Hate coffee, love tea ... hot, iced, lukewarm, pure or added flavors. It's all good.

Iced tea is my beverage of choice for just about any occasion.

I usually drink hot tea in the evening, so I try to stick to herbally, caffeine free or lightly caffinated tisanes.

Tichaa Ginger & White Mulberry is my current go-to.

I don't react well to coffee and try to avoid sugars and fake sugars in Coke, so tea is usually my caffeinated drink of choice.

I'm currently going through a stock of Tea Forte Earl Grey - fantastic stuff. I first started drinking it in the British Airways CCR in Heathrow Terminal 5, though their tea offering was "enhanced" to something much cheaper a long time ago.

Twining Ginger and Lemon tea is remarkably good, though quite a departure from traditional teas. Otherwise at the other end of the price spectrum the remarkable Ti Guan Yin served in CX F (and costing $800/lb when you can get it in the US).

+1. I only drink loose leaf tea and have 35+ different teas at home. I also maintain Excel spreadsheet to rank different teas I try.

While I understand why Americans dislike tea... how come they insist on drinking terrible coffee too? :D

Growing up I was a huge fan of black teas, but have lost a taste for them over last year. These days it's all about Oolongs.

Is there a good recipe for Lapsong Souchong? I've had it for a while at home and want to like it, but can't force myself to drink it.

I drink Harney & Sons Paris (from sachet) daily, black.

That is delicious tea.

Hot water dispensers make horrible tea. Even if your goal is iced tea, for full flavor the water needs to be freshly boiled, or just under boiling, depending on the type of tea.

Dedicated tea drinker here. Like BigRedBears I have a substantial collection of teas, but only proper Camellia Sinensis, none of that herbal muck.

Ceylon teas are my favorite. I always look around for tea shops, i.e. sellers of fine teas, when I travel as a packet of tea makes a nice lightweight souvenir.

It's a girl's tea. :D Of course there is nothing wrong with that.

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Harney and Sons sells some great teas. I have a number of them

1) Black teas:
I haven't had great luck with their black teas. I suspect I might have tried wrong ones :rolleyes: East Frisian black tea is the only exception and is perfect for cold winter mornings.

I do like Black Dragon Pearls, Keemun Mao Feng, and Yunnan Golden Halo from Sullivan Street Company (www.onsullivan.com). For those who live in NYC they have a shop in West Village... on Sullivan Street.

Söderblandning (Swedish mistake tea) is nice, you can buy at in many places online or your local Scandinavian culture house.

Back to Harney and Sons. I would avoid their cheap flavored black teas, e.g. black currant or chocolate.

2) Oolongs:
Harney and Sons shines here.

Li Shan (don't confuse with Ali San) is my favourite, but it can get expensive at $190/lb.
For a cheaper version, go for Pomegranate Oolong. They used premium Ti Quan Yin as a base tea and add slight flavoring.

Harney and Sons also sells Milk Oolong. They are one of the shops that don't add flavoring to it, which is rare and proper way to do it.

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Do not buy Teavana teas. They label them as organic, but there has been a huge scandal about amount of pesticides in their teas. Some exceed EU/US regulations by 1000%

Is that why they taste so nasty? :p

Lupicia always seemed fresher, but it's hard to get on the east coast.

Went out to breakfast today and was served a delicious tea. I asked the server if I could buy some of it and she said that they get huge boxes of loose tea and bag it at the restaurant. The brand is Republic of Tea.

you can get that in just about any grocery store, but I've found the best selection of Republic of Tea is at Cost Plus.

Thanks for the info. They brewed it and it was very strong. Just the way I like it. Also makes for good iced tea. Have to get some. Amazon has it. Just ordered some. Thanks again.

I'm in the same boat. I bought some, intrigued by the scent, and have tried several times to enjoy it brewed, but it just doesn't suit my tastes. I tossed out that question to see whether I was alone as a tea lover who doesn't quite enjoy Lapsong Souchong. Guess not. :p

Anyway, regarding recipes, I've been thinking about using it to make tea eggs. The smokiness would lend itself well to the egg. I've run across recipes for tea-crusted chicken/salmon/whatever. Might work well for that too.

I've seen steak/chicken recipes which call for Lapsang Souchong. Maybe it is just like cooking chocolate - never intended to enjoy in pure form.

Take one large bucket.

Fill with warm water, dump in all Lapsong Souchong.

Allow to steep 48 hours.

Pour a dose on all African violets, ferns and roses bushes that you might happen to have. They'll enjoy it.