We have a bunch of food threads, but after dropping 5hrs' pay on a bunch of teas from David's Tea, I realized I haven't found a beverage thread! Recommendations for flavors, sources, brewing and blends? Flavor reviews? Just want to show off your overstuffed cabinet and selection of quirky mugs? YES PLEASE! Today's Order, from David's Tea: The Usual: Gogi Pop: A long-standing favorite I'd never have tried if not for a free sample included in another order RedBerry Tonic: Because after trying Gogi Pop I'm a sucker for gogi and hibiscusSomething New: Serenity Now: I love strawberries, rosehips and lavender smells divine. Why not? Honeycrisp Apple: Honestly I was intrigued by the apple at first but once it showed hibiscus it had to go in the cart because I am weak.
Oooh, tea thread yes good. There's a tea shop in plymouth near my parent's office, and we got this really good cinnamon tea there. I need to check if we've ran out.
I tend towards just plain teas except for variations on Earl Grey but I love all the varieties and how the leaves of one bush can vary so much.
T2's Melbourne Breakfast is the shit. As is their Jade Mountain tea which was so popular it sold out really quickly but I JUST LOOKED AND IT'S BACK IN STOCK AAAAAAAH I'm buying it tomorrow.
I'm in the middle of resetting my caffeine tolerance by not consuming any caffeine for two weeks so on one hand this thread is kind of like HNNNNNNGH but.... I just got into doing coldbrew coffee last month, which I'm really enjoying. I started out just doing coffee beans on their own but I've been trying adding different herbs and spices to it for a long infusion and the results have been really, really nice. French Roast + Cardamom & Star Anise is amazing. :D
coldbrew coffee? that sounds intriguing how does it work/how would one go about setting it up? tiny moment of irrational anger: infusions are done by pouring boiling solvent (usually water) over what you want to infuse, if no heat is involved it's a mazeration, okay? that's all, actually I am very bad about this topic sorry. I prefer coffee blends with a strong sweet note, used to have one with soft flavor tones of almond and cocoa, really great for espresso. Personally I enjoy mint and chocolate in my overly fancy over-decorated bullshit beverages, but I am known to indulge in everything vanilla as well. Teas: I enjoy herbal teas a lot (lived on mint tea for three years of my life heh), both plain and blended. I own this absolutely stellar ayurveda tea blend with cinnamon and pepper and a bunch of really interesting stuff in it, it tastes really spicy and has so many layers! Plain teas I almost only drink white tea. We have one with rose petals :3 Also I am making rose petal honey atm (gotta actually strain that now, whoops :P) and that is probably really interesting in tea, albeit maybe a bit strong.
Oh man I am right there with you on the caffeine thing, that's why I've mostly switched to herbal teas. My Go-To used to be double-strong Earl Grey hot brewed for literally an hour in a thermos and then I'd shovel honey into it until it didn't taste like bitter black death. The Earl's Garden, perhaps? Cold brew tea is a mazeration then. I usually do something like 2-4x the amount of tea usually used in a pitcher or cup and thrown in the fridge overnight. I would imagine coffee is the same? And I now have a mighty need for herb-infused honey this is something I never considered! My dreams of "Rosemary Everything" could actually happen
Oh my. I once counted the varieties of tea in my cupboard - there were over 40 varieties. I've culled them down now, but I still have quite a few. My current favourites for everyday drinking are the chocolate tea and the vanilla chai, with Sweet Rhubarb thrown in for variety. I love Teapigs chilli tea and Teapigs creme brulee rooibos too, but can't justify the money on those atm. If I feel like treating myself, I'll grab my glass teapot and brew up a pot of T2 Sencha Peach.
There's a chain in Poland called Tea Club that just makes the best tea mixes. Here's some of my favourites: "Gunpowder" green tea + mint Bancha geen tea + Goji berries + rose petals Sencha green tea + ginger + lemongrass + lemonpeel (ideal for winters) White tea + strawberry + aloe leaves (very sweet-smelling, I like to combine it with honey and Malibu to make a soothing elixir for sore throats)
you basically put whatever you want the honey to take the taste of and honey in a container for two weeks minimum, stir occasionally (because stuff likes to float to the top and you want it even ya know) then strain. The straining part is SUPER MESSY and i ended up getting not much honey because the dried rose petals absolutely soaked the stuff up, so I'd absolutely 100% recommend fresh herbs for this. I ended up baking the rose petals on a baking sheet on low heat for like 15 minutes to get crunchy rose bites but idk if I like it much, i think the rose taste has mostly gone to the honey so this is just kinda overly sweet. Tastes vaguely like baqlava though, for obvious reasons. ETA: an obvious solution to the straining problem is if you use big enough chunks of herbs or just plain don't mind plant matter in your honey to simply not strain it. Might do this when I inevitably attempt to make mint honey.
i really like strong flavours in my teas, so here's some recommendations based on that: lapsang souchong is strong and smoky (although my mom says it smells like a boiled moccasin). sometimes i mix it with a chai for a more varied flavour. david's teas' kenyan tinderet is a really weird-looking tea: the leaves have been chopped quite small, so they look quite like peppercorn. it is really strong - i drink it 50:50 with steamed milk and it's still intensely tea-y. nettle leaf tea isn't strong, but i thought it was really neat, and i'm disappointed i can't find it anymore. @IvyLB have you tried starbucks' guatamala antigua roast? chocolate/spice notes, so it sounds right up your alley.
ohhh I haven't yet! I usually frequent Meyerbeer's instead of starbucks because I am more of a hipster than other hipsters, lol, so that's also where I usually get my coffeeblends (for expensive moneys. for a coffee machine that is not mine but my parents'. I mean at least my french press is my own so if they offer ground coffee, too I'd maybe see fi they have it around here or not.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH i wonder if the London store has it yet >.> otherwise I might need to make a request... (e.t.a. nope they don't have it. heyyyy muuuuuushrooooooooooooom) Anyway yes I like tea, a lot. Right now I'm drinking T2's Sencha Vanilla, and I picked up Yuzu Oolong and Orange Blossom Oolong from the East India Company a couple days ago. I don't normally drink oolong so it's a little weird, but I'm a sucker for citrus-flavoured teas.
@IvyLB full confession: i actually work for starbucks which is why i'm more familiar with their coffee than anyone else's; left to my own devices i'm more of a tea drinker. but we'll grind your beans for you however you like, so that shouldn't be a problem.
I have fallen in love with Deathwish, both the "classic" Deathwish and their Valhalla blend. I'm a 2-4 (large) cups a day person addict who can get by on a single cup of Deathwish, and it doesn't taste like liquid asshole. It's surprisingly smooth, actually. I like my coffee pale and absurdly sweet (read: cake) and can drink Deathwish black without wincing. My other preferred option for Crack in a Cup is PG Tips tea. I have to watch my steep times because more than a minute and it turns foul as all hell but it can keep me functioning after 2-3 days without sleep and doesn't give me the jitters like most strong caffeine sources (I forget what they were called but I was gifted these Finnish caffeine pills they're not allowed to sell in the states by a friend. They worked as long as I wasn't planning to do anything that required anything resembling manual dexterity.) Deathwish is also surprisingly jitter-free. This is Important with me because I have a bad natural shake that usually gets worse with stimulants.
Oh no, tea is my problem. I tend to like blends, which maybe don't have as much of the full subtle range of tea-leaf flavor. My favorite David's Tea is Cocoa Canella, which tastes like cinnamon and chocolate and can be made wicked-strong and still be delicious. Since it's a mate, it does a second steep pretty well, too. Probably the tea I'm liking now that relies most on the tea leaves themselves is Fortnum and Mason's Rose Pouchong that I picked up in London. My major addiction, though, is Adagio. I do some blends there, of which Lincoln Lee is my major success: chocolate and chestnut with a little bit of spice and a creaminess to it. I'm kind of a chocolate addict in general, so I also really like their Valentines blend, which tastes like chocolate and strawberry. I also love the White Pear - white tea with any kind of delicate fruit or floral infusion, really. I made jelly from the white pear and some fresh-grated ginger and it's not only delicious and the first time I've made jelly, but caffeinated. Caffeinated jelly on toast makes me happy. And yeah, as @Lazarae said, I have to watch my steep times with pretty much everything that's not mate. And temperature: white tea tastes like butts if you scald the leaves.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out why the Jasmine/Hibiscus/Peach thing I had in a TeaVana store tasted so much like bitter despair at home. Oops.
I do coldbrew coffee. A cup and a half of ground coffee to a liter and a half of water, stirred well, in a covered pot for 8 hours (you can leave it for up to 24, but it's done in 8). I usually stick the pot in the fridge if there's room, too, so it's already cold when it's time to filter it. After 8 hours, strain - I have a metal coffee filter that sits perfectly on the rim of the pitcher I use - and refrigerate. It makes a concentrate that is low acid and smooth in taste, so it actually works pretty well with a decent inexpensive, dark roast coffee (lighter, more delicate coffees aren't worth it - they end up not tasting like much). I use around a quarter to a third of a cup in a full glass of milk, but you can use water, or use hot water for a hot cup of coffee.
I am so bitter that I can't find good teas here in brazil. Twinings has just started to show up on the fanciest markets, but everything else just tastes like feet. I always ask mom to bring me something fancy when she travels (i get gifted a lot of kitchen stuff, actually). I love Earl/Lady grey and the traditional english breakfast stuff with orange blossom honey, and black teas in general. green tea lattes are also pretty tasty! I got a couple bags of really good green tea (actually matcha!*) as a gift from a korean goods store i bought some makeup a while ago but couldnt find it anywhere to get more of because i do not speak korean. ): And as a good southern brazilian I also like mate, but i dont drink it often because a) i like mine with honey/sugar instead of straight and b) i cannot do the cup thing.
