All the tea in China

[petronia]

Edit -- fiddled t-stamp and unlocked entry, because is cool discussion :)

Today I drink Darjeeling. I've mostly been drinking loose jasmine green this past month, from a tin my mum gave me to take to work (it says Biluochun but isn't, confusingly). Jasmine green's my favorite, but I need the spice of variety if I'm to keep away from calorie-packed specialty soft drinks. New taste sensations, food my drug of choice. I'm a sensorial stimulus junkie without fanfare, because it doesn't take much to overload me. ^^;

So I bought a sampler of assorted (high-quality) tea bags, Earl Grey and English Breakfast and Orange Pekoe and so forth. In the process I discovered these Brit-flavoured black teas are a comfort drink for me, despite the fact that I've never had them at home. Home was always good sturdy Chinese green, accompanied by a steep descent into Lipton's and Nestlé ice tea powder, though recently we've branched out into Japanese green and a rather watery chai. I think it's because the only times I drank real tea during my childhood / early adolescence were during visits to the Birdcage-family (before they lived in the Birdcage), where it would be Earl Grey in nice china with honest-to-goodness cucumber sandwiches on crustless white bread. They've stopped doing that entirely. I wonder why?... I still brew it the normal Chinese way, though - in a mug I keep topped up with hot water until I've wrung a litre's worth out of the leaves, under the belief that the second/third infusions are better than the first - even though it's powdered black tea in a bag and not loose-leaf green tea. ^^; Still it turns out all right, and the expensive kind of tea bag doesn't make the water taste like boiled paper if you leave it in too long.

You're supposed to put milk and sugar in some of these, but I can't bring myself to do it. I drink chai and boba tea now, so it feels more acceptable, but for the longest time adding milk to tea seemed about as appetizing as adding it to Coca-Cola. And definitely not the Darjeeling, which for a black tea tastes terribly delicate. I don't see that it's like muscat grape, even when I do the wine-tasting thing of swallowing a bit and breathing out through my nose, but it's not a sledgehammer, that's for certain. ...I can't help it, I have to be a geek at everything I do. Everything. ^^;;

Comments

[jantalaimon.livejournal.com]

...whereas my tea-drinking habits are wholly corrupted. (as one might argue many things i do are, but those ones would also do to keep quiet once in awhile. XD) then again, i also didn't grow up with the Proper Drinking of Tea instilled in me from the very first, so this could also be why. some teas, i like very much with milk and sugar (and indeed, there was a time when certain dark teas could not be drunk without them). others, i can't have anything in. it depends on the tea, really. have been known to recycle the tea and/or bags too, but usually do not (except with certain of the more high-quality ones).

...but really, just wanted to post this reply to note that as a child, i actually really liked to mix Coca-Cola and milk. or Pepsi and milk, although the Coke was much better. my mother thought it was absolutely disgusting, but i think it was really just my cheap excuse for a Black Cow. since we rarely (if ever) had root beer in the house, i had to make do. and milk is sorta like melted ice cream, if one adds ice...XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

O_O Well, live and learn. XD I don't think I'll try milk + coke, though. It's funny, because I won't drink coffee unless it's at least 1/3 milk. But this is because my coffee-drinking began with sugary flavoured espresso + steamed milk things. I've already cut out the sugar in that, and weaned myself off the 10% cream.

I don't think there is one Proper Drinking Of Tea - there's shado and the various snobbish Chinese ways of doing things, obviously, but none of those apply to black tea at all so might as well follow the Brit model, wot wot. Really I'm from the Commie Chinese school of thought where tea is just a synonym for boiled drinking water, which may (or may not!) actually contain the fragmented leaves of Camellia sinensis. ^^;

(I actually forgot to mention Tania's various Russian flavoured black teas, that she brews like drip coffee. Best schtuff EVAR.)

[serendip.livejournal.com]

Milk with tea/pepsi/coke is v. Indian, as I have discovered. Spending three years with only Indian people adds lots of perspective to one's beverages. I have yet to try milk with Pepsi out of principle.

Indian friends also say that milk with tea is something Brits stole from Indians. They are prolly right, knowing the Brits. I <3 milk with tea, but only black tea. Certain teas I can't really drink with milk. Thanks to Fi, can only drink jasmine sans, be it black or green.

Grew up drinking barley tea, so not tea in the strict sense of the word. The thought of drinking barley tea with milk is utterly foul. Also, when drinking tea in Chinese restaurants, I drink that plain. When in Chinatown, I posited the possibility of adding sugar to my tea and my mother gave me this look and said, "You should know better." Hee. ^^

[jantalaimon.livejournal.com]

...and it's funny that you mention that, because Mariam was also disgusted that i liked to mix the two together. XD granted, Mariam had a mixed upbringing (as i did, only moreso since her dad and his family were around a bit longer than my dad was), but still. (she identifies herself as Pakistani, but with all the mixing and matching in her family is prolly really more Indian but due to various things, identifies herself otherwise to save confusion. i don't even remember how the whole story goes. it's even more fun than explaining my name to people. XD)

i don't put anything in green tea. black teas, always. at least a little sugar. have been cutting back on sugar and cream/milk lately, though---trying to get down to slightly saner levels. XD jasmine and camomile, perhaps a bit of sugar (but not much).

[metempsychosis.livejournal.com]

I have Insane Tea Prejudices, but such is to be expected, my being english and all. I've been known to put milk in with the teabag and /then/ add the boiling water, on the grounds that Putting The Milk In Last Is Wrong Bad And Wrong, although my recent overexposure to cafeteria tea means I've had to get over this. I still warm the pot before putting the tealeaves/teabags in and let it brew three minutes exactly before pouring the first cup, mind. Gave up sugar in tea one Lent and now can't hack the stuff, which is rather disheartening as aren't all plumbers supposed to take three sugars?

Still. Black tea, in my book, should be unnaturally strong and have milk, because otherwise the tannin is overpowering; unless it's Earl Grey, in which case milk is a a crime against humanity and it should be newborn-kitten weak, because otherwise it tastes like old socks smell. And if I put 'teapot' where you have 'mug', and change 'hot' to 'boiling', your habits of rebrewing could almost be mine. ^_^ I'm overlooking the Thé Lipton mention, because I'm sure that was just a mistake on your (plural?) part and has now been entirely rectified. Eww, powdered teas (except livid-green japanese, uh, matcha? that stuff is The Crack).

The concept of milk with green tea, or jasmine tea, or any herbal tea - or really anything that isn't approximately English-type tea - is impossible for my brain to concieve of. (except isn't some bubble tea green-tea based? Exception that proves the rule.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Tea wasn't actually cultivated in India until the Brits had it planted, though, so proving that would depend on how they drank it before. Hmm. Come to think of it, who came up with the concept of oxidized black tea? No one in China drinks black tea, oolong is as far as it goes and IIRC that's a 19th-century invention.

*does research* XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I've been known to put milk in with the teabag and /then/ add the boiling water

I have heard of this. XD It gets pointed out as one of those Charmingly Eccentric British Habits.

It's really hard to say what my problem is at this point, given that I drink chai which is black tea and milk simmered in a saucepan à la classic café au lait. Possibly it *is* just the idea of pouring little units of cold milk into my hot mug that gives me the heebies. But I like tannin, and I even took the Earl Grey out of its bag once (it was sold to me in curled loose leaf, and the lady put it in a filter baggie and stapled it shut. So I went all fascinated engineer on the thing). The result was enough bergamot flavour to knock out a horse. ^^;;

I always take my creme bubble teas with jasmine green base (the sour fruit kinds need red tea to round out the flavour), especially coconut and honeydew. Again, you have to wonder.

And by "hot", I meant "boiling". ^_^ (Though technically you're supposed to keep it to 80C for jasmine green, but my mother doesn't and one has to make the mashed potatos with lumps in'em just like one's mummy etc.)

[serendip.livejournal.com]

There are some who claim that putting in milk before water is better because that will keep the milk from scalding. I never understood that, because you will inevitably put the water and the milk into the same cup, right?

*shrug* The desais may have picked it up from the Brits, but *points to chai*

But after some cursory research:

http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/Lifestyle/History%20of%20Tea.htm (http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/Lifestyle/History%20of%20Tea.htm) a Frenchman records the first mention of milk with tea? o_O

http://www.tea.co.uk/tBreakN/boss.htm (http://www.tea.co.uk/tBreakN/boss.htm) *snerk*

It also seems that HRM Vicky liked lemon in hers. Ah well.

Lady Grey is a much gentler version of Earl Grey. Have come to prefer it, actually. ^^ Y'all should try it. ^_^

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

No, no no no. Bergamot is evil. Evil! And if only overexposure to insanely strong Russian teas will prove that to you, then so be it!

I started in on tea from the green side of things, so for me milk, sugar == the wrong. I used to have knock-down drag-out fights with a Indian grad student in the language acquisition lab I worked for in college over this. I can only accept boba tea as a milk-primary drink or else my righteous indignation has a fit (it's too sweet for me, mostly, anyway).

But the true evil, the evil we should all work against, is that herbal swill. It's all over the place! You have in the coffee stands here a choice: earl grey, really really cut rate green (it brews brown, and boiling water Hurts It Not, it's such a mutant), or twenty bazillion herbals. In some supermarkets you can't get green without some lemon or some hemlock infused. It's awful! Awful! Thank goodness for the chinese markets. (As a kid, we had to make "tea" from trees as some sort of survival in the woods thing. It was Evil and Wrong and I Never Recovered. And I think the tree was hemlock, which is not poisonous like Socrates hemlock, but not much better tasting, I'm sure.)

[luxetumbra.livejournal.com]

Lady Grey is a much gentler version of Earl Grey. Have come to prefer it, actually. ^^ Y'all should try it. ^_^

Lady Grey does indeed kick ass. I like it much more than Earl Grey which, to my palate at least, is overwhelmed by the bergamot.

I also like Russian black tea, but it really tastes best if brewed in a samovar. I know hot water is hot water, but it just seems to taste so much better that way to me then when made by any other method. My grandmother had a wonderful old samovar (heated by charcoal) and it always made Sunday tea time such an adventure as we waited for the coals to heat the water up.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I have these lemon camomile teabags at home that are positively toxic. Aftertaste. *shudders* Mostly "herbal" for me is Chinese style, infusing some thai basil or dried chrysanthemums or ginger root in with the regular tea. And that's more to adjust one's yin/yang than anything else.

As a kid, we had to make "tea" from trees as some sort of survival in the woods thing.

Not a Russian thing? T tells me stories of how at their dacha people would make "tea" by going out and picking leaves off various trees and bushes. *g*

[petronia.livejournal.com]

*makes note to try Lady Grey*

I am adventurous! I made English breakfast tea according to Harpy's method. It tastes... er. o_O; Not used to it. Maybe it needs more milk.

(I wonder why Tania doesn't have a samovar? Her family makes her bring stuff back to Canada all the time. Will ask. XD)

[starswan.livejournal.com]

I remember watching a very interesting program about how the advent of television killed teatime.My father argues that this is absolutely the truth and that technology is evil but then he is practically a neo-luddite.He waxes lyrical about magical twilight and how life was before television and how he went to France on the train alone when he was 11 years old because the world was a different place and people so very nice.
Ever since I was little my grandmother, father, whoever, made tea everyday with bags so I did not think much of bags versus leaves.As my granny became more stooped and less mobile with age, I joked that she lived solely on tea and sugar. Then last March I was seized with the idea of going to the Coop and checking out their loose tea assortment. blablabla long story short (not) I am beyond the point of no return and the kitchen is littered with containers of varying sizes and shapes filled with tea leaves from Darjeeling to Ceylon to..whatever. My favorite tea blend is 3 tsp of star of persia, 1 tsp of darjeeling, and 1/4 tsp of orange peel. Well actually that is what everyone else wants so I dutifully make it. I like Ceylon sitting in the pot for 7 minutes until it is damn near black.I love Earl Grey though my father refers to it as 'that freaky earl tea' or 'frou frou tea'. He thinks it's perfectly evil to drink scented tea but then he tolerates Chai so..hmmm.I've tried EG with milk...odd.
I am so spoiled now that I can not drink most bagged tea.Tetley is not bad.I had a clash with a friend's mother-in-law when she staunchly refused to even try leaves.The main complaint is that it is too much hassle when really it is exceedingly simple and does not require a degree in chemistry.And it tastes so good...I swear I am getting high off the stuff.I've been dubbed the 'tea witch'.
I am extremely caffeine sensitive but tea is more benign for me than coffee.I argue that caffeine is not the same all the time and that coffee makes me irritable whereas 3 cups of tea will sometimes put me blissfully to sleep.My biggest problem now is having the handles on the tea pot break after less than a year despite heating the tea pot slowly in advance and holding it with a dish towel on the bottom when it is full so as not to stress the structural integrity of the handle.'Oh but you could add water later', someone suggested but well that affects the taste. The folks at this tea place swore up and down that it must have been a defect and that surely this pot would be different from the last but the little one I used in the morning is already cracked. Grrr.=(

[metempsychosis.livejournal.com]

Putting the milk in first does two things, apparently: prevent you from getting that nasty boiled-milk taste, and neutralise the taste of the tannin. I've no idea how it's supposed to do this, but it's clearly true, because tea where the milk's been put in last tastes manky.

Lemon in tea is quite acceptable, although a very German thing to do. Of course, I wouldn't do it myself (except with Earl Grey, which is the Great Exception of Indian teas), but it's not an excommunicable offence.

If Lady Grey doesn't taste like feet, I'm in there.

[serendip.livejournal.com]

I wish I knew how to make chai, speaking of. As in the throwing in the herbs with my hands. It's so fascinating listening to mis amigos desais call the herbs by their Indian names. And mmmmm, pepper. Who woulda thunk pepper would taste good in tea? It's all about the milk. <33333 Wouldn't be chai without it.

Flavoured tea is a mixed bag. I suppose I think of that sort of tea as being European, so that automatically means no flavour/spice and cannot be in anyway challenging my tastebuds. Am so bad like that. XD

[starlighter.livejournal.com]

[meril.livejournal.com]

I grew up drinking bagged Lipton orange spice, heavily sugared. I blame my grandmother. We never had milk in tea. (I don't know if it's a German thing not to drink milk with tea. I think it is. My grandmother thinks it's wrong.) Sometimes we had honey in tea.

I think I went overboard on the tea thing, because I have a little hot pot on my desk used for heating water for tea, and a gold-plated one-cup diffuser for tea leaves, and my little cup. I no longer use sugar. I think I need to start being more particular about the leaves, though. I bought a green tea sampler at the local tea shop and am just going through that until it is gone. I think the Dragonwell has gone off. It's tasting odd, or it's starting to pick up Aroma of Desk.

I can't add milk to tea unless it's chai. I just can't. Of course, one of the reasons I haven't tried milky tea yet is because there is no way for me to store milk at work. We have persistent lunch thieves, so a thing of milk would be just too tempting.

[(Anonymous)]

Alright. Because this one is too good to miss and I'm all itching inside to blab about tea. ^^;

Darjeeling is great, though I have now switched to Ceylon. No blend, simply 100% of it. I don't know why, but it just has the extra fragrance to it. Dilmah (the brand, not blend ^^;) is pretty alright, but their flavoured teas are downright fantastic. (Honestly wished I could send you a box of their Rum Tea. But it's no longer being sold. ><) No offense, but it is said that an Englishman would rather lap water from the toilet than to drink Lipton. (Actually you should know where this quote came from. Outlander XD) That one is for mornings when you're running out of time and need a quick caffeine fix before work.

This island being what it is, the best tea ever would be the humble tea found in coffe shops, or what we call "kopi tiam". Not shops selling coffee but a bunch of stalls in a certain place. It's a sort of rough tea (it leaves one's tongue feeling all "burry" and cat-tongue like) and is usually drunk with sugar or sweetened evaporated milk. 80 to 90 cents per cup. But the flavour!

...maybe I'm just weird.

- k

Chai tea

[dipping_sauce]

This is the recipe I use when I make chai. I don't know how authentic it is, but it tastes really good.

(It's actually for iced chai latte ala Starbucks, but to make hot chai, just strain into a mug or two instead of a pitcher, and serve as is.)

[pachipachi.livejournal.com]

I'm going to throw another demographic into this mix and mention *iced tea*, a phenomenon which seems to be local to the American South and not commonly drunk anywhere else. I drink it in the summer at least as often as hot tea in the winter, and usually with lemon and what my parents' friend Denny would call 'an abomination of sugar'. Up here it usually gets served to you unsweetened and you have to add sugar yourself, but go any farther south and it'll be given to you almost syrupy, especially if it's made from a mix. I've had what they call Thai iced tea around here, which has milk added, but don't care for it.

How I drink hot tea depends on what type it is. I never add anything to green, jasmine, oolong, or any of the Asian-style black teas. English-style tea gets milk and sugar. Herbals usually get honey unless they have a mint base, and then I go for sugar instead. Bubble tea I like with a green tea base, but the ones made with black tea tend to taste almost... burnt, for lack of a better word. Like something in them has carmelized.

I'd really love to try traditional yerba mate, made with the roasted sugar and the tin straw, but have never been able to find anywhere that serves it. There used to be a place down the street that would give it to you in the tin bulb at least, but yerba mate unsweetened is deadly strong and nasty. Republic of Tea does sell a yerba mate based mix, however, and it has ground chocolate in it which cuts some of the bitterness.

What's really good but sounds strange is iced chai with goat's milk. Harle used to drink it that way because she prefers goat's milk to cow's, but her allergy to cinnamon has gotten worse over the years and now she can't have chai at all.

[metempsychosis.livejournal.com]

I find Tetley a little weak and undemanding for my tastes: it's rather designed-to-please-anyone, in the sense that you can't exactly dislike it no matter which form of Indian tea you like, but maybe a little bland. If you can find it - it might be a solely English thing - there's a bagged brand called "Yorkshire Tea" which is fantastic.

Re:

[starswan.livejournal.com]

I think that I may have seen that at this place in Sacramento. They had all sorts of bagged teas that I could not find anywhere else. They also had something called 'Chocolate tea' which was ick...like cardboard but I had to try it just once. =)<--stupid.Something as subtle as tea could never profit from something as heavy duty as chocolate...

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

Iced tea! But not that crap in the bottles, right? Because that's not iced tea. That's like.... tea-flavored Snapple, and I don't care who makes it, it so is. Sugar water. Bleh. (My father would tell you any proper host would give you honey or sugar to mix in to taste. Iced tea from a mix? My ancestors would probably spin. Even though we do tend towards Mr. Pibbs and moonpies in other ways.)

I actually only had chai for the first time today. And it was surprisingly good! But not tea. Milk-based drink XD. I should try it as a goat-milk-based drink: that sounds intreeeeeeging.

[tsutanai.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and that reminds me of the weird tea permutations in cans from the vending machines in Japan. Not so sweet. But weird. (I'll take pictures when I go back.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I actually only had chai for the first time today. And it was surprisingly good! But not tea. Milk-based drink XD.

Exactly! I finally figured it out after a few bouts of experimentation - if milky, it has to be all-the-way milky and sugary, and optimally creamy/frothy/spiced as well, so the end result is a tea-flavoured drink instead of adulterated tea. Hence, chai and boba tea, and maccha-flavoured ice cream, marshmallows, cheesecake etc.