Earl Grey Drinkers

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DrumsAndBeer

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I am looking for recommendations on Earl Grey teas to try.

I have had all the usual supermarket suspects and of those I enjoy drinking Twining's Loose leaf version made in my IngenuiTEA single 16oz serving tea pot, and for tea bags I like Republic of Tea's Earl Greyer.

What are your favorites? What am I missing out on?


 
Excellent, thanks guys. I'll look for these when I go to replenish my supply. :cheers:

 
DrumsAndBeer":5gnf52v6 said:
Excellent, thanks guys. I'll look for these when I go to replenish my supply. :cheers:
Wait long enough and you'll probably get another half dozen replies. It's kind of like asking what is the best Virginia pipe tobacco. :lol:
 
Simple Man":ph8vkqn2 said:
Wait long enough and you'll probably get another half dozen replies. It's kind of like asking what is the best Virginia pipe tobacco. :lol:
So true. :D
 
The man drinks Earl Grey almost daily. I'm interested to know his opinion as well. :D

BTW, if you want to try something very unique, get ya' some Lapsang Souchong. WARNING: It's definitely not for everyone.
 
Simple Man":p6h4ifqt said:
The man drinks Earl Grey almost daily. I'm interested to know his opinion as well. :D

BTW, if you want to try something very unique, get ya' some Lapsang Souchong. WARNING: It's definitely not for everyone.
Is that a wood smoked tea? I used to enjoy a cup of Russian Caravan every now and again but no more. I do like Japanese Bancha. Is it similar to that?
 
DrumsAndBeer":2pgr137k said:
Simple Man":2pgr137k said:
The man drinks Earl Grey almost daily. I'm interested to know his opinion as well. :D

BTW, if you want to try something very unique, get ya' some Lapsang Souchong. WARNING: It's definitely not for everyone.
Is that a wood smoked tea? I used to enjoy a cup of Russian Caravan every now and again but no more. I do like Japanese Bancha. Is it similar to that?
I haven't had Bancha, that I know of. Unless it was served to me at a Japanese restaurant and I don't remember. But yea, Lapsang Souchong is tea that is smoked over pinewood fires resulting in a very unique taste. It's almost like a cup of campfire. I mean that in a good way. :lol:

The aroma is the first thing you have to get past, because it is so different from any other tea. There is no other way to describe it than a campfire. The first cup I tried had me scratching my head and wondering why would someone want to drink this? But soon I found myself desiring another cup. Now it has become one of my very favorite teas. I love it late at night and on rainy, cool evenings. It is especially good in cold weather. In fact, even while I'm writing this I'm sipping on a cup.

Like I said earlier, some would smell/taste this and say I am crazy, but I can't get enough of this stuff.

As a bonus, some reviewers I've read say they can taste bacon in it... that has not been my experience, but you never know. :lol:
 
Simple Man":9nyupqc2 said:
I haven't had Bancha, that I know of. Unless it was served to me at a Japanese restaurant and I don't remember. But yea, Lapsang Souchong is tea that is smoked over pinewood fires resulting in a very unique taste. It's almost like a cup of campfire. I mean that in a good way. :lol:

The aroma is the first thing you have to get past, because it is so different from any other tea. There is no other way to describe it than a campfire. The first cup I tried had me scratching my head and wondering why would someone want to drink this? But soon I found myself desiring another cup. Now it has become one of my very favorite teas. I love it late at night and on rainy, cool evenings. It is especially good in cold weather. In fact, even while I'm writing this I'm sipping on a cup.

Like I said earlier, some would smell/taste this and say I am crazy, but I can't get enough of this stuff.

As a bonus, some reviewers I've read say they can taste bacon in it... that has not been my experience, but you never know. :lol:
Sounds intersting I'll place an order for a sampler next time I purchase tea. Is there a brand you prefer?

As it turns out Bancha is roasted Autumn harvest green tea, it's not wood smoked. However it takes on some of the flavors of the fire used to roast it. It's fairly inexpensive as it's second harvest Sencha and a lower grade tea, but it does have s subtle smokiness to it that I enjoy.
 
There are several good ones, the main thing I've found is some are not as smokey as others and for me, the smokier the better. That being said, I like Golden Moon's, which can be found here,

http://www.goldenmoontea.com/lapsang-souchong.html

China Mist makes a good one, I bought that at Amazon. Republic of Teas is pretty good, that's what I'm drinking now. I added it to my last tea order with some other teas.

I think the strength really has to do with where the leaves were placed in the smoker and how long they leave them in there to absorb all of the smokey goodness. You'll want to steep Lapsang Souchong for about 4 - 6 minutes. If you find you want it a little stronger, just add a bit more leaves next time, don't change the steeping time.
 
I gravitate toward bulk purchases in coffee, tea and tobacco :D
 
As a side note, don't let yourself runout of a good black tea, be it Earl Grey or whatever. It's like running out of burleyweed. When you go looking for some, nothing else will do. I drink a black tea called Yunnan Noir ( http://t7tea.com/product-info.php?Yunan-Noir-Black-TEA-pid183.html ... http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=19615 ) and didn't reorder until I realized I was out. It's not arrived yet and I'm sitting here staring into my pu'erh box (it's the only tea left in the house) and I'm just not feeling it :cry:

Meh, coffee today I guess.....
 
Why have I been in the belief that Bancha is steamed, not roasted, giving it that specifically Japanese flavour? :scratch:

Anyway, I don't think Lapsang Souchong is anything like Bancha. I think Simple Man nailed it with "a cup of campfire". Personally I have had trouble tasting much tea in it, really, the smoke aroma is so strong. But I know some people are absolutely crazy about it!


When it comes to black teas, of the British/India variety, I'm a total sucker for a good Darjeeling.
 
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