Who Else Enjoys A Nice Cup of Tea?

I drink both tea and coffe, when I want a nice hot drink I drink tea. My favorite is apple cinnamon. I also like to mix black tea with the apple cinnamon to get a nice refreshing drink hot or cold.

 

I get through around ten cups of tea a day, all of which means that I don't drink as much as I used to. Earl Grey is my tea of choice, though I love Assam tea as well. I let tea brew for around four minutes. I always shudder a bit when I see someone make a cup of tea in a few seconds - you may as well drink hot water!

 

What is Assam tea - I've never heard of it? Is it strong and bitter like Earl Grey and other black teas or more subtle like green or white tea?

I know what you mean about letting it steep. I have a stainless mug which retains heat well, so I let mine steep for about 7 minutes. I want to wring every bit of flavor out of the tea bag!! I see people in restaurants dunk their tea bag a couple of times and then throw it away - I want to tell them how wasteful they're being.

 

Assam is a black Indian tea. It's strong, stronger than Earl Grey and often gets classified as 'breakfast tea'. I like the zesty flavour of Earl Grey, but sometimes it's nice to have something a bit more vigorous, so I tend to keep both of these teas in my kitchen cupboard.

I've also got some Ethiopian tea, though I couldn't tell you what it's called. This one is quite smoky. I got it in Ethiopia and, even better, got some coffee beans that were freshly roasted. I know this because the person who roasted them showed me the raw beans and then gave me the roasted ones a few hours later after she had roasted them. I can smell the aroma even now!

 

I am not much of a tea drinker but for the last few weeks I have been having a cup a day. Strange part.....after my morning walk my walking buddy and I stop by a little coffee shop/laundry and will have a cup of strong Thai coffee. But when we are finished she always brings us a glass of hot olong tea to drink after the coffee. No sugar or milk, just the tea. At first I thought it was a pretty strange combination, but now, I may start doing that at home as well.

 

Something that is wonderfully refreshing is a good cup of mint tea. Unfortunately, trying to find a good cup of mint tea is not straightforward. The best I've ever has was in Morocco. You could order a cup in a cafe and you knew when it was coming because you could smell it about 20 yards away!

 

Mmm, I enjoy both oolong and mint. Oolong is one of my favorites, along with jasmine. I've never had it straight after coffee, but it seems to soothe my stomach, so that actually might be a good idea. I want to get some mint plants, so I can make my own tea from the leaves.

 

Mint tea from fresh leaves is definitely the way to do it - I've had one or two packet mint teas that are palatable, but fresh mint is the only way to get the real buzz!

 

It definitely was a strange concept to me, Diane, but now I look forward to it. My friends parents gave me a present of some Chinese tea and now when he comes back from Shanghai he is going to bring me a "mud" tea pot....whatever that is!

 

That's interesting, Richard, I look forward to hearing, and maybe seeing, if you're able to snap a picture, what a 'mud' tea pot is. I haven't been out to the store, so I'm just having a nice cup of green tea right now. I love having one mid-afternoon, and another in the evening, they help me to relax. Actually, as I type this, I'm looking out at my jasmine, which is blooming. I might have to research how to make jasmine tea.

Here's a link about making jasmine tea. The blossoms are put with the tea leaves, so the leaves pick up the scent of the jasmine. I might have to go pick some of my blossoms and try it. http://www.thekitchn.com/what-you-should-know-about-jasmine-tea-tea-essentials-205365

 

My friend should be returning to Thailand in June. When I receive the pot, I will post a picture of it. I am sure it will be unique as every present I have received from him or his family has been special.

 

I only have one jasmine plant, but my neighbor has star jasmine on her fence, and I can take some of those blossoms. I picked up the ones that had fallen off my plant, so I can try infusing their scent into some plain green tea. If it works, I might buy another jasmine plant in the future, or research how to snag some of the neighbor's star jasmine to plant here.

 

Not too much in the city, but in most rural areas in Thailand you may wake up to the aroma of the night blooming jasmines.
I am sure the taste of the tea must be spectacular!

 

Oh no, I used to live in the city, and didn't think much about it at the time, but if I lived there now, I would miss all the greenery and scents of the flowers. I'm about to run outside and gather up some more jasmine blossoms. I only have the one plant, so there aren't that many fallen blossoms each day, but I still want to try using them to infuse the tea leaves, as I mentioned.