Tea Time

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K

ksb12345

Sosig said:
It kind of tastes like if you drop a sweet biscuit in your tea and swirl it around to be honest, I don’t like sugar in my tea though so other people might think it’s lovely
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I can't help it I am so intrigued!
 
P

pappardelle

Does anyone have a good peppermint tea recommendation?

I usually have Twinings for everyday and Teapigs as a treat, however neither are near as good as fresh leaves.
 
Reactions: 1

Yel

Moderator
Oohthedrama said:
pukka were up there but they’re a bit chav lately, the bags break really easily and I really don’t like their cinnamon
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That's what happens when Unilever buys a brand!

I have such fond memories of the pukka tea samples they always give out from the pukka tent at the Eden project. But the tea just isn't as good now a bit evil owns it.

I can't stand teas that have added flavours, if it costs less than £2 it often has them. All the supermarket own brands often do. It feels like cheating and the tea ain't good either.

pappardelle said:
Does anyone have a good peppermint tea recommendation?
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Chuck some mint in your garden and it'll grow like crazy. Or for fresh you don't need that much so even buying fresh probably works out cheaper than Tetley's teapigs brand.
 
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Oohthedrama

yes twinnings! I love it because it has liquorice in it
but I’m weird, I make weetabix with tea.
i used to put tea in fage yogurt.

(Ooh’s weetabix recipe;
boiling water, weetabix, leave it to go as solid as cement, about 3 days if you can, but if not a good hour .... it’s beautiful )

Yel said:
That's what happens when Unilever buys a brand!
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is that what happened to them??

I can’t stand fruit teas, also known as Satan’s piss.
 

MonkeyTennis

pappardelle said:
Does anyone have a good peppermint tea recommendation?

I usually have Twinings for everyday and Teapigs as a treat, however neither are near as good as fresh leaves.
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Aldi do two really good versions of peppermint tea, one contains peppermint and spearmint and is very good value compared to other shops, they also do a teabag version with the string attachment which is just pure peppermint, both are really lovely.
 
Reactions: 1

lemonlime

pappardelle said:
Does anyone have a good peppermint tea recommendation?

I usually have Twinings for everyday and Teapigs as a treat, however neither are near as good as fresh leaves.
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I really like Pukka's Three Mint, despite the Unilever being the demon.
 
Reactions: 3

Kthxbye



A selection of my favourites, although I cant seem to find the camomile and spiced apple anymore.
For a normal, good old cup of tea then it has to be Yorkshire Tea. Nothing else even comes close.
I also like Earl Grey and Lady Grey.
 
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martaS

Someone else posted pictures of Tea India chais - try them, they're really strong! Both tea-wise and spice-wise.
I love the coconut (but it's not to everyone's liking, in my old work 2 colleagues liked it too so we would order together but a friend who really loves tea said it tastes too much like a pudding), the cardamom is my second favourite. Both great as an iced chai latte.
If you're not keen on the coconut or cardamom, do try their masala/real chai - can't remember which name is the newer/correct name. This one has a blend of spices so might a good start.

I also like Clipper's Indian Chai but again, it might not be to everyone's liking as it's quite heavy on cloves and orange peel. I actually quite like this one with no milk and a wedge of orange but I am from the continent and we do put lemon and orange into black tea.

I also really like Dragonfly teas, they have a great range of rooibos. I love rooibos but the plain stuff can get a bit boring so I like to get their Earl Grey Rooibos, Vanilla Rooibos (they use high quality vanilla so it quite lux, for a tea) and the spicy Cape Malay Chai Rooibos is one of my all time favourites.
They also do a great jasmine green (Clipper's decaf jasmine green is also one of my faves).

Other Clipper teas I like:
- Snore and Peace, great before bed,
- Sleep Easy, even better before bed, smells great and is really comforting,
- Organic green tea & citrus & aloe vera and also Organic green tea & echinacea & citrus - both really refreshing. Sometimes pure green tea can be a bit much!

The only Clipper teas I don't love are the white teas, I think white tea is just too subtle to be brewed in the bag, the Clipper ones just taste of the bag and not much else.

I, like many of you, also love Yogi:
- Green Energy is a fave, refreshing, really nice for people who don't like plain green tea. One of my colleagues I mentioned before can't drink pure green tea but loves this one. I think it's the elderflower and lemon verbena that really lift this tea and make it stand out;
- Green Balance, also interesting green but not as fresh/light as the Green Energy;
- their Bedtime tea is also nice but not as nice as the Clipper ones;
- Choco Mint tastes like an After Eight, really potent and lovely for that 3pm cuppa during winter time;
- Sweet Chilli - interesting but not for the faint-hearted, it is a bit spicy;
- Choco - is what it says on the label, again nice in winter. Quite sweet so if you are trying not to have that 4th biscuit, it might just do;
- Turmeric Chai and Turmeric Orange are nice if you're trying to get into turmeric teas;
- but the one I truly adore is the Echinacea. Again, like with Dragonfly ones, is rooibos based and I am a bit partial to some rooibos.
- they also do an insanely tasty before bed tea with lavender oil. Sadly I only bought it once from Waitrose but if you like sleepy herbal teas, do try it.

I started my tea adventure with Pukka and probably tried most their teas by now. I also didn't realised it got sold but as I explored other teas, I slowly went off the brand. I do go back every now and then but as other people notice, their infusions did get a bit weaker.
The one tea from Pukka I absolutely adored was the Three Tulsi. There is no other herb that tastes like Tulsi. It was a revelation. I don't think they make it anymore and the newer Tulsi Clarity just isn't the same. But if you like unusual tea, try tulsi from other brands if you can find some, it's just something else. Some of Tea India Ayurvedic blends also contain tulsi but it's not the same as pure tulsi.
Pukka really helped me when I wanted to lose weight and was trying to stop putting sugar in tea. Lots of their teas have liquorice so are naturally super sweet and therefore a great thing to drink when you're trying to give up sugar. (Quite a few Yogi's one have liquorice too). Be careful though those with high blood pressure as it can elevate it (mine is so low that I had nurses wonder how I was still up and awake LOL).

I used to love Twinnings' Earl Grey and Lady Grey and they even did a Rose Grey (I am sure it wasn't called that but it was divine) but then I read an article on the Guardian about how many pesticides they use (there was a whole list of tea producers) and it put me off and hence why I started exploring Pukkas, Yogis and so on. I'd like to think they've improved now and should really follow it up but I just stopped buying their teas. I am not judging people who still do and also all these lovely organic teas we have been discussing cost a bit more than Twinnings and not everyone spend a small fortune on tea like I do.

Lastly, yes, some fruit teas are Satan's piss but there is a Very Berry tea from Higher Living that I managed to buy a fair few times from TK Maxx, both loose leaf and bags and it's very lovely and fruity. Taylors of Harrogate Kew Rose Lemonade Tea is also lovely but very hard to get hold of these day and certainly quite pricey on Amazon and the likes.

To really finish my little tea essay off, some great places to buy tea (if you live in Cambridge or area or UK in general) are Revital (small independent wholefoods chain which also sells online), Arjuna (independent Cambridge wholefoods) and Holland and Barrett (also online). Waitrose is great (but sadly out of the way for me so I go maybe once a year). TK Maxx is great for tea roulette (when you just buy random teas from random brands) but also you can sometimes get Clipper, Tea India and some other brands. There is also more and more tea at coffee festivals, especially the London one which will hopefully resume after covid. I love how many random lattes I tried there in 2019 (betroot/purple potato latte anyone?) and you get a lot of samples and freebies.

That's it. I might also upload a picture of my current tea cabinet situation when I have a moment.

I love this thread and look forward to reading everyone reccs!

Oh also. I read too much Guardian, it seems, but some of those teas in pyramid bags might release microfibers (tiny particles of plastic) when brewed and no-one wants to drink plastic and there's enough of it in the environment already which we ingest through drinking water, sea salt, fish and seafood and so on. Just something to be aware of!
 
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R

Readinginks

When I first moved to the UK whenever someone mentioned white tea I thought they were talking about Chinese white

I grew up drinking herbal and fruit teas, never black especially not with milk, but living in London has totally opened the world of black tea to me

I am a Yorkshire fan, but not gold, it has to be the classic.

Also I grow my own mint in a pot, for the best morning freshness.

If you are in London or are happy to shop online and want good quality loose tea, check out The Tea House in Covent Garden, they have some of the best selection! My favourite is Earl Grey Indulgence. It’s got rose buds in it and tastes heavenly. Certainly pricey but brilliant for special occasions.

Earl Grey Indulgence

www.theteahouseltd.com
 
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lemonlime

No drinkers of the ol' PG Tips then? I definitely find it strong, it's saved for those mornings when I have a shitstorm waiting for me at work.

Loving F&M's Smokey Earl Grey lately. Reminds me of Lapsang but not as overpowering.
 
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Delia Smith

Ringtons, Twinings English Breakfast, Tea pigs everyday brew, or a good loose leaf if i'm feelin' fancy.
 
Reactions: 3
R

rivermonster

MonkeyTennis said:
Aldi do two really good versions of peppermint tea, one contains peppermint and spearmint and is very good value compared to other shops, they also do a teabag version with the string attachment which is just pure peppermint, both are really lovely.
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I buy their Forest Fruit Infusions, Peppermint and Liquorice and just found Lemongrass and Ginger although not found that one in all Aldi's. I have tried lots of brands including some very expensive ones but much prefer these.
I bring great Green tea back from Vietnam but now rationing it as don't know if or when we will be going back there.

Can't even stand the smell of black tea.
 
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