Cream and Sugar

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


Aug 11th, '11, 23:29
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Cream and Sugar

by Sir. Canuk » Aug 11th, '11, 23:29

Hi, I'm relatively new to tea and am looking for some advice on where to go with black teas. While the answers will vary greatly due to personal tastes, which black teas or blends do you think mix well with sugar and/or cream? If so, is there a particular variety of sugar (white, raw, cube, amber…) or cream that compliments the tea particularly well?

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Aug 12th, '11, 07:32
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by Herb_Master » Aug 12th, '11, 07:32

I think that a majority of the Teachatters who frequent the Black Tea forum, certainly the ones that buy the Premium teas would drink it neat. But there are many on the boards, some in the Black Tea, but particularly those that frequent the forums for Flavoured Tea, Herbal Tea and Other Tea that use a variety of sweeteners, types of sugar, types of honey, alternative sweetners such as Stevia.

Doing a search using different combinations of Sugar, Sweetener, Honey, Milk, Cream, Additives etc - will bring up a whole host of topics where these issues have been dealt with before. If you get insufficient response on this topic, you may consider doing a search [but then you have to sift through the posts it produces to find relevant ones]

I did a sample search and found this Topic Of The day which might be worth reading.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... milk+sugar

I would not buy a premium Black Tea and add Milk and Sugar, though I might buy an Irish Breakfast Tea or English Breakfast tea for that purpose.

Eventually you may come to prefer Black Tea without, to achieve that end (enjoyably), over time as you move up the quality scale of Black Tea decrease the amount of Milk* and Sugar and see if a) it is still enjoyable, and b) you are starting to appreciate, more and more, the qualities of the leaf itself that make it worth paying the extra money on these esteemed teas.

*Try replacing cream with milk, then lower fat and finally no fat milk before you omit the milk altogether.

A quick search of the Black Tea Forum for "No Milk" shows this topic

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... =+No+Milk+

Part of the fun for many Teachatters is trying things out, and exploring the world of tea.

You could always try a black tea sampler from our hosts and see how they turn out!
http://www.adagio.com/black/black_sampler.html

Happy Drinking

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Oct 20th, '11, 13:32
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by AlexZorach » Oct 20th, '11, 13:32

I generally do not drink tea with cream and sugar, but I know a number of people who do.

If you are planning on adding cream (or even milk), I would recommend getting some of the strongest black teas. I'd go for: Assam or Yunnan black teas, or an Irish Breakfast blend or Ostfresian (East Frisian) tea blend. If you want smoky, I'd go with Russian Caravan. Also, look at black teas from Kenya.

Some companies actually note in their commercial descriptions which teas they think go well with milk...Upton Tea Imports is good at this.

Also, one more tip, if you're planning on adding anything, I'd actually seek out lower-priced, lower-grade teas...these often tend to be edgier / sharper and retain their flavor better when adding milk or cream.

Good luck!

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Oct 20th, '11, 13:41
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by DarkenedSun » Oct 20th, '11, 13:41

AlexZorach wrote: Also, one more tip, if you're planning on adding anything, I'd actually seek out lower-priced, lower-grade teas...these often tend to be edgier / sharper and retain their flavor better when adding milk or cream.
+1 the subtleties of higher end teas can be lost when adding things to your tea.

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Oct 21st, '11, 14:06
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by teaisme » Oct 21st, '11, 14:06

a peppery/spicy yunnan black goes very well with whole milk and honey
so does a sweet and malty assam, and lapsang souchung too, and of course chai as well

never tried with creamer, a little too much extra in that stuff.....
btw if you have not tried organic milk it really is worth a try at least once, I can taste a huge difference

Horizon makes delicious stuff. Tastes from honey are very wide, much more broad then different types of sugar. If you like to mix things and play around like I do you might get a kick out of buying a few different types of raw honey from different flowers.

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Oct 21st, '11, 14:34
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by Chip » Oct 21st, '11, 14:34

Just a bit off topic. I like to save the last 2 steeps of Japanese tea for making iced tea. I hot brew with boiling water. I add a touch of honey to the brew which serves 2 purposes, it acts as a natural preservative and also satisfies my craving for sweet ... even though I only add a teaspoon or so per .5 liter.

It is light and refreshing ... :mrgreen:

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Oct 21st, '11, 14:38
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by DarkenedSun » Oct 21st, '11, 14:38

Chip wrote:Just a bit off topic. I like to save the last 2 steeps of Japanese tea for making iced tea. I hot brew with boiling water. I add a touch of honey to the brew which serves 2 purposes, it acts as a natural preservative and also satisfies my craving for sweet ... even though I only add a teaspoon or so per .5 liter.

It is light and refreshing ... :mrgreen:
That just made me drool a little. :wink:

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Nov 10th, '11, 01:11
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by needaTEAcher » Nov 10th, '11, 01:11

As a Southerner who started off on Earl Grey with milk and sugar (practically from the bottle), and it took me a long time to learn to enjoy ANYTHING that wasn't sweet.

I find, for the most part, that if it is a black tea from India (throw in Kenya too), I like it with milk and sugar, and if it is from China then I prefer it without. I am not experienced with black teas from elsewhere. Also, I find that if the tea costs more than $10ish per 100 or 125 grams, then I tend to avoid altering it in any way, but if it is cheaper than why not try?

I am learning a lot right now about puerh, and most people freak out if I mentioned milk and sugar in the same sentence with the pu. That said, my fiance once asked my puerh teacher, "Can I make it with milk and sugar?" I expected a strong rebuttal, but like he often does, he shrugged and said, "if you like it." I think this is the golden rule for tea (though I don't drink expensive pu with milk and sugar, sticking to the $10 rule since cheap and not cheap tea tastes remarkably similar with milk and sugar in it).\

Also, an Oriental Medicinal (if you call it Chinese Medicine in Korea you get smacked) recipe I was given for a cold is to make pu, and then boil it with ginger and sugar for about 15 minutes (I added lemon). It was amazing and made me feel cleansed and clear. Enjoy!

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Dec 5th, '11, 01:58
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by Voort » Dec 5th, '11, 01:58

I heard you're not supposed to put cream / milk in some teas. Why is that?

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Dec 5th, '11, 18:57
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by needaTEAcher » Dec 5th, '11, 18:57

voort: lots of folks will say how you should or shouldn't drink tea, but having met and learned from some serious, genuine masters in a number of countries, I can say that the best rule is listen to yourself. If milk and sugar in you jasmine pearls or your 20 year old sheng puerh is what makes you enjoy your teatime, then that is what you should do.

That said, I think most of us would agree that milk or cream in white teas, yellows, greens, and oolongs doesn't feel right. It makes sense to me because these teas are lighter and subtler, so the cream overpowers and, to my palate, ruins the teas. Cream seems to compliment heavier teas, where it can smooth out the rough edges. I think in general, stick to the Indian and African red/black teas for milk, and the heavier Chinese red/black teas with cram. When in doubt, try it without first and see if you like it!

Not the best answer for why. Chemical biology folks offcially tagged in! :o

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Dec 13th, '11, 16:47
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Re: Cream and Sugar

by AlexZorach » Dec 13th, '11, 16:47

needaTEAcher wrote:I can say that the best rule is listen to yourself.
Very good advice!

I also want to chip in, I like milk in hojicha, especially darker-roast stuff, brewed strongly. It comes out very smooth, but the aroma is powerful, and aroma-wise, it's a lot like coffee with milk.

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