Favorite teas and tea ideas?

[terrie]

Hello everyone --- I have been a lurker member for many years and love this forum! Anyway, I was talking to a friend the other day about how I would love to have a tea when things are more accessible. I am disabled (lots of brain injuries) and can't go "full throttle", but a nice gathering of some of my favorite people and favorite teas :)

It has me thinking... what are your favorite tea and tea ideas? Anything simple I can manage (like a simple scone, etc) that you might care to share would be appreciated.

I love oolong and jasmine, but a tea parlor here has something they call English Royal Country Garden that is heavenly! It's a nice, black tea with citrus and a bit of (milder citrus) Earl Gray added. A bit of milk and...just leave the pot right here!

I heard once that the "milk first" or "milk last" is based on a class division. The upper crust, as it were, had bone china and that stuff can stand up to almost anything. Adding milk first and then the hot tea was fine in bone china... but the temperature change would break the lower class clay cups... so... the upper classes had "milk first" and it became a distinction that way. I have read that there is virtually no flavor or texture difference at all... it just became a point of a bit of snobbery :)

So, popping in to say hello and.... what are your favorite tea and tea ideas?

[MaryM]

My favorite tea tends to be black tea, I love a good Darjeeling. My daughter brought me some back from England when she spent a summer semester there and I just fell in love with it though finding good Darjeeling isn’t very easy and I’m not near a tea shop. I like crumpets and they are available in southeastern Massachusetts, made by a bakery called Sharrock’s out of New Bedford. Market Basket and Stop and Shop tends to carry them. I like scones, but I have to make them as I haven’t found good ones around my neck of the woods in years, just the flat hockey pucks they call scones these days. The best recipe I ever found that produced a scone like my grandmother made was in an English children’s Winnie the Pooh cookbook I’d bought for my daughter.

[mbhenty]

Yes, love tea.

Started drinking tea when I spent some time in Wales, UK long, long ago. I was engaged to a girl from Neath at the time. While there I discovered that you could not get a bad cup of tea or a good cup of coffee anywhere on the British Isles. (at least Wales or Southern England) Along with tea I acquired the habit of drinking warm beer while there. Still do. Beer at the time was not kept cold at the places I frequented around Swansea. But that was long ago. Since fifty years have passed, much has changed I would guess.

Here in the States my favorite tea has been Twinings Earl Grey black tea. Drink six to eight cups a day. Tea bags you see. When in the UK I never saw anyone use them. Tea was always served in a teapot and steamed in an infuser, with the pot covered by a mitten, and always served by a little old lady in fancy china or a burly coal miner in even fancier china.

In the past couple of years Twinings has been faulting and the taste of their tea has been inconsistent. Most teas are a blend of different tea leafs combined so the trademark flavor of a specific tea remains unchanged. Recently I have found that the flavor varies. More than it should. Then again, our taste changes as we age. So, go figure

[Kat]

Hello, Terrie! Nice to see you again! I just found this topic.
I loved Earl Grey, tho gave tea up several years ago. (I loved it too much...)
I used to visit a wonderful tea room in Mt Dora, about 30 miles from here, but it closed and then a very good bakery opened in its space. Thank goodness I took a lot of pictures, before that happened. I've posted them on the Forum, way long ago. I would like to share, once again, the beautiful ambiance that was so precious to me. It's like a beautiful fantasy place...This looks like the love of tea...
(if you click on pic it will become larger and you can "save" if you wish...)

[Reasonwhy]

New idea for adding to bottled water: Arizona green tea liquid water enhancer: Yummy! You add two squirts from a little bottle which would fit in your purse. Needs no refrigeration, and zero calories.

[Kat]

Does it have any artificial sweetener? I tried a water "enhancer" and it was that saccharine taste. Green tea without that might be worthwhile.

[Reasonwhy]

It does, and know that’s not good for one, either. Let’s each (all!) post if we find one “unsweet.” That’s at least what they call it where we live, in northern Virginia.

[Kat]

Oh, I don't mind sweet, just the artificial ones don't taste good to me.

[mbhenty]

Hey Kat:

Bet you didn't know that I collected teapots at one time.

I have since passed the collection on to my sister.

When I was in Great Britain everyone kept a pot hot and ready, with a little muffler to keep it warm. In England I could not find a bad cup of tea or a good cup of coffee. But that was long ago.

Below is my old collection, or part of it.

[Kat]

I think I did know that about you but not seen a pic of your collection! Thanks! That's beautiful! I don't know how you could give it up...but at least you know where it is!

[mbhenty]

Yes Kat:

Giving to my sister is easy.

I enjoyed the teapot collection and was ready to pass it on. My sister always loved it. I willed it to her. But instead of waiting for the grim reaper I gave it to her now and enjoyed watching her receive it.

There is a very special demeanor to gift giving. To be a true gift it must hurt somewhat to be worth anything. Anything short of that is giving someone socks or undergarments, just like mother. And the best time to give is any time between holidays and birthdays—for no special occasion.

A good example is the book I gifted Stefani. It was a copy of a novel from Lizzie's collection and signed by Lizzie. Now that hurt. But it was a good hurt and I am a better person for it.

[terrie]

Hi all! I guess I went lurking again... lol. Some great ideas here... thank you! I love tea, mostly black tea but I also love jasmine :)

[terrie]

mbhenty --- WOW that is an impressive set of tea pots