Tea Tasting

[omorka]

The utter craziness of this week* can be perhaps measured by one fact: all week I have had five new teas from my birthday party, plus two new ones I bought the last time we went grocery shopping, and I haven't had the time to steep a proper cup of any of them until tonight. In fact, the only hot tea I've had all week was on Sunday night, when I made a pot of cheap jumpjuice (Twinings' English Breakfast, brewed flog-you-out-of-bed strong) in the electric teamaker to keep me awake until the Spouse got home.

I finally made up a cup of the Teavana Mrs Earl Grey tonight. I was right - I still can't see it, but there are definitely bits of vanilla bean in here along with the bergamot, orange peel, and spice. The spices are pretty light; the citrus note is still predominant, and rather strong. It's definitely an afternoon brew - not really as sweet as an evening/dessert tea, but complex enough to not be morning jumpjuice, either. Very tasty. Also went well with the leftover lemon pound cake from Movie Night.

I also brewed a pitcher of one of the ones I bought, a blackberry jasmine iced green tea, which smells delicious but very floral. I haven't had any yet, because I've been too lazy to cut up another lemon, or make extra ice, and the tea was still warm. It's chilling in the fridge for tomorrow.


*For the couple of you who read this LJ but don't see my friendslocked posts, the mother-in-law has been in the hospital all this week, plus I was back at work for administrative stuff Tuesday through Thursday. Thus the crazy.

Comments

Tea Party

[theurgistfish.livejournal.com]

I've not developed a love for tea, but we're trying to cut back on alcohol. After I read this book, I'm thinking I can replace tea with alcohol in social settings, and I REALLY want to have an unbirthday party! And we just got http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml05/05268.jpg
Tea party : 20 themed tea parties with recipes for every occasion, from fabulous showers to intimate gatherings by Stern, Tracy (Tracy Gilbert) pub. 2007, 208p.

Anyhoo-- any reccommendations?

Re: Tea Party

[omorka.livejournal.com]

What do you have already, and what sort of social setting are you thinking of?

A non-trivial proportion of my teas are knock-you-out-of-bed breakfast teas. Good ol' Twinings English Breakfast is the go-to that's easiest to find for that. If you like teabags, Bigelow has a British Breakfast that's also pretty good, although I find that it has a bit of a burnt overtone. But this category is really a substitute for coffee, more than a substitute for other social lubricants.

If you're looking for an afternoon tea, with shortbread cookies and/or cucumber sandwiches, then you can either go the high-quality unflavored tea route, or go with a mildly-flavored tea. In the first category would be things like Ti Quan Yin oolong, or a good Darjeeling (again, Twinings' is pretty good for a non-specialty tea). In the second would be Earl Grey (flavored with bergamot), or any one of a number of things from Republic of Tea - I'm fond of their Cinnamon Plum, for instance.

If you're looking for after-dinner party teas, then you're in the dessert tea category. These can be pretty strongly flavored. Most chais (highly spiced teas always served with milk) fall in this category. I'm also fond of Bigelow's Constant Comment (with orange and spice) and Republic of Tea's Vanilla Almond.

What exactly are you looking for?

Re: Tea Party

[theurgistfish.livejournal.com]

WE do a lot of hanging out and talking after dinner. We usually break out some wine, cheese, and veggies, then the guys get scotch later (and maybe I'll down some whiskey). This happens at least twice a week, and it's making us fat. So yeah, I was thinking of tea and cucumber sandwiches or sugar-free sweets. lol

Russian-Love-bunny has some EArl Grey, I know. He made me some with honey once. Constant Comment sounds good, and I love chai lattes. I'll try that. Mmm chai! fresh breath express

Re: Tea Party

[omorka.livejournal.com]

Okay, so you really want some good after-dinner-sweet teas. Your userinfo says you're in Hattiesburg, so I'm going to guess there isn't a good specialty tea-and-coffee shop near you (Starbucks doesn't count!). Umm . . . *pokes around* Doesn't look like you even have a Whole Foods near you. I'm going to list things that I'm pretty sure you can get either at a Starbucks or a Kroger, plus some other things to keep an eye out for that might or might not be available in your area.

Tazo teas - all teabags, unfortunately; Tazo isn't very good at offering loose tea. They have an organic Chai that's quite good - it's a 'hot' chai mix, very spicy. You can also get it in decaf. Their Earl Grey is a little harsh for my taste. There's also a Green Ginger mix that you might find interesting if you're into ginger. Their African Red Bush blend is a caffeine-free rooibos, hibiscus, spice, and citrus mix. And I like their Passion tisane, which is also caffeine-free and is mostly hibiscus and fruit. You might want to see if you can find one of their assortment boxes, which usually has three teabags each of five or eight different flavored teas.

Bigelow teas - any grocery store should have these. Constant Comment is, again, a big favorite; it's sweet and over-flavored, but it's still wonderful. (If you drink iced tea, brewing a couple of bags of Constant Comment with the Luzianne or whatever you use makes a really good iced tea, too.) They have several "Vanilla X" teas - Vanilla Hazelnut and a couple of others - that you might try out, along with a vanilla chai and a regular chai that I think they call "spiced chai" or something like that. They also make a raspberry flavored tea that I've never tried, so I can't say whether or not it's any good.

Twinings teas - Should be available in most grocery stores unless they have a really small selection. Excellent Earl Grey, and a lighter, more lemon-y version called Lady Grey that I like even more. You can get these as loose teas rather than teabags if you want. They also have a passable jasmine and, as mentioned previously, good serviceable Darjeeling and English Breakfast teas.

Celestial Seasonings - Again, should be available in most grocery stores. Their Tuscany Orange Spice is similar to Constant Comment, but a little spicier and less overwhelmingly orange. They have a Maple Vanilla that makes a good dessert tea. (Their Morning Thunder is a tea-mate blend that will kick you out of bed like nobody's business, if you need a good jumpjuice.) And they have a bunch of flavored chai blends - vanilla, chocolate, coconut, and ginger, as well as their regular chai and a decaf version. They also have some "dessert teas," so labeled, that I haven't tried but have heard good things about.

If that's too much choice for you, let me narrow that down to: try out Bigelow's Constant Comment, Twinings' Lady Grey, and Celestial Seasonings' regular and vanilla chais, and see whether those do anything for you. Work outwards from there.


In the "look out for these if they show up" category - Mighty Leaf has a sweet, slightly spicy, slightly floral blend called Orange Dulce that's absolutely to die for. Republic of Tea has all kinds of yummy goodness, but I'm particularly fond of their Vanilla Almond and Cinnamon Plum blends. And if you are lucky enough to encounter SerendipiTea, their City Harvest Green and Chocolate A-Peel teas are delicious.

Hope this helps, and isn't information overload!

Re: Tea Party

[theurgistfish.livejournal.com]

Oh my! I've got more than enough to start from now. Oh and I found a sugar free angel food cake recipe, too. This is a step in the thin direction. ; )

Thanks for the recommendations!