Tea recommendations

[captain_pete]

Hello!

 

I'm finally trying to clean up my act and get back into healthy eating and fitness, after a several-month-long hiatus induced by major life changes and busy schedules. I shouldn't have let it happen, I know, but here I am again, back at step 1 with a poor diet and not working out at all.

 

One baby step challenge I'm making for myself this month is finding some kind of alternative for my daily latte habit. Right now, I drink one large vanilla skim latte every morning. I drink it more for the taste and because I just like a warm cuppa than for the caffeine.

 

I think a healthy change I could make is to switch from my ~240 calorie/day latte habit to tea. But I'm not a tea drinker, never been a tea drinker... So I know next to nothing about tea.

 

Tea Drinkers -- do you have any recommendations for a "beginners tea" that's both healthy and tasty?

[RisenPhoenix]

I'm always a fan of oolong teas.  But I like earthy beverages (hoppy beers FTW).  Beginners may not like them though.  If I were you I'd probably start at the white/green tea end of the spectrum - lighter, sweeter, and you can find a bunch that are already blended with fruit fragments.  As much as I hate lipton, they do have a good amount pre-packaged white teas + blueberry/strawberry/some crazy fruit flavor here.  Twinnnings makes pretty decent non-loose leaf tea, too.  A favorite thing of mine to do (especially if I'm under the weather) is to mix green tea, a lemon slice, half a tablespoon of honey, and a chunk of ginger.  Slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and heaven on a cold day.

 

So, that being said, I also did the large sugar-and-cream-laden coffee every morning for a while.  I'm in that group of people who will stab others in the morning without coffee, so removing it was not an option I was willing to entertain (coffee is my -placebo - start up beverage, tea is my relax/cool down beverage).  I'm assuming you're getting a Starbucks thing, rather than making your own.  So start with that in the morning, your own coffee.  What I did initially was cut out the added sugar, and kept the cream.  Then I lessened the cream.  Then I totally removed the cream and started drinking coffee black.  And poof, coffee that isn't really bad for you in the grand scheme of things.  I'll still get a latte now and again, mostly as a reward for something, but I've stopped adding sugar to the things.  And honestly, I can think of worse things than drinking a mixed espresso and milk, even after working out.

 

Hope that helps!

[stevembk]

 

What's wrong with a skim latte? Is it the milk or the sugar? You could get sugar free vanilla syrup or no syrup at all.

[captain_pete]

Thanks, RisenPhoenix! Great recos. I've also been thinking of chai... I like chai lattes, so chai tea is probably pretty good.

 

Stevembk, as I've experimented with limiting my sugar in different ways, I've discovered more and more that sugar makes me feel terrible. I can barely finish half a can of soda at this point. The problem is I love the taste, I just can't handle it well anymore. Plus, I think the milk makes me feel heavy. I'd love to cut back on that too. Overall, I just think it would be healthier to get rid of or limit the calories, the milk, and the sugar... I'm just looking for suggestions for what to try. That vanilla tea looks yummy... might have to try it!

[AKLulu]

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Both of the yogi teas have some licorice flavor to them though, so if you're not into that, definitely steer clear of those. The Mate Chocolatte is the only one with caffeine, so if you need a little bit of a kick, that might be the one for you. If I think of any others, I'll let you know

[captain_pete]

Thanks, Renegade! Yeah, I'm not really a fan of licorice, but the other two look yummy! I'll give them a try!

[franchise]

If you want the caffeine, black tea will get you the most bang for your buck. I alternate Twinings flavors - English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast, Earl Grey, and Lady Grey, usually. The other recommendations are good if you just want a hot cup, any of the Celestial Seasonings are good. I have Bengal Spice and Decaf Sweet Coconut Chai right now. Bigelow also makes a good Chai.

Disclaimer: Chai bags are just spiced black tea - if you're used to a chai latte from Starbucks, it will not taste like that.

[Vella]

I drink mostly black teas and green teas, and don't tend to enjoy fruit flavoured teas (cooked fruit flavours rarely appeal to me).  I like Irish Breakfast and Ceylon Orange Pekoe for black teas.  I've also been known to drink darjeeling.

You could also try rooibos (red) tea, if you're looking for a lighter, but still earthy different flavour.

Smoked teas can also be quite nice (Russian Caravan is my favourite).

 

I do drink my tea with neither milk nor sugar, and I prefer teas with bold flavours - not sure whether you'll be the sort of person who prefers the bold flavour (coming from strong coffee flavours) or want something softer (like a green or white tea), to warm you up to the tannins.

[Tazo]

Tea?  Oh, tea is my JAM.  I can tell you all about tea.  

Tea is, for our purposes, broken up into four different types: Black, Oolong, Green, and Herbal (or tisanes).  There are actually more, but I don't want to overload you with info too early.

Black teas are the most mature and strongest of the teas.  Lots o' caffeine, less anti-oxidants.  There are a number of traditional blends (English and Irish Breakfast, for example) that are good places to start.  If you want flavored black teas, you're looking at Earl Gray (it is popular for a reason beyond just Picard) or any of India's spiced chais.  Earl Gray is a good starting point, esp. if you're looking to cut back on sugar intake because it's pretty flavorful already.

Oolong is kind of an inbetween state of Green and Black.  That isn't exactly what it is, but we're going to call it that because it's easier.  It's got more flavor and, for me, is a really nice late morning/early afternoon tea.  It is a little harder to come by than straight black or green, but is definitely worth paying a little extra for (which actually reminds me that I need to get some).

Green tea is the most inherently flavorful of the three and lots of healthy things in it.  There's literally hundreds of different varieties based on how it's cooked (steamed, pan fried), what it's cooked with, the age, etc.  This is the kind of thing where you just want to find a way to try stuff.  I'm very partial to Japanese Sencha teas and Chinese Gunpowders, though, if that helps.

Herbal teas are a wild card because there's just so many different types.  Rooibos, mint, chamomile, etc.  These are good sugar-drink replacement if you're just after something tasty to drink, especially late in the day if you won't want to drink too much caffeine.  

[captain_pete]

Tazo, that's all very informative, thank you!!

[Jimbo]

IMO, the best all-purpose tea is Darjeeling.

 

Sometimes the herbals have weird ingredients. For example, the two brands of ginger tea available locally both have black pepper in them. Depending on the state of my tastebuds, these ginger teas sometimes taste more like pepper than anything else. As I said, weird.

 

I don't like Earl Gray. The added bergamot tastes like a nasty medicinal to me. It seems like a peculiarly English flavor corruption, much as they like to ruin perfectly good pipe tobacco by mixing it with too much Latakia. (You could say that Darjeeling is to tea as a Virginia is to pipe tobacco.) In the end, it's just a matter of personal taste.

[Endor]

I love Peppermint (not spearmint) tea, great for something to drink when you want some flavor without calories and also very good at settling your stomach if you've eaten too much or something that has not agreed with you.

 

Chamomile is a good tea for an hour or so before bedtime, relaxes you and helps sleep.

 

If you want something that's more like coffee but caffeine free try dandelion tea granules, they are really easy to make a drink with (no teabag or steeping needed) and got a sort of coffee flavor.

 

[UltanBoyd]

I love tea.

In fact I'm sat here with the remnants of the tea clubs latest trial tea.

 

I would agree Darjeeling as the basic tea but a blend is probably your best bet. My favourite is Nambarries but I've not seen it out of Northren Ireland. Punjana by Thompsons or Twining's English or Irish Breakfast are good places to start although one of the over riding things about Indian tea is the bitterness. Having said that I find Ceylon quite mellow and malty. Assam tends to be peppery and is probably my favourite pure leaf tea. But again better in a blend.

 

You could try chinese teas like Oolong or the smokey Lapsang Souchong. Though I find lapsang to be metallicy. Otherwise Redbush is an excellent choice. On it's own it's delicate and refreshing and can be laced with vanilla. With a dash of milk it's warming and comforting though it took me a while to work out whether I liked it or not (I love it)

I don't like Earl Grey or Lady Grey or any tisane really other than peppermint or raspberry leaf tea (not for the pregnant). The thing you must remember with black tea though is to scorch it. The water must be boiling not luke warm like for coffee. Oh and get yourself a pot. People talk about the Japanese tea ceremony but a proper cuppa deserves no less than a proper dunking. It's not coffee. It's relaxing and shouldn't be rushed.

For more details please see my letter to the Daily Telegraph when they wrongly suggested the right way to make tea was in a mug,

 

 

In response to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8577637/How-to-make-the-perfect-cup-of-tea-be-patient.html





Dear Sir





I write with great concern regarding your article of research into the perfect cup of tea, as it involves the use of a tea bag in a mug. Are you American or just of unsound mental faculty? The making of tea is a complex art form which starts with filling the kettle with water. The water should only be boiled the once and not long before boiling some water drawn off to be swilled about the teapot and emptied. This warms the pot such that when the Kettle boils (and before it stops making the sweet thunder of the rolling boil) the water striking the ceramic is not cooled too quickly and the water remains close to it’s maximum temperature to properly scorch the tea at the bottom of the pot. It is not acceptable to add the tea after the water. The tea can be loose or bagged to personal preference, I find teabags often a fuller hit of flavour whilst loose leaf tends to add delicate overtones to the flavour. I recommend one bag/tspn per person for tea and an additional bag/tspn for the pot, assuming an appropriately sized pot. The water should infuse with the tea for 6 minutes total.







Cups should be arrayed and milk added to the cups, the choice of cup is of great importance although often overlooked. Those god awful coffee cups that tea gets served in in coffee shops are a travesty. With their wide top allowing all heat to escape and their little ring handle ill-equipped for the weight of a full cup; more oft than not causing one to burn middle and ring fingers on the hot ceramic or wait the infinitesimally small amount of time before the tea becomes luke warm. No, the cup should be china or earthenware which each impart their own character which while usually a personal preference may be dictated by formality. It should be of a sensible size and here in the right setting a mug may be used. However the modren [sic] insistence that bigger is better is not always the case. Indeed having acquired a 20 fl. oz. mug I find the tea often disappointing whilst two reasonably sized cups are oft better. The cup should be of a good shape and allow holding either by a large handle or a lighter material cup on a more petit handle.







It may take some practise to judge the correct amount of milk for each cup but that is why this is an art form and not a science. It is customary to pour your own cup first. In this way you can check the tea is suitably brewed. A quick stir (though without squeezing the teabag if using bags) will increase the strength a touch. Pour each person’s in turn using a strainer if using leaf tea and trying to get as much height as possible in the pour, it can be cleaner to start the pour close to the cup and raise the pot away from the cup. In a formal setting tea should be served with a bowl of sugar lumps, some tongs and a teaspoon resting on the saucer. In less formal settings it may be reasonable to add sugar to the tea to meet each persons taste though it is not considered rude to leave each guest to ‘stir their own troubles’







Lastly the drinking of the tea is important. Tea is an event. Tea is a rarity in that it’s luxury is not diminished by it’s commonality. One should take the time to savour a cup of tea. It is not a drink for an ‘on the go’ lifestyle and shouldn’t be supped from travel mugs hastily as part of the morning commute. Even the flask tea with it’s metal tang and plastic cup should be enjoyed without distraction on a river bank, park bench or from the parcel shelf of a car. That is excepting of course the distraction of good conversation or a plate of biscuits. Indeed I would expand Henry Fielding’s quote that love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea by suggesting that the soggy, overplayed biscuit half in the bottom of the cup serves quite well too.







In this way you will achieve much closer to the perfect cup of tea than the hogswill-making method you describe. I look forward to your future retraction of your work and your cries for apologies when you realise your mistakes. If you require corroboration I believe Orwell to have been quite the tea maker. Though we differ on some of his more controversial ideas I believe his treatise on tea from 1946 is a good base to work from.





Mr. U Boyd





PS. I should note that common practise in Northern Ireland is to pour into a metal teapot and then transfer the teapot to a hob to simmer for a few minutes. This creates a strong brew quite different in flavour to the more English method above. Personal preference should discern one’s favourite method.

[Mad Hatter]

For more details please see my letter to the Daily Telegraph when they wrongly suggested the right way to make tea was in a mug,

 

I think the article talks about builders' tea as opposed to real tea.

[UltanBoyd]

Then they needed to make it clear. The fact they refused to even have the graces to acknowledge my rebuttal, let alone print it suggests they knew they'd done wrong.

Shame on them! Shame on them!

[Mad Hatter]

Agreed. It was a good letter. Though personally I think any tea with milk is wrong.

[zettarooski]

I also enjoy coffee, but went through the same thing of trying to change my habit.  I also realized that I like a nice, warm beverage at least once/day (esp mid-day in my freezing office!!). 

 

I have found that I like herbal teas the best for this reason.  You can find TONS of different flavors to pretty much match your mood.  I don't mind the other teas either, but that's just what I found I really enjoy.

 

My recommendation would be to find a brand at the grocery store (like Celestial Seasonings - my favorite as it is cheap and tastes great).  Then get the herbal sampler pack for that brand.  I really like any kind of mint teas for reasons stated above - taste great, help with tummy issues, refreshes.  Now that the weather is turning cold I'm also really into seasonal types.  There's a great sweeter mint one that Celestial Seasonings makes around Christmas.  Also Trader Joe's has a Harvest Blend that tastes like Apple Cider (without all the calories).  I'd say Herbals are your best bet to find something you ultimately like.

[UltanBoyd]

Agreed. It was a good letter. Though personally I think any tea with milk is wrong.

#American #uncouth #WhereDidWeGoWrongWithThatColony?

[Mad Hatter]

Continental, not American

[UltanBoyd]

If you read the letter, you'll understand you are either American or unsound of mind. As you're clearly the latter I thought it polite to call you the former...or something to that effect.

 

#Save! #ThreadHiJack

[Mad Hatter]

Hahaha I'd rather be mad (like my namesake har har)

 

#nomilkintea #whatwasthisthreadaboutagain? 

[Loopus]

Mad Hatter, you have access to the shop T2 since you're in Australia, look them up - best teas i have ever tasted. Could heartily recommend Monk Pear, Milky Oolong and Arctic Fire xD All entirely organic, and you can buy online! THey have stores in most cities too.

 

Seriously, i go there at lest once a month.

 

The website is www.t2tea.com

[Vella]

Mad Hatter, you have access to the shop T2 since you're in Australia, look them up - best teas i have ever tasted. Could heartily recommend Monk Pear, Milky Oolong and Arctic Fire xD All entirely organic, and you can buy online! THey have stores in most cities too.

 

Seriously, i go there at lest once a month.

 

The website is www.t2tea.com

 

Yesyesyesyes, T2 is amazing!  I don't know if there are any outside Canberra (you can order online, though), but I swear by The Tea Centre.

Sydney breakfast is currently my all-time favourite tea from T2; black tea blend infused with bergamot.  It makes me a very happy woman.

 

You could try chinese teas like Oolong or the smokey Lapsang Souchong. Though I find lapsang to be metallicy. Otherwise Redbush is an excellent choice. On it's own it's delicate and refreshing and can be laced with vanilla. With a dash of milk it's warming and comforting though it took me a while to work out whether I liked it or not (I love it)

 

 

Of course, Lapsang Souchong - that's the one I was trying to remember earlier!  My dad says it tastes like a burned stick.

I say it tastes like a *delicous* burned stick

 

Also, hello, thread for tea enthusiasts (read: fantatics).  I have found my people.

[UltanBoyd]

 

Also, hello, thread for tea enthusiasts (read: fantatics).  I have found my people.

Irishmen and Britons?

 

Also Lapsang Sou is all the MIL drinks. I even hate the smell of it. It's like a burning clutch!

[Loopus]

Vella - try Really Russian caravan - it tastes like woodsmoke. Amazing

 

Im in perth, we have 2 stores