Amber said

Tea Explorations...

I am ready to jump out of my comfort tea zone!

I want to try new flavors and diferent variaties of tea… I am just not sure what all is out there and what would be good for a beginner…

A list of teas that I have tried and enjoyed…
-Get Passionate by ROT
-Peppermint tea by Stash (herbal)
-Chamomile by Bigelow (herbal)
-Orange Peko by Pickwick (Dutch tea blend)
-Sweet Dreams by Bigelow (herbal)
-Lavender milk tea

I have also had Snapple green and white tea and the like…

That’s about the extent of it…

I am curious about teas that I haven’t heard of until I started an account with steepster… oolong, (Asian names I have difficutly saying more or less spelling), honeybush, different types of green and white, lovely tisanes and anything else that would be good to help me branch out!

What are your suggestions? Also any good informative books on tea (history, culture, types) and or websites that you would recommend?

Also is there a huge difference between bagged tea and loose leaf? Like flavor or quality?

Thanks!!

4 Replies
Cofftea said

There are a ton of wonderful suggestions already here. Some keywords to search for in the discussion board:
recommendations
suggestions
companies
samples
newbie
beginner

The answer to your last question is ABSOLUTELY. There are definitely good bagged teas out there unlike a few years ago, but it does take much more knowledge about tea and investigating to determine a good quality bagged tea. For best quality look for words like “pyramid bag” and either “whole leaf” or “full leaf”. Searching the key words of “bagged tea” and “loose tea” can give you more information on that as well. The discussion search is definitely your friend. ;)

Login or sign up to post a message.

Uniquity said

My suggestion is very unhelpful, but the best I can do: try everything! I still buy bagged tea on occasion if the price is right or it looks special. I prefer loose, but I still drink bagged at work and occasionally at home, and I try to give everything a shot. I like to smell tea before I buy it (and see it!) so I prefer to buy in person rather than online but when it comes to tea, there are wonderful online options. Follow a few steepsterites, read the discussion boards and just keep drinking!

Login or sign up to post a message.

Both of the above comments are great. I agree, just jump in and start trying things. If you have a tea shop close to you go in and smell them, taste what appeals to you. To me loose tea is better it has more flavor to it, but in a pinch I will use bagged, I used bagged in my ice tea make for the most part.

Login or sign up to post a message.

OolongLily said

Yay! Lots for you to explore and enjoy.

A great tea information site to check out is http://teaguardian.com/
A great tea beginner’s book is “The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook”, by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss.

Samovar has a great peppermint tea called Moorish Mint. Yum.
Despite Teavana’s reputation they have some decent herbals.
Oolongs are delicious. The Tao of Tea has some pretty good affordable oolongs.

And my two cents, loose in general is better than bagged, but there are some pretty good bagged teas. The bagged tea from Teatulia was what got me into loose-leaf actually.

Login or sign up to post a message.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.