The Tea Thread

[Marrers]

On another thread recently we were talking about green & black tea blend teabags (in UK). I buy this for my o/h and the brand I buy depends where I am shopping.

Thought some of you might be interested to hear that Twinings is 70% green tea and 30% black tea and Sainsburys is around 60% green tea and 40% black tea.

Sainsburys said the amounts may very a bit depending on the flavour but it is always majority green tea. (Their tea did not have any ingredients listed - curiosity got the better of me and I rang them today to find out.)

I think I will favour Twinings in future simply because it has a higher and more consistent green tea content.

[terem]

Green Tea with Jasmine mmmmm

[terem]

in traditional indian chai recipes you simmer the tea for 15mins in milk (or half milk and half water)with the spices. I don't know what milk alternatives simmer well though. I have a recipe somewhere and can look it out.
I have use the twinnings tea bags and they are surprisingly good when compared with authentic chai, and I have them with rice milk which adds good sweetness so I don't really like extra sugar in it.

Squigaletta, I'm interested in that chai recipe you have, could you fish it out please?:D

I've had homemade chai at a friend's house, but I didn't get the recipe. There also wasn't any milk in it. When I was veggie I had Dunkin Donut's vanilla chai latte and I loved it, now being vegan it's no longer an option as Dunkin Donuts doesn't have a substitute soy milk for their coffee and teas.

I would think almond milk would be delicious in chai tea, that or vanilla chai to give an extra vanilla taste.

[Sticklebricks]

I love it! I drink it all the time instead of regular tea now.

Still have the occassional coffee though.

[helen105281]

I absolutely love the Dragonfly Chai one, also drink a Yogi tea version which is nice too and you get a lovely inspiring message on the tea bag.

[HotSquirrel]

I can't function in the morning without my pot of Clipper Rooibos although I most probably off set all it's benefit with my morning espresso mmm...

[Sticklebricks]

I absolutely love the Dragonfly Chai one, also drink a Yogi tea version which is nice too and you get a lovely inspiring message on the tea bag.

i love yogi licorice tea

[cedarblue]

i tried rooibos just the once and thought it had a weird 'fishy' smell - yuk! maybe i should try some flavoured ones.

[zvezdy]

It's also a good replacement if you want to make Thai Tea.

[smallhelen]

I'm caffeine intolerant (makes me go a bit loopy and dizzy and mad), so Redbush fills a gap for me. I particularly like the vanilla one, but drink the plain one as well. I don't add milk though. Find it very refreshing, and can drink it by the bucket load!!

[Marrers]

i tried rooibos just the once and thought it had a weird 'fishy' smell - yuk! maybe i should try some flavoured ones.
You should cedar - I loathed the Tick Tock stuff my m-i-l drinks but love Dragonfly's vanilla (http://www.dragonfly-teas.com/167-Rooibos-Vanilla.html) and their cape malay chai (http://www.dragonfly-teas.com/71-Cape-Malay-Rooibos-Chai-Organic.html).

[cedarblue]

i've never seen those brands - i'll keep looking.

[Marrers]

The Dragonfly (http://www.dragonfly-teas.com/Our-Teas/Rooibos.html) ones are in supermarkets now so look out for them. (I've added links to my previous post, there are pictures of the boxes so you know what you are looking for!)

[girasol]

I absolutely love Rooibos, it's my favourite tea! I haven't tried any of the flavoured ones, as I love the plain Rooibos. I keep reading that the Tick Tock one is really nice but haven't tried it, is it easy to find in supermarkets?

If you're looking for a coffee substitute, how about Yannoh?:
http://www.limafood.com/EN/Yannohinstant_product.htm
It tastes like coffee to me. There's also a vanilla Yannoh.

[Gorilla]

i've thought about Yannoh but i've only ever seen it in large jars which would be a waste of money if i didn't like it (i don't know anyone else who drinks it). i didn't know it had acorns in it! :amazed_ani:

my friend loves rooibos but i don't like it much.

[Marrers]

(I thought Yannoh was horrid.)

[threeheadedpuppy]

Anyone tried the green rooibos version yet? I saw it in tescos and wasn't sure what it would taste like, but wasn't in an adventurous enough mood to find out! I'm drinking the tetley regular rooibos right now, with a couple of fresh mint leaves thrown in the pot for good measure, and none of that milk to ruin the yummy flavour. According to wiki, its not uncommon to leave your red tea brewing for days at a time, as it only improves the goodness of it, unlike normal tea, which starts to taste foul after 5 minutes of brewage :)

[fondducoeur]

I made a Teavana trip recently and picked up their sour cherry seranade black tea and I love it! I also got some masala chai black tea and chai white tea that I haven't tried yet.

[Ms_Derious]

I'm trying to cut down my intake of coffee at the moment, so I drink a lot of fruit tea, mosting twinings as that's what they stock at work.

I'm kinda interested in trying Kombucha, but I've only see it for sale one place and it was a two liter bottle and I had a long way to carry it. Hmm... I know me though, I'm too lazy to keep my sourdough going well, this would be even worse ;)

[maidenofthewell]

I'm kinda interested in trying Kombucha, but I've only see it for sale one place and it was a two liter bottle and I had a long way to carry it. Hmm... I know me though, I'm too lazy to keep my sourdough going well, this would be even worse ;)

I've heard good things about Kombucha, its good for digestion isnt it? Ive been having some digestive problems and would love to try it, how do you make it? Don't you need to get a starter kit or something? Where can I get one in the UK (or on the isle of man to be more specific)

Sorry if thats already in the thread, I havent read through it i just saw 'the tea thread' and this one popped up, but I just came into it to share that they were giving away loads of free herb tea bags in the health shop yesterday which I took full advantage of. The best was a liqorice and rose one!

Also been making nettle tea out of nettles from the garden which is soooo nice and great to go outside and pick it myself, really makes me connect with what I'm feeding myself!

[RangerChic]

I'm a new tea drinker and starting to really love most kinds. Overall, I prefer cold, iced teas, but I do like hot tea as well. My favorites lately are green tea with mint, cinnamon apple spice, and hibiscus.

[patientia]

I drink white and green teas unsweetened, most fruit teas (infusions actually) sweetened, most herbal teas (infusions) unsweetened and black teas sometimes sweetened, sometimes unsweetened. I used to sweeten them with brown sugar, because I like molasses aroma in fruit teas, but now I mostly use artificial sweeteners because they're calorie free. I have maple and rice syrup, but have never tried them in my tea.

[loveganism]

yogi choco tea is pretty sweet..boiled water..steep for over 5mins..slart of soya/rice milk..v nice

I love that stuff! I'm glad someone else appreciates it too! Everyone I offer it to is like "ughhh!"

[starlight]

builder's tea - strong enough to stand your spoon up, with soya milk.

[patientia]

I like rooibos, I have tried a few mixtures (there are Cleopatra's Beauty (http://www.e-teas.co.uk/product.php?xProd=1430) and Mirabelle (with Mirabelle plums) available here). I like vanilla flavoured, too. But, I also like plain, for which some people say that it tastes like a giraffe's hoof :)