~Tea~

[Calixti]

At this moment, I'm drinking Earl Grey green tea. ^_^ Earl Grey, in any form, is my favourite tea without question, followed by chai and Irish Breakfast. The Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast can be traced to my Nana, because she gave me tea as an infant to calm me down when I was hyperactive or fussy. Those aside, I prefer tsaines or other caffeine-free drinks unless I'm jittery, 'cause caffeine usually makes me sleepy otherwise.  

[TeaDidikai]

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

The Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast can be traced to my Nana, because she gave me tea as an infant to calm me down when I was hyperactive or fussy.

It's the L-Theanine. It induces alpha brain waves.  

[Calixti]

TeaDidikai

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

The Earl Grey and Irish Breakfast can be traced to my Nana, because she gave me tea as an infant to calm me down when I was hyperactive or fussy.

It's the L-Theanine. It induces alpha brain waves.

Just looked it up on wiki, apparently it reduces mental stress and can be calming too, which explains why I always want tea after exams. ^_^  

[MoonJeli]

Oh my god. I am obsessed with tea.

I live in one of the best places in America to love tea -- Oregon. We have several excellent loose leaf importers, as well as many other tea companies (bag manufacturers like Stash, Yogi [mostly tisanes], Tazo and a couple small ones). Well, the NW in general is pretty caffeine-oriented. I don't drink coffee.

Tea is delicious, healthy, diverse and stimulating.

We have a tea closet. Not a cupboard, but a whole wall of tea. We have fifty varieties in it. I'm not exaggerating, I just went and counted.

My favorite teas are various Assams, second flush and white Darjeeling (although I tend to like all Darjeelings), jasmine-scented greens, Lapsong Suchong (liquid campfire), Tippy South Cloud, and matcha. I like my masala chai with black pepper among the spices. My favorite tisanes are rooibos, roasted barley types (Inka, Roast Aroma, etc.), Moroccan mint, and thyme mixed with black tea (if you haven't tried this, you really should -- I first had it at an Ethiopian restaurant, it's really tasty).

My favorite tea house/importer is the Tao of Tea on Belmont, east side of Portland. (They sell loose leaf over the internet too.) I would eat there every day if I could, drinking way too much tea. Their food menu consists of one page, with foods inspired by various tea cultures (I always get the miso flatbread with dal). Their tea menu is a dozen pages. I have cans and cans of loose leaf and matcha from them. They are extremely knowledgeable, import extremely high quality tea, and prepare the tea very well. They have a location inside the Chinese Gardens in Portland's China Town as well, but it's smaller and has less selection.

There are a couple other decent tea houses in Portland but most are styled on English tea traditions or serve larger amounts of coffee than tea.

I also enjoy good, authentic bubble (boba) tea (nom nom tapioca balls and fruit jellies). Most of the bubble "tea" I find is prepared mix and ground ice slop with no real brewed tea in it, but there's one good company in Portland/Beaverton run by a great couple from Taiwan, and Tao of Tea occasionally has it on the menu (usually in summer).

To find other tea-obsessed people other than rec.food.drink.tea makes me squee with delight. I am a tea pimp, I try to push tea on people. Ha ha. I want them to experience the difference between Good Tea and Lipton or Red Rose.

I will admit to drinking some higher-end bagged teas in a pinch, because, let's face it, I'm addicted. (Not to caffeine. I can't actually handle much caffeine without getting shaky.)

MagickSlushii

Hmm....I wonder. The crap they call refrigerated green tea at school...I bet its made 100% artificial. XD

It has real tea in it, usually, but tons of sugar (and usually the most unhealthy kinds you can get, like high fructose corn syrup) and a lot of artificial flavors and colors.

Sounds deeeeelicious.

I will occassionally drink bottled teas, though, but only all natural kinds that are just brewed tea, maybe with some lemon and a touch of sweetener. I also like Pom pomegranate juice and black tea. Frickin' expensive though. The jars are great for putting flowers and marimo and java ferns in though. Heh.

I'm a bit confused by the spelling "tsaine". I always spelled it "tisane" (pronounced 'tee-zahn'), and believed it was a French word. Is tisane an alternate spelling? What is the origin of the word? My ignorance hurts. *flail*  

[patch99329]

MoonJeli

My favorite teas are various Assams.

heart  

[Calixti]

Holy cow, MoonJeli, I love you for that website. Soooo many choices. heart  

[MaddLlama]

I have a soft spot for oolong tea.

I can't drink too much green tea unfortunately, for some reason it gives me wicked dry mouth. gonk  

[TeaDidikai]

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

Just looked it up on wiki, apparently it reduces mental stress and can be calming too, which explains why I always want tea after exams. ^_^

Bingo. The combination with that and the small dose of caffeine makes for a wonderful ritual tool too.

MoonJeli

Oh my god. I am obsessed with tea.

redface

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I live in one of the best places in America to love tea -- Oregon. We have several excellent loose leaf importers, as well as many other tea companies (bag manufacturers like Stash, Yogi [mostly tisanes], Tazo and a couple small ones). Well, the NW in general is pretty caffeine-oriented. I don't drink coffee.

Tazo is based out of Portland. Myself I love Seattle Tea Culture. It's diverse (many different venders- some of whom import small single source teas!) and relaxed at the same time.

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We have a tea closet. Not a cupboard, but a whole wall of tea. We have fifty varieties in it. I'm not exaggerating, I just went and counted.

I need to put a picture of the only tea bag I own. It's a duffel of tea I take with me on the road.

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My favorite teas are various Assams, second flush and white Darjeeling (although I tend to like all Darjeelings), jasmine-scented greens, Lapsong Suchong (liquid campfire), Tippy South Cloud, and matcha. I like my masala chai with black pepper among the spices.

Have you ventured to try the Russian teas by chance?

I think I need to check out the Portland Tea scene. It's just so much further of a drive and I hate the Portland freeways with a passion. sweatdrop

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To find other tea-obsessed people other than rec.food.drink.tea makes me squee with delight. I am a tea pimp, I try to push tea on people. Ha ha. I want them to experience the difference between Good Tea and Lipton or Red Rose.

I'm not cheap! scream

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I will admit to drinking some higher-end bagged teas in a pinch, because, let's face it, I'm addicted. (Not to caffeine. I can't actually handle much caffeine without getting shaky.)

I think that Earl Grey is one of those teas you can get away with drinking bagged. It's already a poor leaf if they are soaking it- CTC isn't going to make it worse.

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I will occassionally drink bottled teas, though, but only all natural kinds that are just brewed tea, maybe with some lemon and a touch of sweetener. I also like Pom pomegranate juice and black tea. Frickin' expensive though. The jars are great for putting flowers and marimo and java ferns in though. Heh.

Do you have an opinion on kombucha?

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I'm a bit confused by the spelling "tsaine". I always spelled it "tisane" (pronounced 'tee-zahn'), and believed it was a French word. Is tisane an alternate spelling? What is the origin of the word? My ignorance hurts. *flail*

I'll do some research and get back to you.

MaddLlama

I have a soft spot for oolong tea.

I can't drink too much green tea unfortunately, for some reason it gives me wicked dry mouth. gonk

It's the acids in the leaf. The less a leaf is processed, the "grassier" the leaf, the more likely you'll end up with dry mouth.  

[MoonJeli]

TeaDidikai

Have you ventured to try the Russian teas by chance?

No, I haven't. Any recommendations? :>

TeaDidikai

Do you have an opinion on kombucha?

I don't like the alcohol-y, sharp taste. My fiance loves it and often gets it when we go somewhere that has their own culture. I think the concept is awesome, and I would love to have a jarful of floating fungus on my counter, but I don't like to drink it. I've never tasted the bottled kind, so I don't know what that's like. My sister insists that the bottled kind is far inferior to fermenting your own, and she and many of her friends have their own cultures.  

[patch99329]

I love tazo!

There are two brands of chai/masala chai I drink on a regular basis. Twinings and Tazo.
Twinings has a more cinnamon and ginger taste, but It's very slight.

Tazo tastes more...clove-y and the flavours are strong. I actually don't mind paying the extortionate prices in starbucks for Tazo teas.  

[TeaDidikai]

MoonJeli

No, I haven't. Any recommendations? :>

Kusmi is the standard "good" Russian tea.

I am also partial to Russian Caravan Tea (if you thought lapshang souchong was smokey, you haven't seen anything yet!)

But the best is the Natela Gold Standard. It's a beautiful Russian-grown black.
domokun

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I don't like the alcohol-y, sharp taste. My fiance loves it and often gets it when we go somewhere that has their own culture. I think the concept is awesome, and I would love to have a jarful of floating fungus on my counter, but I don't like to drink it. I've never tasted the bottled kind, so I don't know what that's like. My sister insists that the bottled kind is far inferior to fermenting your own, and she and many of her friends have their own cultures.

Hmmmm... you might want to try the bottled ones. They're milder than the home made.  

[Calixti]

TeaDidikai

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

Just looked it up on wiki, apparently it reduces mental stress and can be calming too, which explains why I always want tea after exams. ^_^

Bingo. The combination with that and the small dose of caffeine makes for a wonderful ritual tool too.

I drink it before exams if I'm jittery, but avoid all caffeine if I'm not. Falling asleep while testing is bad form. sweatdrop

As for ritual--I don't really have any; I'm more or less soft atheist or agnostic, but I do notice the different feelings different teas evoke, I'm just not sure how much is psychological and how much is actually related to the properties of the tea.

On another note, do you know any websites where I could find Russian tea? Neither Teavana nor The Tea Table seems to stock it and they're my go-tos.  

[TeaDidikai]

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

I drink it before exams if I'm jittery, but avoid all caffeine if I'm not. Falling asleep while testing is bad form. sweatdrop

I can't have caffeine myself. sweatdrop I home decaf all my tea as habit.

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As for ritual--I don't really have any; I'm more or less soft atheist or agnostic, but I do notice the different feelings different teas evoke, I'm just not sure how much is psychological and how much is actually related to the properties of the tea.

Not sure that those have to be exclusive to spiritual applications either.

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On another note, do you know any websites where I could find Russian tea? Neither Teavana nor The Tea Table seems to stock it and they're my go-tos.

This is the standard for the Russian Tea Export.

I can find some other teas offered, but I can't vouch for the quality.  

[Calixti]

TeaDidikai

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

I drink it before exams if I'm jittery, but avoid all caffeine if I'm not. Falling asleep while testing is bad form. sweatdrop

I can't have caffeine myself. sweatdrop I home decaf all my tea as habit.

I just confine caffeinated tea to times when it's okay for me to get a little sleepy or when I'm a bit jittery. Much easier.

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As for ritual--I don't really have any; I'm more or less soft atheist or agnostic, but I do notice the different feelings different teas evoke, I'm just not sure how much is psychological and how much is actually related to the properties of the tea.

Not sure that those have to be exclusive to spiritual applications either.

I s'pose not. If I were to have any rituals, tea would almost definitely play a role. ^_^

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On another note, do you know any websites where I could find Russian tea? Neither Teavana nor The Tea Table seems to stock it and they're my go-tos.

This is the standard for the Russian Tea Export.

I can find some other teas offered, but I can't vouch for the quality.

Ouch. I think exchange rates alone would pretty much kill me. Maybe when I'm not a dead-broke college student. sweatdrop  

[patch99329]

TeaDidikai

The Indubitable Katie-Kat

I drink it before exams if I'm jittery, but avoid all caffeine if I'm not. Falling asleep while testing is bad form. sweatdrop

I can't have caffeine myself. sweatdrop I home decaf all my tea as habit.

How?