Favorite tea?

irenic said:
the only flavor of tea i drink is raspberry, and i don't mind what the brand is either.

traed said:

Is that fruit tea or raspberry leaf tea?

Vorpality said:
If we're strictly talking pure tea, loose leaf is the best, no matter the type, though I do have a soft spot for Constant Comment.

But the poll needs and "other" option, because the real answer is Royal Milk Tea.

RandomFriday said:
I drink almost only loose leaf white tea.

Optigisa said:
Tea bag definitely, never been a fan of the other one

SuguChan said:
Favorite goes to Green tea of course, but coming in a close second is Tiguanyin tea.

Whats-up said:
Does arizona tea count? I would list their southern style brewed tea as the best I've ever tried.

ghostlybreeze said:
i have loose and bagged but prolly have loose more often
new york breakfast and buddhas tears are amaaazing oh my lord

Xstasy said:
My favorite teas are:
-Hibiscus Tea
-Green Tea
-Chai Tea
-Sleepy Tea
-Lemon Tea
-Eucalyptus
-Sweet Violet Tea
-Rosemary Tea
-Peppermint or Mint

ManicMayo said:
You can't beat a nice cup of traditional English breakfast tea with lots of milk and sugar (yeah I'm one of those). Yorkshire Gold is the best supermarket brand but Tregothnan makes the king of cuppas. Incredibly rich in flavour and the first to be grown right here in the UK.

katsucats said:
I think I posted about some oolong a while back. That's still true. But variety is the spice of life. Since then, some stand outs were

• a rooibos mix
  
• genmai (popcorn) tea -- low end stuff but still good
  
• matcha
  
• butterfly pea

While I do like chai mixes, they're usually served with milk or creamer so I can't really consider that a pure "tea". Without milk, it tastes like a somewhat complicated black tea, but not nearly as good.

I've also had the opportunity to harvest a number of herbs growing in the backyard, and it's been interesting to have a taste test.

• lemongrass -- slight hints of lemon and ginger, very relaxing
  
• rosemary -- barely perceptible, sweeter than what it smells like fresh, which is piney and camphorous; might have just been my mood, but I felt a small rush drinking this
  
• dittany of Crete -- light floral, oregano-like taste, but less spicy, more sweet and mellow, very relaxing as well
  
• anise hyssop flowers -- light anise flavor, kind of a single note, but not too strong and offputting, made me kind of drowsy for some reason
  
• peppermint -- minty, of course, but kind of a weird aftertaste, strong attack with a lingering note that could best be described as sweet, but not really
  
• 'Ajaka' basil flowers -- this is probably my favorite out of the bunch, the first thing that hits you is an unmistakable basil taste, a bit strong, but it develops into a complex spicy flavor that sustains for quite a while, probably longer than the peppermint; brewing too long makes it a little bitter; a good black tea replacement when you don't need any caffeine
  

All were brewed with just boiling water (not fully boiled), steeped for 5-10 minutes.

gamergirl001 said:
I have rosemary growing in my backyard. I may try it!
How many sprigs/amount do you use?

gamergirl001 said:
I'll try that out sometime! Ever had these iced or just hot?

katsucats said:
I updated my last post. I usually drink tea hot. I like iced tea, but don't have the patience or foresight to chill it.

gamergirl001 said:

Gotcha! Maybe use more rosemary or try it w/fresh? You brew western style right? If you want a stronger tea use more rosemary. Not time.

You can cold brew it in the fridge overnight.

katsucats said:
Sure, I'll try using more leaves, and the cold brew. It's usually a bit expensive using tons of leaves per cup, and I don't really care about the subtle variations from one cup to the next. But in this case, I have 3 bushes so I doubt I will ever run out.

By the way, I'm getting like a very mild cannabis sativa effect from this (the head rush) if you know what I mean. It's the same kind of thing where I'm staring out the window and I'm just lost in the artistic experience of it, but at the same time I find it hard to focus on logical things like finishing a post or writing code.

Considering this is the second time this happened, I'm not sure if this is placebo. Please let me know if you get any kind of a mood effect with this.

gamergirl001 said:
Not sure what you mean by the head rush. Try researching on it. Are you using tap or filtered water? Maybe its the water? I always use filtered water then heat it up to whatever degree.

I'm going to try this out next week! Gotta get all my caffeine intake out. Makes it more

katsucats said:
Nope, it's not the water, that doesn't make any sense. I tried using 3 fresh sprigs steeped for 3 minutes. Not sure if it's the resin or the stems in the fresh rosemary or what, but it develops a bitter, astringent taste (like tea). Aside from that, there's a minty taste, but it doesn't really add any of the flavor I wanted. From what I read online, dried rosemary is more concentrated.


As for the effect, the best explanation I can come up with is that rosemary contains eucaplyptol and camphor oils, which give it its taste, but are also mild stimulants, and have been shown in studies to have an effect on concentration and feelings of reduced anxiety, warmth, and change in alertness. At low doses. At high doses, it causes seizures. So I wouldn't necessarily drink a pitcher of this daily.

I'm guessing you've never smoked any weed or anything, because using too many leaves felt like eating 1/4 of a gummy. And according to one report I found by a druggie that tried smoking it for whatever reason, he said, "It's like drinking 3 beers."

Luckily, I haven't had a seizure yet. Webmd says it's safe if you stick to the 1 dried tsp per cup recommendation and another site said to stick to 1-2 cups. With that said, I'm pretty sure my mug is 1.5 cups, and I drank 2 of them, and put way more than 1 tsp, and I'm still alive... so far. lol

Pokkan said:


Couldn't agree more! Matcha or Sencha, Green Tea is the best.

gamergirl001 said:
@anixt4n i made a thread...... enjoy lol.

katsucats said:
The best herbal tea I've now tried up to date is the Nashia inaguensis (e.g. Pineapple Verbena, Moujean Tea, Bahama Berry) native to Inagua Island in the Bahamas. It has a delicate but complex floral taste that easily beats the more well known Aglaia odorata (e.g. Chinese rice flower) and Osmanthus fragrans (e.g. Osmanthus). It doesn't have the astringency that comes from Jasmine either. The only problem is I'm not sure where you can obtain this so you'll probably have to grow it yourself. The plant itself isn't that rare in online nurseries, but it needs particular care (it can't dry out) and yield isn't amazing; as such, I've never seen the dried tea offered anywhere.

I'm also going to try to get my hands on some coca plants (the ones they make cocaine out of). My cousin tried tea from its leaves and said it was amazing, and the effect from unprocessed leaves isn't supposed to be more than coffee.

Among Chinese tea, I'm partial to a Longjing (Dragonwell) with Rose mix, and Lapsang Pouchong, which smells as smokey as a seedy bar, definitely an acquired taste. I've probably tried a dozen random herbal teas (I've bought and now grow 50+ herbs in my backyard), and I've been to tea tastings at a local tea room, and I have to say, out of everything, it's still pineapple verbena on my mind... (besides fruit teas, but sugar is cheating).

Not a fan of Japanese green teas. Too easy to get wrong with the high tannin content. You could steep it a little long or with water a little too hot and it turns into an astringent mess. I've always felt that Chinese teas, even green teas, are more forgiving, and certainly most herbal teas. Now that I've had some herbal teas that rival real teas, the only problem is it's hard to get a regular supply of them.