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?

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 and their cape malay chai.

[cedarblue]

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

[Marrers]

The Dragonfly 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!

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 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

[smallhelen]

I'm with Marrers on the vanilla rooibos tea, no milk added: very refeshing and tasty. If I have any other type of herbal/fruity tea I tend to add a spoon of agave nectar just to add a bit of sweetness. Don't drink black or green teas due to caffeine intolerance (makes me loopy).
I know it's off-topic, but I do love a vanilla soy decaf latte from Costa. They make me smile.

[Von Starrdust]

Csn you use any of the vegan milks in tea? Lol, I'm new tio all of this. I've tried drinking black tea and I find it completely vile!!

[Enchantress]

You can use any vegan milk in tea. Experiment until you find one you like.

[Paragon]

I ran out of my usual green tea today (gave up coffee a couple of months ago after many years being a very heavy coffee drinker) and I went to the local shop but they had sold out! oh no! what am I going to do? I thought..

I had seen Rooibos tea elsewhere, but never tried it, but now I wish I had! It is lovely! and no caffeine and lots of good stuff so it seems.

Anyone else drink it?

Steve


Ahhh! mods, can you correct the obvious spelling mistake in the title? thanks...

[Est]

I love Rooibos - and it's a bit of a lifesaver when I can't be bothered taking soya milk to friends' houses!

[Paragon]

Hi Est. I had never had it before today, but I have a MASSIVE mug full next to me now!

Steve

[imothepixie]

It's almost impossible to make an over stewed brew!

[Korn]

Ahhh! mods, can you correct the obvious spelling mistake in the title? thanks...

It's not obvious to me, but maybe some other mod edited it already? Anyway, I just merged your thread with another, similar thread...

[veganista]

I'm a recent convert to rooibos, the vanilla one sounds lovely, I'll look out for that.

[cobweb]

i love it aswell, with soya milk in it.

[Gwydion]

Up the Saffa's!

[veganshoes.co.uk]

Thought I would revive this thread as I love tea!

Has anyone here tried Adagio Teas? Their festive blends are gorgeous.

Just one problem though - they don't seem that knowledgeable on their ingredients.. :/ I wanted to know which teas weren't vegan-friendly but couldn't seem to get a definitive response from my emails.

I was wondering if anyone here knew of which ones to avoid?

Thanks in advance,

Sara

[Blueberries]

I love Rooibos

Me too, I've been on a bit of a rooibos kick recently! I generally like tea and love trying out different varieties. I love genmaicha, which is a Japanese gree tea with roasted rice. I also like white tea although I haven't gotten it for a while. Also like chai and earl grey (I just like tea really!)

[Anaj]

I have never tried rooibos - but now I am looking forward to it.

My current tea loves:
Celestial Seasonings - Bengal Spice [much better than Chai tea]
Yogi - Licorice Mint - sounded terrible to me at first, but tastes wonderful; creamy, beautiful aroma
Peppermint - any brand
Chamomile - any brand

[yo-yo]

mmm...tea! My faves are chamomile, peppermint, normal black, Earl Grey, Lady Grey (though not had this for years...), Pukka Love, actually most of the Pukkas, any night time tea, Yogi Choco. Oh I like Rooibos too!

[Blueberries]

I had a gorgeous matcha soya latte today, it is such a nice way to drink matcha tea!

[yo-yo]

I had a gorgeous matcha soya latte today, it is such a nice way to drink matcha tea!

had to google matcha! Didn't know people had green tea with milk...

[Blueberries]

had to google matcha! Didn't know people had green tea with milk...

Matcha is really strong japanese green tea powder. Normally green tea isn't taken with milk but because matcha is so strong it does go with it. With matcha lattes they do the tea up like coffee with foamed soya milk, it is really nice

[yo-yo]

Matcha is really strong japanese green tea powder. Normally green tea isn't taken with milk but because matcha is so strong it does go with it. With matcha lattes they do the tea up like coffee with foamed soya milk, it is really nice

Ooh, sounds interesting! Never been much of a fan of green tea, but the foamed soya milk bit sounds appealing! Might have to try this some time

[s_am]

I love tea.
I do work for a well known highstreet tea/coffee merchants in the UK so I'm rather obsessed.

I lovelovelove pomegranate white tea Jasmine green tea is amazing, too. I do love to drink a pot of tea about 2 times a day

[Blueberries]

I lovelovelove pomegranate white tea

That sounds lovely s_am! White tea goes really well with delicate fruity flavours. I've been drinking vanilla white tea lately, it's so nice!

[Blueberries]

I have recently tried a couple of Yogi teas, the Sweet Chai and African spiced Rooibos. I found the Sweet Chai a bit heavy on the anise. I also didn't realise that there was no black tea in it, it is just an infusion of spices. I preferred the Rooibos as it wasn't as anisey! I also like the little inspirational notes on the teabag labels, I now have a pile of them on my desk at work

[yo-yo]

I have recently tried a couple of Yogi teas, the Sweet Chai and African spiced Rooibos. I found the Sweet Chai a bit heavy on the anise. I also didn't realise that there was no black tea in it, it is just an infusion of spices. I preferred the Rooibos as it wasn't as anisey! I also like the little inspirational notes on the teabag labels, I now have a pile of them on my desk at work

Blueberries, I love Yogi teas!! I do this really unfunny thing of trying to slip the Yogi tea quotes into conversation with my boyfriend....I find it funny anyway, keeps my simple self amused!

Choco is one of my faves, and I highly recommend the Throat Comfort if you have a cold and/or sore throat.

[Blueberries]

Blueberries, I love Yogi teas!! I do this really unfunny thing of trying to slip the Yogi tea quotes into conversation with my boyfriend....I find it funny anyway, keeps my simple self amused!

Haha, that does sound funny! Some of them are really odd like 'find the wonderland of consiousness'

Choco is one of my faves, and I highly recommend the Throat Comfort if you have a cold and/or sore throat.

Cool, thanks for the recommendations, I will have to look out for those ones. I think I've seen the Choco but not the Throat Coat.

[Blueberries]

I spotted the Yogi throat coat in the organic market today. It's called voz clara (clear voice) here