New Tea Enthusiast
So i’ve started tea less than a week ago at my local mall in Teavana. From what I have read it is hell on earth, however my experience was particularly well that I would come back, but after reading what I have, i’ll be more prepared next time.
I followed instructions on the bag, and tea doesnt quite come out like it does in Teavana. So as I type this I have a Strawberry Lemonade Herbal Infusion next to me, this time I used 3 tbs of leaf and 2 tbs of rock sugar, best tea i’ve made yet. Seems that the guidelines are more of a sample if anything..
Anyways I come to steepster to gain ideas and brew techniques, I’m currently not using a kettle but I have a water cooler that has hot water from what I am told is “almost boiling.”
Anyways my name is Jessie, thats my introduction to tea. I would love reccomended teas for a sweet tooth like me <3, Also I would love to know where to buy tea online.
Hi -
I used to enjoy tea the way you do, but don’t be surprised if you find that over time, you find yourself sweetening less and less. Now, I only put a few tsp of sweetener in big pitchers of iced tea.
I have a few Teavana teas myself, but I recommend hunting around online for other teas if you find you want to experiment. The desserty Teavana flavors are usually pretty good, but they are seriously overpriced for what you get. I love perusing various online vendors and have a whole bookmark folder when I feel like window shopping and getting ideas for the next thing to try. :)
For me, my latest discovery, is cold steeping for herbal and black tea in particular. A lot of natural sweetness comes out, and for some blends that might be a bit “sour” normally, it creates a smoother tea where the flavors aren’t masked at all by the tartness. I like tart too, but sometimes a change is fun. Welcome to tea :)
I’ve found that I’m not too into cold tea. In the starter kit I recieved I tried the Strawberry Lemonade Herbal Infusion as iced but didn’t particularly like it, given I followed guidelines and not a personal preference this may have impacted my judgement. However I will stay will hot tea for now until I can obtain an infused pitcher.
I’ve found some websites like Rishi, Ippodo, Adagio. It seems the first two are more real oriental tea that require you to know what you’re getting into. Adagio seems to be a little bit better than Teavana prices. Given Teava likes their fruity-patooty flavors I think i’ll stick with them for the mixes and the fruity teas until I can find a site to replace them. It mostly seems websites only have herbal fruit teas.
If you like dessert style teas, a few others worth mentioning are Della Terra- lots of flavored teas, Davids Tea- larger company with some similarity to Teavana but many here I think like them better- lots of talk of great customer service for a larger company, Butiki- lots of great tea choices & loved here by many, 52teas – lots of crazy flavors … Also home to southern boy teas -iced tea blends.
A major thing I have right now is that it seems I’m going to to have to use 3 tbs of leaf when I make my cups from now on, and I need a place relatively cheap with nice white and black teas, as well as a few dessert styles. I’d love to find my Ideal shop like that. I don’t have a lot of money to spend. I found a tea stand at my local flea market but I believe it’s more herbal if anything. Most of the tea is for health, rather than taste.
Another thing you can do is watch here for sales people have heard about and post about. There is actually a threpeonies for that and sometimes there are some really good deals. I think several people here have talked highly of Black Friday tea sales, seems like a long way away but maybe something to save up for.
There is also a thread on here where people can post what they have available for sale… Labeled “Official Stash Sales” or something like that. That’s a great way to try a few companies at the same time if they are offering a variety of things.
Ah thank you for telling me =] Also, apart from steepster what are some other active tea community forums?
there’s teachat.com I’m not a member, but they have some interesting threads.
I ended up registering there, steepster seems to have a more active community though. However i’m still awaiting my account to be approved so I can’t judge it just yet.
Reddit/r/tea is the only other one I check but they aren’t as nice as here.
Steepster and Reddit tea section are the most active online tea communities that we know of. There might be other tea communities but these twos are the ones we mainly use.
Do you live in or near a major city? Some have a robust hidden tea culture if you know where to look :)
Currently in St. Pete. Florida, we have Teavana and one or so mom and pop tea shops.
Yeah, Florida is a tea desert. I’m in Orlando and its the same deal, Teavana over in Altamonte, a local tea place down by the airport.
There is the Spice and Tea Exchange. They have a few locations in Florida. https://www.spiceandtea.com/locations-ezp-1.html?chapter=1
If there is a Biggby’s near you alot of them carry Harney and Sons, both by cup and tin. Other coffee shops might carry and sell different teas. Some higher end fruit markets also carries some teas like Republic of Tea. Have you also checked the ‘Places’ tab on top of the page? If you plug in your zip code it will give locations of the tea spots in your area. I just plugged your city and state, found several locations, though have not checked them out so have no idea how current they are.
I’ve found several grocery stores that have begun carrying better quality teas. Harney and Sons, Republic of Tea and TiestaTea have been some of my favorites lately. They are a good way to start. I could send you a few teas that help my sweet tooth :) Add some stuff to your profile so we can learn a bit about you. If you “follow” me we can pm and we’ll see what you might like from my cupboard.
3 tablespoons? I usually use that much for a pitcher. Teavana sells one by Takeya, and last year recommended 4 tbsp (1/4 cup) for a pitcher plus 1/3 cup or so of sugar.
http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-makers-infusers/p/large-blue-infusion-tea-pitcher
If you are, from your hot water tap, putting the water into a cold ceramic mug and then pouring it into your tea maker and then steeping for 5 minutes, then no, the water won’t be hot enough. Make a mental note how high the water should go in your tea maker, and add the water directly over the leaves. It should help.
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