Monday Teaday 12/21/09 Badditives?

[Chip]

Welcome everyone to TeaDay. Please do come in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we took a "snowday" on TeaDay. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. Something different. Truth be told, even the vast majority of the die hard TeaPurists have at one time or another put something non tea into their tea. The poll question is, have you put something unusual into your tea at one time or another? Then, what is the most unusual or craziest thing you ever put into your tea? Please share the details ... we can take it!

I am looking forward to sharing this TeaDay with evewryone. Bottoms up!

[skywarrior]

Never anything weird, although a friend of mine would put tea in his rice and eat it. It was very Japanese.

I've used sugar and I've also stuck a cinnamon stick in tea. Nothing else of interest.

[artmom]

Nothing strange or weird; in fact nothing but milk, cinnamon stick, peppermint candy. The older I get, the less I add anything to my tea.

Hope my new tea order comes today, then I'll have something different to try.

[brandon]

None for me, thanks.

[JBaymore]

Never anything weird, although a friend of mine would put tea in his rice and eat it. It was very Japanese.

Very traditional Japanese dish.

The most "exotic" I can remembe that I have ever gotten is using honey in tea as a medicinal approach when I have a sore throat.

SO I voted "nope".

best,

................john

[J.]

One year ago, I sometimes putted sugar in yunnan blacks and lemon or honey in Nepalese blacks.

Just drink tea with water now.
Sometimes I try some stupid mixes. My sister is a big diet coke drinker; I sometimes try to mix. Xiaguan young raw tuos mixed with coke (50%), isn't good. Menghai ripes (V96, 7562) don't give any better result (I'm not trying to make anything good, just for fun...). Yancha could maybe give something drinkable.

[edkrueger]

None for me, thanks.

Great use of lolcats! I think I agree with the feline, no sugar in my darjeeling. The only additive I use with even some regularity -about once a month- is lemon with hojicha. I takes off some of the edge from bitter hoji and tastes good. The odd think about this habit is where I learned it: at an aquarium store/teahouse in Tokyo.

[olivierco]

I had some lemon in my tea many years ago (about 25 years ago): it was how morning tea was prepared in the British family I spent some days in.

I think I haven't added something in my tea for more than twenty years.

Musashi sencha this evening.

[Chip]

I recall buying some Torani (sp.) fruit flavored syrup shortly after I started drinking tea. My solution at the time for creating my own flavored iced tea, and used it only for iced though. Just never wanted to add anything to hot tea as I quickly moved away from flavored teas ... although I too added cinnamon sticks to hot tea a few times back then as well.

Began the TD with Hatsumi from O-Cha. SweeTea stopped by for tea while Gandalf and Ceylon stopped by for a warm lap on a brrrr morning.

[Seeker]

I'm sticking with the "never" vote, due to the "unusual" qualifier.

Nowadays I never add anything to tea - I just want the pure infusion.

But in days gone by, long long ago, I would drink only red tea (ie english brkfst) and routinely add cream or milk and sugar.

Or, with tisanes, lemon and honey. I might do this occasionally when sick, but not as a rule.

Also, as I alluded to, I don't consider milk, sugar, lemon, or honey "unusual" as tea additions go.

(The Coke, shared above, now that seems most adventurous!)

[Janine]

Hmm.. Well, a good medicinal remedy for poor digestion is to chop up fresh ginger and brew it up strong in a cup of rich, strong cooked loose puerh.

This is a good remedy if, for example, you've just gotten over a virus but your digestive system still can't handle anything but clear broth.

I have also put a Chinese herb which is a kind of date into my tea for medicinal reasons. But I don't think any of these things are weird

Today I am drinking a 1983 Dong Ding from Red Circle that has been reroasted many times, so it's chocolaty and roasty and very very smooth. Wow and caramel. Way smoother than I remember, and richer and more complex too. I've had it for a couple of years so this is a really nice revisiting!

[depravitea]

Weird stuff, not really...
When it comes to masala I'll put in milk and a bit of sweetener.
Hong Kong milk tea has some sweetener and condensed milk.
Sometimes I throw in a squeeze of lemon, maybe a teaspoon on honey for a black tea.
95% of the time, just water and leaves.

[Geekgirl]

Oh wait, I drank some of that birthday tea once. It had cake sprinkles in it. That was definitely weird. "Badditives" is appropriate, I think.

[mbishop]

I used to put sugar in my tea back when all I had was green tea bags (and I didn't know how to brew them properly). Now that I buy loose leaf tea I can't imagine putting sugar in my tea.

Other than that, the weirdest thing would probably be a fresh sprig of mint from the backyard, that I brewed with gunpowder to make a kind of Moroccan mint...only without sugar

Think my first cup today will be genmaicha

[Victoria]

I am sticking with the "never" story. At least I can't remember anything.
I have tried milk before in strong black tea, that doesn't count as usual does it? I also tried milk in Pepsi. Same result, not necessarily bad, just not good.

My morning cup was Soom Estate Darjeeling.

Gearing up for an oolong next.