25

Let’s start with a digression about what I tried that after the disastrous experience of trying another of their product.
I moved earlier this week and needed a few things that are most readily available at a famous swedish furniture store. It took longer than expected (doesn’t it always especially in this shop?), I decided to have dinner there. I learnt that I was entitled to a free drink for being a loyal customer to the brand (double so as I am registered both in Europe and in Singapore as the loyalty programs are not shared across countries).
In the drink choice, this was the only non soda drink and I did not even see a water fountain.
When tasting my first sip, I was getting prepared for a bad experience and was then positively surprised, as I realized it was quite drinkable. There is still more than 10 times the amount of sugar there should be; I was wondering whether there’s not also aspartame or whatever synthetic diet sugar are used in soft drinks, as the taste was not very natural. But this artificial feeling might also come from the lemon, which did not taste as much as dishwasher liquid as I feared but nevertheless did not taste at all like a fresh or even dried real lemon, but really like a lemon synthetic flavoring.
When reading the product description,I laughed at the “real tea leaves” section as the tea flavor reminded me strongly of the basic Lipton yellow;)
I will not buy it again, except if there is nothing else, but then I know I could drink it.

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Ysaurella

hope your move went well …you’re really brave to have dinner at I***…after all the horrible things mentioned in media regarding the food they were using :)

LaFleurBleue

I about finished unpacking and tidying.
Regarding food quality, believe me you’re so lucky to be in Europe and especially France. At the local supermarket next to my new home, I dare only purchase 1 out of 10 vegetables and fruits, as the 9 others come from China, when the origin is even labelled and considering that the labelling are not falsified; I have to check the origin of every food I buy first to be sure it was not made there. However I regularly eat in food courts, where the food is cheap, though nicely cooked, and every single ingredient most probably comes from there. So I guess one plate of supposedly organic pasta with tomato sauce was not a greater danger to my health.

cteresa

But horse in beef meatballs or pork in elk is safe! It is surprise extra protein ;) but there was no question bacteriologically and all it was safe food. ( though arguably we do not know about banned medication on the horse meat). honestly if this is the bad food scare, yay for Europe. Chinese food quality scandals are on a whole different category – fake eggs (really!) the whole issue with baby formula and baby formula smuggling and tons more.

I buy stuff from Chinese and Indian grocery stores ( because some stuff like spices, tahini, soba noodles, wonton wrappers) is just much better than I can get at regular supermarkets if I can even get them and I always worry. I try to buy stuff made in the EU, or Japan or Korea or Thailand or Taiwan. Never ever China, except for tea and I confess no matter the seller I always worry a bit about Chinese tea. Which i love.

Ysaurella

sorry to be trivial I was thinking about excrements found in chocolate pie sold at I*** ! Agree on different meats used, no safety problem just moral ones and cheating with consumers.

LaFleurBleue

I have not heard real bad things about food from other countries.
More and more after reading about new tea scandals often uncovered by the Japanese (the latest was only a few weeks/months ago), I feel like asking my favorite tea company whether they test the tea they purchase regarding the level of pesticide contained.
Problem is I much prefer chinese tea to any others. Oolong seem to be one of the most prone to pesticide overload and I really intend to stick to Taiwanese oolong for more safety.

LaFleurBleue

@Yzaurella: I had also only heard about the horse meat in meatballs, not about this disgusting and definitely dangerous matter. Glad that I’m very very picky on desserts and not a big sweet-tooth. Otherwise I might have felt sick;)

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Ysaurella

hope your move went well …you’re really brave to have dinner at I***…after all the horrible things mentioned in media regarding the food they were using :)

LaFleurBleue

I about finished unpacking and tidying.
Regarding food quality, believe me you’re so lucky to be in Europe and especially France. At the local supermarket next to my new home, I dare only purchase 1 out of 10 vegetables and fruits, as the 9 others come from China, when the origin is even labelled and considering that the labelling are not falsified; I have to check the origin of every food I buy first to be sure it was not made there. However I regularly eat in food courts, where the food is cheap, though nicely cooked, and every single ingredient most probably comes from there. So I guess one plate of supposedly organic pasta with tomato sauce was not a greater danger to my health.

cteresa

But horse in beef meatballs or pork in elk is safe! It is surprise extra protein ;) but there was no question bacteriologically and all it was safe food. ( though arguably we do not know about banned medication on the horse meat). honestly if this is the bad food scare, yay for Europe. Chinese food quality scandals are on a whole different category – fake eggs (really!) the whole issue with baby formula and baby formula smuggling and tons more.

I buy stuff from Chinese and Indian grocery stores ( because some stuff like spices, tahini, soba noodles, wonton wrappers) is just much better than I can get at regular supermarkets if I can even get them and I always worry. I try to buy stuff made in the EU, or Japan or Korea or Thailand or Taiwan. Never ever China, except for tea and I confess no matter the seller I always worry a bit about Chinese tea. Which i love.

Ysaurella

sorry to be trivial I was thinking about excrements found in chocolate pie sold at I*** ! Agree on different meats used, no safety problem just moral ones and cheating with consumers.

LaFleurBleue

I have not heard real bad things about food from other countries.
More and more after reading about new tea scandals often uncovered by the Japanese (the latest was only a few weeks/months ago), I feel like asking my favorite tea company whether they test the tea they purchase regarding the level of pesticide contained.
Problem is I much prefer chinese tea to any others. Oolong seem to be one of the most prone to pesticide overload and I really intend to stick to Taiwanese oolong for more safety.

LaFleurBleue

@Yzaurella: I had also only heard about the horse meat in meatballs, not about this disgusting and definitely dangerous matter. Glad that I’m very very picky on desserts and not a big sweet-tooth. Otherwise I might have felt sick;)

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I’ve started drinking much more tea quite recently, almost completely quitting espresso for it!
I’ve been introduced to high quality tea by one of my best friend, MF Marco Polo addict since more than 20 years. I’ve only rarely bought tea-bags since then, preferring the quality-price ratio of loose leaves.
I drink my tea natural, without any milk, sugar or sweetener. I only add honey when a sore-throat is coming along.
I usually either brew a large pot at home or resteep my leaves at the office. I cannot seem to learn to master the use of a gaiwan in an elegant and not clumsy way…
My tea preferences :
- I really like flavored black teas, with a preference for fruity flavors, from a tangy Earl Grey to a real fruit smoothie-like tea. I’m trying some single origin unflavored blacks from time to time but always end up having trouble to finish them. I usually do not really enjoy the strong breakfast teas.
- I do not like chai or teas with strong spice flavors. Strange considering I really like spicy food, but not what I drink.
- I am quite afraid of pu-erh and lapsang souchong, though I probably have never drunk any real good ones and I’m quite sure it can make a huge difference… A few years ago, I had been introduced to scotch whisky and can definitely attest that you cannot say you don’t like whisky, if you’ve only drunk blended stuff and not tasted yet single malts. I hope to get the same happy discovery for those teas.
- I discovered very good oolong, without going through the step of drinking bad-one first, and really enjoy it, especially with a meal. I’ll definitely try some flavored oolongs in a near future.
- I’ve just started discovering white teas, which feels very delicate. The only problem is that those can be awfully expensive…
- I also really like rooibos which I discovered a few years ago while searching for low-theine/caffeine teas that I could drink at night without suffering from insomnia.
- As with green tea, we’ve had a long-standing difficult relationship. I’ve occasionally had some that were real smooth, refreshing and so very many that turned bitter very quickly. And I cannot stand a bitter tea.
- As for jasmine tea, I used to like it but have indeed drunk too much of some bad quality bitter brew, and now I even have problem finishing the high-quality pearls I bought in Beijing.
- Yerba Mate: I’ve had some in one blend and am quite convinced that I would never like that as bitterness is one of its main characteristics. I’ll try to avoid it like the plague.
- Herbal tea: I used to drink more or those before discovering rooibos; finding good ones is unfortunately really difficult – even in organic shops, the herbs sold are far from great.
I loathe artificial flavoring of any kind in any beverage or food.

I’m quite opiniated and try to leave room for further improvement and better discoveries, which explain why I haven’t rated any tea in the 95 and above range.
Teas above 80 are among my favorites
Between 60-80, I could or could not give them a second chance or recognize that they are made with high-quality ingredients though their taste does not please my buds.
Around 50, it starts to be rather bad and a not so pleasant experience to drink.
25 to 40+ cover low quality products that I manage to drink when nothing else is available.
Below that, it’s really vile and basically almost undrinkable IMHO.

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Singapore

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