What's your favorite kind of tea?
What's your favorite kind of tea?
I’m an earl grey with honey man, but if I’m being honest, I’ve never really tried much else.
the only tea for me, it will surely be
it's from a pot, it's piping hot
It's
edit: I also enjoy a rare London Fog sometimes
I used to pride myself on my tea snobbery, sampling green tea varieties from the farmers market and using a ceramic infuser.
Then one day I stopped having time for all that and found that Constant Comment was actually quite lovely and available everywhere.
Black tea with orange zest and spices. Simple, but everything I really want from a tea. Lady Grey is good too.
Maturity
Go to Turkey. Visit the shops in Istanbul where they sell carpets. Be invited in for a beer and a meal.
They will serve delicious apple tea.
But really, it's the whole experience. And that's the best tea.
Went there as a kid, great mint tea. Some of the most inviting people I've ever met. Sat with nomads hocking black wool from their herd.
To be fair, i think most people are like this if you take the time to talk to them. However, their tea may be less good.
Orange Pekoe
Lapsang souchong
This is my go to. It's a lot, but I love it. If you want a tea that isn't afraid to be bold, this is great. However, anyone around will think you're cooking something with all the smoke smell.
Tastes like old leather and tobacco. Fabulous.
To quote Al Swearengen: "I like that fucking darjeeling black. Oops."
The local Polish grocery store has a selection of eastern European herbal teas, herbs which I'd never heard of, and it's such an interesting experience in tea. One is a type of moss and it makes such pale tea, it's so unusual. I'm loving trying them all.
I also love lemongrass spearmint tea, and rooibos and honey bush teas from South Africa which a friend sends me.
Pu'er (fermented black tea sold in big solid disks or chunks) it's nice and dark, reminds me of coffee. I also enjoy iron goddess(Tieguanyin) oolongs and white peony.
Y’all are actually into specific teas! I just like anything fruity, lol. Usually decaf, because my body despises caffeine.
Learning about old people drama, its so interesting to find out about a 30 years old beef that never gets squashed
I love strong black teas. English Bteakfast is my go to, but I love a good PG tips now and again.
I like Earl Grey, but also drink a lot of Mate (although not sure if people consider this a tea)
Tulsi
Lady Grey
Earl Grey in a pinch
Black mint tea
Assam probably.
Spice tea :3
Masala chai, came to like it after few visits in India.
Oolong specifically Dongfang meiren
Artichoke is the ultimate choice without a morsel of doubt. Any other answer is wrong because of that.
Sencha
Hot
- Lavender Earl Grey
- Ginger Tea
- "Chai"
- Mint chamomile
Cold
- Strawberry lemon
- Mango Apple
- Lychee
Black tea with almond milk and honey.
Drinking EG with a splash of milk right now.
My favs:
- British version of Twinings breakfast tea extra strong with milk (not the US version)
- British Assam of Twinings with a splash of milk
- Peach Green Tazo from Target, raw
Dandelion
Earl Gray. Hot.
I found two Earl Gray's that I really enjoy. Earl Gray Cream and Lady Grey. Both good, savory flavors.
I love any and all earl greys. Can’t go wrong with ‘em.
It's Earl Grey, named after Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl Grey. I don't think a colour can be an Earl.
TL;DR
- Green: Gyokuro
- Black: Darjeeling
- White: Pai Mu Tan (Bai Mu Dan)
- Yellow: Yinzhen
- Pu-Erh: Sheng over Shu
- Misc: Yerba Mate (Instead of Coffee)
I'll just boldly split that answer into some categories :D
Black teas: As my personal favorite I prefer Darjeeling teas, because of their flowery and mild taste.
As for my daily driver I mostly find myself drinking stronger black teas, like english breakfast or ceylon teas.
Green teas: My personal favorite for green tea is the Japanese Gyokuro, because of its strongly present umami flavour and general taste. This green tea gets its flavour from being hidden from the sun by huge black tarps some months prior to harvest. This procedure stops bitter substances from forming within the flower.
But because Gyokuro is a very pricey tea I find myself buying a Chinese green tea called Pi Lo Chun. It's nothing like the Gyokuro that I love, but it has a flowery flavour to it.
I also love drinking and preparing Matcha. You shouldn't waste money on cheap Matcha, only if you like to drink Matcha Latte.
Whites: For white teas I love to drink a tea called Pai Mu Tan (sometimes called Bai Mu Dan). It tastes somewhat fruity sometimes.
I've also tried a more expensive white tea called Silver Needles but I couldn't really make out a difference to other white teas I've tasted. But that might also just be an error of mine.
Oolong: I really like Da Hong Pao. I haven't tasted many other oolongs.
Yellow teas: It's been a while since I've had my last yellow tea, but I remember buying a Yinzhen. It had a malty taste, that I really enjoyed.
Pu-Erh: I like the earthy taste of a good Shu Pu-Erh. Riper Shu Pu-Erh might even taste like chocolate. But when first drinking a Shu you might connect the taste and the smell to fish or algae.
Sheng Pu-Erh is more like a conventional green tea. With time passing, this tea will ripen and unlock new flavours.
I prefer Shengs over Shus.
Misc.: When talking about other kinds of tea I like substituting coffee with yerba mate. It keeps you energized longer and when drinking it correctly you can also drink it for quite a long time. My longest session was about 4 hours long before the taste vanished.
I'm no huge herbal tea guy, but I do like my camomile tea in the evening to calm myself.
I think I got three recommendations you might enjoy.
- Green: Yutaka Midori No1 - slightly cheaper alternative to Gyokuro; deep green and very aromatic cup, sweet, slightly astringent but no bitterness ( shaded for about a week before harvest)
- Oolong: Thai Ruby Red - more on the fermented side, very aromatic red cup with flowery notes reminiscent of Darjeeling, no smokiness like e.g a formosa
- Black: Benifuuki Black - a very intense and complex black tee with a nice sweetness ( usually made into a high grade green tea)
Edit: My personal daily drivers are: Darjeeling Ambootia Second flush (Strong, nutty, with some flowery notes) and a Korea Sencha from a local shop (sadly no info on the garden, quite green and surprisingly sweet) both organic and still quite affordable.
Thank you for the recommendation. I will definitely try them, with my next bigger tea order.
Earl Gray. Hot.
Green, don't really care about specifics and I have tried dozens of boutique varieties. There is a variety called "gunpowder" that is fairly robust, I like it. My daily driver is Bigelow with pomegranate. Usually straight but sometimes I use local honey.
I live in a hot climate so my favorite teas are iced.
Iced oolong sweetened only with some lychee chunks is the only thing close to boba I can stomach. I also like a good iced jasmine green tea. Or just a strong green tea hot or iced.
High mountain oolong tea from Taiwan. Taste like sweet light leafy vegetable tea
2nd is dong ding oolong. Taste like literal boba balls
Spicy chai with a touch of vanilla flavoured oat milk, I have 2 cups a day at least.
I used to mostly drink regular tea, and also enjoy earl grey, and especially if I'm not feeling well and want to avoid caffeine - jasmine (probably my favourite non-tea tea), chamomile, mint, and a few others, but the chai has beaten all others and become my staple.
Spicy chai latte
I always forget chai is actually a tea. I’m so used to western teas, I guess.
Funny, if you ask me about tea in general, I think of it as essentially an asian thing with a couple "regular" or "plain" western varieties. I guess it's marketing doing justice to history for once?
I'm a big fan of black teas as they have the strongest flavor in my opinion. I'm also partial to the fruity versions.
However, there's a Saffron Black Tea made by Vahdam that I've been rather fond of lately. It has a savory spice to it. Would recommend.My favorite kinds of tea are also black teas because they're the closest to coffee, lol
My go-to hot tea is Twining’s Irish Breakfast, stronger flavor than your typical English Breakfast. I prefer it with half-and-half and sugar, but can go with full cream or milk depending on what’s available.
As a southerner, I also like sweet iced tea (“sweet tea”) but was shocked to find what they serve at Chipotle is my favorite. It turns out the tea they use (S&D iced tea blend) comes from a provider in Concord, NC (just outside Charlotte) and they used to sell it for people to brew at home as well, but the company was bought out and don’t anymore. After some trial and error I discovered the secret was to put about half as much sugar in as I normally would. The tea blend itself is excellent, though, much better than you find in grocery stores.
Ginger. But only because I refuse to call yerba mate "tea".
I found a tea that's literally just turmeric and ginger. It's a very rooty tea. I recommend checking it out if you like ginger.
Ginger with turmeric? Now that's something I need to try. Thanks for the rec!
My wife and I have been experimenting with making our own. So far, my favorite is chamomile, lemon balm, elderberry, and a little stevia.
I tried a new one last night that might take the lead with some tweaking: nettle, lemon balm, ginger, and cinnamon. Gotta get the proportions right, but the combination was pretty good.
I’ve dabbled with growing my own tea leaves, but it didn’t go very well. I definitely have a brown thumb…
Ah, we're not quite adventurous enough to grow our own, but we buy the raw ingredients (aside from plantain, which grows wild where we live).
Jasmine is top tier imo but I also enjoy chai
Scottish Breakfast is my new favorite I put just a touch of oat milk in it. (no dairy for me)
I enjoy a good Irish breakfast, not sure what specifically is the difference between that and a traditional english breakfast. Just tastes smoother to me.
It has a different blend of teas.
Oolongs on the green side are my usual go-to or Chinese greens.
There is a tea from Japan called Sakura tea. It's cherry blossom tea and sold seasonally. Very tasty 😋
Lately I've been drinking a black tea with blueberry flavor which is very nice.
Bigalow sells a black tea with vanilla and caramel flavor that I also enjoy.
It's fun to try new flavors and decide whether you like them or not.
I enjoy anise-fennel-caraway tea. It doesn't taste as watery as many of the fruit-based teas and not as bitter as black tea and such. I find, it's also decent at clearing out my throat.
Peppermint tea is second place for me, for very much the same reasons. 🙃
Ooooo, I do like me some peppermint tea. I find it to be awfully seasonal, though.
I buy from a local tea store that does fantastic blends.
For basics, I like green tea with honey and a squeezed lemon or chamomile with honey. Both are so soothing.
Coffee is my favorite tea. 😆
Sadly, just can't stand the stuff anymore. Grew up having sweetened iced tea for dinner every night. My wife always keeps different varieties on hand and I've occasionally tried different combinations of hot and sweet and milky. For my money, nothing touches a cup of joe. Give it to me black and bitter, like Dick Cheney's original heart.
I'm similar in that I like black coffee. There's a nice rabbit hole for people like us in speciality coffees too, so we don't need to feel too left out!
What's your favorite? I really like The Reanimator from justcoffee.coop. ❤️
I've dabbled with Death Wish but I'm not as young as I used to be. Afraid it'll make my heart pop. 😆
Early Grey man myself but there is a Hawaiian Cocktail tea that has dried pineapple and other tropical fruits that is absolutely exquisite. I’m not usually a fruit tea person as I love bitters. Wish I knew who made it but we’ve had it for quite some time and I don’t.
You see, I’m weird and get bitter teas only to fill them with sweets like honey.
Sugar just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I’d much rather have a bag of chips or a salt lick than ice cream.
⚠️ More information than you require: I grew up on diabetes tea and pretty much cut out all sugar (stopped drinking soda) years ago. I felt 100x better after a few weeks and realized how much sugar I was actually drinking. The adult limit for sugar without trashing your blood sugar is about 28g/12oz. Most soda is in the 38-45g range. Way too much and makes you feel like shit, you just don’t realize it because you’re used to it. After not drinking super sugared drinks for a month you become re-sensitized to sugar and absolutely can’t drink it again. Coke, etc tastes absolutely awful to me now. If I have sweet tea I basically do a 1:4 sweet tea to unsweetened tea ratio.
I've tried a great many different black and green teas, but my favorite is Constant Comment. I realize that makes me a barbarian low-life, but I genuinely enjoy the flavor.
Call me basic but jasmine green tea is up there
Black tea with some lemon and sugar.
This is how we drank tea in communist Poland when I was a child and I tried so many teas in Japan with the nice ceremony, Chinese green tea, american peach ice tea, English tea with milk, etc. But nothing comes close.
lemon and sugar
Ah, memories. I can't drink that any more unless I don't want to eat for several hours until my teeth stop being sensitive, but during my childhood it wasn't just delicious, it was a way to bond with my older relatives.
Ah wait, there is one which is close, Indian chai, it's so flavorful!
One more notable is marrokean peppermint tea, but it's just to sweet.
Yorkshire Tea Gold, a little agave and a splash of milk.
Lapsang Souchong (smoked black tea).
Cardamom!
Oh shit! That's a thing? Is it just cardamom steeped in hot water or is it more of a spice/tea blend like black tea and cardamom?
Not OP, but there's this Cardamom Chai that I enjoy. It could be worth a shot.
This is absolutely a thing and here's the brand I usually get: https://ahmadteausa.com/products/cardamom?variant=31938705457227
It's a spice & tea mixture.
Pu-erh for me.
Sweet Tea. The Southern US kind, black tea brewed with more and more sugar until, ideally, it’s actually a supersaturated solution. Then served cold over ice. Literal diabetes juice.
I don’t have it often, but it’s the best tea in the world because, on the whole, tea is garbage water.
Fight me. 😂
Impra Gold orange peoke. Get the loose-leaf kind that comes in a metal container.
But one time, I was dragged into helping a guy I didn't know move a couch up stairs. Afterwards his wife (they were an Indian couple) made me some chai tea that was the best thing I ever drank in my life. I would happily carry another couch for one more cup. I was a fool and didn't ask what that tea was, and since then I have tried different chai teas (including when I went to India) and I never even found one I liked at all.
Sleepy Time extra strength. Valerian root, take me away.
Irish black with a splash of cream in the morning. Peppermint tea after the stars are out
Sencha Fukujyu. Loose leaf green tea with no added stuff. 70 degrees. Reuse leafs throughout the day. Brewed in a kettle that allows proper expansion of leafs.
Milky oolong. It has just the right amount of sweetness and just evokes feelings of coziness for me. Sometimes I add a little bit of jasmine as well.
Celestial Seasoning Bengal Spice
I also really enjoy this one. However, it contains no tea leaves so not a 'true' tea. 'Tisane' or 'herbal infusion' are the more precise terms.
Darjeeling or Ceylon
Haven't been able to get decent tea out Sri Lanka since about 2005... Fuck war but also, production has been moving from high altitude to low altitude, which produces a lower class tea IMO but is also cheaper to grow.
PG Tips :-D
I know everyone goes on about Yorkshire Tea and sure I like it too, but I've been drinking PG Tips several times a day for my entire life, and I love it.
Proper tea that keeps England going!
I switched to PG Tips because you can get like 300 bags for 16 EUR. Not the best, but works for my morning routine. Also I like the shape of the bags
Please try August Uncommon Teas. August.la is the link. I raved about them to a friend who honestly became annoyed with me going on about them. Then, tried them. She called me and was like, "Oh, shit. Nico was right."
We love a tea called Bengal Spice (B Spice) by Celestial Seasonings. Caffeine free. Kinda in the realm of chai. Dash of milk. Usually before bed.
My daily driver is Lipton Orange Pekoe. It's fantastic and priced right for what it is. My rainy day sipping tea is a Taiwanese Fujian black tea.
Day to day is Yorkshire tea with a little sugar. Every now and then I like to mix some Darjeeling with licorice tea.
I love green tea. I'm not sure if there's specific kinds I prefer as I haven't tried a lot of different teas, but I have a Sencha Lime Green Tea that is amazing.
First flush, estate, Darjeeling. Done with the proper temp water in traditional tea pot.
If you have to add flavor to the the tea leaves, looking at you Earl Grey, then it is most likely a crap quality tea.
Cheapest store brand orange pekoe black tea
Just a plain fujian black.
Cutie
Fatali-tea
coffee
Something almost, but not quite entirely unlike tea
my favorite switches all the time. currently obsessed w chamomile, thai assam, hojicha (roasted green), and also earl gray! tho we make london fogs w lavendar mostly
Hojicha if I'm fancy, two bags of oversteeped liptons with cream and sugar if I'm not fancy.
- Throat coat for when I’m sick
- Kenya Black or Irish Breakfast with full fat oat milk in the mornings
- Vanilla Spiced chai with a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and star anise during the holidays
- Russian orange tea on a crisp winter’s day
Growing up in the south, at some point in my 20s I realized I just didn’t really enjoy overly sugared black tea. And then I discovered a whole new world. It’s been a wonderful journey.
T Bone Medium Rare
