The Tea Thread

[Roxy]

I usually buy mine by the litre. If I buy it on sale, I can get a good quality one for anywhere between $16 and $20.

I usually drink my herbal teas black, but like a little vanilla soy milk in my Earl Grey.

[xwitchymagicx]

so maple syrup is vital. And it's not all THAT expensive Fuhzy

I think it depends on the area that you live and if you want organic or not.

I don't have any sweet stuff in tea...

[cedarblue]

(I don't much like the normal roobosh)

ugh rooibos tea.

smells and tastes - er - fishy

i drink fruit and herbal teas with no addtions, the only 'proper' tea i drink is earl grey (decaf) with a slice of lemon or a little unsweetened soy milk - never any sweetener.

[Tigerlily]

I just like normal sugar.

[aubergine]

In my Honeybush Tea I am fond of some Bourbon biscuits. Mmmm.

[herbwormwood]

I like soya milk in my tea but if I am out somewhere where there is no soya milk a slice of lemon is a nice alternative.

[zorbed]

Tea, two sugars, soya milk. None of this weird stuff, that's not a propper brew! Earl Grey???? Do one. Mad'ed's.

[absentmindedfan]

Water.

[Essy Strudel]

I'm obsessed with maple syrup, but not in tea. It depends on what tea I'm having as to what I like with it. Mostly I drink tea black with no sugar though.

[KrissStress]

I just picked up a bottle of coconut syrup today - I can't wait to try it in my next cup. I'm sure it sounds weird, but I've tried weirder and enjoyed it..

[cherrywisp]

I like teas that are naturally sweet.

Celestial Seasonings has a really great Thai Teahouse Chai tea.
It comes in an orange box with pictures on it.

It's like my favorite tea ever. It's so sweet with nothing in it.

[Roxy]

I just picked up a bottle of coconut syrup today - I can't wait to try it in my next cup. I'm sure it sounds weird, but I've tried weirder and enjoyed it..

Mmmmm - bet that would taste nice in a tropical flavoured tea!

[scarlett]

I've recently discovered a vanilla rooibos tea which is nice (I don't much like the normal rooibos)

I also like flavoured black tea - jasmine, violet, rose, mango etc. I drink all my teas quite weak and with soya milk.

oooh, Marrers, where can you get violet tea from ???



I normally drink earl grey, black, nothing added !

[RubyDuby]

I just picked up a bottle of coconut syrup today - I can't wait to try it in my next cup. I'm sure it sounds weird, but I've tried weirder and enjoyed it..

yum

[umbilical]

i didn't know about that, thanks for the tip KrissStress, i'm gonna try it out today

[pavotrouge]

yesterday I bought some chili-cocoa tea which is awesome, especially with the newly discovered agave nectar. I'm taking some bags to work today.

[shelzyrose]

www.teavana.com YUMMY!!

[Turtle2]

I find agave syrup to be a great compliment to regular tea.

Whilst in herbal teas, and also a good cold remedy is amazake!

Liquorice tea is a superb tasting herbal tea, just so you know!

[KrissStress]

i have indeed found out that coconut syrup works WONDERFULLY in my tea...particularly in darjeeling...

[Val]

I normally add a teaspoon of agave for black teas. Any other tea I'll just drink plain!

[boatsteem1]

Soya cream and raw sugar... yummie!

I practically only drink red tea. And I don't really use soya cream or sugar because it's unnecessarry (sugar makes you tired and adds to your belly). But it's very tasty

[emmapresley]

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

[GoodbyeGirl]

i sometimes mix half tea and half fruit nectars in a tall glass. even mixing it with regular juice is good, but the nectar makes it like dessert.

[deeps]

Try masala chai aka indian tea.

Boil the water with tea bags or loosely as per required.

Chuck a few fennel seeds, cardomin seeds, small amounts of ginger, mint leaves, cloves and brown sugar as required in the boiling water and simmer for approx 10 mins.

Then drain the contents through a seive and add soya milk as needed!

Serve with some spicy puris (small fried spicy chaps in rapeseed oil).

Sorry if my spelling is shit, ive been having a xmas tipple (half a bottle of jim beam) and im munching on a spinach samosa!!

Thanks guys!! Merry xmas....

[Healthy]

I used to use agave nectar in my tea until I heard that anything added to tea diminishes the anti-oxidants in it.

It took awhile, but I got used to drinking my tea black.

My favorite is: oolong (which is actually a brown tea).

[GoodbyeGirl]

SUNRISE TEA SMOOTHIE
To Boost Immunity

2 bags mint flavored tea
1/2c diced mango
1/2c diced papaya
juice from 1/8 of a lemon
2T simple syrup
1/2c ice

steep tea in 1 cup boiling water for 3 minutes combine tea, 3/4c cold water & remaining ingredients in a blender. blend until cold and frothy.

[Roxy]

Mmmm that sounds like a nice summer tea!

[GoodbyeGirl]

TROPICAL ICED TEA
To Reenergize

2 bags black tea
1/4c mango nectar
juice from 1/4 of a lime

brew tea in 1/2c boiling water for 5 minutes. remove bags and add cold water to make 1c total. add remaining ingredients, mix, and pour over ice.

[GoodbyeGirl]

GREEN TEA MOCKTAIL

2 bags fruit flavored green tea
1/4 ripe honeydew melon, diced
1/2c diced pineapple
6T simple syrup
juice from 1/4 of a lemon
1/2c ice

brew tea in 1/2c boiling water for 3 minutes, then add 1/2c cold water. blend fruit and simple syrup until smooth. combine with tea in equal parts in a cocktail shaker. add ice, shake, and strain into glasses.

[Roxy]

I'm about to have a cup of chocolate chai, sweetened up with a dash of vanilla soy milk.

[pavotrouge]

a supermarket near me opened a sort of tea bar recently where you can help yourself to a lot of teas... I got a bag of "Irish cream" flavoured tea which is supposed to taste of whisky but doesn't.
Still, it's some fine black tea.

For Xmas I had asked for NO presents but both my tutoring kids got me some lovely tea- green tea with almond, white tea with lychee and some black with spices

(André- the older one- also made some awesome vegan muffins and got me a bottle of sherry, but that's another story.)

[KrissStress]

www.teavana.com YUMMY!!

there's a Teavana downtown in one of the malls - we go there pretty often for tea bags and loose tea. Good stuff.

[ellaminnowpea]

I am absolutely obsessed with Teavana!! I got some really good South African rooibos mixed with South American yerba mate... Absolutely the best tea I've had. I also just bought some Paraguyan yerba mate from Trader Joes earlier today and really love this, too. I also have about ten other teas I drink regularly.

[Jessicake]

I work in a specialty tea store and I LOVE TEA!
If anyone's interested in a detox tea, stinging nettle is the BEST tea you can drink!
It tastes kind of bad but it's good if you mix it with peppermint...

[ellaminnowpea]

It tastes kind of bad

haha nice advert jessicake

[Roxy]

I work in a specialty tea store and I LOVE TEA!
If anyone's interested in a detox tea, stinging nettle is the BEST tea you can drink!
It tastes kind of bad but it's good if you mix it with peppermint...

Mmmmm yummy! That must be a cool place to work

[pavotrouge]

I actually like nettle tea a lot, especially with some lemon or lime juice added!

[Jessicake]

haha nice advert jessicake

Haha well I have to be honest!

[rainbowcarousel]

I did see the tea thread but it doesn't seem to address the smell of herbal teas. I seem to have an unusually sensitive sense of smell and my problem with most herbal teas I've been offered is I can't bear to have them close enough to my nose that I can drink them

I want to stop drinking so much regular tetley! Can anyone recommend some very mild smelling herbal teas that I could try to ease me into it?

I tried a multipack of herbal teas from Twinnings, none of which I could get on with, nor did I like roobiboos (sp?) but I did have it with soymilk which apparently isn't right.

Help?!

[harpy]

Most of them do smell of whatever herb they're made of but if you don't leave the teabag in for long they won't smell of it much. The only problem is they won't taste of it much either but maybe you won't mind that? I would say nettle tea has a fairly mild aroma; have you tried that? There are also fruit teas if you think you might like those.

Alternatively, you could try having hot water with a slice of lemon in it.

[Marrers]

I don't much care for Redbush or rooibos teas I've tried before but I have discovered a wonderful rooibos tea that tastes pretty much like black tea to me (I like flavoured tea like vanilla black tea, chai black tea, rose black tea etc).

It is 'Dragonfly' brand, naturally caffeine free if it is the caffeine you are trying to avoid.

I've also got a chai one but haven't opened that yet.

[rainbowcarousel]

I'm going to try the hot water with lemon next.

So far today I tried white tea, white tea with natural blackcurrant, and green tea. Could NOT get on with them!

I was offered Rooibos caffeine free one earlier & I declined but I may try again tomorrow.

[Marrers]

Forgot to say it is the vanilla Dragonfly rooibos I've been drinking - so nice!

Even if you don't like other brands I'd say give this one a go - I don't like any other rooibos brand. It's not expensive (I'm sure mine was less than £2) and is available from health food shops and perhaps some supermarkets. I think they do more normal flavours like earl grey and breakfast tea too.

http://shop.dragonfly-teas.com/shop/2/

[treaclemine]

Has anyone quizzed the large coffee chains about whether their chai tea mixes are suitable for vegans? I know you can ask for soya milk to be added, but I've heard that a lot of the chais come as ready-mixed powders with whey, honey etc. already in.

Fun fact: It takes 30 litres of rain water to make one cup of tea -

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=...ry&product=tea

[ellaminnowpea]

my teavana tea is going to have a revival as i'm giving up coffee (again for the seventeenth time!). it's paraguayan mate vana mixed with south african rooibos... sooooo good!

[umbilical]

If anyone's interested in a detox tea, stinging nettle is the BEST tea you can drink!
It tastes kind of bad but it's good if you mix it with peppermint...

I actually like nettle tea a lot, especially with some lemon or lime juice added!

i never drank that flavor.... which isn't really any wonder since i've been stuck to the same tea sorts for years now....
right now i'm drinking some fennel tea with lemon

btw pavotrouge, your avatar looks amazing

[pavotrouge]

did you recognize it?

[umbilical]

did you recognize it?

nope, is it from an anime?

[pavotrouge]

the anime is called "Karin" (or "Little Vampire" in some translations). It's your average high school comedy with a little fan service (ok lots of fan service) and a vampire twist (the vampire that gets nosebleeds if she thinks of sucking people's blood).

[Kay]

I had some really delicious tea today, it's called raspberry & rose tea from Twinings. It smells just like rose petals, so fragrant.