Need a tea to convert stubborn, coffee-drinking dad to tea

My father’s been a coffee-drinker all his life. He’s not a connoisseur or anything, but he’s started his day with a cup of coffee for the past four or five decades, and I’m having some difficulty convincing him to switch over to tea.

So far he’s tried some straight green teas from Mellow Monk that he didn’t particularly care for (I think he finds them too spinachy in taste), Mellow Monk’s genmaicha that he thought was okay, and an autumn tieguanyin from Verdant Tea that he thought was good-ish, but honestly it’s priced too high to drink on a daily basis and he didn’t love it really.

What I’m looking for is a reasonably affordable (it doesn’t have to be cheap) tea that will really knock his socks off and make him fall in love with tea forever. I’m thinking that maybe something with a nuttier, or sweeter taste might be able to win him over, but I have no clue as to which specific tea to get, so I’m asking for suggestions from you guys. :)

Also, he has high blood pressure, and is just the tiniest bit on the heavy side, so, although he’ll mainly care about taste, any tea that could help with either of those two problems and still be tasty would be great.

24 Replies

Oh, and does anyone know of any place online to buy really good hibiscus (based?) teas?

NMTC sells hibiscus itself.

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Lala said

Poosibly try a dark roasted oolong, so far it sounds like you have tried more green oolong and green tea. Or try a black tea like black dragon pearls by teavivre.

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DAVIDs Tea has a coffee flavoured pu’erh! my tea-hating father enjoys it, and doesn’t know it’s tea :)

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My father is a coffee drinker too and turns his nose up at unflavored greens, whites and green oolongs. After sharing many different samples of tea with him, I realize that what he loves in a tea is a strong flavor (nutty, roasty, smoky, cinnamon, chai, etc.). His favorites so far are Lapsang Souchong (or anything blended with it), Red Dragon Pearls from thePuritea and Winter Fire from Butiki (or any strong spicy cinnamon). He likes Puerh and Dark roasted oolongs ok, but not enough to request them again.

If you want low caffeine for your father, Hojicha is a good choice frequently recommended for coffee drinkers. Also, the Java tea co. makes some rooibos blends inspired by different coffee drinks.

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WtFGoD said

real question i see is why convert him? coffee is just fine(even beneficial) as long as it is not over-consumed or from a poor quality source. if he has a medical condition/caffeine sensitivity, why not just try to get him off caffeine all together and just improve his diet to give him more energy? might even be a better option if he is overweight.

if youre just trying to convert him to tea for the lols/common interest or for a personal victory it may be easier to talk him into Blacks rather than Greens as they are far far more similar. a decent irish breakfast or yunnan/fujian would probably go a long way to winning him over without breaking the bank.

if youre just looking for the healthiest heated drink that has an acceptable taste may want to look into white teas, their taste is pretty mild and they are supposedly good for you.

Yes, this. I’m wondering why exactly you “need to convert” him.

Angrboda said

Me too. I’m hoping he’s a voluntary participant. People like what they like and some people just don’t care for tea.

I’m joining the ‘why need to convert him’ club. Coffee is alright, if he enjoys it as much as you do with tea when what is the problem? If you just want him to experience something new then I would say David’s Teas Coffee Puerh, then perhaps you will both get what you wish.

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if he drinks coffee, he’d probably be most interested in a black tea i would think. i drink coffee every weekday morning before school (still do, along with my tea in the afternoons!) and my favorite kinds of tea are almost always black because they’re usually very strong like coffee.

maybe get him something like what WtFGoD suggested. personally i really enjoy butiki’s premium taiwanese assam which is a little cheaper than the tea from verdant, though not by much. i don’t really like earl grey (bergamot is not my thing) but maybe he’d enjoy a really bold one.

english/irish breakfast teas are often very strong and there’s a lot of them you can buy which aren’t very expensive. also as WtFGoD said, a golden yunnan black tea would be a good choice too (usually very bold and rich)

good luck!

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How about a pair of handcuffs and a funnel? :)

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gmathis said

Celestial Seasonings Roastaroma is a good alternative, as is Ersatz Coffee (www.ersatzcoffee.com/). Neither is strictly tea, but both are a close match in flavor.

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ashmanra said

I have converted a couple of coffee drinkers with puerh! Just plain old puerh, too, not even the flavored stuff. I was shocked, but they seem to love it right off the bat. Specifically, Teavivre’s puerhs are what I have used. I wasn’t actually trying tog et anyone to quit drinking coffee, just trying to open up the wonderful world of tea to people who had never tried the good stuff but didn’t think they were big tea fans, other than maybe the super sweet Southern iced tea that is ubiquitous here! (My mom made hers with three cups of sugar to the gallon. It was like syrup. I grew up in that stuff. It’s a wonder I wasn’t hyperactive.)

mrmopar said

I agree with the puerh. Much of it will brew dark and smooth like a cup of coffee. I have switched to it instead of coffee at night.

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Dr Jim said

I have to echo the question: why convert him? However, as someone who often starts the day with coffee before switching to tea, I find Harney’s Florence tea (a chocolate-hazelnut blend) is a good transition, as the most coffee-like tea I own.

Ooh, that sounds delicious! I’ll have to keep an eye out for that.

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