hello steepster! new to the community!

Welcome to a place as lovely as tea itself!

1. How else can you have chocolate in a drink without it being something heavy? All kidding aside, I find it relaxing and a good way to get myself to actually drink liquid. Otherwise I don’t, and then I wonder why I have a headache. I also really enjoy all the different flavor combinations that can be created and enjoyed without the need to drink something filled with sugar and who knows what.

2. I drank tea every so often, but about 2 years ago, a Groupon to a local tea shop pushed it all over the edge. After having a couple teas there and buying some to take home it was all over. I actually need to go back soon as I have a Scoutmob deal that expires soon.

3. I buy from all over because I love to try new things, but the top 3 companies you’ll find all over my kitchen would be 52 teas, DavidsTea, and ZenTea (above mentioned shop).

Welcome! I’m new here myself, but it is quite a nice place!

1. I drink tea because I enjoy the taste, the smell, the way it looks, everything, I’m pretty sure I am addicted!

2. I grew up drinking iced tea and my mom would make me hot tea and soup when I was sick. I always ordered tea from Chinese restaurants because I enjoyed it so much but never thought to buy it myself. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I went to a Chinese restaurant and asked what kind of tea they served, Jasmine green tea was the answer. There happens to be an “all-purpose” Asian store where I used to live and they sold loose leaf Jasmine tea in those yellow-orange tins. I started getting big into loose leaf tea when I discovered a Teavana in a nearby mall a couple years ago.

3. Now I still buy from Teavana, but I also buy from Harney and Sons, Tea Forte, Mighty Leaf and Rishi. Mostly from Rishi, Harney and Teavana. And Jasmine green tea is still my favorite, although now I prefer the pearls.

Welcome to the tea-party! ;)

1. I drink tea because I enjoy it and because I can’t drink coffee (it makes me very sick) and I often need a caffeine boost or even just something hot to drink on a cold day. Part of it, I think, is also fascination with the rituals and variety that surround tea.

2. I’ve been drinking tea since I was small and my mother and I would visit my grandmother (who was an Irishwoman raised in England). Drinking tea in a fancy china teacup with them made me feel very grown up, even though it was diluted with a ton of cream and sugar. :D

3. Recently the place I probably shop the most at is 52Teas which has some really interested flavoured blends. I used to shop at Adagio quite a bit before they hiked up their international shipping rates to ridiculous levels (I live in Canada and the one thing that’s a deal-breaker for me with a tea company is high shipping rates – some companies charge as much as $40 just to ship a small package across the border). I also get a lot of my teas from Davids Teas and Teaopia, both are larger Canadian tea companies that have developped a presence in shopping malls and larger urban centers. Harney & Sons is another company that I like that sells good-quality tea, and I also frequently shop at some smaller Canadian tea companies like Murchies and Granville Island Tea Co.

Hi! Welcome to Steepster! I just joined a couple months ago.

1. I drink tea for many reasons. Comfort, warmth, refreshment, and it’s healthy. Those are the ones that stick out the most.

2. I’ve always been a tea drinker all my life. But, I never really started to fully appreciate tea until my cousin graduated from high school about 8 years ago. Now I have more respect and appreciation for tea, its flavors, and health properties.

3. I get my tea from a variety of sources. I must admit, I indulge from Teavana. However, I do have teas from Stash, Celestial Seasonings, Tazo, and some others.

What about yourself? Feel free to ask more questions! :)

1. Why do you drink tea?
There are many reasons to drink tea: the smell, flavour, habit, warmth, to quench thirst. For me It’s mostly because I enjoy the way that tea makes me feel. It’s very relaxing and soothing, any situation feels a little bit better with a cup of tea in my hand. It gives me the confidence to deal with the calamities of the world.

2. When did you start drinking tea?
As a child I used to drink basic black tea but when I became a young teenager I became more attracted to herbal and fruit tea’s. I love the idea of organic and fair trade tea so it was an obvious choice for me to expand my tea tastes. Now I like a little bit of just about everything in the wide world of tea.

3. Where do you typically buy your tea from and why?
I import a lot of tea from China and Japan directly but I also make sure I try store brands. I am slowly working my way through all of the tea in the world (which may be impossible but I am going to give it a darn good try) so anything unique and original is an eye opener for me as I may not ever find it again. But still I try locally sold tea’s to add them to my blog. You never know when you will find an excellent tea other than to try everything that you can :)

A big welcome to the steepster forums from England.

Thanks to everyone for being so welcoming.

Hi dpspaceman! I know it’s a little late. Since I’m new here too I wanted to to join in.

Why do you drink tea? I drink tea because I love all the different flavors. I know it’s more healthy than some other things, but that’s just a bonus for me. Score! I also like the ritual involved in making and drinking tea. It’s very relaxing.

When did you start drinking tea? My grandmother had a wall of tea, all bagged, mostly Celestial Seaonsing and Good Earth. I guess I’ve been drinking it off and on my whole life. Recently I discovered some loose leaf in the cupboard downstairs. I spoke to my fiance about it. He then talked to his boss lady, a tea guru. She pointed us in a direction, and there the addiction began. Wonderful man, that fiance of mine.

Where do you typically buy your tea from and why? I started with Teavana. Currently I haven’t settled on any one place. I enjoy tea from Market Spice, The English Tea Store and Tropical Tea company. I have an order in with Ovation. Most of these places I chose because I’ve seen reviews of their teas on Steepster. Market Spice and Ovation happen to be close to me so I feel like I’m shopping local. I have decided I don’t care for Teavana. Their prices just don’t seem to equate to quality and their customer service leaves much to be desired.

I am curious about several other sites as well. For example Adagio, DavidsTea, Culinary Tea, Harney and Sons, California Tea House and Goldenmoon Tea. Well the list is actually longer but you get the idea.

Welcome to Steepster!

Well, I might as well join in the fun of reviving an old thread!

Why do I drink tea? Because it tastes good, and it magically appears on my desk in a cup a couple times a night. Not sure how it gets there, but I blame the elves. Okay, Missy puts it there.

When did I start drinking tea? Well, I guess I’ve always drank tea, just… not frequently? As a kid, my mother made sun tea every two or three days in the summer, and spent a couple years working through the whole kombucha process (which I only barely participated in). A few years back, a friend of mine rented a room for a few months, and left behind a few random bags of loose leaf tea. Missy found them while cleaning out the cupboard about four months back… and here we are!

Where do you typically buy your tea from and why? Most of our teas right now are from SerendipiTea and MarketSpice right now (how she missed SerendipiTea above, I have no idea…). We have a lot of tea from TropicalTeaCo due to the massive March sale they have going on, and then a few other teas from a smattering of places.

We get a little obsessive with trying out new places and teas. I’ve got a tea coming in from Sweden right now. Sweden!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome! You will probably like it here.

1. Why do you drink tea?
I drink it because it tastes good. I like the aroma of coffee, but I drink tea because it is good.

2. When did you start drinking tea?
I started drinking tea when I was little. Then I stopped for a long period of time. I really started reaching for tea again when I was a senior in high school. I was really stressed out and frightened that I wouldn’t get into a good school and tea was the only thing that would calm me down. That is when I started drinking Earl Grey. It made me feel better. Then I got into tea heavily around my junior year of college and it has just been downhill from there. Now I am getting into loose leaf and it is a whole new world of flavor and temptation and it still makes me feel good even though I am stressed out with looking for a job to have after school is over.

3. Where do you typically buy your tea from and why?
The grocery store because I have no good tea shop around here in coffee land and I don’t have a steady-job that I can buy tea online yet. Or else I would totally have a stash of some of the flavors from 52teas and Harney&Sons. I have a really big sweet tooth and I am trying to go on a diet.