I’m looking for a new tea. I’ve been drinking Twinings Earl Grey for a while and it’s still good, I’m just getting bored of it. I don’t like green tea so much, or any of the really light fruity herbal ones. any suggestions?
Do you like smoked teas? My absolute favorite is Lapsang Souchang, which tastes kinda like you’re drinking wood smoke. For something a little lighter, I might check out some white teas or a rooibos. I know I’ve had some great kinds of those, but unfortunately can’t remember any of them off the top of my head, so you’d have to shop around. I do remember that the Celestial Seasonings rooibos sucks.
You said no fruity, but what about flowery? Twinings rose hips always did it for me. You could also try a jasmine, which are usually green, but you can get those as black, too (I think).
Yogi makes a really yummy herbal tea called “Detox”. I don’t think it does anything to detox my body, but it sure is delicious. It’s spicy. I think its base flavors are dandelion and burdock root, so if you try to limit your monetary contributions to companies that make crackpot claims, you could look for another dandelion and burdock root tea. I know I’ve seen at least one other kind at the grocery store that looked like it had similar ingredients.
Not fruity, or green? How about chamomile, peppermint or nettle? In terms of black tea, I really like Assam. I also like rooibos - there’s a vanilla one I get which is really lovely.
If you were willing to try a different sort of green tea, I’d suggest gen mai cha - japanese green tea with roasted rice kernels - very nutty, and mild, with no strong green tannin.
I second the suggestions to try white tea, gen mai cha, and peppermint tea.
They are all very different, but I like each of them, and I’m not a fan of fruity teas either. The peppermint is very light and fresh tasting - very nice after a meal. I don’t recommend the peppermint mixes you can get (spearmint and peppermint, green tea with mint, etc) but I do recommend buying the loose peppermint leaves. The gen mai cha has a yummy nutty flavour. I have trouble describing the flavour of white tea… it’s mild and is good with or without milk.
Yeah, that’s my favourite.
Earl Grey is OK, but I have to be in the mood for it - if I’m not, it tastes like scented arse. I don’t like the English Breakfast tea Twinings puts out, as I find the tannin a bit overbearing, but their Ceylon and Orange Pekoe ones are great for a “conventional” tea (the sort you might give your aunts). Nice and crisp, and no nonsense. Very refreshing.
When I started my serious yum cha/dim sum habit about fifteen or twenty years ago, I noticed that most times, you’d get the typical yellowish jasmine tea, but some places would give me tea of a peachy/pinkish hue. I don’t mind the standard jasmine, but I LOVED this other one. I asked a few waitresses, who invariably didn’t know. I went to Hong Kong in '99 and a friend there finally got me on to the good oil. It’s called Pu Erh, and it kicks a large amount of bottom. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I found a great little tea shop in Dundas, Ontario who special orders her own tea mixes from various tea blenders. She’s said to me a number of times that Germans are the best blenders…don’t know why. Her website sucks, but the design company packed up and disappeared shortly after she hired them.
Anyways, we’ve bought a bunch of loose leaf black teas over the last year from her. My favourite is Cream Earl Grey which is obviously scented with Bergamot, but also has vanilla (I think) which is very subtle, but makes for a very smooth flavour. I’ve been drinking it daily for the last year.
Also amazing is a lemon cream (decaf black) which is strong, but not pungent. There are also a number of fruity black teas like Apricot Peach that are obviously flavoured but not outlandish.
My mother-in-law is English and likes a cuppa before bed. Usually she has an orange pekoe tea, but tried the decaf Lemon Cream and absolutely loves it.
My wife likes a Coconut black tea. I think it smells like theatre popcorn (due to the corn popping in coconut oil), and don’t enjoy it as much as she.
I suspect that the major Tea sites on the intarwebz would have many of the same types of teas, but thanks to this local purveyor we haven’t looked.
We’ve also had a few green teas. There is a green tea ‘ball’ which blooms as it steeps. You have to make it in a glass teapot to see the tea bloom and it is also a nice flavour.
I’m not sure how common this blend is, but I’m madly in love with a half-and-half mix of Earl Grey and jasmine teas my favourite tea shopcalls “Buckingham Palace”. It’s a very nice balanced flavour - not quite floral, not quite citrus, but nicely in between the two.
If I didn’t have to travel to Montreal to restock, I’d probably drink it every day. 
I also have a blend called “Earl Grey Blue Flowers” from the same tea shop that tastes like a standard Earl Grey, only lighter on the bergamot.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I think I’m going to try lapsang souchang or rooibos. Oh, and sorry for the delay but I haven’t had internet access for the past day or two.
Spiced chai is also very good. It almost tastes like pumpkin pie. Just stay away from the Bigelow brand–their chai is nasty.