Tea Drinkers?

[HomesteaderWife]

So I have never in my life been a tea drinker. A handful of times I've taken a cup of plain Chamomile, but truthfully I am a coffee drinker more so than anything. But I feel like I'm missing out, particularly in regards to herbal teas. I think I've simply just not had a good cup of tea.

How do you take your tea? How much milk or sugar or honey goes into it? How do you brew/steep your tea, and what type of tea do you drink? I want to learn more and really give tea a chance, not just overly-sugared Southern sweet tea I am used to!

Thanks for any input!

 

[Nabiki]

I'm a tea snob. I mostly drink high quality green teas, but I occasionally like a good black tea.

If I drink black tea, it is with milk and sugar, or it's iced tea. A good English Breakfast or Earl Grey (bergamot, not lavender) are my black teas of choice. Green tea I drink plain.

 

[MTKitty]

Oh, my goodness! I start my day with coffee, but switch to tea by midmorning.

Do you want caffeine free? Herbal teas. Loose, dried, from a specialty store is my fave. But I will drink bagged from grocery stores, too. For loose, I steep 3-5 minutes in a pot and strain the leaves out when I pour. Bagged is easier - like regular bags, 3-5 minutes.

Caffeinated, I like black, white, oolong. Green tea, I only like from the local tea shop (loose). Bagged, brand name is too bitter.

I’ve learned brands make a huge difference. I hate Lipton, tolerate Tetley or Lusianne, and prefer Bewley’s that I order from teadog.com or other online shops.

Try bunches: english/irish/scottish breakfast or afternoon, earl grey, flavored, all the colors. Try them with honey, sugar, milk, black. Find your favorite and enjoy!

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@Nabiki - what would be the ideal way to make the tea, and what measure of milk and sugar to add?

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@MTKitty - Caffeinated is perfectly fine for me, I just mainly would like to find an enjoyable tea. I've tried a few types but I firmly believe I am making the tea wrong, and the lack of knowing what amount of milk and sugar would be tasty also sort of threw me off.

 

[MTKitty]

@MTKitty - Caffeinated is perfectly fine for me, I just mainly would like to find an enjoyable tea. I've tried a few types but I firmly believe I am making the tea wrong, and the lack of knowing what amount of milk and sugar would be tasty also sort of threw me off.

Ah. My personal favorite is Bewley’s Irish Afternoon tea, black. Steep for 3-5 minutes in water brought almost to boiling. If it’s in a bag, don’t squeeze - that releases excess tannins that can be bitter. On occasion, I’ll add a teaspoon or two of cream and/or sugar.

The milk and sugar really are a matter of taste. I take my coffee w/cream or black, but don’t care for sugared coffee, at all.

 

[MTKitty]

Another thing I do that’s different from coffee prep is warming the cup or pot with hot water (tap hot is fine). When the tea water is ready, dump warming water out. Put tea in your warmed cup/pot and add the hot water to steep.

Adding the tea water to a cold cup or pot cools the water too much for optimum steeping.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

@MTKitty - thank you so much! I'm definitely going to look into it more; as I said, I truly feel I am missing out and just haven't had the right cup of tea. I fear I've made it wrong all along, as often times I end up leaving my tea to steep until it turns quite dark and bitter and I think I've just made it wrong all along

 

[WIchickMama]

I love Thrive Market's peppermint tea. I also enjoy lemon teas, I found one called lemon drop as a loose tea at a local co-op. I just picked up one called Pumpkin Ppice as a loose tea from the Amish store, so we will see.

If I drink black tea, I enjoy Earl Grey or a good cinnamon tea. Small tsp of honey with a bit of half and half, yum!

 

[Nabiki]

@Nabiki - what would be the ideal way to make the tea, and what measure of milk and sugar to add?

I have an electric kettle that keeps my water at 208 degrees. I use a French press to steep my tea and keep it warm while I drink the pot. I also do only loose leaf tea, not bagged.

I have two filters for my French press, one for green tea and another one for black tea. You don't want the flavours to mix. Either green or black, don't mix the two.

How much milk and sugar depends on what you like. Cream tastes better, but is a lot of calories. I like mine creamy and sweet, which is part of why I don't drink black tea often (I already weigh too much).

When I drink coffee, I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar, to give you an idea of how I like my black teas.