(Big) Brand Name Teas

Fully oxidized tea leaves for a robust cup.


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Dec 5th, '07, 17:51
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by Mary R » Dec 5th, '07, 17:51

I'm not big on Tazo either, and I think Stash is reprehensible. Tazo is decent with milk, though. If you're contemplating a chai...there are worse things to make it with.

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Dec 5th, '07, 18:15
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by scruffmcgruff » Dec 5th, '07, 18:15

Reason why Starbucks only serves Tazo: they own them. Literally. :)

Perhaps this is also an explanation why Tazo sucks so much?
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Dec 5th, '07, 18:53
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by skywarrior » Dec 5th, '07, 18:53

Mary R wrote:I'm not big on Tazo either, and I think Stash is reprehensible. Tazo is decent with milk, though. If you're contemplating a chai...there are worse things to make it with.
I'd rather drink Starbucks coffee than stash tea. That is saying a lot. I hate coffee.

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Dec 5th, '07, 19:31
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by LavenderPekoe » Dec 5th, '07, 19:31

I don't like Tazo at all. There is an aftertaste to me that is the same with all of their teas that I really don't like.

What's so bad about Stash, though? I have a few of their flavored loose teas that I like. And I loved the green and gold tins you could get from them (they don't have those any more, though) I guess if you don't drink flavored tea, though, you wouldn't like them.
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Dec 5th, '07, 20:59
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by skywarrior » Dec 5th, '07, 20:59

LavenderPekoe wrote: What's so bad about Stash, though? I have a few of their flavored loose teas that I like. And I loved the green and gold tins you could get from them (they don't have those any more, though) I guess if you don't drink flavored tea, though, you wouldn't like them.
That's it. I like flavored teas. I can't abide Stash tea. It always tasted to me me like someone picked lousy tea and annoying spices to come up with their teas.

Sorry, I tried and tried to like stash tea. Won't happen in my lifetime.

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Dec 6th, '07, 09:03
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by LavenderPekoe » Dec 6th, '07, 09:03

Ah, well, to each his own. That's how I feel about Tazo. :lol: All of my Stash teas are fruit or mint so I don't get the strange spice flavor. I need to get through some of my supply, though, so I can justify buying more. :)
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Dec 6th, '07, 15:12
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by skywarrior » Dec 6th, '07, 15:12

LavenderPekoe wrote:Ah, well, to each his own. That's how I feel about Tazo. :lol: All of my Stash teas are fruit or mint so I don't get the strange spice flavor. I need to get through some of my supply, though, so I can justify buying more. :)
I find Tazo only mildly annoying. I would drink it if there were nothing else. Maybe it's an attempt to get us to drink Starbucks coffee? :shock:

Their iced tea is ok. Nothing to write home about.

Dec 6th, '07, 17:48
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by divintea » Dec 6th, '07, 17:48

Yikes, skywarrior! You must really not like it then!

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Dec 6th, '07, 17:54
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by Space Samurai » Dec 6th, '07, 17:54

Honestly, if its in a teabag, no thanks.

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Dec 7th, '07, 01:38
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by skywarrior » Dec 7th, '07, 01:38

divintea wrote:Yikes, skywarrior! You must really not like it then!
It's a YMMV thing. I just would rather drink anything than Stash tea.

I remember in high school and college when mom would bring home some Stash tea packets from work. I pretty much made up my mind then. Later forays into that tea only confirmed what I already knew. :P

Dec 7th, '07, 04:35
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by Antony » Dec 7th, '07, 04:35

I like RedRose tea, its cheap, comes with a nice figurine you can throw away and taste good to me for every day black tea. Lipton pyramid and PG Tips black teas taste good to me too, though they cost more.

Does anyone know whats a really good chai tea (teabag or loose) brand to try?

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Dec 7th, '07, 08:34
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by Mary R » Dec 7th, '07, 08:34

My gran used to drink Red Rose. My middle brother and I had quite the collection of those figurines, but I can't remember what we did with them. I guess they're a sacrifice on the altar of childhood.

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Dec 7th, '07, 10:40
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by Space Samurai » Dec 7th, '07, 10:40

Rishi and (I can't believe I'm going to say this) Republic of Tea have the two best that I've tried. I like Rishi more partly because it uses Yunnan tea isntead of something from India. The RoT has a little more pepper, a little more of a kick.

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Dec 7th, '07, 20:04
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by evilive » Dec 7th, '07, 20:04

Antony wrote:Does anyone know whats a really good chai tea (teabag or loose) brand to try?
Ah, I'm quite well versed in chai, so here goes..

Nerada Chai is quite nice for a big name brand. It comes in both loose leaf and bag forms and is perfect for the afternoon. It goes really well with a slice of raison/cinnamon toast with butter. It's really my 'saftey chai', that I always have a supply of

Twinings Chai is more spice laden than Nerada's and the tea is less strong/perhaps of a lower quality. It goes well with slightly more milk than usual and is best suited to a midday/morning tea tea

Dilmah makes 2 kinds of chai (which I cannot find a link to, sorry :( ); Gentle Ceylon Spice and Fiery Ceylon Spice. The Gentle Ceylon Spice is still a rather spicey chai tea, kind of like the Twinings chai only even more emphasis on the spices rather than the tea. Feiry Ceylon Spice is a chai tea with chillie flakes in it, it's not spicey in the sense that it'll ruin the chai experience; if you like chillies, you'll like this tea

Alchemy Chai Syrup, which I don't know if you can get countries other than Australia, is a syrup you add to milk and heat to make an apparently traditional chai taste. I don't know how traditional it is, but it tastes pretty good. It tastes more like a chai milk rather than a chai tea though

Lipton make a chai as well, but I won't bother taking about it. It's as you'd expect from Lipton; medicore

Other than that, I reccomend ordering Adagio's or Harney and Sons' Chais. They both seem to be pretty high quality and are, of course, going to be better quality than any big brand name teas. Also, if you like chai, I suggest Glogg, Christmas and Cinnamon teas as well.

Hope I was some help :D

Dec 7th, '07, 20:39
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by Antony » Dec 7th, '07, 20:39

thanks evilive, that was very helpful! and much more thorough a response than I could have expected, thanks alot; will try to get my hands on these chai(s). hmm, how do you write chai is the plural form, chais, chaies, or chai? lol

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