Steepsterans: What kind of teas do you have through out the day?
I have myself some Turkish Black since I bought a huge bag a week ago and often alternate with green tea every morning depending on my mood. Then in the afternoons I have myself some Darjeeling but mostly I have iced tea made with Turkish blacks and Japanese greens since I have a big amount of it. Evening and during the night is mostly something herbal and quite rarely anything caffienated.
The only thing consistent with me is my black tea (usually a Breakfast blend) with milk in the morning and a pot of decaf (herbal, but more often rooibos) in the evening. Everything in between – and there are, I admit, quite a few more cups in between – is a jumble of flavors and types (flavored blacks, greens, whites). Sometimes I will have me a day long pu-erh session if I have something good.
pu-erh sessions are worth the dedication and effort I just love how pu-erh can change flavors from earthy to leathery, even to a chocolate like flavor!
I usually have a green or black first thing when I get to work, never any of my better teas since I’m not focused enough first thing in the morning :P. Since the bulk of my weekday tea drinking occurs at work, I tend to pick teas that I can get at least two steepings out of since I’ve found I drink more tea that way. For a while the first thing I drank every morning was a sencha, then I ran out and that stopped. It was kind of nice to have some kind of a routine (although not too much of one since I want to try as many teas as possible). I save the good stuff (i.e. puerh and oolongs that take more time) for the weekend.
First thing in the morning I drink two cups of coffee to get me started. These are dark roasts and usually one of the Javas. I like Old Brown Java lots! After that it is tea all the way. Which tea I have varies from day to day according to my mood. Today it has been pu’erh, tomorrow it could be anything that is in the cupboard. I don’t like to waste anything so I tend to stick to the same tea reinfused throughout the day. I start a pot of tea at some point in the morning and then keep topping that up through the day. I have found that a single serving of leaf will generally get me the half dozen mugs of tea that I drink in a day. Sometimes it will even carry over into the following day!
In the morning I have strong black tea, lately PG Tips or Upton’s Scottish blend. With lunch I have a lighter black tea – a flavored black, darjeeling etc. Sometimes I have a dessert tea after dinner. And I love a cup of chai or other spicy tea before bed!
I typically start with black teas, or if I’m feeling a bit sleepy still, I might start the day with a yerba mate or a guayusa blend, and then switch to black tea. After my second or third cup, I usually switch to green tea, occasionally changing it up with an Oolong or a white or yellow tea. When it is later in the evening, I switch to caffeine free tisanes.
yerba mate is a really good alternative to coffee, it delivers the same punch but less excess of caffeine for the whole day. If I want to have the boost of coffee I sometimes mix yerba mate and black tea, which is just enough caffeine albeit the really astringent and bitter brew. Its a lot like drinking bitter melon juice but a bit sweeter with all the exhilaration in doing so!
For me it’s been thePuritea’s Milk Oolong all day everyday—at least on weekdays. I have a whole tin at my desk. It brews up really well with the hot spigot water at work. But on the weekends—anything goes! Usually that’s my time to try out and log new teas.
Starting my daily ritual is yerba mate, to cure my what was I doing agains?..
Sip on some oolong around work hours, nice pot of hot green tea for lunch and/or dinner,
Evening is dedicated to chai or puerh :)
I used to wake up with a good darjeeling, but I ran out and can’t find it anymore ;P
waking up to darj is lovingly sinful comprimise between the power of black tea and the smoothness of green tea. If I can bathe myself with the tea and kick the bucket with it…my life would certainly be complete! I’m a Darj slut..there I said it!
This past week-
Some combination of Mei Lan Xiang (a Wuyi Oolong), Tie Guan Yin, Pu-er, Taiping Houkui, Liu An Gua Pian and Lapsang Souchong.
Usually 2-3 pots a day.
Mariage Orange Valley or Queen Victoria when I arrive at work. A rotation of 8 Mariage FF Darjeeling teas in the evening.
Where I live I still have cooler weather so I have been enjoying pu-erh. In my humble opinion I think while it is cold pulling out the black teas or as some would say red teas and pu-erhs are great choices. I might be strange but thats what I like to do. And soon spring will be here and then I dive into the natural scented teas.
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