New to Steepster, recommendations ??

Welcome! You got here just in time – lots of companies are still having Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales. What kind of tea do you prefer? Black, white, green, oolong, pu’er? Flavored? Bags, loose?

Hi daniel, welcome Steepster!!

If you click on the “Teas” button at the top of the page it will list all teas in the database starting with the highest rated. On that page, if you click on one of the tea types – black, white, green, oolong etc. It will give you the highest rated in each of those categories.
If you let us know what types of teas you are interested in, I’m sure someone will be able to recommend their favorites.
I personally really like straight blacks, with a few of my favorites being Jin Ping Gong Fu – Tao Tea Leaf, Laoshan Black – Verdant, Balin Gong Fu – Teavivre. I adore pretty much all of Mandala’s pu’erh, and their Big Red Robe dark roast oolong is amazing.
For flavored teas, I like Florance, and Soho from Harney & Sons.
Really there are too many to name. Like I said if would let us know where your interest lie, someone I’m sure will help you out. :))

oh goodness so many teas that i’m sure everyone will be able to recommend. It might help narrow down things if you gives us an idea of what sorts of teas you like, if there are any companies you have tried, if you’re in the us or canada (or international!).

Welcome aboard though for now! always nice to meet new steepster folks :)

Haha I think we all answered at once. That’s how it goes around here :)

At least our advice is consistent. :)

Welcome, Daniel

wow thanks for all the fast responses, i didnt expect that! Im located in the US and tend to favor black/ oolong but Im always trying to find something new to try. I was intrigued by the Verdant Laoshan Black, but like you all said, there are so many to pick from. Thanks again and really nice to meet you all.

The Verdant Laoshan Black seems to get consistent praise. A lot of people on here also rave about Butiki’s Premium Taiwanese Assam and Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black.

Welcome daniel! If you delve into Chinese Pu erh let me know! Good bunch of people here!

I love these sorts of questions because I’m always obsessively trying to figure out my “staple picks for any occasion/mood” tea list, ha.

complex straight black tea:
verdant laoshan black (i haven’t been as crazy for the newest batch though, not sure why)
verdant zhu rong yunnan black (a bridge, the best of both worlds with the flavor profile of both all those malty rich smooth food-y sweet starchy chinese black teas and the lighter, dry-woodier, gently perfumed qualities of darjeelings and british legacy teas and their ilk)
golden moon honey orchid (sweet delicate honey flavor and a bit like when you’re a kid in summer and suck the nectar out of those purple flowers)
verdant golden fleece (also sweet delicate honey flavor)
butiki giddahapar darjeeling extra special (artichoke notes!)
mandala morning sun (uniquely smoky-spicy-sweet-earthy; i think Terri Harplady described it like roasted green chiles and masa harina and i totally agree)
taiwan tea crafts red jade (has a fruity plummy thing going on that sets it apart from similarly smooth sweet starchy “sweet potato” type chinese and taiwanese teas)

pu erh:
mandala loose and luscious lincang 2007 shu/ripe pu erh (leathery and intense in that old man’s study type way, but then there’s a unique minty cooling element that cleans it up and prevents a feeling of mustiness that i love)
mandala special dark 2006 shu/ripe pu erh (like the most intense little square of chocolate and tiny little cup of espresso, but with more earthy complexity to boot)

breakfast black teas and blends:
butiki the black lotus (possibly my favorite black blend of all, bold and satisfying but smooth, with a subtle forest/mushroom quality i adore, that sets it apart)
harney and sons queen catherine (my favorite “don’t have to think too much about it” anytime comfort brisk tea…tastes good as it cools a little too, perfect for commuting/to go tumblers)
golden moon sinharaja (i’m rarely impressed by ceylon but this one is worlds better than any others i’ve had. very satisfying but straightforward “yay the classic flavor of black tea but smooth” flavor)
andrews and dunham double knit blend (similar to queen catherine, an excellent all-purpose “don’t think too hard” go-to comfort black tea flavor)
butiki khongea golden tippy assam (very complex and surprising, not an everyday tea but reminds you there’s always more to tea than you expect)
andrews and dunham tiger assam (bold but not harsh, nice choice if you like assams)
persimmon tree vintage black (very classic “old school” black tea flavor, so if you get nostalgic for that sort of thing like i do…)
teajo teas black manas (ditto!)
harney and sons eight at the fort (surprisingly complex blend, beautiful to look at with the zillions of vastly different leaves)
utopia tea english breakfast (a nice straightforward bold breakfast blend that just hits the spot sometimes)
american tea room victoria (only if you love florals with your black blends! straightforward black flavor but then also verrry floral, but i like that sometimes)

the earls:
teajo teas silky earl grey (very smooth and well balanced)
upton imports lavender earl grey (this might just be me—i’m a sucker for clean strong lavender notes!)
lupicia earl grey grand classic (very old fashioned tasting, bearing little resemblance to earls as we know them today—notes of smoke and chinese longan fruit. evokes old timey opium den sort of decayed opulence to me somehow)
tao tea leaf cream earl grey (a lovely cream EG in that while soothingly creamy sweet and rich, you never forget is an earl; there’s still that sharp fresh edge the bergamot gives it)
upton imports season’s pick earl grey creme vanilla (good in the cold months if you want an earl so creamy sweet it’s pretty much more like vanilla dessert tea than EG)
della terra earl grey creme (ditto)
zen tea earl grey cream (not quite as over the top dessert-y but still incredibly creamy smooth but pretty balanced)

oolong:
butiki 2003 reserve four season oolong (this one’s very hard to describe but i was surprised how unique it is. it also resteeps all day)
butiki pumpkin milkshake darjeeling oolong (because most pumpkin flavored things are really more about the warm pumpkin SPICE blend, but this omits those so you get the true flavor of pumpkin mostly unadulterated, if you’re into that sort of thing)
butiki flowery pineapple oolong (crazy relaxing, like a bubble bath fantasy getaway to a tropical island, perfect in the middle of dreary winter when your muscles are sore and you feel rundown)
lupicia momo oolong supergrade (yummy peach scent)
golden moon coconut pouchong (taste of fresh coconut water..keep in mind, i’m a huge sucker for coconut, tropical fruity, and creamy oolongs and greens so ymmv)
american tea room coconut oolong (verrrry creamy coconut oolong)
zen tea coconut oolong (nice balance between the fresh coconut of
golden moon’s and the creamy coconut of american tea room’s)
teavivre taiwan jin xuan milk oolong (it takes a while for the milk presence to grow full force, but once it does it’s uncanny…not a creamy-sweet milkiness but a fresh low fat milk flavor and smell)
i’ve also had some phenomenonal, mind blowing oolong-in-a-gaiwan experiences with various verdant oolongs but most of them have been archived or are temporarily unavailable.

green:
verdant laoshan bilochun green (wonderful in the summer hot or cold, sweet and dreamy)
verdant autumn harvest laoshan green (very complex green full of surprisingly satisfying rich food notes)
tao tea leaf hou kui (i love hou kui and this is my favorite of the ones i’ve tried so far)
harney and sons tencha
harney and sons tokyo (reminds me of japanese or thai sweet sticky rice desserts)
butiki with open eyes (green tea with notes of strawberry preserves, toffee, and ginger, great pick-me-up later in the day)
american tea room nirvana (fruity green blend)
joy’s teaspoon mahalo (green blend chock full of tropical fruit notes, sunny flavors, like eating a bowl of fresh fruit salad)
den’s tea pineapple sencha (ditto!)
butiki holiday potato pancakes and applesauce (super unique and neat because you can alter the experience to be more sweet or savory depending on whether you add a little sugar or salt)
den’s tea organic genmaicha with matcha (i love genmaicha! tea that smells like popcorn, yum!)

white:
butiki cantaloupe and cream white (the smell is dead on)
butiki champagne rose and cream white (somehow you get the fizzy tart-sweet quality of champagne, and the roses are gorgeous…the cream note at the end is amazing too)

flavored black/high caffeine:
steap shoppe cinnamon swirl bread
steap shoppe organic caramel apple flowery assam (not like a bright red candy apple so much as a chocolate-coated one)
american tea room brioche (smell of exquisite patisserie pastry, full of jam and nuts and freshly baked spiced dough)
52teas pancake breakfast (eerie mouthfeel of having just eaten pancakes, fluff starch film and all)
butiki tangerine creamsicle guayusa (tangerine teas are harder to find than you’d think, and this is as Sil said once like sunshine in a cup)
i’m also a big big fan of fauchon’s frenchy perfumed black tea blends—just discovered them but they’re haunting, enchanting in a way i wasn’t familiar with before now. expertly layered scents.

random, not sure how to categorize it (it doesn’t have caffeine):
harney and sons soba buckwheat (yummy unique toasted rice cereal flavor)
(i also really dig golden moon’s hojicha, it’s nice and roasty with little caffeine, excellent for after dinner when you kind of want the roasty closure coffee provides but without the jolt)

flavored, no caffeine (good late night dessert options):
della terra lemon chiffon (like a lemon bar, complete with the sugary cookie crust)
52teas strawberry pie honeybush (you get jammy pie filling and the cinnamon-vanilla-y crust!)
butiki mango lassi rooibos (there’s a banana smoothie mouthfeel and taste here that contributes to it tasting like true lassi, not just mango tea)
butiki coconut cream pie rooibos (the rooibos gives it a graham cracker crust feel)
butiki peppermint patty herbal (like the inside of a junior mint!)
persimmon tree mint chocolate chip rooibos (like grasshopper ice cream)
american tea room choco-late (like those cheap packets of instant hot chocolate mix)
townshend’s tea dark forest chai (made with milk as per instructions this has a surprising smell and taste of an old fashioned cinnamon sugar cake donut)

for colds/illness/congestion:
stash white christmas (tea bags, easy/convenient for when you’re super sick, peppermint and ginger open up the passageways and soothe the stomach)
verdant ginger sage winter spa blend
samovar turmeric spice (i add slices of fresh garlic)

sleep aid:
new mexico extra sleepy bear (for effectiveness, not taste!)

awesome cold steeped on a hot day:
whispering pines manistee moonrise (subtly smoky with pine, evokes camping)
harney and sons fruits d’alsace (just crazy refreshing and delicious cold!)
utopia tea berkshire apple and fig (like subtle, complex cider)
whispering pines gingerade (much like jamaica agua fresca/jamaican sorrel tea and very well balanced, where the ginger warmth smooths out the hibiscus tartness)
butiki peach hoppitea (peach lambic!)
butiki ruby pie (you really get both the cinnamon crust and the rhubarb pie filling)

I suggest going to Teavivre.com and buying whatever sounds interesting. Lovely company.