The Tea thread

[snoopysnake]

I was quite taken aback about 10 years ago when I noticed among the Republic of Tea offerings in the office cafeteria: Surrender to Sleep Herb Tea.

[gkelly]

At least they didn't serve it at the staff meetings?

[LilJen]

WHEEEEEE!!!!! Thank you, people, for spurring economic activity in the US. Just today got a big ol' order of loose leaf tea. Lady Londonderry was out, alas (but they'll send it later) but I got some Scottish breakfast and a mega sampling of estate teas from English Tea Store. Drunk already on tea leaves!!

[Artemis@BC]

I just tried the Mint Chocolate Rooibos from David's that someone gave me for my birthday. Not bad, but the mint & chocolate definitely overpower the rooibos, and it wouldn't be my first choice in a flavoured tea. Plain mint tea, yes. Cocoa + mint, yes. Chocolate + coffee, definite yes!

[Sofia Alexandra]

I've just found an odd but rather nice combination. I got a "Christmas tea" for, well, Christmas, and it's green Sencha tea with almond and orange. It's lovely. And the other day I tried a new Easter candy by Anthon Berg: almonds covered in chocolate and liquorice with a coat of sugar that's speckled like a wild bird's egg. It might not sound very tasty, but I thought it was delicious. And it went GREAT with the Christmas tea!

Also, I once had a nommy ginger and lemon tea that went really well with Marabou's Premium Lemon and Ginger chocolate.

Conclusion: tea + chocolate = looovely! And now I want chocolate.

[topaz]

I am a tea lover too. I've had like 3 cups of coffee over the last 8 or 9 months.

I usually buy Yogi Teas and Teavana teas. The Yogi Teas I like are Blueberry Slim Green Tea and Green Tea Kombucha.

Teavana was bought out by Starbucks last year and the jury is still out about the quality of some of the teas they now offer. They discontinued a few of my favorite black teas like Copper Knot. They still carry Capital of Heaven Keemun, Golden Monkey and Earl Grey. They still do not have the black dragon pearl tea. I usually favor black teas over other teas. But I do like Green Tea alot.

Teavana has some of the best green tea blends I've tried. I would highly recommend Sakura Allure Green Tea.

[skatemommy]

I usually buy Yogi Teas and Teavana teas. The Yogi Teas I like are Blueberry Slim Green Tea and Green Tea Kombucha.
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Where do you get Yogi teas? These sound divine!

[Garden Kitty]

Where do you get Yogi teas? These sound divine!

There is a store locator on their website, plus you can order them online if there isn't a store near you. (although the locator didn't work well for me, but you can give it a try. I've seen it at local grocery stores sometimes)

[gerb]

Where do you get Yogi teas? These sound divine!

I've bought Yogi teas at Target

[snoopy]

This is a consumer alert post. I went into Teavana last night since my tea appetite was spurred by this thread. Within 6 minutes the lady was cashing me out at a $124 bill. I almost fell over. I told her we need to get this bill under $20, I am not paying $124 for tea. That $124 did not include things like teapots either - just two canisters and tea.

She tries to finagle a way to sell me more of the paraphanalia (like the $7 tea canisters) versus actual tea. (One thing I did not realize until I walked out the door is that they HAD to have paper sacks to give your for the tea, but she did not tell me that.) I asked her the price of the teas, and she said all the tea was the same price. (Not true.)

Essentially, she tried really hard to run up the bill. And I did walk out the door with a $7 canister, which was completely unnecessary. I googled the store when I got home to confirm about the canisters and tea prices, and to confirm I had let myself be bamboozled.

I told the story to one of the attorney’s in the office who knows everything about everything and he said buying at Teavana is like going car shopping. High pressure sales and you need to be educated before going in there. I did have a cup of my tea, and it was good, though I won’t be going back there since I can buy tea elsewhere. But for those who may go there, go in educated if you are a newbie like I was.

[LilJen]

Thumbs way up for Lady Londonderry, 3oz of which arrived in the mail today. YUMMY!!

[michiruwater]

I don't buy at Teavana for reasons like those. It's super overpriced and the atmosphere is so forced and it just doesn't feel right to me. I've had one of their teas, and it was delicious but no more so than the teas I order/buy from The Tea Table or The Tea Haus. The people at The Tea Haus are friendly, super knowledgeable, and have never tried in even the remotest sense to make me buy anything I didn't want or need. The Tea Table is online but they've also been super nice and friendly when I've needed to communicate with them. The few times I stepped into a Teavana I felt like I was suddenly in a business more than a tea shop.

[Jenny]

Thumbs way up for Lady Londonderry, 3oz of which arrived in the mail today. YUMMY!!

[LilJen]

Scottish Breakfast: Not as strong as I expected. Fair.
Oolong Orange Blossom: Yum!
Nonesuch Estate Darjeeling: Another not as strong as I expected.

[Sofia Alexandra]

I was at a workshop in Oslo last weekend, and I got to try some new teas during the breaks. One was Yogi Egyptian Licorice Mint, which was absolutely delicious. Lipton used to have something similar, I think it was called Moroccan Mint, but I haven't seen that anywhere for ages so I don't think it's sold in Sweden any more. But now I can look for the Yogi tea instead!
Another tea I sampled was Peppermint, Spearmint & Strawberry by the London Tea Company. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was nommy. Haven't seen that here in Sweden, though.

[Artemis@BC]

I was at a workshop in Oslo last weekend, and I got to try some new teas during the breaks. One was Yogi Egyptian Licorice Mint, which was absolutely delicious. Lipton used to have something similar, I think it was called Moroccan Mint, but I haven't seen that anywhere for ages so I don't think it's sold in Sweden any more. But now I can look for the Yogi tea instead!

Ooh, that sounds yummy! Stash makes a very nice licorice tea (for a bag), it has other spices in it but not mint. I wonder how it would be if I brewed a cup pot with 1 bag of licorice and 1 of mint!

ETA: went spelunking in the tea cupboard at work and found an old bag of Stash licorice along with a couple of mint tea varieties, so I gave it a try. Not bad! Would definitely be better with fresher tea, though, and the licorice overpowered the mint somewhat. But a combo worth playing with methinks.

[michiruwater]

I forgot how much I love licorice tea until right now. One of my favorites. I'll have to try it with mint whenever I get back to the States, lol.

[Nan]

Wild Blackberry tea.

It's sooooo much better than saying something I know I'll regret later.

[Jenny]

Cream Earl Grey

[Erin]

Cream Earl Grey

That's one of my favourites, too, although right now it is playing second fiddle to the Salted Caramel from David's Tea. I went to stock up before a travel filled month and was disappointed they only had enough to fill one tin - I know I will run out before I have a chance to get more