Captain Picard is probably the reason I first started on Earl Grey. Then, I discovered I liked it.

This post was the start of a thread in OMNI, which was moved to Dining Buzz.

I have merged it with the o.p.'s previous thread on the same subject

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Dining Buzz

I have recently converted to Kusmi, which has wonderful blends of teas (as well as tisanes). I am partial to Anastasia in the morning, as well as a wonderful black tea with violet blend (I like floral blends). In the afternoons, I like their Rose Green tea blend as well as Prince Vladimir, and at night, their Linden tisane is divine.

Hah! The full circle, I guess.

I went to a bakery in Durham the other day and they had a drink called a London Fog. It was basically a tea latte made with Earl Grey tea. Quite tasty it was.

Interesting you should mention Kusmi. I tried it for the first time a few years ago at the Siesmayer Cafe in Frankfurt. I had asked for Earl Grey and they brought me the Kusmi Anastasia which I liked so much I bought some later that day. Since then I've always had a blue jar in my house but I've found that I don't drink it every day as it's just too floral and perfumed for me. I've reverted back to TeeGeschwendner's Earl Grey No 69 which, as I stated above, is just the best EG I've ever tasted.

I do enjoy the irony of finding that the best EG teas (for my tastes) are blended in Germany and France, whereas in the UK many/most people seem to be perfectly happy with 'builder's tea' made from a cheap bag with plenty of milk and sugar.

Dutchy's earl gray from Waitrose's is my favorite tea. Quite sweet with an orange flavor. Other wise I need a tiny bit of sugar in my tea.

A friend of mine who is originally from Hanover told me that there is an active tea culture in northern Germany, from the many tea merchants there that historically also supplied the British Isles.

I happened to be at her house when her parents visited from Germany. They didn't speak English, but I remember trying to help her mom with the tea only to encounter a chorus of "Nein! Nein!" each time I did something wrong.

I just discovered TeeGschwender has two US stores (in Chicago - who knew?) and a US website. I ordered 100 grams of the Earl Grey #69. Yay!

I hope you'll like it. I can honestly recommend it as the best EG out there. It's a perfect blend in my opinion.

6-7 cups of green tea a day, with sugar and lemon.

Dragonwell, genmaicha, sencha, and, every once in a while, gyokuro.

Enjoying a cup at the moment, as it happens. Dragonwell, which is my favourite.

If any of my upcoming trips go through Shanghai, I'm heading out to West Lake to see where the best stuff comes from.

I do like genmaicha.

Thanks for sharing this. I will have to stop by one of their stores next time I'm through Chicago. ^

I've never really liked Earl Grey and the myth may well be accurate.

My absolute favourite is Keemun, but it's quite difficult to obtain nowadays, so I'll settle for Lapsang Souchong and even that is becoming more difficult.

As for tea bags, well they're ok for builders' teas but, for proper tea, you must use a pot and leaves.

For a fabulous selection of coffee and tea available worldwide.

http://www.algcoffee.co.uk/index.php...egory&path=562