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| Author |
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md
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The tea item
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Oct 14 17:51 UTC 1995 |
I'm drinking Twining's China Black at the moment. I find that
there's a greater variety of flavors in tea than in coffee, barring
the "varietal" coffees now in vogue (Vanilla Fudge Nut Honey Almond
Cream Hazelnut, etc.). Anyone else use tea as a drug? What are
your favorite kinds? Any anti-bag fanatics here? Sun tea fans?
Please share.
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| 229 responses total. |
omni
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response 1 of 229:
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Oct 14 22:21 UTC 1995 |
I favor Twinings Prince of Wales, Lapsang souchong, and Earl Grey. I don't
mind bags, nor tap water, just as long as it's served pronto with lots of
lemon and sugar.
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popcorn
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response 2 of 229:
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Oct 15 05:16 UTC 1995 |
I seem to do raspberry leaf tea, with loose leaves in a tea ball, to help
with PMS. I dunno why it works, but it does seem to help. Maybe it's
psychosomatic. At some point when I asked about what's in raspberry
leaves, Rane found some information that said there are mild analgesics
in them. Maybe that's why it works? It works a lot better than, say,
ibuprofen or aspirin, so I think there's more to it than just the analgesic
effects.
Other than that, I'll often order herbal tea at a restaurant. It's warm,
and a lot easier for the restaurant to get right than coffee is. Right now
I think I'm probably awake because I had some Twining's Earl Grey tea at
a restaurant about 2-3 hours ago. It was good. I was sleepy. I'm not
sleepy now, but, judging by the hour, I should be.
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eeyore
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response 3 of 229:
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Oct 15 15:57 UTC 1995 |
i'm really not a big tea fanatic (o.k., so i hate the stuff...:), but there is
one that i've found that i absolutely adore....it's a hot cinnamon tea that
i get from work, eithr in bags or loose...it's best with too much lemon, and
some sugar. :)
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davel
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response 4 of 229:
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Oct 15 18:23 UTC 1995 |
My own choice is almost any mint herb tea. I'm a pro-bag fanatic, where
my *own* consumption is concerned.
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popcorn
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response 5 of 229:
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Oct 16 13:49 UTC 1995 |
I worry about the bleaches they use in tea bags, even though we're probably
consuming them in such small quantities that they're harmless. They're not
harmless to the environment. But teabags are sure a lot more convenient than
doing the tea-ball thing, so I end up using them at work and restaurants.
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md
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response 6 of 229:
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Oct 16 15:07 UTC 1995 |
I heard a story once about a British tea-taster: "Hmmm... Oolong.
Ceylon number two. A touch of red Hangchow. And, of course, the bag."
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md
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response 7 of 229:
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Oct 16 15:15 UTC 1995 |
I don't know what tea has in it apart from a little caffein, but
it wakes me up and clears my head much better than coffee does.
(Might be psychosomatic, as popcorn says, but I'm not arguing.)
If I'm making a whole pot, which I seldom do, I like to use loose
tea and a tea ball. Otherwise, bags are just fine. In addition
to Twining's China Black, I like Bigelow's Constant Comment.
Constant Comment is *the* thing to drink when you come in from
raking leaves on a chilly autumn day. (Remember chilly autumn
days?)
I've always loved iced tea. We have a "Mr. Coffee" iced tea
maker that makes a half-gallon of any kind of iced tea you like,
ready to drink in fifteen minutes.
Some herb teas are wonderful. Blueberry leaf is one of my
favorites. Chamomile tea has, for me, a relaxing and nostalgic
quality, like bringing a warm sunlit meadow indoors. Also, some
of the Celestial Seasonings blends, like "Emperor's Delight" or
"Autumn Harvest," are okay. But many commercial herb tea blends
are bulked out with hibiscus flowers, for some reason, and you
might even find hibiscus flowers to be the primary ingredient in
some tea blends that don't have hibiscus in their name.
Milk: pro or con? I'm against it in tea. Makes me sick to my
stomach, in fact.
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simcha
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response 8 of 229:
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Oct 16 18:18 UTC 1995 |
I love tea, and I love coffee, too. For tea, I prefer Twining's
Earl Grey or English Breakfast, either brewed in my automatic drip
coffee pot (that gold coffee filter is easier to clean than the
balls, and we end up with no leaves!). I find that we make the
tea on the strong side; I like it straight and my husband adds
unrefined sugar.
Pregnant I drink Celestial seasonings mandarin orange or mint
medley. (Beware...I think it's bigelow's mint that is flavored
tea, complete with caffeine). For those, I use bags. My kids
drink apple orchard (again, celest. seas. caff free). They aren't
allowed to have soda, so they like making this or hot chocolate
for themselves.
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davel
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response 9 of 229:
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Oct 16 19:53 UTC 1995 |
I have yet to find a tea ball or strainer that doesn't leave me feeling
like I'm drinking sawdust.
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iggy
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response 10 of 229:
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Oct 16 21:23 UTC 1995 |
i like irish breakfast tea, english breakfast, darjeeling, and
the regular ol' red rose orange pekoe.
i just bought some pure peppermint herb tea, which my cat seems to
like more than i do.
once i tried to drink catnip tea around a cat...heh.. i think that
is something everyone should try once.
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omni
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response 11 of 229:
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Oct 17 05:42 UTC 1995 |
I can drink it with milk, I prefer cream, with sugar. But usually it's
lemon and sugar, or just sugar.
I keep all my teabags in mon big ziploc bag so that they can intermingle;
gets pretty interesting after a few months.
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eeyore
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response 12 of 229:
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Oct 18 21:59 UTC 1995 |
we have a glas teapot at work that apperntly works wonderfully....there is a
middlei cylendar that has verrrrrry thin slits to hold the tea in, and let the
water out...one of these day's i'm gonna try it...:)
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aaron
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response 13 of 229:
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Oct 22 18:10 UTC 1995 |
Last time I was in England, I discovered that there is a quaint custom
of asking, "Would you like a cup of tea," before your host brings you a
cup of tea. The question is pro forma. Your answer, "Yes," "No," or
"A giant purple monster ate my boxer shorts," will inevitably result in
your being brought a nice, hot cup of tea.
Why not use a proper English tea pot, with built-in strainer, and deal
with the stray tea leaf? You'll be happier.
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eeyore
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response 14 of 229:
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Oct 23 17:46 UTC 1995 |
thats what this glass pot is....t's like corning ware, and very strong.
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glenda
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response 15 of 229:
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Oct 26 02:20 UTC 1995 |
We got one of those glass teapots as a wedding gift. You put the loose tea in
the middle cylinder and pour boiling water through it. Ours has a glass base
with an indentation in it that holds a small metal cup for a voltive candle
to keep the tea warm. Whenever we can both decide on the same tea we use it,
makes wonderful tea and gently keeps it warm. However, we usually don't
agree on which tea to drink at the moment and so we have several tea ball,
strainer thingies, special spoon shaped tea ball devices so that we can each
make a cup of whatever. (STeve loves to go and pick out a selection of teas
at the People's Food Co-op. Makes live interesting cause he doesn't always
label the bags and you have to guess which is what by smelling them.)
This is the time of year that I start thinking about Russian Tea (orange, lemon
spiced tea) and will probably make up a batch (as soon as I find the box that
is hiding my recipe box or we get a working monitor so that I can access my
computer recipe files). Will post the recipe when I do.
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eeyore
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response 16 of 229:
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Oct 26 15:11 UTC 1995 |
we just got our noel tea in at work.....it's good sstuff, even tho the smell is
sorta like bubblegum...:)
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iggy
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response 17 of 229:
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Oct 27 17:34 UTC 1995 |
i want to get a teapot, even if it is just a plain ceramic one...
i really detest earl grey tea. to me, it tastes like that bitter
dandelion milk.
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mdw
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response 18 of 229:
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Nov 5 11:56 UTC 1995 |
I have found that the proper way to enjoy earl grey is with lemon.
I agree earl grey by itself is sort of scary stuff - it always
reminded me of mosquito repellent. But with lemon & sugar, I
find that it turns into pure ambrosia.
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popcorn
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response 19 of 229:
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Nov 6 05:18 UTC 1995 |
I even like it straight up.
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freida
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response 20 of 229:
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Nov 12 08:09 UTC 1995 |
I love english breakfast and ceylon teas...I make them in my automatic drip
coffe maker and I make them rather strong. I don't drink coffee. I like mine
with just enough milk, the thin stuff, to cool it to drinking temps. I drink
about 2 pots a day. For herb teas, we all like raspberry, red zinger or lemon
zinger. My husband loves sleepy time tea. I also like mint tea when I am
not feeling well. Got sick of constant comment a while ago.
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popcorn
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response 21 of 229:
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Nov 12 16:57 UTC 1995 |
I've been drinking a lot of "Harvest Spice" (I think that's its name)
tea, from Celestial Seasonings, at work lately. I tried their Bengal Spice
flavor, too, on the theory that it has cardamom in it and cardamom is one of
my favorite spices, but the resulting brew seemed to be all aroma and no
flavor. Which led me right back to Harvest Spice again. Yum!
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md
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response 22 of 229:
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Nov 13 16:13 UTC 1995 |
Harvest Spice is wonderful.
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bmoran
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response 23 of 229:
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Nov 16 15:21 UTC 1995 |
I've been trying some of the over 100 kinds of tea we have at our store.
One thing some people forget is that tea must expand to three times its
dried state to fully infuse. So fill your tea balls and spoons only about
a third of the way, and use the proper amounts. About a teaspoon per six
ounce cup, so a mug (mostly twelve oz) would be two teaspoons. Three mins.
steeping for green teas, four to five for blacks. Herbal tisanes (there is
no "tea" leaves in them) are pretty much to taste, but often not more than
ten mins.
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denise
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response 24 of 229:
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Nov 29 16:18 UTC 1995 |
I'm a big tea drinker, too... I drink more iced tea than hot tea, but I
do enjoy them both. Am currently drinking ginger-peach iced tea. For
hot teas, depending on my mood, sometimes I drink them 'straight',
sometimes with cream, sometimes with sugar or sweetner. Down south,
here in NC where I am currently residing, when one orders iced tea,
95% of the time you'll get it already sweetend unless you specifically
ask for unsweetened tea... I used to always drink my iced tea unsweetened
but have gotten into the habit of drinking sweetened, mainly because
at restaurants, its easier [and fresher], though I'm trying to break myself
from that habit!
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