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

During my tea infancy, the only flavored teas I could get my hands on in my part of the world were Constant Comment, Cinnamon Stick and a very few Lipton flavored varieties. We thought we were daring and trendy in college when we could get our hands on Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger.

I grew up with tea so I can’t remember not liking tea, but I do remember a few special moments when I discovered new teas. For example, the first time I tried Earl Grey I was in Cape Cod with my wife on a weekend getaway. We stopped at this little roadside cafe for breakfast and I decided to be adventurous and try an Earl Grey. It was Twinnings Earl Grey and I fell in love. Now I know that Twinnings isn’t the best tea, but at the time it was divine to me. Since then I’ve tried much better Earl Grey’s and I still drink it almost every morning.

More recently, I tried a Pu’er for the first time at a small tea room called Silver Tips in Tarrytown, NY. I never knew tea could taste like that. It was so good. I am constantly amazed at the variety of flavors that can come out of one little tea leaf.

When I was very young I used to drink constant comment because my parents always had that around the house and I loved it. I loved the experience of tea too. I have very fond memories drinking tea with my parents and sitting around talking. My first experience with loose tea was from a Japanese restaurant. They served genmaicha and from then on I was a loose leaf tea fanatic.

My favorite is a Rooibos Chai. There is just something about a Rooi with Chai spice. I love it so much that we came up with our own blend.

@gmathis, nice to hear you included our Constant Comment during your “tea infancy”, hope you’re still enjoying with all you favorites!
@Butiki Teas, thanks for sharing your fond memories of sipping our Constant Comment.

Please enjoy this link on how it all began:
http://www.bigelowtea.com/our-story/company-history.aspx

Kathy for Bigelow Tea

It happened 5 months ago…
My sister gave me some black irish tea. I fell in love the strong flavor. When I tried it with milk and sugar, I was hooked. I went online in search of tea knowledge. I discovered how much tea there actually was. I bought some rooibos because I wanted to try something new and WOW! Rooibos became my number 1 tea. I love the aroma and the flavor. My top three for now: 1 Rooibos, 2 Gevalia English breakfast, and 3 White.

I was first fascinated with earl grey. A friend was drinking it at a coffee shop. The drink with the pot appeared so sophisticated. I wanted to emulate this persona. I drank earl grey for a while, but it did not WOW me. The first tea to really do that was Keemun. I wish it could still taste like it did back then. It is still my favorite though.

I’ve always been a tea drinker, albeit my first taste of tea was from a Lipton tea bag. But the two teas that I really love and find interesting are Rose Pouchong from Fortnum and Mason, and Imperial Wedding by Marriage Frere. It’s not so much that drinking them makes me feel grown-up, nor sophisticated (as I’ve read other people mention,) it’s more like a sense of comfort that comes over me, or a feeling of plain delight whenever I indulge in a cup of either tea.

my first sip of bigelow earl grey really started it. I am relatively new to tea and have always just drank coffee, Until a few months ago. I have yet to try loose leaf tea. but cant wait until I do im sure then my infatuation with bergamot and black teas will ever increase.

Like many here, I’ve been drinking tea for a long, long time. However, I can vividly remember my first “gong fu cha” tea experience. While living in Taiwan over 6 years ago now, I went with a friend to visit someone he affectionately called “the tea dude.” As we walked in I felt like I was being filled with calming energy. The smells in the place were of an affectionate fall day and the light soft. We sat across the table from the dude, (who I later learned is a tea master) and quietly meditated while he slowly, but efficiently prepared a pot of Tibettan White Eagle tea: the first whiff from the smelling cup left me stunned. Never had I experienced such complex aromas coming form a single cup of tea. Citrus, honey, apricot and some unknown spice that I still can’t quite place. And the flavour was sweet, with a hint of sour just to keep things interesting, but smooth and clean as well. I have never had anything like it since, and because only 5KG are harvested per year, it’s prohibitive for me to buy it personally. That said, after that experience, I was on to tea for life and I suppose it was this experience which eventually led to my opening of Cloudwalker Teas online.