A Nice Cup of Tea!

[vivaldirules]

I must admit that to reduce my caffeine intake, I now only drink :shudder: herbal teas. Uncivilized, I know.

[Halk]

Originally Posted by astra

Re: Halk

IMHO:
Teabags - ASDA Organic Teabags. You can actually smell tea and feel the taste despite it is in teabags.
Another good one is regular Lipton teabags if you can find it (probably only in T&K Maxx or souvenir shops).

If you are feeling more adventures then nothing can be compared to loose tea --->Nothing but Tea

Good range of blue teas (oolong), white teas such as Georgian Old Lady etc.
My latest addiction is Black tea flavoured with almonds

That nothing but tea site have little samples at 60p, and they do free UK delivery.

I'll likely order a fair amount of samples from them, they have a huge range of tea for sale.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Halk

That nothing but tea site have little samples at 60p, and they do free UK delivery.

I'll likely order a fair amount of samples from them, they have a huge range of tea for sale.

Yep. That's what I do from time to time and discover something new for myself, also they send free samples sometimes.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Halk

Would anyone care to recommend an online store where I can buy high quality tea? Since tea is relatively inexpensive I don't think I have an upper limit on costg. In fact if I saw tea that cost a pound a cup then I'd be inclined to buy it just on that fact alone :P

I, too, like to drink tea. I enjoy a pot of green tea (The Republic of Tea's Daily Green Tea) as well as in the evening while reading on my Sony. During the day I like their Acai Green Tea, which has a fruity flavor to it but is a green tea, not an herbal tea.

I recently tried a new offerring from The Republic of Tea called Double Dark Chocolate Mate. It is quite good and I occasionally have it rather than the green tea.

My wife likes several of the Republic's herbal teas. I highly recommend The Republic of Tea as a source for high quality teas.

[HarryT]

What REALLY bugs me are people who call "tea" things which are definitely NOT tea. "Tea" comes from a tea plant .

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Halk

Douglas Adams hits the nail on the head with boiling water vs boiled water. In America I don't often get a nice cup of tea.

Interesting about the boiling of water. Supposedly the ideal temperature for water for green tea is 175 degrees F (79.5 degrees C). According to what I have read, green tea leaves are particularly susceptible to burning, which boiling water causes.

I know that when I make my tea at home, I try to catch the water before it has boiled. I have found that I like the green tea better when I use water that is near boiling but not yet boiling. I don't add anything to the tea -- no milk, cream, sugar, or anything -- and I can tell the difference (although it isn't very great) when the tea is made with boiling water.

[pdurrant]

Taylors of Harrowgate do some excellent teas.

My wife is particularly fond of their Yorkshire tea for hard water areas.

http://www.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk/

Originally Posted by Halk

There's nothing I like more than reading a book at night with a nice cup of tea and a scone/oatcake/digestive/etc.

I drink Twinning's Assam tea. However someone mentioned in a thread here a company selling what appeared to be some very nice sounding tea. I can't find the thread any more, I had intended to buy some.

Would anyone care to recommend an online store where I can buy high quality tea? Since tea is relatively inexpensive I don't think I have an upper limit on costg. In fact if I saw tea that cost a pound a cup then I'd be inclined to buy it just on that fact alone :P

[astra]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Interesting about the boiling of water. Supposedly the ideal temperature for water for green tea is 175 degrees F (79.5 degrees C). According to what I have read, green tea leaves are particularly susceptible to burning, which boiling water causes.

I know that when I make my tea at home, I try to catch the water before it has boiled. I have found that I like the green tea better when I use water that is near boiling but not yet boiling. I don't add anything to the tea -- no milk, cream, sugar, or anything -- and I can tell the difference (although it isn't very great) when the tea is made with boiling water.

Very often I use brewing-guide.
As a rule of thumb, anything that is not black tea is brewed with water below boiling point, 70-80C.

[astra]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What REALLY bugs me are people who call "tea" things which are definitely NOT tea. "Tea" comes from a tea plant .

Do you mean herbal teas?

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What REALLY bugs me are people who call "tea" things which are definitely NOT tea. "Tea" comes from a tea plant .

Right. I'm laughing because the herbal tea I'm drinking this moment contains: hibiscus, rosehips, roasted chicory, orange peel, west indian lemongrass, lemon peel and whole dried lemons, natural lemon flavor with other natural flavors and citric acid. But what are you going to call it if not herbal tea? Perhaps "a hot drink made by steeping assorted plant matter in boiling water".

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Right. I'm laughing because the herbal tea I'm drinking this moment contains: hibiscus, rosehips, roasted chicory, orange peel, west indian lemongrass, lemon peel and whole dried lemons, natural lemon flavor with other natural flavors and citric acid. But what are you going to call it if not herbal tea? Perhaps "a hot drink made by steeping assorted plant matter in boiling water".

in french, tea is called tea (thé) and any hot drink brewed from non-tea plants (herbal tea, etc.) is called "une infusion" or "une tisane" and they are very clearly not the same thing ; if someone offers you tea and you say "no thanks, it will keep me awake if i drink it now" they'll say "how about a tisane then ?"

there's a long tradition of drinking hot drinks made by brewing various plants (tea or others) here, i don't think i know anyone who never drinks any tea, and i even know a few people who drink *only* tea (no coffee, ever), but you're better off making tea at home since most cafés give you a personal tea-pot with hot water in it, but the tea bag on the side. depending how busy the café is and how long it takes them to bring the equipment to your table maybe the water isn't hot enough when you get it.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Right. I'm laughing because the herbal tea I'm drinking this moment contains: hibiscus, rosehips, roasted chicory, orange peel, west indian lemongrass, lemon peel and whole dried lemons, natural lemon flavor with other natural flavors and citric acid. But what are you going to call it if not herbal tea? Perhaps "a hot drink made by steeping assorted plant matter in boiling water".

A tisane I do often call them that because I like the sound of the word!

(The thing that irrationally annoys me about the article I've linked to is that wikipedia refers to "an herbal tea" - which sounds wrong to me as I pronounce the h in herbal)

All of which reminds me, I must get a camellia sinensis (aka the plant that tea comes from) for the back garden.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

in french, tea is called tea (thé) and any hot drink brewed from non-tea plants (herbal tea, etc.) is called "une infusion" or "une tisane" and they are very clearly not the same thing ; if someone offers you tea and you say "no thanks, it will keep me awake if i drink it now" they'll say "how about a tisane then ?"

Ah, that's what a "tisane" is, is it? Hercule Poirot is always drinking them, and I've often wondered what it was .

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Ah, that's what a "tisane" is, is it? Hercule Poirot is always drinking them, and I've often wondered what it was .

yes, hercule poirot loves his tisane. he also loves some pretty crazy drinks like sirops (presumably plain, that is, not in a kir or something) and chatreuse. and if memory serves he drinks hot chocolate every morning for breakfast. his taste in drinks is the subject of much amusement and perplexity (sometimes disgust) on the part of practically all the other characters.

[vivaldirules]

Interesting. And I find some curious pronunciations and sources for tisane:

tĭ-zān'
tĭ-zän'
(Fr.) tee-zan'; barley water, from Old French
from Latin ptisana, tisana
see ptisan: a nourishing decoction, originally one made from barley, purported to have medicinal quality. Origin: 1350–1400; < L ptisana < Gk ptisánē peeled barley, barley water; r. ME tisane < F < L, as above