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SO tea discussion

tantric

tantric

Bluelighter
Joined
Jan 2, 2004
Messages
867
for obvious reasons

my tea opinions

one, i grew up in the deep south. when i order sweet tea, i am mightly displeased to be served a glass of iced tea and some packets of sugar. sugar does not dissolve in cold liquids you yankee cretins!

more than one, i'm now civilized and appreciate both british and asian hot teas. american hot teas, by which i mean such things as pomegranate green tea and peach black tea. are blasphemous. the only fruit that goes in tea is black currant or a lemon slice. for japanese tea - hoji cha is a treasure, roasted green tea. although the chinese turn their noses up at it, lapsang souchong, smoked tea, is lovely dark and deep. i can make my own thai iced tea (it's just strong black tea with cardamom, clove and star anise with sweetened condensed milk), but i prefer Cha Ma-Nao ชามะนาว - leave out the milk and add lime juice.

there are two herbal teas i like - dandelion root and raspberry hibiscus.
 
i have a cupboard full of tea that i drink throughout the day, starting off with a cup of black chai after morning coffee then white tea before lunch, dandelion root in the afternoon, and at night a few cups of my own blend of dried ginger with cloves or anise brewed strong for a nice flavour kick. i'm not even sure i would classify it as tea because it goes down like 80 proof.

on weekends i'll dabble more in herbal teas like rosehip, milk thistle, lemon balm, chamomile... haven't tried hojicha but it sounds like something i should grab a bag of. tea is basically my water, i enjoy it plain or flavoured, hot or cold as the mood strikes me.

at the top of my wishlist now is a proper vacuum flask (aka thermos but of better quality) and one of those fancy japanese hot water dispensers that keeps the water at a temperature lower than boiling, which apparently is better for the taste, but i wouldn't know.

i do have an interesting tea-related trick to share though, picked this up while buying tea at coffeeshops at subway stops where there's no access to lemon or honey: fill 200mg gel caps with ascorbic acid and stevia mixed and carry it in an old painkiller bottle, to flavour a big cup of tea just need to drop in a cap and stir :)
 
i see you've found dandelion root - i love the earthiness. if you like that, you really should try lapsang souchong. do you ever take iced tea?
 
sure, nothing quenches my thirst better on a hot day. i'll pass on the Lipton "iced tea" though, that stuff tastes like sugar water
 
Can't get sweet tea on the West Coast. Unless.. you want to add your sugar packets..
 
I had a GIGANTIC collection of tea, but my brother threw it all away when I was moving out. Sad days.
I really enjoy peppermint and spearmint teas, along with anything that has licorice in it. So, minty spicy teas are my faves. I'm not terribly into herbal or fruity teas.
I also try to keep 'specialty' teas around, like ones for sore throats, tummy aches, cramps, headaches, sleep, etc. Hopefully I can eventually have the money to grow my own tea garden; I'd like to try my hand at making really unique teas that taste yummy (like rose + vanilla, chamomile + spearmint, or lavender + basil).
 
tantric said:
so, by your name, have you made wormwood tea?
Click to expand...

no, thujone itself is somewhat toxic ... almost forgot this is SO ... well, to cut the story short, i'm not sure it's worth consuming without the alcohol complement that absinthe provides.
 
i go to the buford hwy farmers market for exotic teas - i'm like a pig in slops in that place. i really like the yamamotoyama teas from japan.



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Hojicha is the shit. It's hard to find a good brand though. I'm really partial to the Mighty Leaf variety, if they still make it. I never liked the hojicha with little bits of rice or barley in the tea. I can do barley tea, but not green+grain.

I have been drinking a lot of jasmine oolong loose leaf, but that is because I have a surplus ATM.

Can you beat an excessive amount of black tea and a bit of sugar and cream? :)

I need to find a good spicy chai. Any suggestions?
 
toothpastedog said:
Hojicha is the shit. It's hard to find a good brand though. I'm really partial to the Mighty Leaf variety, if they still make it. I never liked the hojicha with little bits of rice or barley in the tea. I can do barley tea, but not green+grain.

I have been drinking a lot of jasmine oolong loose leaf, but that is because I have a surplus ATM.

Can you beat an excessive amount of black tea and a bit of sugar and cream? :)

I need to find a good spicy chai. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Yamamotoyama

try this instead of chai

Cha Ma Nao Thai Iced Tea with Lime

4 cups (960ml) water
4 organic black tea bags
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 anise stars
1 green cardamom pod, smashed
2 whole cloves
lime juice

Bring water to boil and add the tea bags, sugar, anise starts, cardamom pod and cloves. Stir until all the sugar disolves. Gently boil tea for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Allow tea to steep for at least 30 minutes and allow it to cool. The more concentrated the tea flavor, the better the Thai tea tastes. We prefer to allow the tea bags to seep for about 2 hours for maximum flavor. During this time, the thai tea can cool.
Remove the tea bags and spoon out the anise starts, cardamom pod and cloves. If tea is still warm, we will refrigerate it so it can be chilled.
You can make this ahead of time and have the organic Thai tea chilling in the fridge.
Pour over crushed ice and add lime juice to taste
 
I used to like Milo's iced tea when I was in the South. I like tea made from mint and reglisse now. The reglisse gives it a sweet flavor without the sugar.
 
What is reglisse? And where do suggest I try and get this outside the home country? It it like stevia or some shit? I had higher expectations from you socko ;)

I guess I'll hold off on judgement until you explain :)

tantric said:
Yamamotoyama

try this instead of chai

Cha Ma Nao Thai Iced Tea with Lime

4 cups (960ml) water
4 organic black tea bags
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 anise stars
1 green cardamom pod, smashed
2 whole cloves
lime juice

Bring water to boil and add the tea bags, sugar, anise starts, cardamom pod and cloves. Stir until all the sugar disolves. Gently boil tea for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Allow tea to steep for at least 30 minutes and allow it to cool. The more concentrated the tea flavor, the better the Thai tea tastes. We prefer to allow the tea bags to seep for about 2 hours for maximum flavor. During this time, the thai tea can cool.
Remove the tea bags and spoon out the anise starts, cardamom pod and cloves. If tea is still warm, we will refrigerate it so it can be chilled.
You can make this ahead of time and have the organic Thai tea chilling in the fridge.
Pour over crushed ice and add lime juice to taste
Click to expand...

Dude, thank you for the recipe! I have a feeling this is going to go perfect with my upcoming San Pedro ritual.
 
Latin name is Glycyrrhiza glabraI. The first time I tried it was overseas so I did not know the English name for it. I think it's just licorice root, but the flavor seems more delicate, so I'm still not sure. It's also one of the ingredients used to flavor absynthe. North African cafés serve tea made from it combined with mint. It's simple but good.
 
Ooooo! That sounds very tasty. I do love anything fennel/anise/licorice related :)
 
Smells and taste of cinnamon and honey. Slightly more sweet than spicy but not overly so.
 
Agreed! I am now craving tea like that, but for some reason the idea of it scares me because I kinda wanna get back in bed and make the most of my insomnia by listening to raindrops without any cars driving by...
 
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