Firstly, let me just say that Lipton’s does in fact make a very good quality tea. It’s called Yellow Label, Quality One. It’s one of my favorites, I first discovered it in Asia and used to always bring boxes of it back in my luggage. Now I find it in local Asian Markets. Any other Lipton tea is N Amerika is just swill.
Red Rose and other common N Amerikan teas,(I was assured by someone who should know while visiting an Asian tea plantation), are made from the part of the tea crop that Asian’s wouldn’t even consider using to make tea. Which explains why it’s widely available in hospital and industrial setting and truly horrid.
All that said, my very most favorite tea is called Boh Tea, it comes from the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, and is only available in Asia as far as I know. I bring it back whenever I go, but my supply has dwindled to but a few bags at present.
Still, I think I’ll go and brew myself a pot right now, thanks for the inspiration.
*The reason is not only the better conscience, but also better and different approach to products. gepa, the German Fair Trade org., sells coffee sorted by bean variety (Arabica and Robust), whereas the big commerical coffee is blended to give a uniform taste. The not-blended product is much better for people with delicate stomachs, and who like to explore different taste. Similar for the tea.
Quick search on how to buy tea online in the US (I don’t know how good these stores are, because I haven’t tried them yet; I don’t get anything for mentioning them):
Once I had a client who were tea importers, I knew nothing about the trade, but was intrigued to hear that there was something called ‘Russian Dust’ that was used as a filler.
Being British, I have observed that we are not over fussed about our tea, it does not need to taste that good - fancy tea shops tend to close.
I had no idea that putting milk & sugar in tea was so unusual outside of the UK!
(Maybe because I wasn’t really “aware” of tea until my family lived in Yorkshire for a couple of years, and I didn’t continue the tea-drinking habit when we came back to the States, so to me it just seems natural to put milk & sugar in it. Whenever I do fancy a cuppa, that’s how I make it – usually with Yorkshire tea.)
I’ve tried Twining’s and PG Tips from World Market.
The Twining’s bags, in four boxes, came in a wooden Tea Truck, about a foot long, which is now a cute addition to my diecast vehicle collection.
The PG Tips comes in a box of 80 pyramid-shaped bags and is quite tasty.
We usually have Twining’s around Casa Silenus. Both the wife and I like it strong, with lemon. I sugar mine, which the wife’s considers a sign of weakness. Neither of us can abide milk in tea, although I put cream in my coffee.
Lipton’s is designed for brewing iced tea, and is therefore crap when it comes to brewing real tea.
Oddly enough you can buy the Yorkshire tea for Hard Water in my part of the country.
Which has soft water. I always wondered who in Scotland would actually buy it.
I like Yorkshire Gold.
Or Twinnings English Breakfast.
I have a huge cup, big enough for a double. So, one bag Twinning’s Earl Grey, one bag Twinning’s English Breakfast; once brewed for slightly longer than it says in the box, take the bags out, squeeze them over the cup and add half a drop of honey.
We used to get only Lipton’s in Spain - that thing’s to tea like a one-legged chihuahua is to a champion groundhog. I discovered Real Tea when I was in Ireland and have been a convert ever since, although I do admit to being a slightly heretic one.
Somewhere in the bottom of my freezer is a bag of Tanganda loose-leaf tea. It’s Zimbabwean, where my mum is from, and which was the only tea we had in the house when I was a child. It’s probably about as un-PC a tea as you can get (although with free housing, schools and healthcare, their workers are probably a lot better off than most Zimbabweans), but it tastes like home to me. My grandmother would have various friends and relatives send us some in the post throughout the year. I save that for when I really need cheering up- it’s a typical African tea, nothing fancy or delicate about it.
Other than that, Barry’s bag tea with milk for a bog-standard cuppa, and Twinings Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong when I want something nice.
No!!!astro, I am entirely too fond of you to see you abuse yourself this way. If you must drink mass market tea in America, at least use Red Rose. While I’m no connoiseur (I don’t think I can even spell it right), it’s much better for everyday drinking tea than the swill which passes for Liptons. I’ve even had coworkers comment on it when I’ve brought in my own supply.
As for the OP, dalej42, where have you been drinking your tea in the US? I seldom order it in restaurants and cafes; the office machine doesn’t even make decent hot chocolate, so there’s no way I’m about to take a chance on its tea; and even at friends’ houses you’re taking a risk. I spent part of the weekend at the home of a friend who knows me better than almost anyone but who does not keep milk in the house, which is why I made do with coffee creamer in my tea instead. As I said, Red Rose isn’t bad, and Twinings tends to be pretty readily available. Wagners also used to be fairly common, but I haven’t seen it as often recently. Usually, places which sell specialty coffee will also have at least a few brands of tea, including Twinings. Organic food sellers like Whole Foods also tend to have a pretty good selection of regular tea mixed in with all the various flavored and herbal teas. Red Rose is what I drink to wake myself up in the morning, with Twinings English Breakfast saved for leisurely weekend mornings and the better blends for when I actually have a chance to sit back and enjoy the tea.
While we’re on the subject, how do people around here feel about the Republic of Tea teas? I’ve seen them quite a bit, but the copy on the boxes seems a bit pretentious and some of the flavors seem a bit exotic.
I have a large box of Red Rose for just standard tea drinking (it was my gramma’s brand so it reminds me of being a kid and having tea with gramma). But we have a good selection of Tazo greens, some chinese black teas from the chinese supermarket, and of course some Twinings Earl Grey.
I take milk and sugar, just like gramma. Plus some of the family irish bread to go with, there’s nothing better than tea and irish bread.
