Tea

[Super Guido]

Was travelling last week and had the deeply unpleasant reminder that, unlike my local one, most coffee shops default to sweet matcha unless you ask them for unsweetened specifically. It just tastes like over sugary milk, what the fuck? Is this how coffee drinkers feel about Starbucks?

They probably do that to cover up using poor quality matcha.

There are also clueless people who insist bitter matcha is the best matcha. I went to a place in Philly like that - great cream puffs, but most of the customers who go there have no idea what the hell they're talking about wrt matcha.

 

[Xev]

I know it's ghetto but lately I've been addicted to Bigelow peach green tea bags and make lightly sweetened iced tea to drink at work.

 

[Super Mario Brothers]

They probably do that to cover up using poor quality matcha.

There are also clueless people who insist bitter matcha is the best matcha. I went to a place in Philly like that - great cream puffs, but most of the customers who go there have no idea what the hell they're talking about wrt matcha.

The best matcha products I've ever had were (unsurprisingly) in Japan. Especially deep matcha soft serve. Idk if its in the states but if someone knows a brand or recipe similar to it, @ me.

 

[FPTMIU]

Been drinking a lot of Keemun lately and I quite like it, it's very chocolate-y and can be steeped for a good while without going bitter.

 

[glass_houses]

They probably do that to cover up using poor quality matcha.

There are also clueless people who insist bitter matcha is the best matcha. I went to a place in Philly like that - great cream puffs, but most of the customers who go there have no idea what the hell they're talking about wrt matcha.

From what I've been told, a lot of cafes in my country are using a bastard version of matcha that already has sweetener added to the powder. I usually specify matcha with no sugar at cafes because they then have to give you the good stuff... if they have it to give, that is. The down side is that my favourite cafe remembers me and always says, "no sugar?" to me and I feel too weird to add sugar to my drink afterwards. They do use a decent quality powder though, and hot milk is sweet enough by itself, so it's still very tasty.

 

[GratsTheat783]

Yorkshire Loose Leaf.

 

[UselessRubberKeyboard]

Matcha is fucking vile, and I say that as someone who likes a nice Mao Feng green or Dong Ding Tung Ting Bing Bong Oolong.

You can’t beat a good, strong earl gray, though finding one nowadays seems to be almost impossible. Back in the 80s the Co-Op used to do their own brand earl gray, and you could smell it from two rooms away as it sat in the cupboard. A good, robust black tea and a hugely strong bergamot scent, it was perfect. Sadly, most earl gray now is some piss water “tea” with the vague scent of bergamot, the type of lukewarm slop that fannies drink with a slice of lemon and no milk, thinking it makes them chique. Wanks.

The closest I’ve found so far is ‘Earl Gray Supreme’ by True Tea. The bergamot is reasonable (certainly could be a lot stronger), but the tea is beautifully dark and strong. Absolutely spot on.

Any other suggestions for builders’ breakfast black strength, knock your socks off bergamot scent tea would be gratefully received.

Those dragon pearls of jasmine tea are nice too, though pricey.

 

[glass_houses]

Matcha is fucking vile, and I say that as someone who likes a nice Mao Feng green or Dong Ding Tung Ting Bing Bong Oolong.

Uncivilised swine.

Any other suggestions for builders’ breakfast black strength, knock your socks off bergamot scent tea would be gratefully received.

Make your own blend. You can't over brew bergamot without completely wrecking it, it's far too delicate. I suggest obtaining a mellow tea that can be brewed strong without developing overwhelming bitterness (I use Daintree) and add lemon myrtle instead of bergamot.

 

[UselessRubberKeyboard]

Uncivilised swine.



Make your own blend. You can't over brew bergamot without completely wrecking it, it's far too delicate. I suggest obtaining a mellow tea that can be brewed strong without developing overwhelming bitterness (I use Daintree) and add lemon myrtle instead of bergamot.

Can I do Yorkshire Tea and a drop of that bergamot oil stuff you can get for massage/oil burners? Not entirely sure you can grown bergamots in the land of Norf FC.

 

[Magnetman]

Cheap black Ceylon tea is the best tea.

 

[_Delirium]

I like English breakfast tea. Tea I drink is half tea and half milk lol

Matcha is fucking vile, and I say that as someone who likes a nice Mao Feng green or Dong Ding Tung Ting Bing Bong Oolong.

All matcha tastes like straight grass to me

Can I do Yorkshire Tea and a drop of that bergamot oil stuff you can get for massage/oil burners? Not entirely sure you can grown bergamots in the land of Norf FC.

Those are straight chemicals and not safe for consumption. Maybe look into ordering dried bergamots online?

 

[SNEED.EXE]

 

[Walken]

I’m pretty uncultured when it comes to tea (iced vanilla chai is my usual go-to), but I’ve come to enjoy mixing and matching different teas and ingredients from time to time, and raspberry has always seemed like a consistently good choice for me as either a tea itself or just as a bit of flavoring. Does anyone else have recommendations for what would go well with raspberry?

 

[User names must be unique]

I know it's ghetto but lately I've been addicted to Bigelow peach green tea bags and make lightly sweetened iced tea to drink at work.

I've been using Aldi own brand ginger and lemon tea for the same thing it's actually fucking delicious, I just cold steep a few bags in a pitcher of water in the fridge over night then add like 4 teaspoons of sugar per litre.

 

[glass_houses]

Can I do Yorkshire Tea and a drop of that bergamot oil stuff you can get for massage/oil burners?

Essential oils are processed differently and have different parameters to food grade products. I'd strongly recommend against consuming the topical shit. Look for products- powders, essences, dried flowers etc- that are explicitly labelled as food grade.

 

[Xev]

I've been using Aldi own brand ginger and lemon tea for the same thing it's actually fucking delicious, I just cold steep a few bags in a pitcher of water in the fridge over night then add like 4 teaspoons of sugar per litre.

I've tried the cold steeping but I find it's better to heat up like 8 oz of water, pop two tea bags in with a tiny amount of sugar or honey then wait a few minutes to get a saturated solution then add cold water. I don't get a entire pitcher worth but I can fill a 28 oz Gatorade bottle with strong ass iced tea in only a couple minutes.

 

[User names must be unique]

I've tried the cold steeping but I find it's better to heat up like 8 oz of water, pop two tea bags in with a tiny amount of sugar or honey then wait a few minutes to get a saturated solution then add cold water. I don't get a entire pitcher worth but I can fill a 28 oz Gatorade bottle with strong ass iced tea in only a couple minutes.

Suppose it depends on the tea, I get a much nicer ginger heat steeping it cold than hot. i just add the sugar to my water bottle (one teaspoon per tea bag) and give it a good shake. I also give it a good stir whenever i open the fridge that might help..

 

[Hunter Hearst Helmsley]

The closest I’ve found so far is ‘Earl Gray Supreme’ by True Tea. The bergamot is reasonable (certainly could be a lot stronger), but the tea is beautifully dark and strong. Absolutely spot on.

Any other suggestions for builders’ breakfast black strength, knock your socks off bergamot scent tea would be gratefully received.

Adagio's Earl Grey Supreme is also great.

 

[Otterly]

Make sure you get the right stuff, there’s two things that can be confused:
1. Bee balm flowers (Oswego tea/ tea mint) which are edible when steeped - Monarda fistulosa.
2. A type of citrus peel that’s dried (which is what’s used to flavour earl grey) citrus bergamia.

I quite like iced tea, the peach stuff. On the label it says black tea, peach flavour, hibiscus and something else I cant think if. I might try to make some

 

[Crant]

I don't think I've ever had a tea I didn't like. There have certainly been some that didn't hit as strong as others. I'm a big fan of matcha and sencha, but lately I've been drinking teas by Yogi. I really like their orange clove, spiced apple chamomile, and sweet tangerine teas. The apple chamomile knocks me out like nothing else, so it's great for restless nights.

An honorable mention for this post is yuja, or yuzu, citron tea from South Korea. It's like a marmalade you pour hot water over and stir until you get a nice citrus tea with fruit chunks in it.