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The Tea Thread

After getting more heavily into peppermint and spearmint I'm finding they act as a great sedative. Chamomile, and even more so Lavender, are great for putting me to sleep, but the mints I picked up are great at taking the edge off while leaving me awake, making them a great alcohol replacement.

In the last couple weeks I've started to pair it with a little bit of black tea, and this afternoon a bit of lemon as well.
 
GABA Oolong is my tea of the day. I don't use it much anymore, usually needing to keep myself alert at work, but today's a day I need to go in the opposite direction.

This tea contains a high percentage of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA), known for having a calming effect on the nervous system. It has a wonderful, soothing flavour. Tea plants are known to produce leaves especially high in glutamic acid. About two weeks prior to plucking, GABA oolong leaves are partially shaded, which causes increased production of this substance. During the oxidation-phase of production, all oxygen is replaced with nitrogen gas, whose presence causes the glutamic acid to be converted to Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid. To meet Japanese standards and be labeled GABA Tea, the finished product must contain at least 150mg of GABA per 100g dry weight.
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Picked up some Samovar Blend, a Turkish black tea, for the first time this week and really like it a lot. Reminds me of Chinese Keemun (traditional black tea) but with a flavour I like a little better.
 
Have made a big push toward tea and away from both coffee and alcohol lately. Also bought my first teabags in years a few weeks ago. 5.99 CDN for 100 teabags, and 180 grams of tea? The same amount in loose leaf could run up to almost 15 CDN, or more depending on grade. At that price if I'm drinking something low in caffeine I can just keep pouring myself cups all day, even better if it's green for double infusions.

So I think I may start whittling down my collection and moving over to boxed.
 
rousseau said:
Have made a big push toward tea and away from both coffee and alcohol lately. Also bought my first teabags in years a few weeks ago. 5.99 CDN for 100 teabags, and 180 grams of tea? The same amount in loose leaf could run up to almost 15 CDN, or more depending on grade. At that price if I'm drinking something low in caffeine I can just keep pouring myself cups all day, even better if it's green for double infusions.

So I think I may start whittling down my collection and moving over to boxed.
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Tea bags are cheap for a reason - they contain all the low grade crap that's left over when packaging leaf tea.

I don't know if that's true of the weird infusions that people call 'tea' even though they are not made from Camelia Sinensis leaves; but real tea is definitely not as nice when made with teabags.

You might as well drink tea made with lukewarm water and 'non-dairy whitener' from a styrofoam cup, if you are going to make it with teabags.
 
bilby said:
rousseau said:
Have made a big push toward tea and away from both coffee and alcohol lately. Also bought my first teabags in years a few weeks ago. 5.99 CDN for 100 teabags, and 180 grams of tea? The same amount in loose leaf could run up to almost 15 CDN, or more depending on grade. At that price if I'm drinking something low in caffeine I can just keep pouring myself cups all day, even better if it's green for double infusions.

So I think I may start whittling down my collection and moving over to boxed.
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Tea bags are cheap for a reason - they contain all the low grade crap that's left over when packaging leaf tea.

I don't know if that's true of the weird infusions that people call 'tea' even though they are not made from Camelia Sinensis leaves; but real tea is definitely not as nice when made with teabags.
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Oh I know. They also probably tend to be a bit older than the low-grade loose-leaf I buy. I think in this case, though, the difference in quality of premium tea might not be entirely worth the cost difference. Whereas with something like coffee.. I've tried a number of times to revert back to grocery brand over a genuine fresh roast.. and yea.. no.

Given I've only been drinking green/jasmine from tea-bags so far. Will have to give some orange-pekoe brands a try and see how they compare. I don't expect them to equal some of the finer tea I've bought, but may be bearable.
 
I'm still poor, so I'm still enjoying my dirt cheap teas. There's not many available and I've had to wade through a lot of shit tea to find some I like among the cheapest. I've settled on a white tea with lemon and ginseng (Celestial), a honey camomile herbal (also Celestial), green tea with lemon (Bigelow), and a tangerine herbal (Tazo).
 
I wish I had some cheaper teas I enjoyed.

Over the past few years I've made a point to try the best of the best of most things, tea, coffee, beer, scotch. Turns out, though, once you try the best in class, everything you tried before is never the same.

This is particularly bad with coffee. I can drink pretty much any tea, beer, or whisky, but I always regret buying grocery brand coffee.

I find tea funny because I actually enjoy some of the lower grade blacks, and find the higher-grade blacks far over-priced, although usually a bit better.
 
Have you tried Tazo? Is it available up there in Canadistan? That's a very good cheap brand.

I don't drink black tea anymore but I never liked the cheap black teas. Major brands mostly suck ass (Lipton especially, don't know how anyone drinks that and calls it tea).
 
Angry Floof said:
Have you tried Tazo? Is it available up there in Canadistan? That's a very good cheap brand.

I don't drink black tea anymore but I never liked the cheap black teas. Major brands mostly suck ass (Lipton especially, don't know how anyone drinks that and calls it tea).
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It sounds familiar, I'll have to check it out.

Actually, the bagged black tea I bought last week isn't too great, but some of the cheaper loose leaf blacks I've gotten I haven't minded (like Irish Breakfast).

To date I've only bought three separate boxes of bagged tea since starting the experiment and am definitely noticing big differences in quality between them. Some research may be in order before I buy the next box.
 
Bought another pouch of Keemun last night along with a new one, Assam Bukhial.

The Chinese Keemun's have been growing on me, had to look at my local's description of it to describe the flavour.. 'earthy bold' as they put it. The Bukhial should be a bit more floral.
 
rousseau said:
Ok, it's go time. As my body becomes more and more repulsed by alcohol, I'm getting further into the herbal game. Today's purchases:

Arctic Spearmint



Peppermint Tea



Goodnight Irene

An exclusive blend from TestSiteTTH. Are you looking for a tasty sleeping aid? This herbal infusion contains valerian root. It is the main ingredient that makes you sleepy. A great alternative if you have a ragweed allergy and should skip Chamomile. Drink 1/2 hour before bedtime.
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Vata Balance

The Vata dosha is characterized by creativity, mental quickness, fast movements, dryness, coldness, roughness, excitability and high energy. Our Vata Balance tisane is meant to calm the mind and the body and balance the vata constitution. Its taste is slightly sweet, spicy and floral.
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Wellness Tea

Our caffeine-free wellness tea is a soothing blend of herbs and spices. It is very soothing when you have a sore throat or suffer from a cold. Try it with a little extra ginger and a touch of honey!
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These are to complement the pure chamomile and lavender I commonly use as a sleep-aid.

I'm starting to notice that having a beer or whisky before bed is more of a habit than anything like a necessity, so am trying to round out my bedtime options.
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Starting to make a lot more use of herbals as sleep aids in lieu of alcohol lately. Usually they end up working something like this.

- A pinch of chamomile and lavender and nothing else - good at all times of the day for a mild calming effect

- Heavy chamomile - helps give me a sleepy feeling

- Heavy lavender - lights out

- Holy Basil / Tulsi - seems to be more drinkable earlier in the day, but I'm still on the fence about how much I like it

And the most recent one I've started making use of:

- Heavy peppermint - relaxes and tires out my whole body, which is great when I'm over-excited
 
Trying lavender chamomile tea. So far, it's not that great. Bad smell in the package, not much better steeped. Flavor I can live with in order to not waste tea. I might have a better liking for it once the whole package is gone. It's not terrible enough to waste.
 
Angry Floof said:
Trying lavender chamomile tea. So far, it's not that great. Bad smell in the package, not much better steeped. Flavor I can live with in order to not waste tea. I might have a better liking for it once the whole package is gone. It's not terrible enough to waste.
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I definitely wouldn't recommend lavender to anyone for flavour, no redeeming qualities there. I drink it purely as a relaxant, although these days I've had so much of it that I'm accustomed to the taste.

Most of the time I'll add the tiniest pinch of it to a better tasting tea to add a bit of sedation to what I'm drinking. Although occasionally I'll pile it on when I really need to knock myself out.

With chamomile it's usually another tiny pinch with a pinch of chamomile too. Mostly water but it seems to calm the nerves without shutting me down completely.
 
rousseau said:
Angry Floof said:
Trying lavender chamomile tea. So far, it's not that great. Bad smell in the package, not much better steeped. Flavor I can live with in order to not waste tea. I might have a better liking for it once the whole package is gone. It's not terrible enough to waste.
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I definitely wouldn't recommend lavender to anyone for flavour, no redeeming qualities there. I drink it purely as a relaxant, although these days I've had so much of it that I'm accustomed to the taste.

Most of the time I'll add the tiniest pinch of it to a better tasting tea to add a bit of sedation to what I'm drinking. Although occasionally I'll pile it on when I really need to knock myself out.

With chamomile it's usually another tiny pinch with a pinch of chamomile too. Mostly water but it seems to calm the nerves without shutting me down completely.
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rousseau, have you ever tried this to relax/sleep? It works. https://www.harney.com/products/tilleul-linden-tea

Dude, I'm glad you're not drinking like you used to. Good for you!
 
Thomas II said:
https://helloglow.co/the-health-benefits-of-tea-15-teas-for-any-ailment/

https://www.harney.com/products/tilleul-linden-tea
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Interesting. I drink a green/white blend every morning, one to two mugs, and then herbal after that. Currently my herbal is chamomile. I like it with lemon and I found a "sleepy time" blend with mint that I like. I'd heard so much from Rousseau about lavender so it caught my eye today at the grocery store and I bought a box.

I used to drink mostly just black tea but it stained my teeth so much I switched to green and white for my caffeine in the morning. I miss that fermenty flavor that only a good black tea offers (really, pretty much anything other than Lipton is ok with me).
 
rousseau said:
Angry Floof said:
Trying lavender chamomile tea. So far, it's not that great. Bad smell in the package, not much better steeped. Flavor I can live with in order to not waste tea. I might have a better liking for it once the whole package is gone. It's not terrible enough to waste.
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I definitely wouldn't recommend lavender to anyone for flavour, no redeeming qualities there. I drink it purely as a relaxant, although these days I've had so much of it that I'm accustomed to the taste.

Most of the time I'll add the tiniest pinch of it to a better tasting tea to add a bit of sedation to what I'm drinking. Although occasionally I'll pile it on when I really need to knock myself out.

With chamomile it's usually another tiny pinch with a pinch of chamomile too. Mostly water but it seems to calm the nerves without shutting me down completely.
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That calming quality is why I decided to buy it after all you have posted about it. I added a bit of lemon and it's much better that way. I am in the habit of drinking 3-4 mugs of chamomile in the afternoon and evening for a couple of months now. I like it. Plain chamomile tastes kind of grassy, but lemon can make almost any tea enjoyable.

I've also started cold steeping my white/green tea blend through the night so I can have a cold tea first thing in the morning during these hot summer months. I like drinking cold water first thing, too, even before the tea.

I do feel relaxed right now, but that could be from being tired from all the energy I expended calling out right wing authoritarian followers on facebook earlier. :D It's my therapy. lol
 
Angry Floof said:
Trying lavender chamomile tea. So far, it's not that great. Bad smell in the package, not much better steeped. Flavor I can live with in order to not waste tea. I might have a better liking for it once the whole package is gone. It's not terrible enough to waste.
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Add a touch of honey to it. I find lavender tea to be bitter so always add honey.
 
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