When/why did you start drinking tea?

[sencha]

When and why did you start drinking tea? Maybe this topic has been brought up before, but I couldn't find anything in a search.

I started because of a medication I was taking in early 2010 that gave me the chills and found drinking tea kept me warm. I fell in love with green tea and have been drinking it ever since.

[Herb_Master]

Father and Mother gave me some to drink for breakfast about 1954.

[sencha]

That's a couple of decades before I was even born.

[debunix]

You might want to start with this topic:

Calling all noobs.... where people answer some of the following questions:

How long have you been drinking tea?
What was your first Tea?
What is your favorite Tea currently?
What is your next purchase?
Where is your favorite spot to brew up?

I started by drinking the random hot teas served in chinese restaurants.

[sencha]

Sorry debunix. I didn't see the other thread.

[debunix]

No apologies needed, happy to helP steer you in the rIght direction.

[AlexZorach]

My parents drank tea when I was growing up but I rarely had much. But I did drink a lot of iced herbal teas in the summer, mainly a blend of spearmint and lemon balm. I started growing my own herbs and brewing herbal teas from them.

I began getting more into tea in college; I tried a bunch of Bigelow flavored teas and herbals in the dining hall, but I really got excited when one of my friends gave me some Ten Wu tea, a greener oolong, from Ten Ren Tea.

I didn't get really into loose-leaf tea though, or start drinking tea regularly, until much later, only a few years ago. I think it was discovering Upton Tea Imports that really got me seriously into tea, and then, through creating RateTea.net (which started as a small side project) I got even more into tea.

[sencha]

Ah, I didn't know you were the creator of ratetea.net! I've been on there a couple of times and have read a few of your reviews of Upton's teas. I ultimately decided to post my reviews on steepster, but that's only because it seems more people use it. What was your reason for creating ratetea when steepster already existed?

[AlexZorach]

What was your reason for creating ratetea when steepster already existed?

Very good question, and I'm glad you asked!

I started writing a reply with a full explanation, but it got too long for a forum post so I'm going to publish it on my tea blog some time in the next few days...stay tuned.

[JCFantasy23]

I started by drinking the random hot teas served in chinese restaurants.

LOL Me too!! My mother always took us to chinese restaurants as a kid and I loved their hot tea.

[Lerxst2112]

Well, as stated in the "calling all noobs" forum, I started drinking bagged tea about 25 years ago. From then until now, I narrowed my preferences down to Ceylon, Tetley British Blend, and Bigelow Earl Grey.

One of my friends introduced me to "true tea" a bunch of months ago. The same person, a little over a month ago, brewed me my first Gongfu session. Needless to say, I was hooked.

[sencha]

What was your reason for creating ratetea when steepster already existed?

Very good question, and I'm glad you asked!

I started writing a reply with a full explanation, but it got too long for a forum post so I'm going to publish it on my tea blog some time in the next few days...stay tuned.

Still waiting for this blog post.

[Akuma37]

I started drinking tea when I was very young (mostly herbal teas). I then tried some Lapsang souchong from Taylors of Harrogate a few years ago. Every since then I started learning about tea and drinking new kinds. I'm now addicted to L-theanine