The ULTIMATE shootout - TEA!!!

[mohthom]

So, there's already a million different shootouts for microphones, preamps, cables, converters etc. etc.

At the end of the day, it's all about the law of diminishing returns - and at the top of the playing field it's more about taste than quality.

With this in mind, a shootout that matters;

What's the best kind of tea, drinking vessel and method of production (be it bag, leaf, different types of pot, infuser etc. etc.) for improving your recordings?

I shall go first.

Betty's Tea Room Blend
brewed in a
Bodum Assam Tea Infuser
served in a
Favourite mug!





This thread was inspired by the below;

Tea tastes better from your favourite mug





Preemptive addendum; if it hasn't got any tea in it, it's not tea. Blackberry and snifflywhiff is not a type of tea, it's a fruit infusion. No tea = not tea!

[MidasHatesGold]

I love mine...out of my samovar

somthing like this

http://z.about.com/d/goeasteurope/1/.../-/Samovar.jpg

I prefer chai


mmmmm...i´ll go and get me one...now

[matyas]

More of a coffee drinker here, but I do enjoy a good cup of tea as well. Have you seen those blooming tea flower balls? It's a little bulb, which, when placed in hot water, blooms into a flower (I think it's a flower from a tea plant, but it might be some other plant to which the tea has been added) and infuses the water. I bought some for my fiancee the other day, but we have yet to try it. Will report back.

[ulysses]

The most important thing about drinking tea that will improve your recordings is that, unlike coffee that you get to go when you're in a hurry, teas is about stopping what you're doing, taking the time to make it right, and relaxing for a moment while you enjoy it. It gives you time to reflect on your surroundings, your day, yourself, and the task at hand. That's when inspiration often strikes. And of course reducing stress make you more productive in every way, including your recording.

I alternate at my whim between rich black tea and strong green tea.
My current green tea is a rather inexpensive Bio Grüner Tee Sencha from Alnatura.

And I'm really enjoying this Assam black tea I bought at TeeGschwender: Superior Finest Tippy Golden Flowering Orange Pekoe, 1st grade, 2nd flush, from Mokalbari, Assam. This is one of the more expensive teas I've bought, but it's really rich and strong, but smooth and doesn't get weird if you over-brew it (which I tend to do). This has got to be the best Assam, and therefore the best black tea, I've ever had.

I brew my tea in a plain pyrex pot without a strainer of any kind. If I'm pouring a cup for somebody else, I'll usually screen it while I pour it into the mug but for myself I don't mind if a couple of small leaves land in the cup. They mostly stay at the bottom of the pot or mug and don't get in the way.

And of course my favorite mug is a souvenir from a great travel destination.

[John Willett]

Earl Grey tea (leaves *not* bags) from a Bodum teapot.

But the picture you linked to was the cheap plastic version - the version with the metal strainer is much better.




Actually I bought mine originally as the "Teapot 2000" in 1990.

The original had a better strainer but a poorer spout - the spout was improved over the years (yes - I broke mine a couple of times and got a replacement - nice teapot).

There is nothing like a properly brewed cup of tea.

[mohthom]

That's some nice teapot work John! Please see attached below - ever had anything like it? People tend to buy me more tea in a year than could feasibly be drunk by a team of highly strung mathematicians, so lots of nice surprises await in my tea-cupboard!

I bought mine (1 x 1L, 1 x 0.5L [personal size ]) from the Bodum shop about six or seven years ago - I now feel outraged that there's a newer, better version with more metal in it! The bowl on my teapots is definitely glass, but the filter is plastic. I'll have to go pay a visit to my dealer . . .

That said, having looked at the Bodum site there's a lot changed - I don't think you can even buy mine any more!

Another tea-making device that I've the fortune to use regularly is the Ringtons TeaFuser - good times!

MohThoM

[Bob Olhsson]

Tea?

Not coffee?

Really, tea?

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

Tea?

Not coffee?

Really, tea?

American

[Bob Olhsson]

The U.S. had arguably the worst coffee in the world until around 30 years ago so it's become quite the novelty here.

[RobAnderson]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson
Tea?

Not coffee?

Really, tea?


American

Every morning I celebrate our independence from Great Britain by consuming a cup of coffee.

However, I am partial to a cup of Earl Grey every now and again - a habit I picked up on a visit to London some years ago.

[mohthom]

I'm not too big on run-of-the-mill Earl Gray, but I can quite happily drink Lady Gray all day long . . .

Just had a LOVELY cup of vintage (30yr old!) Formosa Oolong. I may be washing it down with some Margaret Hope Darjeeling (2nd flush) :D

MohThoM

[phonzadellika]

Coffee is better than Tea for Me.

Except for that tea that they serve in Iraq, the brown stuff with the sugar cubes in it. That stuff was awesome.

Regular tea not so much.

[xj32]

I do one home made latte/cap every morning, and only occasionally a 2nd cup elsewhere during the day, and I LOVE coffee, I am a total snob.

However, afternoons and evenings it is almost always tea.

I find there are two 2 "camps":

The pure zen master, slow down green tea folks

&

The full bodied English / Indian folks (this can include chai) who like it black...strong and where milk and and a few lumps are a necessity.

I tend to fall into camp number two most of the time.

I like a good English Breakfast / Irish Breakfast tea. Twinnings rocks, even better if you can get it direct from the UK.

My wife and usually buy their Irish Breakfast blend, as the US version of English Breakfast is a tad weak. When a co-worker went home to Brittan, she brought me back some actual Twinnings English Brk, which equaled the Irish stuff here.

Anyway, my favorite tea is what I brought back from Bangladesh. Mizzapahni loose. This stuff is awesome!!!!!!! Very deep, dark and strong. Perfect with 1/2 & 1/2 and raw cane sugar.


XJ

[mohthom]

Twinnings is better than bog-standard PG Tips and Tetley - but IMHO there's some much more exciting stuff out there. If you're into the straight breakfast blend, can you get Taylors of Harrogate stuff over the pond?

If anyone knows the artist, I just bought my brother some Mr. Scruff tea (in a FANTASTIC tin) - pictures at the site below!

Home - Make Us A Brew

I can't seem to find a picture of it, but there's a cartoon on the side of the tin, listing all of the things a good cup of tea must be/do. The bottom requirement is 'Must go well with a pie.' Need I say more?!

MohThoM

[xj32]

Thanks mohthom,

Just ordered a box of English & a box of Scottish from Taylors of Harrogate.

Can't wait to try it.

XJ

[Sevitzky]

>And I'm really enjoying this Assam black tea I bought at TeeGschwender: >Superior Finest Tippy Golden Flowering Orange Pekoe, 1st grade


Now that's someone who knows teas! SFTGFOP is the only way to roll, my friend.

Thanks for introducing me to Tea GEschwfawefwfder. I assume you've heard of Mariage Frères. Some crazy ass stuff. they don't even distribute directly to the US. One of their assams carried me through a difficult time in my life, once upon a time.

[matucha]

I'm heavy tea drinker (2-4 litres per day). In my expirience, there is no way of putting any list of the best, because it is always so different. From shop to shop, from crop to crop ;-).

But if I had to choose one, I'd go with simple and fresh Sencha.


About the coffee? I don't really care about it. There are better or worse ones, but... well there is not enough variety like with tea. I don't think I drink more than 10 coffees a year ;-).

[mohthom]

there is no way of putting any list of the best, because it is always so different.

Are you talking about microphones or tea?

[Howie J]

I just started with tea a year ago. I don't know where Teavanna ranks in their teas, but right now I do one of two teas. I have a Roiboos Tropica red tea and sometimes I combine it with a Monkey Picked Oolong tea if I want the caffeine.

Howie J

[eskatonic]

I've really been digging tea from strandtea.com . The guy sources his tea from India & China and is an incredibly helpful resource. I highly recommend checking out the website.

[XLR2XLR]

1) You MUST Brita filter the water unless drawing from a natural spring source
(not likely in London)

2) I use Sainsbury's organic fairtrade ( the best and fullest bodied black tea that has the fairtrade label)

3)Pour water on the boil, no milk until ALL squeezing of bag is done.

4)Dosage : 4-5 time a day.

That's how I like it anyway.

[xj32]

Originally Posted by XLR2XLR

3)Pour water on the boil, no milk until ALL squeezing of bag is done.

One of my biggest pet peeves..."Take out the bag, before you add the milk!!!!"

XJ

[John Willett]

Bag!

It's proper tea leaves or nothing!

[mohthom]

2) I use Sainsbury's organic fairtrade ( the best and fullest bodied black tea that has the fairtrade label)

If you're looking for something that's just plain STRONG, try this one for size!

Also Sainsburys, also fairtrade. I didn't sleep for about two days!

MohThoM

[ulysses]

We need to start a Teaslutz forum. This is more exciting to me than microphones at the moment, for some reason. I'm just really into tea. And I love how every tea drinker has a very strong opinion about their tea. As I read through all these posts, I wanted to respond to each and every one of them and say "You idiot! You're doing it all wrong!" But it really is about relaxing and following your bliss for a moment in the middle of all the chaos. Imagine those old British guys around the world stopping their daily slaughter of indigenous peoples for 20 minutes at the same time every day so they could have their tea. They must have felt very civilized.
Of course, they put milk, sugar, and/or lemon in their tea, which is further evidence that they were the real savages.

I think Earl Grey tea tastes like aftershave. A specific brand called Grey Flannel, to be exact. And it should, because the thing that gives Earl Grey its distinctive aroma is oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange. This is one of the most commonly used ingredients in perfumes and fragrances.

I try to avoid using anything plastic with any hot beverages. Too many new details coming forward about the weird chemicals that leach out of certain plastics when you heat them. Like synthetic estrogen coming off your polycarbonate Nalgene bottles.

For that matter, I don't really want to taste metal in my tea either. But the worst is paper teabags. They make everything taste like wet cardboard. Get to the bottom of a box of Lipton and you always find a bunch of paper dust along with the tea dust. Those of you who drink bag tea are in for a wonderful surprise when you finally get into some loose-leaf tea.

The cloth bags are better, but I never feel like I get them clean between uses, and of course I wouldn't want to put any detergent on a cloth bag I'm going to steep tea in. I don't even like to use detergent on my mug. So I tend not to use a strainer at all. But if I'm going to, I'll strain with a metal mesh as I pour - I don't steep the tea in a metal ball any more. I wouldn't mind finding a glass strainer.

There are lots of great tea shops all over the world. The Tea Source is the one I go to in the States, but I don't know if they're nation-wide or just Midwest. I've started buying bulk tea at the grocery store. Less packaging. If you like Irish Breakfast Tea in bags (Strong, dark, malty, full-bodied) you might want to try an Assam tea. That's the main ingredient in Irish and it's great. For people who want to TASTE their tea.

I've learned what all the abbreviated lettering means on the tea, but if you just want good tea, all you need to know is that more letters equals better tea. SFTGFOP1 is the top of the heap, and has the most letters. The only letter you don't want to see in there is B, which means Broken, which is the crap they put in the best tea bags. That Twinnings and Lipton stuff is mostly "fannings", which is even smaller leftover bits. And if you get some really awful tea - Bigelow, for example - it's mostly dust. Yes that's the real term, and it's literally what's left over after the crumbs are gone. What sounds better - "A bud and two leaves" or "Crush, Tear, Curl"?

I've got some Chinese Pu-Erh I'm looking forward to trying. It's tea that's pressed into a brick or plug, and aged for up to 100 years. Some people hate it and say it tastes like dirt. Other people love it and say it tastes like dirt. I can't wait to taste it and find out which I am.

[xj32]

Good show ulysses! Great post and lots to think about.

I do use loose leaf as well as bag teas, but it usually depends on laziness factor...

XJ

[Howie J]

This:

Teavana® Perfect Tea Maker (16oz.) - Teavana

...cured my loose leaf laziness. Slick as can be. Especially since I have a water cooler/heater unit at home (best wedding present ever) and I just fill it with hot water. Tea in 6 minutes.

Howie J

[boojum]

Originally Posted by MidasHatesGold

I love mine...out of my samovar

somthing like this

http://z.about.com/d/goeasteurope/1/.../-/Samovar.jpg

I prefer chai


mmmmm...i´ll go and get me one...now

Samovars are great, but they do not contain tea. The tea, as a concentrated essence is in the teapot on the top of the samovar. A small amount of the essence is poured into what you will be drinking the tea from and hot water is tapped from the samovar into the tea essence. Russians traditionally keep a pot of the essence over the pilot of a gas stove, ready to be added to the boiling/hot water from a kettle. Samovars are uncommon now.

An old Russian I knew said the eggs boiled in the samovar are the best tasting boiled eggs in the universe. But that could also just be a fond memory she had from her childhood before escaping the from Reds.

My tea? Lipton or Red Rose black tea, loose, in a pre-heated teapot filled with boiling water, the hotter the better. Drop the cozy on the teapot and let it sit for a few moments. It tastes fine from any cup, sometimes with sugar and almost always black, but milk tea is nice, too.

[boojum]

Originally Posted by ulysses

I've got some Chinese Pu-Erh I'm looking forward to trying. It's tea that's pressed into a brick or plug, and aged for up to 100 years. Some people hate it and say it tastes like dirt. Other people love it and say it tastes like dirt. I can't wait to taste it and find out which I am.

I've drunk it. It does taste like dirt, and some other stuff, too. But, yeah, it does taste like dirt.

[James Lehmann]

At long last a thread about gear that you can taste!

Originally Posted by John Willett

a Bodum teapot... the version with the metal strainer

Yes - I have the tea-pot linked above, same as John. A really excellent design because once you push the plunger down and catch all the leaves at the bottom of the metal basin the tea won't continue brewing and get too strong. Perfect tea every time!

FWIW after an extensive tea-research visit to Sri Lanka I found this to be the absolute best tea from there. The pic isn't great - it usually comes in a much nicer wooden box.