Hi,
Well, I've always had tea as that sick remedy, but I think I may go into it as a regular practice now, after experiencing my first GOOD cuppa tea I've had in a long time.
Essentially, I just boiled up some water to experiment, poured in a splash of milk, 3 spoons of sugar, and infused for about 30 seconds. It had a thick, creamy brown like coffee, which I am used to drinking (But have to stop, due to the overdose of caffeine has been giving me serious medical issues, such as heart palpitations) but this was a good cup! The only difference is I focused on only sugar, and a little bit, because this is the first time I added milk, and I think I'm addicted!
I want to know if anyone can give me a hand when I head out to pick up some tea. The bag I used was a simple lipton one, but I am interested in both Green and Black teas, to vary on. Since the Green tea has less caffeine, I'm more interested in it, meanwhile I want to remove sugar from the tea if possible, because the caffeine is bad enough as it is. YES I know the define tea with more caffeine, but that's merely because thats by a standard infusion, i tend to infuse very lightly, as I like light flavor in my tea.
Anyways, here are the big three tea questions!
1. Do YOU use sugar? If not, do you use a substitute? Why for whether or not, and do you miss sugar?
2. Suggest me your personal favorite Black tea (That goes with milk, so far I demand milk in my tea!) and green tea
3. How long do you infuse the tea? What's your ritual for the best mix? Any averages on the amount of milk for black tea?
Thanks for the help
Alex
Hi Alex, welcome to the world of tea. 
I'll st art by answering your questions
1. No sugar, no substitute if you're using good quality leaves you won't miss it.
2. You might want to try a black Yunnan tea, our host Adagio teas has 3 of them, they're pretty popular so anywhere that sells decent loose leaf teas should have at least one. Unless they're specializing in some type of tea.
3. A few questions in one...different teas need different infusion lengths, better quality teas are usually more flexible in that. And I almost never put milk in my tea...like the sugar if you're using good quality leaf you won't miss it.
I'd recommend ordering some sample packs to see what you like and give them a try without the milk and sugar! Adagio is a good place to start they ship from the US and have a nice selection of basic loose leaf teas to give you a taste of what's out there.
I do most of my online ordering from www.jingteashop.com though, they have fancier Chinese teas.
I'll st art by answering your questions
1. No sugar, no substitute if you're using good quality leaves you won't miss it.
2. You might want to try a black Yunnan tea, our host Adagio teas has 3 of them, they're pretty popular so anywhere that sells decent loose leaf teas should have at least one. Unless they're specializing in some type of tea.
3. A few questions in one...different teas need different infusion lengths, better quality teas are usually more flexible in that. And I almost never put milk in my tea...like the sugar if you're using good quality leaf you won't miss it.
I'd recommend ordering some sample packs to see what you like and give them a try without the milk and sugar! Adagio is a good place to start they ship from the US and have a nice selection of basic loose leaf teas to give you a taste of what's out there.
I do most of my online ordering from www.jingteashop.com though, they have fancier Chinese teas.
Oh you beat me too it Entropyembraceentropyembrace wrote:Hi Alex, welcome to the world of tea.
I'll st art by answering your questions
1. No sugar, no substitute if you're using good quality leaves you won't miss it.
2. You might want to try a black Yunnan tea, our host Adagio teas has 3 of them, they're pretty popular so anywhere that sells decent loose leaf teas should have at least one.
3. A few questions in one...different teas need different infusion lengths, better quality teas are usually more flexible in that. And I almost never put milk in my tea...like the sugar if you're using good quality leaf you won't miss it.
I'd recommend ordering some sample packs to see what you like and give them a try without the milk and sugar! Adagio is a good place to start they ship from the US and have a nice selection of basic loose leaf teas to give you a taste of what's out there.
I do most of my online ordering from www.jingteashop.com though, they have fancier Chinese teas.
Welcome to teachat Alex you came to the right place. Entropyembrace gave great advice I agree with. The best thing to do is use the search on here for all kinds of info.
I also don't add any sugar to my teas, Its healthier to leave out and a good tea really shouldn't need any.
Adagioteas is a great place to start with black loose leaf teas, you can get the sample pack or just get samples of whatever you want. Although I havent tryed any from adagio yet its highly recommended. I agree with entropyembrace that a yunnan black is a great black tea and/or a keemun. The breakfast teas such as Irish breakfast have more caffeine so you might not want to go with thoughs.
How much tea leaf or how long to infuse depend on the kind of tea and how much your makeing but a general rule is between 2-4 minutes for me though I don't think I ever go much above 2 min. you just have to experiment to see what you like.
I don't usually add milk to my tea but I do like adding milk to green chai teas sometimes.
May 1st, '09, 02:33
Posts: 921
Joined: Feb 6th, '08, 04:57
Location: enjoying a cup of Red Rose down in GA
Welcome Alex,
My suggestion to you is to read up and try making and brewing tea every which way that is suggested and then only you can decide how you like it best. What works for me may not work for you. I'm of the old school with black teas- a 4 minute steep and added sugar or sweet n low. That's the only way I like it...
EW
My suggestion to you is to read up and try making and brewing tea every which way that is suggested and then only you can decide how you like it best. What works for me may not work for you. I'm of the old school with black teas- a 4 minute steep and added sugar or sweet n low. That's the only way I like it...
EW
I prefer Keemun.
I add a liberal tsp. for 6-8 oz to a rolling boil.
I steep for three and a half to four minutes.
It takes milk well.
I do not add sugar.
But as many have said, steeping time is no exact science. I take a suggestion from a person or package, and then try it. If I like it, cool. If I don't, I play around with longer or shorter times.
I add a liberal tsp. for 6-8 oz to a rolling boil.
I steep for three and a half to four minutes.
It takes milk well.
I do not add sugar.
But as many have said, steeping time is no exact science. I take a suggestion from a person or package, and then try it. If I like it, cool. If I don't, I play around with longer or shorter times.
May 1st, '09, 17:11
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hooksie
Re: [Interested in Tea] My first Cup of Black.
Hi Alex, and welcome to Teachat.Laos wrote: 1. Do YOU use sugar? If not, do you use a substitute? Why for whether or not, and do you miss sugar?
2. Suggest me your personal favorite Black tea (That goes with milk, so far I demand milk in my tea!) and green tea
3. How long do you infuse the tea? What's your ritual for the best mix? Any averages on the amount of milk for black tea?
I tend to agree with everyone above...
1. I rarely ever use sugar. If I do, I opt for one such as Sugar in the Raw. A good quality tea tends to not need sugar; I don't miss it. (In the past, I used to add sugar to everything).
2. Favorite black is definitely Yunnan. Darjeeling comes in a close second. Adagio has some Yunnans that I quite enjoy, namely Yunnan Noir and Yunnan Gold. (They have a third which I have never tried, Yunnan Jig).
3. Sometimes I will use an excessive amount of leaf in a small vessel (120ml) and a short amount of time, for example 1/4 of the vessel and 15 seconds of steep time.
Other times I opt for 1 heaping teaspoon per 7oz and brew for around 3 minutes.
It's all about finding the perfect balance that suites your taste.
Happy brewing.
May 1st, '09, 19:01
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Proinsias
It's very rare that I take tea with sugar and milk but when I do, usually over an extended family fry up, it's done with good keemun, Jersey full cream milk and some brown sugar from the baking cupboard.
If you're gonna put milk and sugar in tea make sure you have good strong tea, good milk and good sugar. Sweeteners, skimmed milk and teabags may lead to disappointment.
If you're gonna put milk and sugar in tea make sure you have good strong tea, good milk and good sugar. Sweeteners, skimmed milk and teabags may lead to disappointment.
Indian tea, not Chinese.
You need teas that can stand up to milk and sweetener. Milk is used to buffer the acidity (briskness) of caffeine in Indian black teas that have a malty basis or that have a strong flavor (example: most Assams, and select Niligiri and Ceylon teas).
Those that have low acidity and a cleaner flavor are termed 'self drinking' because they need no milk or sugar.
Milk 'buffers' the acidity and compliments the malty flavor of the these teas, producing a rich complex flavor in a fatty emulsion of milk proteins (termed micelles). Sugar counters the slightly bitter 'brisk' components.
Black and green have nearly comparable caffeine, but it extracts differently for each tea due to processing and brewing style. Theanine is present in green teas, and this amino acid counters and positively augments the neurological effects of caffeine.
Indian black teas have stand up to milk and sugar have complex secondary components that form during and after processing, affording a rich pleasing flavor when mixed with milk (milk sugars provide enough sweetening to some, by the way). These teas tend to extract reasonably quickly due to the fragmented and porous structure of the leaves. They are therefore best treated as single steep teas; it's more difficult to separate tea flavor and odor components by serial steeps as one might do with a Chinese or Darjeeling tea, although there are some here that use Eastern style (multiple short period extractions) on *some* delicate Indian black teas (eg., Darjeelings) and *most* Chinese black teas.
Clue: Darjeeling is a Chinese tea hybrid (subspecies), quite different than the Indian subspecies. Beyond that distinction, sulfurous volcanic soils of the Indian subcontinent are responsible for much of the malty flavor of teas preferred when one wishes to use milk to enrich a tea infusion.
Those that have low acidity and a cleaner flavor are termed 'self drinking' because they need no milk or sugar.
Milk 'buffers' the acidity and compliments the malty flavor of the these teas, producing a rich complex flavor in a fatty emulsion of milk proteins (termed micelles). Sugar counters the slightly bitter 'brisk' components.
Black and green have nearly comparable caffeine, but it extracts differently for each tea due to processing and brewing style. Theanine is present in green teas, and this amino acid counters and positively augments the neurological effects of caffeine.
Indian black teas have stand up to milk and sugar have complex secondary components that form during and after processing, affording a rich pleasing flavor when mixed with milk (milk sugars provide enough sweetening to some, by the way). These teas tend to extract reasonably quickly due to the fragmented and porous structure of the leaves. They are therefore best treated as single steep teas; it's more difficult to separate tea flavor and odor components by serial steeps as one might do with a Chinese or Darjeeling tea, although there are some here that use Eastern style (multiple short period extractions) on *some* delicate Indian black teas (eg., Darjeelings) and *most* Chinese black teas.
Clue: Darjeeling is a Chinese tea hybrid (subspecies), quite different than the Indian subspecies. Beyond that distinction, sulfurous volcanic soils of the Indian subcontinent are responsible for much of the malty flavor of teas preferred when one wishes to use milk to enrich a tea infusion.
I never use sugar except with Chai. Sugar ruins good tea. If you add milk, there won't be much difference as to which tea you use, as long as it's some half-decent assam, ceylon or nilgiri, and it's loose-leaf. I hope that you will experiment with other teas without milk because there's a huge variety that isn't like ceylon you're familiar with at all. I would recommend trying some sichuan gongfu, keemun, golden yunnan. Assams can be pretty interesting sometimes. Darjeelings are not really black teas but they're between greens and blacks. Darjeelings are nice and are very reliable and easy to get right as long as you don't overbrew. Don't put milk in green teas!
If you like coffee but can't drink it anymore, try pu-erh teas, they're most coffee-like of all teas. There's a great deal of variety, many of these are not good but there's a huge number of good ones, too. HTH
If you like coffee but can't drink it anymore, try pu-erh teas, they're most coffee-like of all teas. There's a great deal of variety, many of these are not good but there's a huge number of good ones, too. HTH
To clarify: sichuan gongfu, keemun, golden yunnan go without milk, and so does darjeeling. I know you mentioned that you need milk in your tea but usually people want milk because cheaper indian blacks are very astringent and I would not drink one without milk either, but with the teas I mentioned, it's a completely different story and they're quite amazing without milk - and boring with milk.
as far as I'm concerned I'd advice to drop the lipton baggies and just go for loose leaf to begin with.
Just rememeber to use just boiled water for blacks only. Boiling water on green tea will effectively ruin the taste. Dropping the temp to 180°F or 80° Celcius will suit green tea better.
Favorite blacks for me would include some nice Ceylon tea (which has a softer taste) or a nice Earl Grey will hit the spot right after a meal.
As for green tea: Regular sencha will do the trick just fine.
Welcome to the world of tea! Enjoy!
Just rememeber to use just boiled water for blacks only. Boiling water on green tea will effectively ruin the taste. Dropping the temp to 180°F or 80° Celcius will suit green tea better.
Favorite blacks for me would include some nice Ceylon tea (which has a softer taste) or a nice Earl Grey will hit the spot right after a meal.
As for green tea: Regular sencha will do the trick just fine.
Welcome to the world of tea! Enjoy!
Ki tai ichi!.. followed by some tea