Nothing high brow here but to complement the coffee thread, how about tea?
I must admit I do not function well without a couple of mugs of strong ‘breakfast tea’ in the morning, especially if I’ve had a few glasses the night before. Seems to perk me up far better than coffee which oddly has always seemed to make me snooze, I kid you not!
So, what kind of teas do you enjoy - black, green, white, herbal etc etc
These are some I drink regularly - I’m sure the connoisseurs will be able to suggest a more refined strong cup of ‘char’.
I think my grandmother used to brew this, which may be why I enjoy it so much, but she used loose leaf which I never seem to have as much success with:
I’m doing the most shopping at home in the weekend and I only get black tea generally from Pickwick. That’s just ok.
When we have the TWG I join my wife in drinking tea and it gives that luxury feeling. The tea bags are linen, no plastic or paper. It also gives a nice smell which completes the experience.
The most supermarket teas are no real teas they are a chemical construct and contain sugar and flavourings to make it kind of ok. But I won’t touch it.
Regular PG Tips for me and the occasional herbal. I got the taste for Hibiscus tea from when I was in Egypt. It’s called Karkadeh but not actually a tea, but because of drinking this I now sometimes drink Hibiscus tea, although again not very common and one must search for it high and low in the shops.
As tea is not that common a drink here in Norway, the general varieties are mostly the herbal type, but good varieties.
I’m not much of an Earl Grey guy as it’s too week/ mild for me despite the fragrant smell.
I once made a tea audit on myself and discovered that the time when tea tends to taste the best, or tastes most satisfying is after my evening meal. My theory is that my mouth has been coated with tannins throughout the days tea drinking and come the evening my mouth is fully immersed in the tea flavour, that and it being a satisfying digestive moment.
I’m a keen coffee drinker, but good tea is lovely too. In the morning, if not coffee, Assam (which is similar to the PG Tips/English Breakfast blends). In the afternoon, Darjeeling, which took me a while to get into, but I love it now.
If it’s teapot-time, either 1 bag of Assam + 1 bag of Darjeeling, or the Fortnum’s Royal Blend we’re working our way through. Mrs Ebor came back from a business trip to Hong Kong with a big box of Ying Kee Tea House samples and we need to get started on those. The instructions that came with the HK teas are formidable and are clearly not to be rushed.
Once I had been drinking Assam for a while, going back to PG Tips (or similar) tasted very sweet, to the extent of being quite unpalatable.No idea if they add sugar or just deliberately choose sweeter varieties, but it’s very noticeable.
If it’s the one I’m thinking of in a greenish packet, I enjoy that too - similar in many ways to Glengettie I’ve thought in the past - nice robust flavour, good value for money.
It’s plain old builder’s tea for me, most of the time. The stronger the better. Although, now and then I do enjoy a cup of Twinings Lapsang Souchong.
Having lived in the States and suffered the abominations that pass for a cup of tea out there, I generally only ever drink tea when in the UK. Outside the UK, it’s usually always coffee.
