Thursday, August 16, 2012

My Favorite Tea

Do you have a favorite tea? For me, it's a very difficult question. But, when I think about the tea I care for most, I usually pick Darjeeling. This is because it was the first tea that opened my eyes to the beauty of tea. During my college years, I tried a Darjeeling and thought 'wow, this is amazing! Tea can taste like this??'. It opened up a new world for me. Just because a tea is your favorite, it doesn't mean it has to be the highest quality. Just what you like best.

If I had to pick a particular brand as 'best' it would have to be a very basic Twinnings Darjeeling. This is because it's the one that opened the door to other teas. I haven't actually had this brand's Darjeeling in ages, since now I've become more partial to single estate Darjeeling teas. But as I mentioned, this is a nostalgic choice.

I also had a funny experience with Darjeeling tea at a supposedly 4-star NY restaurant. A very rude waiter questioned me when I told him the tea he gave me was over-steeped. 'Well, this is a second flush Darjeeling, so it tends to be bitter', he said with a sneer. And I basically said 'I know how this tea should taste, and this is not how it should be'. He gave me a sour look and took the tea away. Pompous and uninformed is not a good formula for 4-star service. But it does make for a good story.

I'm asking you about your favorites because over at the Association of Tea Bloggers (of which I am a member), they are conducting a 2012 Tea Bloggers' Choice Awards. These are the only published awards celebrating the favorite teas of the consumers. Thats all of us that purchase and enjoy tea! So go ahead and comment on your favorite teas, and let's keep the conversation going! Let's see what teas come out on top.

Lots of ATB members are blogging about their favorite teas. You can check out a few here:
http://www.thesiptip.com/
http://the-cup-that-cheers.blogspot.com/
http://www.teaspoonsandpetals.com/
http://www.teaformeplease.com/
http://teafortoday.blogspot.com/

So let us know, what is your favorite?

4 comments:

  1. I love Assam tea. Rich, strong, black tea with milk and sugar. Mmmmm!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of my favorite black teas is Keemun.

    ReplyDelete
  3. People ask me this question a lot, and I don't like it...I don't have a favorite, and I don't really have a great answer for the question. I usually just say I have no favorite, or that my favorites change a lot. I sometimes say that I don't have a favorite but I have a favorite tea of the moment, like whatever I was drinking that day.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Masala chai is a flavoured tea beverage made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic Indian spices and herbs.Chai is simply the Hindi word for tea and can be prepared black, with milk, without sugar, etc.
    masala chai
    kashmiri chai
    tea bags
    chai

    ReplyDelete