Help with loose leaf tea

W

Winter

Cathlete
Hi,

Can anyone suggest a good website to buy loose leaf tea and any favorite flavors?

Also I would like to have tea just the same as coffee one cup right after the other. To do this would I buy a tea pot with an infuser in it? I would prefer not to wait for steep time on cup 2 and 3.

Thanks,
Winter
 
Winter, I buy from http://www.adagio.com/ quite often. I drink hot white and hot green tea. I'm addicted! ;) I know several friends also use this place, and/or http://www.teavana.com/. I prefer the simple white or greens, but I do like Cintron Green (a bit citrus-y), Cucumber White (yes, a bit cucumber-y), Casablanca Twist (a green tea with a bit of peppermint flavor) and believe it or not the Cherry Green. It took me some time to try several flavors, and I did that by buying samples first, then when I found a few I liked, I bought them in larger quantities. Both sites offer information/research for you to read to learn about the different kinds of teas!!!

Hope that helps some.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I'm NEW to hot tea. Until the last 8 months or so, I've only ever drank water.....cold, no flavor! LOL I've NEVER been a tea or coffee drinker, but now I love my hot greens and hot whites!

Gayle
 
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I'm a tea drinker for years and years. I find loose tea at Whole Foods (bags as well). There are also specialty stores like Teavana, or Republic of Tea online. If you have a Teavana or something, they usually have tastings so you can try before you buy.

As far as multi-cups. You can buy the pots and infuse; or use a French press (same as for coffee). For the pots, you can buy the ones with the infuser already included, or use the tea balls. Or you could buy 2 infuser cups :p
 
I've bought some great loose tea at teavana. I love a bunch of their flavors, but what comes to mind right now is Jasmine Oolong, Zingiber Ginger Coconut Rooibos, Jasmine Dragon Pearls Green, Lavender White. They do a lot of blends, but they also sell straight-up tea. I've found loose Republic of Tea and enjoy that. I got some great loose Earl Grey at World Market--Twinings brand.

I LOVE the Teavana Perfect Tea Maker (http://www.teavana.com/Teavana+Perfect+Tea+Maker+32oz/edp_no=3979/shop.axd/ProductDetails). I have the 32 oz one, and I make myself a cup and put the rest in a thermos to keep it warm. I can usually get up to 2 more steepings (I know I made that word up but can't think of a better one) out of the loose tea. That's my system for drinking tea all day and I really love it. :cool:
http://www.teavana.com/The-Teas/Green-Teas/Jasmine-Dragon-Phoenix-Pearls-Green-Tea.axdhttp://www.teavana.com/The-Teas/Rooibos-Teas/Zingiber-Ginger-Coconut-Rooibos-Tea.axd
 
I'm a Brit and we drink tea like it's going out of fashion. But, I cannot drink it the way most people in the UK traditionally do.

Yes, we tend to brew a pot of tea with loose leaf tea, but it is a fallacy that every cup will taste the same unless they are all poured at the same time, and even then, the first cup poured is always slightly weaker than the last. The longer tea sits in the pot the stronger it will be, until it takes on that "over-brewed" tannin taste that I cannot stand. Also, the longer it sits in the pot while you drink your first and second cup, the colder it gets. Do you like cold or tepid tea?

Since I cannot stand over brewed, tepid or cold tea, I will take the time required to stand by the kettle while it boils to brew a fresh cup of Lady Grey with a fresh bag every time, with a rolling boil kettle of water. You cannot make flavourful, hot tea with water that has gone off the boil. Disgusting!

Clare
 
Loose tea.

I like to buy my tea from Tea Gschwendner. It is a German company that has a few stores in America. I live in a Suburb of Chicago where they have a store where you can go in and taste their tea. You can also order from them on line. They have any type a tea that you could think of. My favorite is peaches and cream. I also just bought some black tea that has a little almond flavor in it called Marzipan.

I also have something like the perfect tea maker called the abid. It does make a perfect cup of tea. They sell it on the Gschwender store for around $18.00. They have a special right now that if you buy $35.00 of loose tea you can buy the abid for $5.00.

To heat my tea. I bought an electric hot water pot made by Aroma. I bought it a Target for around $40.00. You could heat a cup of water or a make a pot of water. It just takes a few minutes to heat the water. Very fast.

If you use a tea pot to steep your dried tea. I would use a very fine mesh tea filter to filter out the loose tea. They are very easy to clean. They come in two sizes small and large. Depending on the top hole of you teapot. They run around $10.00 to $20.00 for a good one.

As for making tea. It's up to you how stong you like your tea. You just have to play around with it until you find the way you like your tea. Just remember the longer you steep your dried tea in the teapot the stronger the tea. It could get too bitter if you keep it in the tea pot for too long.
 
I just wanted to add something onto what I said earlier. I have an under-the-counter coffee maker that DH used to use, and since I don't drink coffee, I use it to brew my hot water for my tea (and the kids' hot chocolate). It's PERFECT!

Also, here is the tea pot that I use religiously MANY MANY times per day:
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html?SID=c39e862ae20ed935ab685d0c6599a554

I agree with Clare, I'd rather take the time to steep a fresh cup every single time instead of it getting that bitter taste from over-steeping. No big deal, though, I can easily find something to do to keep my interest for 3-7 minutes! :)

Gayle
 
loose leaf tea

Teavana actually buys a lot of their teas from specialteas.com (and marks it WAY up!). I am an herbal/fruit tea kinda gal. I think I bought a bunch of samplers and then decided what I liked and bought more. I have an electric water kettle to boil water (love it!). I use a one cup steeper that fits over a mug, although I have a 2 cup steeper it doesn't get used unless I have company.

Cindy
 
Thank you everyone. Looks like I am well on my way with the information you have given me.


Wish I had a cup right now as I sit in my office freezing with 2 coats on........

I don't think I am ready for a MN winter yet!! At least I am way up North so we will miss the blizzard today.

Winter
 
Adagio Teas is da bomb for brewing nice loose leaf tea at home! I must check out Tea Gschwendner!

I HATE ordering tea from restaurants where 1.) the tea is Lipton/Stash/ or other assorted crappola sold by people who squat about a good cup of tea (the only teabag tea I have found likable is Tazo) and 2.) they bring a tin of water and the unopened teabag to the table. Boiling water should be poured immediately over the teabag and please, no microwave water. Blech! Yuck! Blarg!
 
I thought you are not supposed to use boiling water for green tea though?

Tazo is the only bag tea that I like. Oh and Yogi Tea Mexican Sweet Chili tea.
 
No one's mentioned Upton yet: www.uptontea.com. Not for the beginning tea drinker, perhaps, but once you know what you like it's a great place to get tea. They carry the largest variety of teas I've ever seen (that can be confusing for a new tea drinker). They have amazing customer service. Their tea is the best!

As to the green tea question, it should be infused generally between 160-180 degrees, kind of depends on the variety. Most of my greens are to be infused at 180.
 
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