- and I think it is fair to say that most Americans have never had a proper cup of tea.

Here's a hint-- if a pot of warm water shows up with a tea bag on the side, it's not a properly brewed cup.

[irishgirl]

I have Bewley's Irish Breakfast Tea in bags, which is my standard "cup of tea" tea.
I also have some Tanganda loose leaf tea from Zimbabwe for pots (brought back by my grandmother, it's what we always had at home) and some Marks and Spencer's Earl Grey tea for late nights and early mornings. I love Bergamot, and find it quite relaxing. It goes nicely with my M&S dark chocolate ginger biscuits too!

I have some Rooibos tea bags as well (another childhood thing), some green tea for when I'm feeling healthy and Camomile and Peppermint teas for when insomnia and nausea strike.

The Irish drink more tea per capita than anyone in the world...and we tend to like Ceylon tea strong enough to stand a spoon upright, with a little milk and no sugar. Bewley's Irish tea is tailored to that kind of taste, so I tend to make it weaker for anyone who isn't used to it.

Strong white tea with lots of sugar is known as "builder's tea" and is used a a remedy for shock around these parts.

[irishgirl]

I've also had tea in India...which was made up with milk, sugar and spices like chai, but due to the Indian sweet tooth I found it overly sweet and not my thing at all.

Moroccan tea is fabulous, even in 40 degree heat in Marrakech it was refreshing. They use Gunpowder green tea (I asked), fresh mint leaves and about 3 spoons of sugar per glass. The mint is put into the glass with the sugar and the tea poured in on top. Yummy.

[Kyla]

Hm. I don't like Lipton's (hot, anyway), but most restaurants and cafes have, ime, a better assortment of tea than that. I see all sorts of brands, and the baristas/waitpeople are usually fine with my insistance that the tea steep separately so I can put the milk in the bottom.

Maybe it's one of the many benefits of living in the big city? I don't know.

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

I think the odd combinations in restaurants results from people with no clue about tea making the choices.

IMHO, if it comes in a teabag, it's probably crap: fannings and dust guaranteed to brew a bitter, acidic cup. Tazo isn't too bad, but you still have to watch the brew time carefully, since all those tiny tea bits have so much surface area just waiting to release an overload of tannic acid.

I'm into tea like some people are into wine. I like Keemun the best - very deep and full bodied. I get my at-home tea (loose!) from Upton Tea Imports, via mail order. I also got a nifty one-cup-at-a-time infuser basket.

[Podkayne]

Another thing to keep in mind is that green tea usually only needs to seep for 2-3 minutes compared to black teas. Many people let it seep too long and then complain about the bitterness.Also, green tea should not be brewed with boiling water. The water temperature should be 160-180o F.

It's not at all surprising to me that people hate green tea when it's been steeped in boiling water for 5 minutes, and I am completely at a loss as to why most green tea manufacturers actually have "Steep for 5 minutes in boiling water" as the instructions! You can't tell me they don't know better! So, why are they instructing their customers to ruin their product? I just can't figure it out.


Here's Honest Tea's (http://www.honesttea.com/) website, BTW. Really good stuff—though IMHO their greens are overbrewed. (Again, the mind boggles! Do people prefer that their green tea be bitter? Do they not want to taste the actual flavor of the tea?)

[BiblioCat]

Here's the site for Stash Tea. I got it from this board last year and gave it a try. Since then they've gotten my business.

http://www.stashtea.com/

I'll second Stash teas; they're very good. I also like Twinings. English Breakfast and Earl Grey are my personal favorites. Twinings makes a good spice tea called Mary Twining Spice that's pretty good, but the Stash Tea's Chia is better. I don't care for Tazo's Chai - it tastes more perfumy than spicy.

I have two French presses. I use one for coffee and one for loose tea. Very simple to use.

[BiblioCat]

...Stash Tea's Chia ..
Chai. Not Chia. :smack:

[Stranger On A Train]

Also, green tea should not be brewed with boiling water. The water temperature should be 160-180o F. I did not know this. Do you have a reference? (I ask not because I doubt you but because I'm looking for a good general reference on tea.)

Stranger

[Kyla]

Chai. Not Chia. :smack:

This is giving me a very entertaining mental picture.

Ch-ch-ch-chia!

[tremorviolet]

I did not know this. Do you have a reference? (I ask not because I doubt you but because I'm looking for a good general reference on tea.)

Stranger

Well, here's the Adagio Teas info page (http://www.adagio.com/info/preparation.html?SID=fd56f3246c7fbe080a8d033d308fc1b4). They also other intersting tea facts. I love their teas but have been annoyed with 'em lately since they've been outta gunpowder for forever...

[Barbarian]

Tea (http://www.tealeaves.com/tea/collection.aspx) is a great store in Vancouver, and their website has lots of hints for brewing that perfect cup of black, green, oolong, or other tea.

[Podkayne]

Stranger, looks like others have already given some links, but here's a cite from TeasSource (http://teasource.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TeaSource&Category_Code=Preparing): my favorite tea merchant.

[Chronos]

like black tea, but I don't like Lipton much, especially hot. Thing is, Lipton's got the black tea market so cornered, I think, that most people (in the States, at least) don't think that there is anything else as far as tea is concerned.I dunno about Lipton having the market cornered... They're probably the biggest in the US, but there are plenty of other brands. At the physics department colloquia, we generally have the store-brand generic stuff, and an assortment of Bigelow teas and tisanes (yes, I make the distinction too). The store brand is, well, store brand, so nothing remarkable, but Bigelow is much better than Lipton. I will admit, though, that nothing this side of the Atlantic really comes close to the stuff you find in the British Isles. The tea served at the bed and breakfasts was one of many very pleasant memories I brought back from my trip to Ireland.

For the Friday colloquia, I generally need some caffeine to keep me awake, so I take some sort of black tea. There's generally a few "English Teatime" bags available, or a breakfast tea, but if those aren't available, I typically go with the generic rather than choking down Earl Grey (my god, Picard, how can you stand that stuff?) or one of the funky weird flavors. Other times, though, I usually drink tisanes, since I generally prefer to avoid caffeine. Chamomile and various mints are always nice, and some of the fruit flavors are good, too (Bigelow has a raspberry which I'm fond of).

[irishgirl]

For people looking for good tea pots/infusers/tea presses, I recommend Bodum.

http://www.bodum.com/pages/products/productshow.asp?vFamID=2

[av8rmike]

Thanks to my English family, my stepmother has become a devotee of the strong English teas. AFAIK, she has a hell of a time finding "real" English teas here. There are various Twinings flavors available in the U.S., but some are only available in the U.K. Her favorite is the regular Marks and Spencer (http://www.marksandspencer.com) brand, which no one has even heard of here.

I've tried to convince her to try loose leaves instead of bags, but I think she prefers the convenience. Fortunately, we recently got a good tea shop locally, Teavana (http://www.teavana.com), but I have yet to try any of their stuff.

[Agrippina]

Stranger, looks like others have already given some links, but here's a cite from TeasSource (http://teasource.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TeaSource&Category_Code=Preparing): my favorite tea merchant.

I love their Welsh Morning tea. Stronger than English Breakfast but not as powerful as Irish Breakfast. Just right for me.

[Mister Rik]

Count me as another Stash Tea fan. I absolutely adore their Double Bergamot Earl Grey tea.

Strangely enough, while I'm normally very sensitive to bitterness in food (I simply cannot get down broccoli or walnuts), I've never had a problem with bitter tea. And I'm one who leaves the bag in the cup while I'm drinking.

[lizardling]

Discovered Stash tea. Have been working my way through a sampler of the various black teas, and I think I like Irish Breakfast Tea the most -- spike with milk and sugar to get it fullbodied and strong enough to wake my tastebuds. (part of the reason I love coffee -- it'll jolt me awake right enough)

Then there's the caramel decaf black tea they make. Oh mama. ...and now I need a moment. :D

Hmm. I'm also a sucker for 500 Mile Chai (http://www.adventuresintea.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/pure/500chai.htm?E+tea), although it's more fiddly since I have to make it in a saucepan and I increase the ratio of teaspoons by half again. Gooood stuff, that. I haven't found another brand of chai that I've liked quite as much, unfortunately. They're all too perfumey and spicy.

To add to the data points collected by the OP: the break rooms at work offer Bigelow's (free), but the cafeteria has a small assortment of Tazo teas (not free).