Tea... an important issue

at the risk of being branded a bed wetter i have taken up drinking tea in an effort to stop drinking too much mid week. so far i have bought an excellent glass teapot/strainer thing from sen (spitalfields) which is way nicer than the bodum ones.

I have bought a couple of teas and infusions from the algerian coffee shop, so far blood orange - awesome, elderflower - really bad and black tea with apricot - pretty good.

Any tea snobs want to recommend some tea to try and places to get them around town?

There are some good teas at the Covent Garden tea shop. Their Lapsang Souchong is nice.

Nhattattack has some fungus tea type stuff she is trying to offload.

earl gray, any brand massive mug, milk not sugar leave the bag in.

though i used to be yorkshire, then when i mad an effort to make a pot, (like my mum dose) i did this,

its super top secret but its lovely

Warm pot with boling water,
1 yorkshire tea teabag
1 tea spoon earl gray leves
brew 4 mins

drink as you will

been really getting into drinking Redbush tea, the Tick Tock variety, just on it's own, and it's bloody lovely, so refreshing compared to a normal English tea I'm used to.

been really getting into drinking Redbush tea, the Tick Tock variety, just on it's own, and it's bloody lovely, so refreshing compared to a normal English tea I'm used to.

Drop a bit of honey in there - noice.

peppermint is going apeshit in the garden, so its a big bunch of fresh leaves, honey and leave to infuse, aaaaaaaaaah

i bought some oolong tea the otherbday, it was really overpriced but really nice

Decaf Earl Grey.

Twinings. Fucking Olympic.

good earth tea.... only tea that's ever got me actually craving it....

failing that, roibos tea.... nice

who suggested the twinings shop opposite the royal courts of justice a couple of pages back? i thought you were lying as i've gone past it a million times and never noticed it. spotted it today thanks!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/aug/26/tea-bars

Lapsang. Are there any other smoky black teas I should try?
Teapot - one normal tea bag, one earl grey. Is good.

nice thread dredge. my plan to replace booze with tea mid week failed miserably. mainly due to my mouth being too weak to handle hot drinks. i have since joined the sparkling water crowd and tut when i am served spa instead of san pellegrino.

turkish apple tea from the corner shop is good though

Assam, loose or bag
Brewed for 4-6 minutes.
Tiny amount of milk (skimmed)

Or green tea.

Right.
Never really been into tea, in fact I probably couldn't count the number of years since I last had a cup on two hands. But I had a cup about a fortnight ago with some cake at Pauls and it was awesome. It was apparently some sort of English Breakfast but I've not been able to replicate it.

I had it without milk and it was fairly light and fragrant.

Any recommendations for similarly light, golden teas. Not looking for anything too dark, malty or strong.

I bought a few boxes the other day including Darjeeling, Ceylon, English Breakfast and today some Lapsang Souchong.

Have been having them all without milk, English breakfast brewed fairly weakly is my favourite so far with darjeeling a close second. Gotta say though, I thought the Lapsang was pretty foul. It was Twinings if that makes any difference. It was basically like drinking non-alcoholic scotch. So peaty and smokey - really didn't do it for me.

Can anyone recommend any good tea books or resources to learn from?

I hate tea but my missus drinks a lot, always black, sometimes with lemon. Her current favourite is some kind of citrus infused into Earl Grey. This:

As a tea drinker I'm sure you won't mind it being called 'Lady' Grey.

coffee thread's that way >>>>>> :)

I'm allowed to partake in both threads, right?

Try a cup of Irish Breakfast, which is equal parts Darjeeling and Assam.

But what's this talk of drinking it without Milk? Euuurgh.

:)
Will check it out.
Well it was served to me without milk, there was milk on the tray but I thought I'd try it without and it was awesome. Not at all like the tea I remember having years ago. Milky, grey, tepid pond water.

I'm a bit coffee'd out at the moment (far from giving up) but I spend way too much on it so I'm after something simple and refreshing rather than drinking exclusively coffee.

What's that Rooboise lark all about?
We've got a couple of Saffas here who swear by it..

This is honestly the best tea I've ever tasted:

http://tweedrun.com/?page_id=306&category=1&product_id=16

It's the blend created by lahloo (http://www.lahlootea.co.uk/) especially for the 2010 Tweed Run.

No milk, no sugar needed. It's loose leaf, which is way, way better than tea bags.

Can't recommend it enough.

Rooibos, or Red Bush tea, is crap. Not proper tea! Doesn't refresh like a proper cuppa does.

Sold.

Cheers Luci.

Also what's the deal with blending your own? How much of a science is it? Sounds fun.