I've been going the poor man's route and just buy those Arizona gallons of tea (Green tea with ginseng and honey). Not the best in any way, but it's decent, affordable, and convenient.

>>25232
I do this too. Arnold Palmer Arizona tea is my favorite (iced tea + lemonade). Normal tea just tastes awful to me.

Just big old sacks of the popular Assams, Nilgiris, Ceylons, and all that kind of thing. You get good stuff at stupidly low prices when you buy in bulk.
Nothing too fancy though. Just large enough quantities of decent tea I won't have to worry about running out for months to come.
No Darjeeling at all right now for one. Went kind of nuts sampling this and that flush from a bunch of different estates a while back. Ought to have another go at that kind of endeavor again sooner rather than later. Collect notes on every estate.

Also really hankering for some Keemun though. That's number one on the list of things to throw disposable income at for now. Could really do with a spot of the old Keemun, I could. Chinese is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to matters of tea.

Got into loose leaf teas a few years ago. A year ago I bought my own Japanese style tea set. I almost never drink with other people so it may have been a waste.

Teavana, while being a chain, still has some good stuff. The green teas they have are good. Their original blended chais are definitely an interesting taste, with the mango and papaya. And they may have overpriced sets and tools, but it's all really good quality.

It's been so long since I last bought tea all I have here has already lost flavour. Too bad, because there's so much of it left.

This is all I've been drinking lately, but I have a pretty decent sized selection of teas (mostly Darjeeling and such). I've just been too lazy to brew any and this is instant stuff.

>>25247
Is this powder stuff any good (compared to, say, milk tea from a shop)? I think I've seen it somewhere, but it's like 20 minutes away by train.

I don't like tea because it tastes like someone put something in my water.

>>25252
And I don't like water because it tastes like someone took something out of my tea.
So you can have all the water while I much on these leaves.

>>25253
koalas eat leaves and dont dirnk water. are you a koala?

>>25251
I've honestly never had milk tea from a shop personally but I really like the powdered stuff. It has a really nice floral kind of taste that I like a lot. It's not too sweet either.

>>25269
I kinda want to taste some now.

>>25270
You should! You can get them at most Asian grocery stores, or I'm sure you can even order some online.

>>25271
Doesn't powdered stuff come from grocery stores? I meant something like the milk tea from a bubble tea shop.
I guess it wouldn't be hard to make milk tea like that, there would be recipes somewhere. Probably just brewed tea, milk and some kind of sweetener (or maybe condensed milk would take care of both milk and sweetener). But I'm interested in the powdered stuff because I'm lazy.

>>25273
Yeah the powdered stuff should be at Asian grocers, I'm not too sure about a normal grocery store. I know you can also get the powdered stuff online on Amazon and such if you don't have an Asian grocer near you. The brand here is really good: >>25247

why would you buy Japanese milk tea? are you that much of a weeaboo? just get some tea bags and milk.

I want to buy macha because it's what every recipe involving green tea uses. But I'm too lazy to look around for it.
I assume it can't be prepared from bags/loose leaf?

>>25283

of course it can.

Just, elitists with more money on their hands than they know what to do with say otherwise to justify their expenditure.

>>25281
I don't know shit about tea and this actually made me wonder.. Is there anything special about Japanese milk tea or do people (outside of Japan) really only buy it for the novelty?

>>25288
"Royal Milk Tea" in particular isn't really a thing outside Japan as far as I'm aware, so powdered forms of it consequently probably also wouldn't exist outside the market of aforementioned Japan, powdered foodstuff wizardry capital of the world.

But it actually is just plain old India-grown black tea prepared with copious amounts of milk, so specifically going out to get stuff labeled as Royal Milk Tea probably is just for the novelty of it. Barring it being a matter of convenience with ready access to and an established tolerance/liking for the powdered stuff of course.

>>25281
The powdered stuff is nice, you just add hot water and it's already pre-flavored with sugar and milk. I dunno, it's just interesting to try I suppose. I like normal tea as well but I'm up for trying all sorts of kinds of tea as I just like tea in general.

>>25283
It should be at any Asian grocer, or online from Amazon or something. I think you can prepare it from loose leaf but it's a lot nicer in baking if you buy the powdered stuff. I sift it with all my normal dry ingredients because it gets lumpy, too.

I almost never drink tea anymore...

I have a few teas. I tend to only drink them when I'm running low on other beverages but sometimes I drink them for their effect.
Jasmine suppresses appetite really well.
Green is mentally stimulating but not physically like coffee.
Chamomille is relaxing, but not lethargic.
Black / Orange Pekoe actually increases my appetite, particularly for cafe snacks like bagels or muffins. It's also rather rousing, but not stimulating in anyway.

I keep a stock of powdered beverages too, like cider, hot chocolate, espresso, Kool-aid and Crystal Lite.
It's so great having a kettle and a little collection, I can't imagine how I lived before this habit.

Good green tea has an effect similar to L-theanine+caffeine for me. Sort of a calm, but not tired feeling. Works good for getting stuff done.
Anybody tried the ginger milk tea? It's really good.

>>25294
matcha is a bit harder to find if a grocer doesn't specifically carry Japanese products, but you can find it online easily.

it's great for cooking but drinking straight unsweetened matcha is an aquired taste, as it tastes much different than regular green tea.

I always have looseleaf green tea every morning, even at work. I always make it a part of my day.

Though I can't really be called an "enthusiast" since when I go into enthusiast levels there's a massive variety of different green teas and it's a bit overwhelming. There's a local grocer nearby that sells 3 types of looseleaf green teas and the one I've liked most is jasmine.

>>25677
Jasmine suppresses appetite? That sounds good to me, seeing as I'm trying to lose weight and I have a rather high appetite.

Gonna try give up caffeine. again. I've done it for months at a time before but people buying and giving me coffee always seems to ruin it.

I used to be more into loose leaf tea but high quality coffee is just so cheap now. my favourite were black teas, blends like russian caravan also.

so back to the grain coffee and rooibos.
rooibos is good. similar in taste to black tea but very little tannin.

>>25811
>Gonna try give up caffeine.
Why?

>>25811
Just swap out every 2. cup of coffee with a cup of tea.

>>25812

Consumption always seems to get out of hand. I don't think over-all though that it is a particularly healthy habit. Although I might switch back to just tea which has less caffeine.

>>25817

Yeah, I've never been good with moderation. It's tends to be all or nothing with me.

I had this yunnan black needle tea a while back. it had a wonderful taste and aroma, like honey but was almost too rich to be drunk by itself. I blended it with ceylon and had it with milk.

>>25812

A lot of reasons.

First there's the negative health effects. Biggest one for me was it made my head feel cloudy and how addictive it is. Not to mention how much other unhealthy shit is usually in caffeinated beverages.

It can also be fairly expensive to keep buying soda compared to tea or water. The addictiveness doesn't help with this.

It's a fleeting pleasure like most unhealthy activities. In the moment of partaking in it you might be enjoying yourself but you certainly won't later.

Coffee is generally a healthy consumable - in moderation. The way I regulate my intake is by the "4 hours" rule. I.e. the effect of caffeine runs out after 4 hours. The next level is of course by swapping the second and fourth cup with e.g. green tea. Theine has a similar effect to caffeine. That said, I don't personally have any problem moderating my nutritional intake with the power of rationality, so it probably won't apply in the context of addiction. Your millage may vary.

>>25820
Raw coffee beans/powder is cheap, with few toxins of note.

Post edited on 29th Dec 2014, 11:15am

>>25821
Caffeine metabolism can vary from 3-8 hours (sometimes more) depending on stomach contents, route of administration, genetic factors, and quantity.
On the topic of caffeine addiction, I usually do 4 weeks on 2 weeks off. Generally start around 200mg (two cups of coffee or one caffeine pill) and by the end of 4 weeks I am up to around 2000mg (twenty cups of coffee or ten pills). First couple days off suck, but it tends to optimize the stimulant potential. Also, combining with L-theanine either by drinking green tea or with supplements reduces most of the uncomfortable effects.
Not saying this is actually healthy though and sensitivity varies.

I really like bottled "Unsweetened Oi Ocha Dark Green" tea. It has a very strong aftertaste, almost like Spinach, and the main taste is also refreshingly potent.

However, I am thinking of brewing my own. Does anyone know of any good brands of bagged Green Tea for the purpose of making chilled tea?

Well I woke up with the intention of giving up caffeine. By 10am I was in the supermarket and buying loose lead Ahmad Darjeeling as well as some loose twinnings english breakfast as well as some moccona classic instant.

I'm useless. I was gonna give up drinking too. Should have picked up a bottle of pinot noir while i was there.


It has Cyrillic on the box so god knows why it is in my local supermarket. Have never seen it there before.