xdunlapx's Tea Blog
Posted: Oct 31st, '12, 17:33
Hi guys, I'll introduce myself here and explain a little about my (lack of) experience with tea in any form.
My name is Brittany Dunlap, I consider myself new to the world of tea. I never thought I'd ever like tea because I didn't know of the huge wide variety of it available in loose leaf form. I only knew about the bagged varieties in the grocery store. I knew the Lipton name and tried it once. Hated it. It was far too "bright" and not much depth of flavor. Seemed bitter to me at the time. I think I tried Lipton at a restaurant when somebody had ordered hot tea. I was curious of the taste since my family never drank tea in any form. They were always coffee drinkers, from my grandpa down through my parents and even I only drank coffee on occasion. I grew up drinking coffee with cream. My grandpa would spoon feed me his coffee (some, not a lot) when I was a toddler.
Probably at the age of 10 or somewhere around there I tried hot tea at a restaurant I think one of my aunts drank tea. That is when I decided tea was not for me. Bitter, strong and very bright in flavor. I then later tried a sip of iced tea (again - probably Lipton) and hated it more than the hot tea. But jump forward probably 16 years...
I came across the idea of Chai one day and decided to spring for a box of it in the grocery store. It was Celestial Seasonings India Spice tea. It sounded so yummy I had to try it. So I did. Wow what a flavor explosion!
I quickly decided to sweeten it with lots of sugar. At that time I didn't add milk or cream as I was never one to add cream or milk to coffee on the occasion I'd drink some. I preferred my coffee very sweet and black.
I drank a few cups but lost interest (that was in probably 2004 or 2005). Jumpt to 2010 and I learned of the world of loose leaf tea. But not until after I bought 6 boxes of Tazo Organic Chai (after trying it once and loving it). I continued to sweeten it a lot with sugar. Then I found out I was diabetic so I switched to Splenda. I still didn't add any milk or cream to the chai. I burned myself out of it since I drank at least 10 cups in one day for a few weeks, if that. Though I felt great thanks to the wonderful benefits of tea, I lost interest after I bought some samples from Adagio and I didn't like them.
The samples I bought were Assam Harmony, Assam Melody, and I think Lapsang Pouchong (?). I was inexperienced in teh world of tea and didn't appreciate the nuances of flavor then.
So I quit drinking tea probably no more than 2 months after I started in 2010. Fast forward to 2012 and my interest was piqued again. Only this time I knew there was a universe out there of tea that I hadn't explored. I still had 5 boxes of Tazo, 2 boxes of other chai, Twinings Irish Breakfast, and Twinings English Breakfast teas (all bagged tea). So I ordered an electric kettle so that I could brew tea at night without the loud whistle waking up my parents since we now live in a tiny one floor apartment.
The kettle I got was a Bonavita gooseneck electric kettle. It's a dream! Love it!
I started drinking the tazo bagged chai and really enjoyed it, but this time I added cream to it. Yum! So I went online and decided to find and buy some flavored teas.
I bought from The Tea Table Masala Chai (with vanilla in it), Caramel Black tea, and Bourbon Sunday blend (that is bourbon vanilla in it). Once these teas arrived I was in heaven! The aroma of the teas were excellent to me. So the first tea I opened was the Masala Chai. I brewed one teaspoon for 4 minutes. Tried it without sugar or cream, decided yes it needed splenda. Then I tasted it again and definitely needed cream. It was a very satisfying experience drinking that loose leaf masala chai.
Second tea I tried was the Bourbon vanilla tea. Another delightful tea full of flavor though I didn't taste the vanilla nearly as much as I could smell it. What a shame. But I have a feeling that all flavored teas are like that. Then i tried the Carmal Black tea. Again, amazing fragrance in teh bag. Not so much caramel flavor in the liquid though. But still a good starting point for me.
So those are the teas I've been drinking daily for a few days now. I have an order coming from Harney & Sons. I bought Chamraj Nilgiri FOP, Tippy Yunnan and Irish Breakfast. Those should arrive tomorrow. I'll try the Nilgiri tea first. I'll report back here with what I thought about it.
I know this post is very long but I wanted you to know about my experience with tea.
I've met a group of great people here on TeaChat.com. They have been very kind to me and my newbiness. Even going so far as suggesting teas I might like because I prefer sweeter teas. I have 4 teas that I want to find and try. One of them is a Nilgiri tea, so I've got that covered so far. The other three are Qimen, second flus Darjeeling, and Dian Hong.
Thank you guys for helping me broaden my tea horizons!
I spend a lot of time here reading this forum and watching the chat. I love learning as much as I can about subjects that interest me.
I hope you comment on my blog and let me know if you think of anything I might try or enjoy. I welcome comments. I'd like to get to know you and hopefully become friends. I don't know anybody other than 2 family members who drink tea. And they only drink Lipton or Nestea or something along those lines.. Coming here I know I can make many friends, everyone here is nice and helpful. I really enjoy being here. Thanks, all! See you soon!
Brittany
My name is Brittany Dunlap, I consider myself new to the world of tea. I never thought I'd ever like tea because I didn't know of the huge wide variety of it available in loose leaf form. I only knew about the bagged varieties in the grocery store. I knew the Lipton name and tried it once. Hated it. It was far too "bright" and not much depth of flavor. Seemed bitter to me at the time. I think I tried Lipton at a restaurant when somebody had ordered hot tea. I was curious of the taste since my family never drank tea in any form. They were always coffee drinkers, from my grandpa down through my parents and even I only drank coffee on occasion. I grew up drinking coffee with cream. My grandpa would spoon feed me his coffee (some, not a lot) when I was a toddler.
Probably at the age of 10 or somewhere around there I tried hot tea at a restaurant I think one of my aunts drank tea. That is when I decided tea was not for me. Bitter, strong and very bright in flavor. I then later tried a sip of iced tea (again - probably Lipton) and hated it more than the hot tea. But jump forward probably 16 years...
I came across the idea of Chai one day and decided to spring for a box of it in the grocery store. It was Celestial Seasonings India Spice tea. It sounded so yummy I had to try it. So I did. Wow what a flavor explosion!
I quickly decided to sweeten it with lots of sugar. At that time I didn't add milk or cream as I was never one to add cream or milk to coffee on the occasion I'd drink some. I preferred my coffee very sweet and black.
I drank a few cups but lost interest (that was in probably 2004 or 2005). Jumpt to 2010 and I learned of the world of loose leaf tea. But not until after I bought 6 boxes of Tazo Organic Chai (after trying it once and loving it). I continued to sweeten it a lot with sugar. Then I found out I was diabetic so I switched to Splenda. I still didn't add any milk or cream to the chai. I burned myself out of it since I drank at least 10 cups in one day for a few weeks, if that. Though I felt great thanks to the wonderful benefits of tea, I lost interest after I bought some samples from Adagio and I didn't like them.
The samples I bought were Assam Harmony, Assam Melody, and I think Lapsang Pouchong (?). I was inexperienced in teh world of tea and didn't appreciate the nuances of flavor then.
So I quit drinking tea probably no more than 2 months after I started in 2010. Fast forward to 2012 and my interest was piqued again. Only this time I knew there was a universe out there of tea that I hadn't explored. I still had 5 boxes of Tazo, 2 boxes of other chai, Twinings Irish Breakfast, and Twinings English Breakfast teas (all bagged tea). So I ordered an electric kettle so that I could brew tea at night without the loud whistle waking up my parents since we now live in a tiny one floor apartment.
The kettle I got was a Bonavita gooseneck electric kettle. It's a dream! Love it!
I started drinking the tazo bagged chai and really enjoyed it, but this time I added cream to it. Yum! So I went online and decided to find and buy some flavored teas.
I bought from The Tea Table Masala Chai (with vanilla in it), Caramel Black tea, and Bourbon Sunday blend (that is bourbon vanilla in it). Once these teas arrived I was in heaven! The aroma of the teas were excellent to me. So the first tea I opened was the Masala Chai. I brewed one teaspoon for 4 minutes. Tried it without sugar or cream, decided yes it needed splenda. Then I tasted it again and definitely needed cream. It was a very satisfying experience drinking that loose leaf masala chai.
Second tea I tried was the Bourbon vanilla tea. Another delightful tea full of flavor though I didn't taste the vanilla nearly as much as I could smell it. What a shame. But I have a feeling that all flavored teas are like that. Then i tried the Carmal Black tea. Again, amazing fragrance in teh bag. Not so much caramel flavor in the liquid though. But still a good starting point for me.
So those are the teas I've been drinking daily for a few days now. I have an order coming from Harney & Sons. I bought Chamraj Nilgiri FOP, Tippy Yunnan and Irish Breakfast. Those should arrive tomorrow. I'll try the Nilgiri tea first. I'll report back here with what I thought about it.
I know this post is very long but I wanted you to know about my experience with tea.
I've met a group of great people here on TeaChat.com. They have been very kind to me and my newbiness. Even going so far as suggesting teas I might like because I prefer sweeter teas. I have 4 teas that I want to find and try. One of them is a Nilgiri tea, so I've got that covered so far. The other three are Qimen, second flus Darjeeling, and Dian Hong.
Thank you guys for helping me broaden my tea horizons!
I spend a lot of time here reading this forum and watching the chat. I love learning as much as I can about subjects that interest me.
I hope you comment on my blog and let me know if you think of anything I might try or enjoy. I welcome comments. I'd like to get to know you and hopefully become friends. I don't know anybody other than 2 family members who drink tea. And they only drink Lipton or Nestea or something along those lines.. Coming here I know I can make many friends, everyone here is nice and helpful. I really enjoy being here. Thanks, all! See you soon!
Brittany