American Tea drinker here. Not a big fan of coffee and usually drink a single cup each evening after dinner. No suger, but a small spoonful of honey.
AMAZING how many of us love the smell of coffee and hate the taste. May I propose LTS, HTT as an abbreviation for this thread only?
Am I the ONLY one who despises Earl Grey? Too perfume-y for me. I’m generally an English Breakfast gal, always (very) black, either without sweetening or with 1/2 of an Equal packet. A nice Peppermint with a dash of honey is wonderful in the winter, though.
While we’re uniting, can we do something about restaurants where coffee gets refilled, but tea drinkers either do without or get new water on a spent bag? Ooh, ooh – and let’s PLEASE find a way to outlaw those terrible little steel pots the hot water comes in which inevitably allow boiling hot water to run back onto our hands? (I still can’t figure out how it happens. But it always does.) And those little glass carafes full of boiling hot water I get at one restaurant are no better.
I do drink coffee, but only in the mornings. I drink one mug, heavy on the cream and sugar, and then rinse thoroughly with mouthwash. Coffee breath is gross.
I am a tea fan at heart. My favorite is Jasmine Green. I like this brand that’s imported from China, which I get in a tin for $2 and lasts for about a month or two. It’s so yummy with some sugar and just a dash of cream. I also like any kind of green tea (got some with ginseng in it last time I was in Chinatown), Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, Rooibos (any kind), mint, chamomile, rose hip, chai, ah, the list goes on. Thai ice tea is fabulous too.
What I do not like are fruit flavored teas, except lemon (which goes in some kinds of tea anyway). Who needs apple or berry tea? Bleah. I also do not like those big boxes of Lipton or Tetley. Get the nice loose tea and a little tea ball, you’ll marvel at how much better it tastes than the generic, pre-packaged stuff. It’s akin to the difference between instant coffee and Blue Mountain.
I’m a tea snob.
I’ll try anything, but the only teas I drink regularly are single-estate, orthodox-method Darjeelings. I’m particularly partial to Makaibari.
What bugs me is waiters constantly swooping in to top off my glass of iced tea, to which I have already added sugar and lemon. Of course, the sugar’s on the table, but I have to make a fuss to get an extra lemon slice to repair the damage.
No coffee, no booze, but I can put away the tea like there’s no tomorrow! Hot or iced. Black, green, or herbal. Western or Asian style. For Western teas of all kind I like sugar (although I’ve cut down – I started drinking tea as a kid, and used to put in two tablespoons! :eek: ) and maybe lemon. For Chinese tea, Japanese green tea, etc., I drink it straight…I’m not a complete barbarian, even if I am a foreigner.
Silly tea anecdote: you can get fruit juice or soda at most Japanese bars, but at some more traditional establishments the only non-alcoholic beverage available is tea. I was at such a place with some coworkers one evening, so as they were knocking back glass after glass of shochu I was quenching my thirst with Chinese tea. I had been assured that it didn’t have “much” caffeine, and since the tea was good, I was pretty thirsty, and we stayed kinda late, I wound up drinking about seven glasses. Big glasses.
Oops. I wound up not being able to get to sleep until 6 am! For once, I think the people who did get drunk felt better than me the next morning! I now tell my coworkers that they have to keep an eye on me and tell me when I’ve had enough for the night, for my own good.
Tu pense que c’est cher ma chere?
My god, I wonder what you’d think of my wife, who will gladly pay $15 for 250g of any given Earl Grey varietal from a place called T in Vancouver.
My preference is for Oolong tea (Ti Kuan Yin if I can get it).
Well… stupidly expensive in comparison to the regular old Orange Pekoe/Black Blends that are normal here. $5 - $6 for 25 bags. Doesn’t matter, I’ll pay it, but it seems like if something is ‘FOREIGN’ they’ll charge a premium.
And, I still like coffee. I don’t have to choose one or the other!
My dad didn’t approve of teabags. He just threw a couple of spoonsful of loose tea into a mug, poured boiling water on top and drank away. Must have got through 15 or 20 mugs of the stuff a day. He’s dead now.
For obvious reasons, I reckon the best teas are the “Irish” blends, makes such as Barry’s or Lyons. I’m not sure precisely how they differ from “English”-style tea (e.g. Typhoo, PG Tips), but believe me: they do.
But take the effing teabag out before you start drinking it, please!!
Coffee LTS HTT
That is true of some brands such as Bigelow. Give Twinnings a try. If you already have and still hate it then there is no hope for you. 
I start my day off with Twinnings Earl Grey, no milk, no sugar. I don’t know if I am the only one but the thought of hot milk gives me the willies. If I am drinking orange pekoe I prefer Tetley with a wedge of lemon.
I am very particular about my iced tea. Sugar in iced tea is evil. I will have unsweetened “fresh” tea at reaturants with lots of lemon but I would rather have my own. I bring a full teapot to a boil and pour it in a large bowl. Drop 5 tetley teabags in and leave the bowl until it cools to room temp. I then pour it in a pitcher and squeeeeezzzze in a whole lemon (leaving the whole lemon in the pitcher). The iced tea must then be left in the refrigerator until cold before drinking.
mmmjam, both!
coffee light and sweet, but made strongly in american navy fashion [or apparently german fashion=)] sometimes with cardamom or cinnamon added, sometimes with vanilla added. I buy only gevalia traditional roast=)
tea - almost any tea, and a few herbal tisanes.
Absolute favorite is russian caravan, secondary is earl grey, tertiary is lapsaong souchong. chai hot or cold, green tea chai is good cold, not hot. persian or morrocan style mint tea, res or lemon zinger iced and lightly sweetened, irish breakfast tea is good occasionally, and green tea when I am in a quiet reading a good book mood=)
I make an absolutely killer hot chocolate from bakers german unsweetened chocoalte, half and half and a dash of nutmeg adn vanilla, a tiny chunk of a musk stick and sugar to taste. people never figure out the musk stick=)<evil giggle>
sigh time to see if i can get someone I know to send me another package of musk sticks=(
Slight hijack but as a lover of tea the saddest tea moment caught on film was in Muriel’s Wedding. In the scene they “make” tea by putting a tea bag in a mug of cold water and then the whole thing goes in the microwave. The horror!
I hated coffee until I started my first full time job. That’s when I realized caffeine was an important part of a 9-5 life. Tea is generally reserved for home where it can be made properly and enjoyed.
Serious tea drinker here. I can’t stand coffee, and I only put milk and sugar in my tea if I’m somewhere where I have to use generic tea bags. Whittards (loose) and Twinings (bags) are good, Tetley and PG Tips are barely tolerable, Tazo is muck and Lipton is vile swill I won’t even consider. Loose tea is much preferred.
Harvey Nicks does a really good strong Lapsang Souchong that doesn’t get bitter (and a decent green peppermint, if that’s your thing), and Highgrove does a very drinkable organic Earl Grey I’m partial to. I’ve got a small bag of Monkey Picked Oolong which is nice too. I used to like Darjeeling and Assam, but have gone off them in recent years.
Unlike most tea snobs, however, I don’t mind most herbal teas (apart from the berry-based ones, which are too sweet), and am not overly picky. Plus a good strong cup of lemon and ginger tea does wonders for my sinuses.
I love tea. love Love LURVE tea! I tend to only have it at the office - because some days it’s the only way I’m going to work. Right now I’m drinking Twinings Earl Grey (unsweetened, please) with just a little lemon. I have tons of different kinds here, some flavored some not. But I never use sweeteners - I think it dulls the taste of the tea.
I’m a big tea geek.
I don’t really have a full selection at this office (most of my tea is over at the other office) but I have a Conjou with rose petals in it (that’s about as froo-froo as I get), a sublime Pouchong (a delicate floral-tasting oolong from Taiwan), a second-flush Darjeeling (Phuguri Estate), an excellent Yunnan (Panyong Golden Needles), some very drinkable Young Hyson (a basic China green), Ti Kwan Ying (Iron Lady of Mercy Oolong), White Peony, and some rooibos (technically a tisane, yes).
Good loose-leaf tea can run to 40 bucks a pound, but I usually only buy 2 ounces at a time, and even for the most expensive tea it works out to, like, 25 cents a cup, which is the the same as you’re supposed to pitch in to take a cup of coffee from the office coffee pot—and good tea is sooooooo much better. A getaway in a cup. An everyday luxury.
It’s more of a hassle to make loose than taking water from the hot tap and dunking in a bag, but not that much more. I keep a hotpot in my office and have a thermometer, and I invested in a Swiss Gold filter basket (SO worth it for making one cup at a time! Very well-designed!), and I can have an excellent cup of tea, something from my collection that perfectly fits my mood, whenever I want it.
Another tea lover checking in (milk, no sugar and quite strong), can’t stand the taste or smell of coffee either. Though I am a heathen and put the milk in first before the teabag and water.
Funny I came across this thread today because I had decided to treat myself and made a pot of tea, on a tray, with a tea cozy & strainer and little creamer of milk and put it in my studio to sip on while I work. It looks so pretty.
I’ve been drinking tea since I was a little girl. My mom made it for breakfast every morning and drank tea all day long. If I was upset, she’d say “Let’s have a cup of tea”. I can remember going over friends’ houses and asking for tea in the morning - the looks on their mothers’ faces were priceless.
I especially love tea when it’s served with a dizzying array of yummy things. I go out for high tea with my friends every year on my birthday and I try to have afternoon tea in every city I visit, preferably in the fanciest hotel I can find. I was lured to Vegas this way (the high tea at the Bellagio is not to be missed, I must say).
Peeve: In restaurants, by the time I get the waitstaff to remember to bring my milk, the tea’s cold. Why don’t they just bring it with, like the useless lemon?? And at home, I like a Big Ass Tea Mug. I don’t know what to do with one of those little 6 oz. teacups. They’re pretty, though. I like any kind of black tea except passion fruit (insert hurling smilie here), expensive or cheap. Rosebud tea’s awfully nice. I don’t like tisanes of any sort. I won’t tell you what I put in it because some of you will come after me with pitchforks and torches.
I only like coffee if it has lots of chocolate in it, and the first time I drank it, I was 30.
I like both coffee and tea.
Count me in with the Twinings Earl Gray and English Breakfast fans. I like it with a half-spoonful of sugar and maybe a dash of Half & Half. I like it both with and without the milk.
I’ve also become addicted to Chai recently. I really like Stash Tea’s brand. I add a little more sugar and cream to that one, and make it rather strong. It’s so good in the afternoon.
Unsweetened or barely-sweetened iced tea is an abomination unto the Lord. Iced tea is supposed to be strong enough to take the paint off a car door, and sweet enough to crystallize your tongue. Anything else is just plain wrong and will not come into contact with my tea pitcher. If you want anything else in my house, you’re just going to have to get your own pitcher.
How I like my hot tea depends on what type of tea it is. With black tea, I typically prefer sugar and half-and-half, or I go on and make some chai. With chamomile, I like honey and maybe a bit of lemon (with tequila if I’m not feeling well.) Herbal teas are usually just a bit of sugar.
I also like coffee, but I generally prefer lighter roasts–the darker ones taste horrifically bitter to me and I have to use ridiculous amounts of sugar and cream to make them tolerable.
mmmm…tea! Yes please, with some milk (or cream or half & half) and some sugar (or Equal[sup]TM[/sup]). My favorite is Twinnings English Breakfast, but I also like Darjeeling. I love the whole ritual of tea and have a collection of many ceramic teapots from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s as well as cozys and strainers and trays. All the accoutrements for a proper cuppa. I love it hot or iced with lots of sugar.
Once when my Mom and her co-workers decided to have an afternoon tea party, I sent over all my teapots and sterling teaspoons and cozys, etc. for them to use. When she got home my Mom was horified to tell me that they had ignored all the cool stuff and had just put teabags in mugs! Sacrilege!