purematcha said

What was the tea that made you fall in love with tea?

Most of us can remember when people ask, how did you get so into tea? For me it was just one day at the grocery store, walking down the aisle with all the tea and being amazed at how much tea there was. My curiosity gave in and I decided to purchase a random box of Tazo green tea (tea bags). Every week I would buy 2 or 3 different boxes of tea from the grocery store, Then I graduated to Tea Vana and loose leaf tea. Then I bought some books about tea. 2 years after that, my obsession brought me to have my own Matcha company (Pure Matcha) lol. So I ask, Whats the tea that started it for you?

82 Replies
SimplyJenW said

I did not like tea much up until last year. I grew up with instant and Constant Comment, and am certain not even those were prepared correctly. My serious tea obsession started with a few borderline lab results at the doctor, and needing to improve my health. Dessert flavored tea was my replacement for sweets. The tea that made me consider tea would be a good treat and not undermine my quest for health…Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane. The one that hooked me, a Chocolate Raspberry blend at Adagio. It has progressed from there, and I still have so much to explore.

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Jude said

Had a closetful of Yogi and Traditional Medicinal teas for years and enjoyed Teaism’s Keemun. Then a couple of years ago I had a sample of Guayaki’s Vanilla Nut Java Mate and was delighted and intrigued enough to start reading about mate and tea. But the real turning point to passion happened when I first sipped Numi’s Emporer’s Puerh… I was a goner and dove in further, finding steepster and the world that it opened up. Yup, fell in love, and keep falling (kiss, kiss tie guan yin!)… aaahh…

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K S said

I drank Nestea instant for years because I didn’t much like brewed tea – so I thought. Then I had a cup of Constant Comment. Loved it. Went out and bought a tin of it, also Lemon Lift, Cinnamon Stick, and Earl Grey. I was absolutely addicted for years to Bigelow Earl Grey. I would probably still drink it often if it came in at least a 2g bag.

Cofftea said

Drink loose leaf. Then you can control how much leaf you use.

K S said

If it could found within a 40 mile radius I would.

Cofftea said

Purchase it online.

K S said

I’ve considered it but Twinnings and Ahmad loose (and a few others) I can buy locally.

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Fairyfli said

Mine was wandering by a Teavanna store and my sister and I were sucked in by all of the delicious samples :) I know that some people don’t really care for this store but I feel like it is doing a good job at getting people to realize more and more the good things about tea! I fell in love with their youthberry and most of the fruity teas! Really good transitional teas for me because they are more like drinking juice sometimes with a hint of tea.

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Mel said

I have been a tea drinker for as long as I could remember. I always drank Asian grocery store tea, or Good Earth tea. My first real tea experience was at a sushi restaurant. I always order tea whenever I have sushi, but this time, the tea was WAYYY different then everything else I’ve tried. I kept the label, and it was from Den’s tea. Years later, I found the envelope the tea was in, and ordered it, and later found steepster…and here I am!

Thanks to that sushi restaurant, I always thought tea was at a certain level, I didn’t know it could get better!

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Uniquity said

My Mum bought me a box of Yellow Label for me when I was in my teens – her concession to my desire to drink tea, since I’m the onmly one on that side of the family that hates coffee. I enjoyed bagged tea for years with milk and liberal sugar, but one day walked into the David’s Tea that opened near me, smelled a peppermint tea and fell deeply, madly, hopelessly in love. Steepster has really expanded that love over the past few months to think about the tea I drink in different ways and always be willing to try.

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Dinosara said

I always hated tea as a kid, but when I went to college a bunch of my friends were tea drinkers. My gateway tea was a spiced apple tea that reminded me of hot apple cider, and I put tons of sugar in it. Also during my undergrad I drank jasmine tea nonstop when I was in China for a month (it was served at every meal). I drank tea off and on for years after that, but never all that often. Then I had a layover in London and I went to a bakery early to get some breakfast, and ordered some tea because I was exhausted after a long flight. I didn’t really know what kind of tea I wanted, but I said “Earl Grey” because that seemed like a standard English tea to me. I fell absolutely in love! There was something about that tea that was soooo fantastic. I loved it so much I ordered a pot at a different cafe later that day. After that I came back and got really into tea.

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I grew up in a half English household. My mother introduced me to black English breakfast teas when I was in my teens. PG Tips. But now I swear by Ketepa Pride Teas.

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My earliest memories with tea belong to Celestial Seasonings. My neighbors/good family friends always had different boxes (with the beautiful paintings!) stashed away in a cupboard. We shared cups of tea (mostly Sleepytime & Mandarin Orange Spice) and even visited the factory. A few years later, I drank cup after cup of english breakfast tea with a good friend of mine at a summer camp. I think the original memories of drinking tea with a friend is what fuels my love of tea.

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LefTea said

I used to hate tea. I thought it was leaf flavored water and only tolerable with copious amounts of sugar. I did find a french vanilla lipton black tea I liked that I kept at work for years (the, er…same box) for those days when I wanted something warm but didn’t want the calories of hot chocolate (or didn’t have cash to purchase it). Then one day I was out shopping and Teavana lured me in with a chai blend sample. It was an outdoor mall on a brisk fall day and I figured a free sample was cheaper than Starbucks, and, what the heck, I’ve always liked chai from Starbucks so why not? It was amazing (their samurai/white chai blend) and I thought (mistakingly, apparently) that that was just tea – no sugar. We were back at the same mall a few days later and I ordered a cup to go of it while my husband got starbucks. I made a special trip out there a few days later when I developed an obsessive craving for that. I fell victim to the teavana upsell and 4 oz of tea (and two giant canisters) cost me nearly $40.

From there I tried the non-pushy tea store down the street (literally!) from my house, Todd and Holland and was hooked.

I still drink Teavana as I like the frou frou tea but I am gradually learning that I don’t need to add sugar to many teas, or, if I do want sugar, I add much less than I would have for the bagged lipton (typically 2 packets!). Since I have such a sweet tooth and I find that, for me, a little sugar brings out some of the flavors, I probably won’t end up giving up sugar in tea completely, but I won’t panic if sugar isn’t available.

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