What types/brands have you tried?

I can't really talk because you haven't posted which teas you've tried, but;

If when you perceive no pleasant flavor, you need to put a lot of sugar into it to make it sweet.
You prefer to drink something disgustingly sweet over a bitter, albeit fortituous, culinary character (again, I don't know what you've tried, but if this is a legitimate inquiry I'd recommend Lipton if you haven't already).

If not, drink some juice and gtfo my /kitchen/

also, probably underage b&

Adagio.com

It's a standard case of doing it wrong. I'm going to go ahead and assume you're in Amerikkka (lol amirite?). And so therefore never actually get decent tea, and when you do, you massacre it.

A few points:

1) Bagged tea is absolute shit. Its literally bottom of the barrel. They take the scraps that they can't sell as drinkable, blend `em up and put em in bags. Get whole-leaf tea, and brew it without constraining the tea. (My preferred method: boil water on the stove, pour the water over loose tea leaves in a separate container, and then strain into a tea pot. I then usually serve in small ceramic cups, so it doesn't get too cold while drinking it. YMMV)

2) Don't put sugar in tea. Sweet tea is something in the American South that is quite possibly the most disgusting thing known to man. If you do it right, it doesn't need sugar.

3) If it's turning bitter, you're brewing it for either too long or too hot. Black tea shouldn't be left in the water for longer than 5 minutes. Green and whites vary, depending on the quality and type of tea. Green tea should be brewed in water ~180 F, and black in near-boiling water. Also, when making green tea, don't boil the water and then let it cool down, that causes all of the oxygen (yes, O2 gas dissolved in water, omgz, what do you think fish breathe) in the water to boil out, which adversely affects the flavor.
Also, if it tastes bitter, don't drink iced tea. I don't understand why people buy bottled iced tea. It tastes nothing like tea. It tastes like ass. Its almost always oversweetened, and usually made with really shitty and overpriced tea (for the 1.25 you pay for a 20 oz thing of bottled tea, you can get ~2 oz of very nice tea, which will brew two strong quarts of tea (assuming you don't do second steeping of your leaves, which works very well.)

4) If it is too weak, use more tea, not more time or more heat. To make iced tea, make tea at double-strength, and then dilute with equal parts ice water. (Note: can also make regular tea and then put it in the refrigerator, but that takes patience, and fuck that.)

Adagio is a good source of tea, so is svtea.com (small company that I've bought from back from when I was a Connecticutfag) and several other online companies.

>>160

is win. /thread/

If you haven't tried chai tea i guess you are just missing out

>>192
What precisely is this 'chai' to which you refer? I've heard good things about it, but nobody has actually told me what it is.

>>360
It's tea for pussys and emos/scenesters

Really though, it's hot chocolate basically, except cinnamon and sugar instead of chocolate

>>360

The simplest traditional method of preparing masala chai is to actively simmer or boil a mixture of milk and water with loose leaf tea, sweeteners, and whole spices. Indian markets all over the world sell various brands of "chai masala," (Hindi ??? ????? [ch?y mas?l?], "tea spice" ) for this purpose, though many households blend their own. The solid tea and spice residues are strained off from masala chai before serving.

The base tea is usually a strong black tea, such as Assam, so that the various spices and sweeteners do not overpower it. However, a wide variety of teas can be and are used to make chai. Most chai in India proper is brewed with strong black tea, but Kashmiri chai is brewed with gunpowder tea.

The traditional Masala Chai is a bracing, strongly spiced beverage brewed with so-called "warm" spices. Most masala chai incorporates one or more of the following: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, peppercorn, and cloves.

Cardamom is a dominant note in traditional chai masala. Ginger, black pepper, and cloves are also used in Indian masala mixtures and cuisine. Having ginger or black pepper is considered important as it gives chai a slightly spicy flavour. In India, for example, fresh ginger is usually used.

>>360

It's tea sweetened and spiced to the point of not tasting anything like the original tea anymore. That doesn't mean it's bad, though. I love it, and you may like it even if you don't like most other teas.

>>360

Chai tea is like a liquid ginger cookie, or at least the chai I've had.

I'm personally a fan of Arizona Green Tea with honey.

The best tea I ever had was sitting on a hillside at a tea farm in Ceylon a few years ago.

Those Sri Lankans know how to do it right.

>>160
While you make several good points, you fail to distinguish between "sweet tea" and tea that is sweetened. Sweet tea is a CHILLED drink from the southern US and is, I must admit, rather foul. The practice of sweetening hot tea, however, is quite common in most western nations and is largely a matter of personal taste. Whether a given cup is to be sweetened, and how much sweetening agent is to be used, is determined by a multitude of factors, including; the type of tea, which sweetening agent is being used, the manor of brewing, what other flavoring elements are to be added(if any), and the personal preference of the drinker.

You've got to make it with tea leaves in a pot with a strainer. And honey is a must for sweetening. I love the ceremony of tea making. And a rich tea biscuit on the side wouldn't hurt.

>>I'm personally a fan of Arizona Green Tea with honey.

lol

>>602
second

You people are overly fussy.

One Tetley teabag, boiling water, milk and two sugars. Lovely.

i like brisk iced tea lol

Green tea is fucking win. Sugar only, milk/cream will fuck that shit up.

>>619

seconded

Green Tea


2 teaspoons of sugar
a bit of honey

mmmmmmm

Earl Grey. Doesn't matter who it comes from, really, but I buy from Adagio.

Brew, add some sugar, a bit of milk, and a tiny bit of honey. Enjoy.

Adding sugar to green tea is insane. If it's too strong (and admittedly, I prefer tea that's strong enough to eat the cup and spoon) you simply cut down on the amount of time you allow it to steep. Green tea has a much more delicate flavour than black tea, and adding sugars or milk to it destroys it.

Black tea, on the other hand, especially teas with an aroma like Earl Grey, often benefits from said milk and sugar. If OP usually finds black tea too strong I recommend that he tries Oolang, which tends not to be as bitter as traditional Western black tea. And, frankly, no one drinks standard Lipton, Bushells or Tetley tea for the delicate and subtle flavour. I personally drink these in place of coffee (which I can't stand) and when I need a caffeine fix. I enjoy drinking them (two tea bags in the cup, threatened with milk, no sugar) but the best I can liken them to is instant coffee from a supermarket compared to properly brewed coffee from a traditional coffee maker. Not that I drink the stuff but enough people have lectured me on it to know that there is a difference.

>>602>>617>>979

Any good brand (Billings) of Earl Gray loose is fine, Earl Gray is by far the best tea ever, but >>979 is wrong in that you drink it straight or with GIN FTW.

>>981>>threatened with milk

I am threatening you to stop being gay. NO MILK NO SUGAR

EVER

>>160
that would be good advice if it wasnt littered with "dur i haet merikuh hurf"
>>580
this is true, but it just wouldnt feel right for me if i sweetened expensive tea D:

>>984
>>I am threatening you to stop being gay. NO MILK NO SUGAR

QFT. What a waste...

>>981
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?
Sugar add wonderful flavors to green tea. I'm not saying boat loads, but a tiny bit makes the cup for me...

>>988

Cheap, garden variety three-dollars a box black tea in tea bags is not exactly a delicate and fragile brew. It's what one gets at work. Since the tannin is concentrated in it, especially when it is made deliberately very strong, a little milk-just a little- takes away some of the overwhelming flavour of the tannin and allows some of the more subtle flavours to come through. The tea I'm talking about is basically crap. There's utterly no need to get your knickers in a twist over it. Besides, the way I make it you pussies couldn't handle it.

If, on the other hand, someone wanted to add milk to green tea, or black teas like Oolang or Lu On which are much more refined on the palate, THEN you can comment on their sexuality.

I like Green tea with Honey. Suits me good.

>>160
These tips just might make me drink tea in the future. My parent's always get bagged tea when I was a kid and my father'd leave it in for at least 10 minutes. I've gotta' try those tips.

http://www.teavana.com/

order real tea.

>>160

That pretty much sums it up. The only reason to ever drink bagged tea is if you don't have a good supplier in town of real whole-leaf tea. I, unfortunately, do not have a decent supplier around, so I am forced to drink bagged tea. But if you brew the real stuff correctly, you should never need to add sugar.

Also, quick tip: If you do add sugar to your tea, use REAL sugar, none of that Sweet 'n' Low shit.

I had not expected to see this thread go this long without the act of "teabagging" being mentioned.

You guys aren't that bad after all.

Also, Tazo + 1.5 minutes in the microwave + time to cool is okay by me.

>>1052

Really hadn't even occured to me.

If you use natural cane sugar it's sweeter than heavily refined sugar and you don't have to use as much to get it to taste right. Also, black Irish tea is really good.

Green and Earl Gray FTW

I agree with >>160 on the way most Americans make tea. Americans tend to Boil teabags for any where from 5 to 'oh my god I left the pot on' (read 20 to 30 minutes [usually with bulk brewing]). Tea bags contain powder or 'fanning' bits, both like previously stated are left overs from the whole leaves and tend to steep/brew faster. Also Whole leaf is usually done for only 3-5 minutes at lower then boiling 170 to 190 F, while you should cut the time in half and temperature 20 to 30% for 'fanning' bits and powder. Sugar is personal taste, but I use Honey as sweetener, and usually no more than 5 percent of total volume (3/4ths of a cup per gallon).
I remember the best ones I got were whole leaf, if you say there is no good whole leaf dealer in your area you need to show me a boondocks dweller's ID. Usually I hear 'but there is no good whole leaf dealer in my area' from those who are too lazy to inquire or look up locations of whole leaf tea dealers.

>>106

OP, try Thai tea, but be careful where you buy it. Sometimes you go to some shitty asian place, and they do it wrong. It's either too sweet, or too bitter. There needs to be that special balance. Don't buy it from a store thats stocked on shelves. It tastes better fresh, not preserved.

Thai tea is just a specific type of tea blend mixed with coffee creamer and ice. It may not be considered tea to some, but it's still really good.

If you want to make homemade Thai tea, always use the liquid coffee creamer. Fuck the condensed milk, powder cream, or sugar bullshit. Don't add too much creamer.

Genmaicha, peasant rice tea win

>>1296
/agreed

So every kind of tea I've ever tried (and I've tried a several types, brands, flavors) I get a horrible pain in my head, kind of right between my eyes. It kind of buzzes and hurts. I'm guessing this isn't a typical reaction to tea, or am I wrong?

I'll always have a special place in my heart for sweet tea, even if it is an american abomination. My extended family all lives in southern Texas (my parents got the hell out of there WAY before I was born), and the taste of Grandma's sweet tea is a hell of a memory.

That being said, I'm a HUEG fan of Earl Grey. My roommate and I both drink it so much we bought a huge bucket of premium whole leaf. That stuff is amazing. If you have a hard time stomaching tea, I recommend Earl Grey with a little lemon squeezed into it (thats how I got started on it).

>>1305

Out of curiosity, how do you go with other drinks containing caffeine?

get a brita filter as well

It might be the bergamot oil added to a lot of black teas that's been setting you off. It's an unpleasant bitter taste.

You might do better with a non-caffeinated full-bodied herbal tea. I recommend red bush or rooibos. Its natural sweetness is not too extreme, and there's no bitterness to it whatsoever.

>>1808
fuck yes...AFRICAN RED BUSH!

>>1810

My South African boss gave me some of this stuff. It's not bad, but the taste didn't seem to match the scent, which I found disconcerting. Or maybe it's just me. Either way, my personal impression that while the taste wasn't bad, it wasn't *food*.

>>192
Chai tea is for fags. Absolute fags. So is green tea for that matter.
>>160
Sweet tea kicks ass. Suck it.

Earl Grey with some milk ftw.

OP

tea. earl grey. hot.

motherfuckers

>>1823
Chai is a black tea, just like earl gray.

Sweet tea is for uneducated faggots. You might as well put a scoop of sugar in your scotch on the rocks...because THATS how fucking stupid you are.

Putting milk into a tea turns it into a latte, and lattes are for nut sucking queers.

>>1824
good man.
Earl Gray FTW.
The only other hot tea I like is Green.

>>1824 the best--avoid tea bags--buy it in bulk.

ITT: your taste in tea calls into question your sexuality

matcha...rolls royce of green teas, you need a fucking shinto priest to prepare it

As an Amerikkkan - I feel it important to point out all of your flaws.

Both my roommate and I drink loose leaf tea daily, and no, we're not hipsters. Even in our 45k population town, we have access to several loose leaf sellers. It's not unheard of - but there is a fair amount of people who are surprised to hear about drinking hot tea in the area.

As for burning on the Lipton dudes or the teabag dudes or the sweet tea dudes: Why? I'm not going to say I love the stuff, but if someone enjoys a simple but sweet flavor in a drink, or a lesser quality tea leaf, are they really such a big asshole?

I like Lipton when I'm on a road trip, and I like sweet tea when I'm eating southern food. And gasp: I drink tea made from teabags when I'm at work, because it's easier.

Less hate, more food appreciation and love. If you haven't had anything but bagged or bottled tea, do yourself a favor and try it. If you don't, you still don't have to fuck off.

I just chew on the leaves, keep some between my gum and lip, sometimes under the tongue.

Irish Breakfast, all the way. I like my tea so damn strong it's almost sentient. Then, the tiniest splash of the heaviest dairy I can find, usually heavy cream, and one or two sugars. And yes, I mean sugar. I live in Texas, and while I'm damn proud to say I loves me some damn sweet iced tea, you simply do not ruin hot tea with sweet & low. It is unethical.

>>2247
Gen"tea"lemen,,,?

orange peko, done right

Much great win in this thread. Love a good cup of tea untoutched by sugar or dairy.
>>1043 --> nice shop, thanks! Not all tea stores here that have all sorts of different tea types.

Question though: how much tea does a 2oz (56.6g) of tea leaves give in finished tea product? Usuall servering/strongness.

Grace Rare Tea's Lapsang Souchong is my fav

I love tea totaly untouched,scalding hot and done right kettle and all. Theirs nothing better then it specaially when your feelin down. Im a Jasmine girl im all about the delicate floral flavor.

a lot of tea seems to be the same, i have to agree
honestly, i can't really tell the difference between orange pekoe and red bush tea

but there are some that are actually relatively nice, like green tea and earl gray with jasmine

Ausfag (sots/irish) again

what's with tea? it's what you want it to be. i'ts food like coffee is

try leaf tea not bags. bags are shite. brew it in a pot (steel or china) try Earl Gray it tastes like Apricots (nice for summer) Try jasmine tea or serious stuff black tea darjeeling like a good claret or pure ceylon (Irish rocket fuel)
milk withit lemon with it sugar.

>>624 aww meezer so cute

ausfag again
>>2676 ps you've made me thirsty time for some Irish rocket fuel pure ceylon pot brewed a little milk. ah lovely!!!!

i love tea!!!!!!

<<<<< Tea bush

Hot Tea with sugar is my all time favorite drink. tea without sugar tastes like mens asses. that's just the way it goes. but with the exception of fruit juices and water, if you don't put real sugar in it it'll taste like shit. oh ya fresh off the stove lipton black with 2 lumps FTFW

all you idiots bashing sweet tea probably never had the real stuff, had the crap they serve in restaurants and would probably cream their pants if they had a proper glass of southern sweet tea.

>>1225
Thai tea is awesome, but its actually alot more complicated than that (if you want to make it right). You need a variety of spices and a muslin to strain the chinese black tea, along with the steps you mentioned. A friend of mine used to work at a thai place and she says that the only way to make it good is from scratch (I tried the instant once, it was horrible).

>>2730
agreed. Don't ever drink resteraunt tea from anywhere at any time for any reason. i'd drink my own piss first. it's truley a discrace to any southerner or tea drinker in general.

Try the brand Yogi Teas. I've had several of their flavors and found them all rather exquisite. My favorite was one called "Breathe Deep" or something along those lines. They all have a very pleasant, mild taste, with an awesome sweet aftertaste. If you add honey or sugar, it makes it even better.

just f-cking eat the leaves on their own, it gets right to the bloodstream plus the sharpness of the leaves will cu into the gums creating a direct route to the heart in most cases.

>>433 they grow the world's best black tea

I am addressing fellow 'mericans here only. If you use teabags, do it this way: pour boiling water into a large heavy mug. Hold three bags by the string, and dip them in and out of the water in the mug 30 times. (typical 'merican with a 200 inch plasma tv and a separate lexus in the driveway for each family member "3 bags! fuck, can't afford to do THAT!") You will be surprised at the mellow rich flowery flavor. That is all--back to teafaggotry.

I really enjoy my McDonalds sweet tea. it's the best tea ever

Either try Barrys Irish tea, or do what I do and drink black coffee. If you can't float a nail in it, it's too damn weak.

I said this in the other damn thread. You cannot consider yourself a man unless you drink loose leaf tea without putting shit in it. Bonus points if you are hardcore enough to steep Oolong tea three times and drink all three pots, the third is the best.

I am very lucky to live in seattle, because we have some places that aren't corporate standards, or corporate buyouts. There is a shop in the marketplace that sells really nice imported loose tea, and cheap too, I got a fourth pound of their best Oolong for 8 bux.

>>3052
Extra bonus points if you look down on people for something like this.

Feel bad.

to the people that add milk or cream to their tea:
whenever you add anything dairy to tea, you completely destroy any nutritional/antioxidant qualities the tea had.

tl;dr enjoy drinking your flavoured water+milk