People from the UK/europe: tasty tea?

[Zach]

I'm from the united states. As you may or may not know, in the US the tea is terrible (must be that whole tea-party thing). Yeah, i am talking about the leaves you put in a bag (or one of those fancy metal-ball things) and then put in a cup of boiling water.
In the united states we have what i refer to as "grandma tea" which is essentially cheap, mass produced tea that sucks. It barely has any flavor. A lot like drinking a cup of hot water. Even the more expensive "premium" teas are like this.

Strangely, even though i have been drinking this tea my whole life, i just found out a few months ago that it's complete crap. I got from a friend a box of London Cuppa black tea, and was impressed with A)how much tea flavor it had and B)how much caffeine was in it. I felt after drinking it, much like how i would feel after drinking a cup of coffee. This is nothing like drinking grandma tea, which as i have mentioned, is mostly just like drinking a cup of hot water.

So i poked around on the internet and found some recommendations for a tea called Yorkshire Gold. I bought this, as well as a few hundred bags of London Cuppa, and called it a day. I like the Yorkshire gold, it's quite satisfying, but I still consider myself ignorant about what kind of tea people who drink tea every day actually drink.

Am i at least on the right track? I need something to drink while i puff on my e-cig and i'd rather not miss out on the good stuff if i can manage it. Help me out english people.

 

[Starlight]

I think the taste of tea is very much an individual taste, rather like with the e-cigs liquid!

The tea I prefer is a delicate "Ceylon" tea. For a slighter stronger taste than "Ceylon", there's "English Breakfast Tea" although it needn't be drunk soley at breakfast! The tea many so-called "upper classes" like is "Earl Grey", which can vary from make to make but is a rather fragrant tea. However, each brand will also vary slightly in flavour and strength.

I tend to get mine in tea bags, paper ones. Some real tea experts will say that using tea bags is heresy, but there we go!

If you want some of the everyday tea, which can be made quite strong, there are brand names of mixed tea such as "PG Tips" - w w w . pgtips . co . uk (as I can't enter URL's till I don't yet have X amount of posts).

For a description of the more specialised teas, have a look at w w w . tea. co . uk

Twinings of London is a common brand of tea that do specialised and everyday tea. There's an American site for it too, here - w w w . twiningsusa . com

I hope that helps some!

 

[Starlight]

Crumbs, if I'd waited one more post, I could've entered the URL's, so now that I've made the requisite 15 posts, here are the clickable URL's:

PG tips tea - Home
UK Tea Council : Home : The Home of Tea
You Deserve a Better Cup of Tea | TwiningsUSA.com

 

[nitewriter]

I live in TN but have been to most every part of Europe many times. I also love a good cup of tea. I tried everything I could find while accross the pond, but found my favorite in "Tazo" brand organics, with the Chai being my #1. You might like it too Zach as it is a spicy version of the black tea. A little honey, a little milk and WOW! It's also available in several grocery stores.

 

[Zach]

Actually, i've tried both twinings tea and tazo organic teas. I enjoy chai tea but find that it doesn't taste as much of tea as i want in a tea i drink every day, that and there's not enough caffeine in it to get me going.

When i wake up in the morning i usually have a cup of tea and some oatmeal. I like it if i can get my caffeine from the tea instead of from coffee or an espresso drink.

The twinings, honestly i was pretty flustered when i got twinings and i didn't like it. I was expecting to like it, but i prefer london cuppa or yorkshire gold (by far) to either of these teas. I don't know if they are "authentic british tea", but they're delicious imo.
I'll check out pg tips. Thanks guys. Any more recommendations are welcome, also people from the uk, do you brew your tea with a tea bag or in a ball or with some other kind of contraption?
Can you get better results using different methods?

 

[Trumpybloke]

Well I Am not a UK person ( they kicked out my great great great great grandad and gave him a free boat trip to paradise LOL ) But here in Aus we like our tea too!!!
I love a good Bushells chai , and we have several local tea blends Madura being my drop of the moment. Twinnings too doesn't live up to its reputation with me , but its Green Tea with Mint is the exception , Its my fave green tea.
I am more of a teapot man ... there is just something about finding a good teapot and sticking with it LOL , plus there's the bonus you usually make it stronger , and at least 2 cups at a time I use an infuser ( the chrome or stainless steel ball) if I just wanna quick cuppa for myself, Guest's get teabags if I dont like them
Bonnie ( my choc labrador ) is not as fussy as myself , as long as she gets the last 1/4 inch out of the bottom of my cup she's happy !!!

 

[efaglil]

Zach...

One of the tips I was always given was to warm the teapot first with some boiling water. It gets the brew going faster.

And if you want to keep it warm for longer, get a tea cosy.

 

[efaglil]

Oh... and Yorkshire gold is the one for me too. I'm not into all the fragranced teas... Earl Grey and Lady Grey being examples...

 

[scrubadub]

If you're going for loose tea you need a teapot, a tea strainer and a tea cosy to keep it warm for you. Personally I prefer teabags as there's a real art to making tea in a pot and teabags are much simpler and less time consuming. Tetley is my favourite which is a bended tea, probably similar to what you are calling Grandma tea. My dad thinks this is heresy and swears by Assam.

The best contraption I have is my teasmade:

Micromark Tea Express with Alarm Clock: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

It is to tea what the e-cig is to nicotine

Actually, i've tried both twinings tea and tazo organic teas. I enjoy chai tea but find that it doesn't taste as much of tea as i want in a tea i drink every day, that and there's not enough caffeine in it to get me going.

When i wake up in the morning i usually have a cup of tea and some oatmeal. I like it if i can get my caffeine from the tea instead of from coffee or an espresso drink.

The twinings, honestly i was pretty flustered when i got twinings and i didn't like it. I was expecting to like it, but i prefer london cuppa or yorkshire gold (by far) to either of these teas. I don't know if they are "authentic british tea", but they're delicious imo.
I'll check out pg tips. Thanks guys. Any more recommendations are welcome, also people from the uk, do you brew your tea with a tea bag or in a ball or with some other kind of contraption?
Can you get better results using different methods?

 

[tribalmasters]

PG tips all the way!! Shame I prefer the coffee tho hehe!

 

[BadSeed]

I drink Yorkshire Gold most of the time. Occasionally I'll have a cup of Earl Grey or a cup of green tea, but YG is my staple. I love a decent cup of coffee too of course.

 

[tribalmasters]

Coffee and tea ROCK THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a tea and coffee fanboy and I like to drink diet coke!

 

[Zach]

Actually part of the reason i am getting so interested in tea is because i've quit drinking sweetened soda drinks. I drank them every day for like... forever. I feel a lot better now that i've stopped but feel i need to fill the gap with a slightly sweet, flavored drink. So tea. I might make iced tea during the summer.

Interesting to see the positive sentiment on yorkshire gold by the uk folks.
Trumpybloke, i didn't mean to leave you aussie folks out. I'll try out that twinings you recommended.

About earl grey, i like earl grey, but i don't think of it as tea so much as bergamot flavored. It tastes great if you like bergamot, the same can be said for chai or many different kinds of herbal tea. They taste good, but they don't taste like tea. Also, i typically find the caffeine factor is lacking in many of these "non-tea flavored" teas.

I actually don't have a tea pot. I've been brewing my tea with teabags in a large tea cup that's been warmed with hot water before putting the bag in. I drink about 1/2 liter of tea with 1 tsp each of honey and white sugar. I like honey to sweeten my beverage, and i like the taste of honey with tea, just not too much honey. I add some white sugar to make the tea a little sweeter, because it's transparent. Sometimes i will add a bit of cream, but this is just when i have it around (not usually).

 

[nakli_dhumrapan]

Best tea is always brewed from loose leaves - which are generally much more cost effective than tea bags anyway (tea bags = cartridges, loose tea = bottles of eliquid).

(1) English-style, you need a teapot. Traditionally, first heat the pot by pouring a bit of boiling water into it, and then empty. Then add tea leaves (ratio 1 teaspoon for each cup, plus one 'for the pot'). Then add boiling water and steep for 5 minutes. I don't swear by any particular brands, but for varieties, Darjeeling is nice (the champagne of teas), and Assam is a good strong flavour.

(2) Indian-style - works nicely without a tea-pot. Two basic styles:

(2a) Dudh-chai (milk-tea) This is something like 'chai-tea', but none of the 'chai teas' I've ever had is really like Indian tea ('chai' simply means 'tea' in Hindi, so 'chai-tea' is really just like saying 'tea-tea'). Method: mix about equal parts milk and water in a metal-pot -- like what you use for heating soup (or boiling your atomisers), and heat it up on the stove. Add tea-leaves (about the same quantities as for English-style), and sweetener (sugar or honey -- though sugar is more standard, I use the 'sugar in the raw') to taste. If you like the spiciness of Western 'chai' teas, you can add other spices: cardamom (illaichi), cinnamon (daal chini), black pepper etc. Boil it for a while -- you'll have to keep your eye on it, as the milk will tend to bubble up and may spill over the sides if you're not careful. You can turn the heat off and on (or blow the bubbles down if you've enough lung capacity) to prevent this. Made properly, this is a nice strong tea -- plenty of taste and caffeine. Best made with Assam leaves (you can buy these cheaply in boxes from Indian shops).

(2b) Laal chai ('red tea') - same setup as above, but no milk, just water. Add only a small quantity of leaves (say a half teaspoon for a single cup), otherwise it'll be too bitter (again, Assam is best). Add these leaves and your sweetener to taste. laal chai tastes best with a bit of fresh ginger (aadraak) boiled with the leaves -- don't add other spices though.

Alternatively, for (2a), go to any street in India and buy from one of the numerous chaiwallahs.

 

[Kate]

This is my fav tea - Clipper Fair Trade 80 Teabag 250g product information - Tesco.com

Clipper tea. It's lovely and strong. I put a teabag in a mug and pour boiled water on it, nothing else, just drink it. Sometimes I take the teabag out but often just leave it in to make the drink stronger and stronger as I drink it.

Clipper green tea is good too. I get the leaves, put some in a cup and pour boiled water on them, nothing else. The tea gets lovely and strong but I sometimes forget to be careful at the end and get a mouthful of leaves.
Clipper Organic Green Tea 25s product information - Tesco.com