Tea

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Sneaky lurker said:
The only thing I can compare it with is when I roast grapes on top of the oven. Somehow adding less lemon makes it worse. The zestiness also kind of ruins it. It waters down the tea. What is the optimal way to integrate lemon with tea?
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In what context are you roasting grapes on top of the oven lol.

I find adding lemon makes it really bitter if you leave the slice in for too long. I think it’s mainly because of the rind. You could try zesting the lemon before slicing it and then adding it to your tea. If the flavor is still off, only add half a slice, and take it out at the same time as you remove your teabag.
 
Do you prefer your tea with milk and/or sweetened? Do type of milk and sweetener do you use? I usually have it unsweetened with full fat milk now, though I'm not too picky if it's skimmed or semi-skimmed. I had honey over sugar for a while.
 
Me•cha•ni•cal said:
In what context are you roasting grapes on top of the oven lol.

I find adding lemon makes it really bitter if you leave the slice in for too long. I think it’s mainly because of the rind. You could try zesting the lemon before slicing it and then adding it to your tea. If the flavor is still off, only add half a slice, and take it out at the same time as you remove your teabag.
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You can just express the oils on your drink as it's done with cocktails, like negronis

It will give you a hint of lemon but not overwhelming. Olfactory additions can be as good or even better depending on the circumstance. The best example of this is Absolut Vanilla vodka, that has no flavoring whatsoever, just added aroma
 
Sneaky lurker said:
They were of a really bitter variety. I hoped heating them would somehow make them sweet.
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Add balsamic vinegar to them, smear brie on crostini and then top them with the grapes. I didn't know this, I Googled it because I wondered what you would do with such a thing.

Here's another recipe:

Looks like this:
03EATrex-ricotta-with-roasted-grapes-bhtg-threeByTwoMediumAt2X.webp
I think I have to try this.
 
GratsTheat783 said:
Do you prefer your tea with milk and/or sweetened? Do type of milk and sweetener do you use? I usually have it unsweetened with full fat milk now, though I'm not too picky if it's skimmed or semi-skimmed. I had honey over sugar for a while.
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Milk blunts the tannins and reduces acidity so a full fat milk sweetens it enough.

I've recently started cold brewing loose leaf tea, which makes a very nice iced tea adjacent. My go to is a loose leaf black tea with cherry and almond flavouring (pre-mixed bought from a tea specialist). The slow brew means lower acidity so it's naturally got a more delicate flavour and there is also a higher caffeine content because of the slow brew time. It's great for a rushed morning if you've prepared it the night before. I've experimented and it works with most tisanes as well if that's your preference. You only need about 1 teaspoon of tea per litre (adjust to your own taste but longer brew time means more flavour), suspend it in a strainer then leave at room temperature overnight. I've not tried chilling it, I think it would reduce diffusion and potentially contaminate with the flavour of fridge essence, but if anyone tries it I'd love to know the outcome.
 
When I'm sick, I drink english bagged tea (whichever mix I see at the store when I start feeling ill, usually earl gray or english breakfast) with lemon, ginger and honey. I can drink multiple litres of that stuff in a day. Warming, delicious, medicine.
 
Zeftax said:
When I'm sick, I drink english bagged tea (whichever mix I see at the store when I start feeling ill, usually earl gray or english breakfast) with lemon, ginger and honey. I can drink multiple litres of that stuff in a day. Warming, delicious, medicine.
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When I was a boy and stayed home from school sick, I would always drink hot tea throughout the day. Back then I wasn't an every day tea drinker, but there was just something really soothing about a nice warm mug of black tea with a touch of honey.
 
Recently I have been drinking black tea with milk from time to time. I had a weird idea while drinking it, and decided to try it. I have taken to putting a dash of cinnamon on my black tea now. I like it, it's a little extra something. Sorta reminds me of some chai spices I had once but I never really liked chai. I think it's the cardamon in chai, it tastes kinda soapy to me. I am gonna try putting some cloves in next time I make a brew, it sounds like it would taste good.
 
Chai when homemade varies person to person. A very simple form of chai is just tea, milk and black pepper. More elaborate is any number of spices including saffron. Some even add a dash of salt. You can go less authentic by adding vanilla but it's all done to taste. When making chai on the stovetop my preferred ratio is one part milk to two parts water with loose ceylon and any variation of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, fresh ginger, dry chilli, black or pink peppercorns and saffron (not all of these at once, do what suits you). Double boil it to make it stronger and frothier. It's easy to burn the sugar so add it towards the end - IMO a little sugar is necessary to bring out the flavour of the spices but I don't like it hypersweet like those store-bought karak chais.
 
Aldi's had lemon and ginger tea in the middle aisle. I wish I had bought more,
Lavender iced tea,
white tea
bubble tea (white tea with mango bubbles) mmm love it,
Twinings does a peach and vanilla tea, and
mango tea (still have some left from when in Rome).
 
More of a coffee drinker but I like herbal teas like ginger or rosebud and matcha or hibiscus lattes.

Anyway, I found this which might be topical for those who drink tea regularly.
 
Aiōn said:
Anyway, I found this which might be topical for those who drink tea regularly.
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well it might be if it wasn't by some health grifter who could probably kick off a community thread for making a living off these kind of evidence-devoid OTT fearmongering posts. I'm not taking nutritional info from a chiropractor.
He was also convicted for this. He cares about your (and his kids') money more than your health.
 
Had some Darjeeling today, I follow the instructions (Heat the water to 85-95 degrees celsius and then leave for 4 minutes) but the resulting tea, while tasting a bit floral, doesn't taste that different from my keemun, which is weird when I do the whole specific routine that I do only to get identical tea that I can just pour into the pot from the quooker and prepare much more quickly. Is me putting too much tea in the pot a problem? I tend to eyeball it and generally prefer a decently high amount of tea for stronger flavor because I dislike when it's mild, but I feel like that might be affecting the flavor a bit in this case.

Might my measurement be a bit fucky? I use a meat thermometer to check the temp of my water (holding it so it just gets in the water without touching the bottom of the pan) which might be messing things up.

The darjeeling is second flush btw. I also got a darjeeling melange however that uses bits from all flushes.
 
Full or broken leaf?
Both darjeeling second flush and keemun have floral/fruity aroma so they will be somewhat similar. Overbrewing (time-wise) a Darjeeling will upset the balance, I have no idea if greater tea:water ratio would too. Have you tried a splash of milk to blunt the tannins in the Darjeeling, particularly if you are brewing more than required? I wouldn't do this for a Chinese tea but adding it to a Darjeeling in second/autumn flush is equivocal.
 
Unsweetened Sencha with lemon juice is my everyday go-to drink. It doesn't taste exactly great, certainly no connaisseur stuff, but it's good enough for me to sip happily throughout the day and goes fairly well with most foods.

It provides ample vitamin C to keep the doctor away, citric acid to prevent kidney stone build-up and help digest fats more efficiently, and all the soothing properties of green tea.
 
Aiōn said:
More of a coffee drinker but I like herbal teas like ginger or rosebud and matcha or hibiscus lattes.

Anyway, I found this which might be topical for those who drink tea regularly.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6a_ALy6rfkg
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Lmao only if you buy corporate teabags from major non-ethnic grocerers. That chinky tin of green or jasmine leaves that costs $5 can barely afford its own paper insert, let alone any plastics micro or macro. I wonder about pesticides, but one simple solution would be to brew the chinky way and rinse your leaf load with the boiling water first, and then fill the pot to brew.

Counter argument to micro plastics becoming a part of you - what if someone WANTS to become Korean?
 
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