Quote:
Originally Posted by dreams
 Long live the Sony Blues!!!
Hey, Earl Gray is all I have in the house right now. I still haven't made an order for loose leaf teas yet. I'm trying to decide which kind I would like based on what I like now. I love strong flavor and not fruit or sweet drinks.  |
Being a black tea fellow, normally I'd recommend an Assam or a Keemun, but unless they are from a good source, they can be somewhat thin. Good ones are great, but the rest a pretty lame.
If it were me, I'd aim for a
*blend* of blacks from a reputable old world tea house. The thing about the blends is that the taste is consistent from batch to batch. I know when I buy a tin of Taylors of Harrogate tea it will always taste exactly like the last tin. 'Yorkshire' tea, one of their linchpin blends, is a delicious and hearty tea. So is their English Breakfast tea. Personally, I don't care for their Yorkshire Gold, but I believe it was Astra who did! That would be the easiest way to be sure that you got a strong flavored tea without having to resort to fruits or oil infusions.
Fortnum & Mason, Jacksons of Piccadilly, Taylors, Lyons, etc., all put out some very tasty blends, either English Breafast, Royal Blend, Russian Caravan Tea, Irish Breakfast tea, Afternoon Tea, etc. Twinnings, if bought as loose tea, is almost up there... but only almost. Now that I've tasted Ahmad's English #1 I'll add that to the list. It's good!
These same companies also sell unblended Assam, Keemun, China Black, and are good bets. I try to stay away from the houses that sell the fruit flavored or infused teas as their tasters seem to have a different (from me) idea of what a good black tea should taste like, though they have become quite popular. I want tea that tastes like tea. When I want something hot with a taste of vanilla, cinnamon, bebbleberry, and rose, I'll drink that, but without the tea flavor, thank you.
Nothing like a translucent tea cup filled with luke-warm chamomile tea to get the old blood rushing!
Stitchawl