TeaChat

I would like to ask for some opinions - I know tea is personal preference, but I am constantly trying to find a flavored tea that I like but I am always disappointed. If this makes any sense - it feels like the tea leaf and the flavoring hit different parts of my tongue and do not meld together. Since you are the flavored tea peeps, anyone have any suggestions for me? Or if you have some you want to share, I will be happy to reciprocate with something you would enjoy.

Luckily, I had a backup to today's mishap, so I am sipping a lovely Yunnan Gold in my Steak and Shake cafe mug (holds heat better than any other!)

Amy

rooibos caramel with sugarrrr (hard to make bad, otherwise Earl grey- but it has the potential to be overinfused and thus towards "bitter")

peacock chinchilla wrote:I am constantly trying to find a flavored tea that I like but I am always disappointed.

I feel the same way sometimes. It's strange, but I tend to prefer flavored tea when it comes in a teabag. Maybe because teabag vendors tend to drown out the flavor of mediocre tea with artificial flavorings?

Anyway, here are some of my favorite flavored teas:
Tazo's Berryblossom White Tea
Bigelow's Earl Grey
Harney's Hot Cinnamon Spice (available as bags or loose leaf)
Adagio's Jasmine Rooibos (exclusively loose leaf)

The Tazo and Bigelow teas taste great with lemon and honey, but the Adagio and Harney teas taste great without any additional sweetening!

Hope this helps!

Depending on what flavors you like, there are endless possibilities with Adagio signature blends. I tend to personally like the flavored whites very much... the greens, not so much.

I also tend to like a flavored tea mixed with an unflavored tea... so the flavor is light and just a hint, rather than overwhelming or artificial-tasting. As an example, I really love a blend called "Twilight - Jacob's Tears"... mixing white cucumber, white peach, and white peony (an unflavored white). I enjoy the blend more than I enjoy white cucumber or white peach alone... because they complement one another and because the flavor and fragrance are more subtle after being mixed with the unflavored white peony.

Another great option for flavored teas with Adagio is to use an unflavored tea as a base, and a fruit or herbal tisane for your flavor... there are several fruity tisanes (raspberry, blood orange, strawberry, cherry, etc.) and some herbals like peppermint, spearmint, and chamomile. If you prefer more natural flavors, this is a good method. I have a blend called Tequila Sunrise which contains unflavored white peony, alittle white tropics, and the primary flavor comes from blood orange. I've made several mint blends too... A Minty Fresh Monkey is a blend of white monkey green tea, with natural spearmint and peppermint leaves... a great twist on traditional Morrocan Mint (I don't care for gunpowder green). I always think you can't go wrong with aliittle mint in your tea.

Trying someone else's blends, or experiment with making some of your own, is a great way to explore flavored teas.

Oh, and the coconut pouchong is really delicious if you like coconut... and I tend to mix it with unflavored pouchong at home. Mmmm.

Just some ideas...you'll figure out what, if any, flavored teas you really enjoy.

Happy Blending,

Sarah

I know exactly what you mean. I've had some really disappointing flavoured teas. The worst two: a black tea flavoured with rum and another black flavoured to taste like a cafe latte. Ugh.

I've had good experiences with flavoured rooibos teas. Enjoyed rooibos with caramel, rooibos with vanilla, and also rooibos with raspberry and vanilla. Rooibos just seems to work well as a base.

I think lately I've discovered that I prefer my green teas to be unflavoured. I found Earl Grey green tea interesting at first, but once that initial feeling wore off, I didn't find it overly enjoyable. I'd go with flavoured black teas, if they're well blended. Big fan of a nice strong black Earl Grey.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will give it another try!

You might be better off with herbals instead of flavored tea, if you're not partial to the black tea and the flavors mixing together. The dewy cherry is very good.

I have to say my 2 favorite flavored blacks are the vanilla and the strawberry, and I often mix them together! The strawberry has a very "real" strawberry taste, and is not overpowering, but not too wimpy either, just right! I also like adding peppermint to the vanilla. Thats a great combo also.

Think about the flavors you like and give alot of different ones a try. And perhaps try subtle flavored ones first.

Problem with flavored tea is that you don't always know what tea they're using. I had one that was so dark and strong that the flavoring was obliterated. Also some of the flavors are artificial and sprayed on, whereas better ones have flakes of real fruit or coconut or flower petals.

I use a favorite teas and make my own. I've dried some orange rind, lemon rind, cranberries, coconut etc, run them through my blender, and put them in jars in a dark cabinet. I add these to the dry tea and let them sit in there to meld. Or you can add them at brewing time.

Warning: if you do this, make sure the fruit is thoroughly dry, or you'll get mold in storage. I put them on a tray in a 100-degree oven overnight. It's like making a recipe for your own chai, except with fruit. Vanilla, obviously, can't be shredded and put in a jar. javascript:emoticon('')

sneakers wrote:Problem with flavored tea is that you don't always know what tea they're using. I had one that was so dark and strong that the flavoring was obliterated. Also some of the flavors are artificial and sprayed on, whereas better ones have flakes of real fruit or coconut or flower petals.

I use a favorite teas and make my own. I've dried some orange rind, lemon rind, cranberries, coconut etc, run them through my blender, and put them in jars in a dark cabinet. I add these to the dry tea and let them sit in there to meld. Or you can add them at brewing time.

Warning: if you do this, make sure the fruit is thoroughly dry, or you'll get mold in storage. I put them on a tray in a 100-degree oven overnight. It's like making a recipe for your own chai, except with fruit. Vanilla, obviously, can't be shredded and put in a jar. javascript:emoticon('')

Agreed, if you are trying indian flavored teas, I would recommend using Niligiris teas. Assam, has a very strong flavor of it's own and Darjeeling even more so. For flavored teas it's best to pick teas with no flavor of it's own and nilgiris is considered the best for flavoring.

peacock chinchilla wrote:I am constantly trying to find a flavored tea that I like but I am always disappointed. If this makes any sense - it feels like the tea leaf and the flavoring hit different parts of my tongue and do not meld together.

I'm in the same boat as you. So far, the only flavored tea I've ever really liked is Rishi's Sen-cha Sakura. Tastes just like Sakuramochi (rice cakes)!
Oh, but it you consider Genmai-cha a 'flavored' tea, then there's another one I really like.

Silver Tips (silvertipstea.com) Lemon Drop, which is made not with lemon, but lemon grass.

CJluvsT wrote:You might be better off with herbals instead of flavored tea, if you're not partial to the black tea and the flavors mixing together. The dewy cherry is very good.

Just to piggyback on the OP's thread, should I stick to herbal too? I'm a diehard green and white tea fan, and the main problem with flavored teas for me is the black bases for the flavoring.