tea observations

[coraa]

I've been drinking a lot of tea the last few days, on the principle that whatever ails you, tea will probably help or at least not hurt. That being the case, I thought I'd share my favorite recent or recent-ish tea discoveries.

(A warning note, so you can calibrate accordingly: I like my tea sweet. Not sticky-sweet, but mildly sweet. So a lot of my recs are for things that are either a bit sweet to start with or go well with a touch of milk and sugar. Also, yes, I conflate 'tea' and 'tisane.')

Lupicia's Sakurambo, a black tea blend with Japanese cherries, is absolutely delicious with just a hint of sugar and a drop of milk. It's one of a small, precious handful of fruit-flavored teas that actually taste of the fruit they contain. And in this case, it's pleasantly tart, too! (The Sakurambo Vert, the same but with green tea, might also be good; I haven't tried it.) Other black teas that are good from Lupicia: Chocolate Marron (one of the very few chocolate teas I like; I think the bitter, nutty flavor of the chestnut helps), and Vanilla, which is just a vanilla black tea but with a truly lovely flavor. (The fact that I really like both their vanilla and their cherry teas makes me want to try Strawberries & Vanilla.)

Of the green tea blends, I like Paradise, which has tropical flowers, and Tokio, with berries. The fruit and flower flavors in both are mild enough to not overpower the more delicate green tea flavor.

(This almost certainly marks me out as a tea wannabe, but one of the things I like about Lupicia is that many of their tea blends are available in pyramid bags. I do love loose-leaf tea and the ritual of making a pot, but sometimes I want to be able to make a cup in a hurry, or take some with me on vacation, and bagged tea is best for that.)

Lupicia is a dangerous habit, though. They thoughtfully send you tea samples throughout the year, and since I wind up liking at least half of them, well....

On a non-Lupicia note, from Marketspice: the Sunset in Seattle herb tea (mint, raspberry, rose, vanilla, lemongrass, and chamomile) and the Peach Ambrosia herb tea (rooibos with peach, rose, and lemongrass) are very nice before bed. Nice but not before bed because it's for-sure a wake-you-up tea: Marketspice's signature blend, also called Marketspice, which is a mixture of black tea (you can also get it in green, but I never have), orange, and spice. It's a lot more... potent than most teas labeled "orange spice," though, and lacks the stale taste that you often get with "spice" teas. (It's also naturally sweet—I don't know what they use, maybe stevia?—so taste it before doctoring it.)

We've also been enjoying Republic of Tea's Persimmon White and Ginger Peach Decaf.

I need to find a good gingery ginger or ginger green tea, though. Ginger Peach is nice, but a bit mild on the ginger. Mmm, ginger.

(Why do I not have a tea icon?)

What teas have you been enjoying lately? Or if you're a coffee drinker, what's your pleasure there?

Comments

[jazzfish]

I've been drinking Sikkim (an Indian variety; I think it's most like an Assam) for a few years now. I used to get it from Teavana, but they discontinued it, so I've been ordering from Kho-Cha. It's kind of neat to have a large package air-shipped from India once a year or so. It's fairly strong, and rich without being bitter.

(I drink straight black tea, no milk, no sugar.)

Sunset in Seattle sounds lovely, and I've been looking for something with no caffeine for awhile.

[aliseadae]

Ooh. I'd love to try Sunset in Seattle and Peach Ambrosia.

Not one I've been having lately (I left all of mine at home but I have other teas here) but one of my favorites is Good Earth's green tea with lemongrass.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Marketspice's house blend is to me the perfectly condensed smell of Christmas.

eredien and I once tried making Marketspice ice cream. Unfortunately, we were trying to make it both vegan and cane-sugar-free, so something somewhere went Impressively Wrong and we ended up with... goo, but the early custard was sufficiently promising to serve as proof-of-concept, and I really want to try just making a classical tea ice cream out of it.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I got addicted to ginger green tea for a while, then found out all that ginger is not great for the guts. (I sliced my ginger root and added it to the tea leaves.)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I like Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion and Cinnamon Apple. I often drink both while I write.

[eepmirva.livejournal.com]

I love Republic of Tea's Ginger Peach tea!!! Am resisting temptation to try some of the others you listed, cause first I need to drink all the yummy teas I own! :o) Right now I'm also drinking some peppermint tea someone gave me (store brand) and was loving (though just finished, must buy more!) Republic of Tea's Dark Chocolate Mate - but I love chocolate in all forms! :o)

[dancambull.livejournal.com]

I love Rishi tea's Citron Oolong. Adagio Tea has come good stuff as well, and has small inexpensive sample tins.

[ceph.livejournal.com]

Sunset in Seattle sounds fabulous; I'll have to try that one. A question on naturally-sweet teas: I have noticed that almost all Tazo teas, except for very basic black and green sorts, have a sort of cloying sweetness to them. Have you noticed this? Do you know what causes it?

I have been getting back into sludge cups (e.g. the drink known elsewhere as a red-eye or a "shot in the dark") myself, having recently introduced them to warezdude. It's hard to go wrong with ultrastrong Kaladi's.

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

Old-time conservative here: Twinings Englsh Breakfast tea, brewed extra strong, with half-and-half and a bit of sugar, for, well, breakfast.

Twinings Earl Grey tea, normal brew, light sugar, light milk, late morning or early afternoon.

I have been known to go on a Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea binge, but not too often, and for not too long.

...and an occasional lapse into tea hell when I'm on Long Island, to wit, Lipton's iced tea, sun-brewed, sometimes with lemonade added, sometimes with orange juice, sometimes with just sugar.

[rowr.livejournal.com]

Yes! I have also loved the Republic of Tea's white tea with peach/ginger! I am also a sucker for peppermint herbal tea.
I always end up stealing some of the loose leaf tea that some of the Chinese people at work have, Sean in particular had some really high end stuff that was great.. but I can't tell you much about it. I should try to hunt down some of my own.