Tea!

[osprey_archer]

I can't say that I've learned to like tea; I still think it tastes rather like boiled grass clippings. And I find the process of tea rather intimidating: it comes out in two pots, and I can't figure out how they're meant to be used. Am I supposed to pour from the hot water pot into the teapot, so that I will have a continual supply of steeped tea? Or am I supposed to use the hot water to water down the tea if I think it steeped too long? Assuming I knew if it was steeped too long. It's way too alchemical for me to judge.

And let's not even get into tea lists. One girl vs. fifty varieties of tea...is it any wonder I'm intimidated?

But at the same time...tea comes with biscuits. I'm particularly fond of ginger. Or scones with clotted cream! Why did no one tell me such a wonderful thing existed in the world? (The Jane Austen Center in Bath has a particularly lovely cream tea. I was running out of time so I had to pick between their tour and their Regency Tea Room. I think I made the right choice.)

And...while the two pots are intimidating...still. Two whole pots, plus my own tiny pitcher of milk. I could sit there and read and write all afternoon with such provisions! And it's cheaper than hot chocolate. And better for my health!

It's still a pity about the grass clippings bit. But maybe I've just been drinking the wrong varieties; eenie meanie minie mo will do that for you. What are your favorite types of tea?

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Earl Grey is nice--kind of perfumy.

For something completely different (and best drunk without milk), how about jasmine tea? That's **really** perfumy.

Ceylon tea (which my friend calls Cylon tea) tastes--appropriately enough--kind of metallic.

And then there's good old Teabag Tea. You are in England! You can get PG Tipps (or Tips?), that comes in little pyramid shapes. Or circle-shaped Liptons! And then you don't need to worry about all the pots and such, just plop a teabag in your tea cup, pour water over it, wait til it's a color you like, and then either add milk, or don't :-)

(I never used to add milk until I married an English guy, and now I always do)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I've been meaning to try jasmine tea! Even if I don't like it, it has such a pretty name, I should try it at least once.

I got a free box of teabags at orientation, so I've been working on those. They seem to turn the water nearly black instantaneously, though...

I always add milk. It softens the taste and makes it a little cooler, so it's easier to drink.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

the making-it-cooler is key! I need tea to cool off a lot. In Japan they call that "nekojita"--having a cat's tongue.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

The Japanese always have the best words for everything. There's a word (I think) for the particular beauty of a thing that is fragile and will soon wither (like a cherry blossom), in which the aching sadness is part of the beauty.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

mono-no-aware :-)

[girl-called-sun.livejournal.com]

Ah, a nice cup of tea. It fixes everything.

I like Earl Grey, too, but standard teabag tea is an old friend, and the best for the dipping of biscuits. (Hobnobs. Oh yes)

I use the hot water to top up the tea pot, by the way.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Oh good. I kept glancing around furtively before doing anything with the hot water pot, because I figured that whatever I decided to do with it would probably be the vulgar thing. Because I'm just lucky like that.

And yes. Hobnobs. Mmmmmm hobnobs. I will miss them.

[longlegs21.livejournal.com]

I really like chai tea. Well, I think it's supposed to be called masala chai. It's Indian, and you drink it with milk. You may have noticed chai tea lattes at Starbucks. :-)

Have you looked into dessert teas? I highly recommend English toffee tea, with milk. If that doesn't make you love tea, there's no help for you. ;-)

And my favorite comfort tea, especially when I'm sick, is peppermint. (No milk.) If you like the taste of peppermint at all, this tea is a safe bet.

[longlegs21.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I meant to say that none of these tastes the slightest bit grassy. Especially the first two. Do look into dessert teas, if nothing else.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Toffee tea? I can't imagine how it's made, but it sounds so good it should be illegal.

It would kind of destroy the "not rotting my teeth" advantage tea had over hot chocolate, though.

I have seen the chai tea lattes at Starbucks. They confuse me, because latte is usually coffee with milk, so is there coffee in the chair tea latte or not? And doesn't tea, coffee, and milk seem like a bit much for one drink? But if there's no coffee, why use the world latte? I know technically it means milk in Italian. But I am easily confused.

I've been meaning to try peppermint tea. I should get on that. Maybe this afternoon...

[longlegs21.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how toffee tea is made, either, but it's a winner. And though it tastes decadent, it's calorie free. What a delightful mystery. :-)

Those chai tea lattes don't have coffee in them, thank goodness! The "latte" really does just refer to the fact that it's made with milk. I get where you're coming from, though. I have eyed Starbucks' pumpkin spice lattes with similar suspicion. Pumpkin coffee? But I may try them yet.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! Chai is **amazing**, at least if it's made fresh.

[longlegs21.livejournal.com]

Yes! And deliciously spicy, too. :-)

[anait.livejournal.com]

I still think it tastes rather like boiled grass clippings.

LOL. I used to feel that way about green teas, and now I drink 2+ cups a day of jasmine or japanese sencha-type greens, bought looseleaf from specialty tea stores. I used to drink jasmine with honey when I first was introduced to it (This is blashpemy and I'm ashamed in retrospect). Now I like that jasmine tea can have a very slightly bitter taste (or not, if you don't oversteep it). Green teas have a lot of range. Japanese sencha or banchu tea is almost sweet in flavour and very fresh -- yes, a little like grass, but I like that. It's refreshing. I like green tea after dinner, as a palate cleanser. It's also great with dessert or chocolate, to offset the sweetness.

My second favourite kind of tea (mentioned above) is masala chai, which they serve made fresh in Indian restaurants, or that you can brew yourself from looseleaf tea. It's very strong in taste compared to your average black tea-in-a-bag, nearer to hot chocolate or coffee. I love it! I have it just with milk, after letting it steep for a good while. The kind in the restaurants is really excellent, because they steep the tea right in the pot with milk and fresh spices (cardomon, anise, etc.) and then serve it to you in little cups to which most people add sugar. It's a real treat, and nothing at all like the chai lattes in Starbucks, which I personally think are gross.

Yes, I am a huge snob about tea, and a total caffeine addict. Maybe I have convinced you to try some new ones though?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I've tried regular chai tea (but probably the cheap kind, as someone had left it in the kitchen unprotected). Is all chai tea masala chai, or are there multiple varieties?

I remember reading about Kashmiri tea, I think it was, in a book, and it was described much as you described masala chai, and I thought even then that it sounded delicious. (Except for the part where the locals sometimes added salt. More power to them, but I think it sounds hideous.)

[anait.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia says that chai is the word for 'tea.' Masala chai is tea with spices, milk and sweetner. The tea is usually Assam, which is a very strong black tea, and it's made by boiling the heck out of the leaves in a pot over heat, with milk, sugar and fresh spices. You get a very strong tea flavour with a milder spice flavour. The caffeine content is higher than your regular steeped-tea-in-a-bag, which must be why I like it so much. I drink it in the morning instead of coffee. My approximation is to buy tea packaged as 'Masala chai' from a tea store, which is looseleaf Assam and dried spices. I steep a fair amount of it for 5-10 min. in a pot, to get the strength, then add some milk to my cup.

Chai tea bags, therefore, are too weak for me to like them. They don't taste anything close, since they have a weak tea flavour (boo! hiss!) and too much spice flavour in comparison. I also think that they make most of those tea bags from Darjeeling or generic black tea, not the Assam.

The Kashmiri tea is green, or a green and black tea mix, with milk, sweetner and spices. Maybe it is good made fresh? I've tried the looseleaf + dried spice kind and didn't like it. It had a very delicate tea flavour vs. the spice flavour. I want the tea taste and don't like when the spices take over. However, a lot of people seem to like it, so perhaps I didn't give it enough of a chance. Or need to try it with fresh spices and the stove-pot method.

Tea! It's good stuff.