Tea for guests or parties?

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Oct 4th, '10, 14:31
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Tea for guests or parties?

by Johnnyxs676 » Oct 4th, '10, 14:31

I have recently become very passionate about my tea and would like to get some advice on sharing tea with guests when they visit. I always like to offer tea to guests, but would like some advice on what type/kind of tea to offer. Here are some of my questions I would like to pose:

1. What questions do you ask to determine the type of tea you should serve? Lighter teas (white, green, herbal) or darker teas, (black, oolong, chai, etc)

2. Do regular coffee drinkers like a tea served a particular way or a particular type of tea?

3. Should you sweeten the tea? I know that I never would have become so interested in tea if I didn't first try it sweetened.

Thanks.

-Johnny

Mod edit: Johnny, I have moved this topic to Other Tea where it will be more at home. I have temporarily left a "shadow topic" under TeaClass that you can follow to the topic, but this will expire shortly.

Thanks,
Chip
Immoderate TeaDrinker who happens to Moderate

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Oct 4th, '10, 14:41
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Re: Tea for guests or parties?

by Victoria » Oct 4th, '10, 14:41

Guests, as in friends? For a party I usually prepare a black and then a high quality oolong to try to encourage my friends to try something different. So a standard along with your favorite.

1. You would ask what they have tried and liked. Most will say something like Lipton's or Earl Grey or fruit flavored black. You will know where to go from there.

2. Coffee drinkers usually prefer black teas.

3. You can set sugar out, but don't add it! That would be up to the guest to decide.

Good luck!

Oct 4th, '10, 20:54
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Re: Tea for guests or parties?

by Mr. Usaji » Oct 4th, '10, 20:54

Non-tea people seem to really like genmaicha. Probably because the rice flavor is a bit of a surprise, but not too weird or complicated.

Remember not every time is the right time for tea evangelism. If your friends are not adventurous, you might just want to give them what they think tea is, namely Indian tea with milk and/or sugar. A more interesting variation on that is masala chai--usually a crowd-pleaser, especially if you make it using fresh ginger and boil the spices with the milk.

Also, some people are just not interested in tea, so you might want to serve coffee. Good coffee is delicious too, and much easier to find than good tea.

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Oct 4th, '10, 22:24
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Re: Tea for guests or parties?

by entropyembrace » Oct 4th, '10, 22:24

I quite often share tea with my extended family...basically I only stay away from teas like lapsang souchong that can produce strong negative reactions in sosme people.

I don´t add sugar or milk for them and I´ve never seen anyone go searching or asking for any either. I think if you brew good tea well the quality is evident and most people can appreciate it as is. The real issue is that most people are not exposed to good tea...they only know the dust in teabags...so they have preconceptions based on that but they´re blown away pretty quickly when they get a chance to try the good stuff. :mrgreen:

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Oct 4th, '10, 22:37
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Re: Tea for guests or parties?

by debunix » Oct 4th, '10, 22:37

I get the best reaction and most interest from novice tea drinkers when I bring out a sweet floral green TGY or Alishan oolong, or jasmine pearls. Even the non-tea drinkers often are enticed into a few sips by the rich scent of the TGY.

I have come enjoy unscented teas so much that the jasmines seem more overwhelming than pleasant, so for an event where I'd be sharing the same tea, I would start with a nice green TGY or Alishan tea.

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