MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and
chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.
24 October 2005
Tea Time. I'm having a cup of Stash Chai right now. It's heavenly; it tastes like Christmas. I found a tea shop that sells 10 bag sampler packs of most of Stash's teas. Via an AskMe post yesterday, I discovered adagio, and now Stash. I love tea - loose or bagged, red, green, black, or white. Tea lovers, represent!
Kindred spirit! What a coincidence, huh? I think I would love that one too, gas, and you can order it online. I ordered some Stash for Christmas gifts for people in the office. And I really want that Alice in Wonderland tea pot.
The Stash looks like something I would adore... But I'm nearly positive that I won't find it here. I'm inspired though, and will go to the coffee/tea place tomorrow and see what I can find. If I get something groovy, maybe I'll post it here.
Tea is lovely. I am currently on a Lapsang Souchong kick, but I also have some very nice "dragon's well" green tea from China. Takes a long time to brew but definitely worth it.
And hey, that was my askme question! You can wire funds directly to my accounts.
A few times a year the Mrs. and I go to Ten Ren in Chinatown to stock up on loose tea. Right now I'm enjoying a hot cup of green tea. We try to keep 4 or 5 different teas on hand (grean, black, white, jasmine, and one or two wildcards).
A few weeks ago I quit drinking coffee, which was quite a big deal since I was drinking anywhere from 8 to 12 cups a day. If there was coffee around, I'd drink it - any time of day or night. I had to quit cold turkey since I have no will power with java. Now I'm having 4 or 5 cups of tea a day, which has to be better for the system.
Thanks, selfnoise! I ordered a bunch of stuff from adagio. Did you get any help from the AskMe? Where do you get your tea?
Slack - kudos on giving up coffee. I did too, about 3 years ago. Tea is my one vice, and I totally indulge it. Sounds like you have a nice variety. I like the term 'wildcard' as applied to tea - gonna have to steal that...
Well, I was really having a craving, so I wanted to find something local. Didn't have any luck, except that some place at the mall had Republic of Tea loose-leaf Lapsang. So I got a little of that and I'll probably mail-order when I'm empty again. The suggestions were all great, though.
I've ordered tea from Swann's Tea in the past... they're a local distributor (Portland, Maine) which is nice since I get packages quickly. I have their Country Yunnan tea, which is a very strong chinese black tea that'll really wake you up. Then I have some of the aforementioned Dragon's Well tea, which takes a while to brew and has a subtle but penetrating taste which is very relaxing. I also have some Earl Grey from Swann which was a bit too strong, and some Jasmine tea that my wife drinks... I think it tastes like lotion. She also drinks the Stash Licorice, which I think is gross, too. :) So our tastes don't really overlap...
We loves our tea here. My wife and I went the same way as Slack-a-gogo, moving from coffee to tea. We're very happy we did.
I think the best ready-to-steep chai ever is Rishi Masala Chai.
Here's what a geek I am. I actually took a serving of this loose chai and spread it out on a white plate, and separated it with tweezers to figure out the proportions so I could recreate the blend manually (much cheaper).
The day starts with a big double mugga chai, and then I coast through the rest of the day on 2-3 cups of sweetened Eden Genmaicha.
Ooo I have to try that Rishi Masala Chai! pliskie, you recreated that? With cardamom pods and all? That's so cool. How did it compare tastewise?
I don't do dairy, so I don't use milk in my tea. I do miss it in chai, which is so lovely when it's creamy. And I sweeten all my teas with maple syrup - pure, grade B maple syrup. I used to use honey, which I never really enjoyed the taste of all that much, but found that maple syrup added another depth of flavor, plus it's about half the calories of honey.
Okay, so wait a minute... "chai" is something different than tea? I thought it was just, you know, kind of just a trendy new name for tea, or like calling coffee "java" or something.
I like Yogi Teas. A cup of green every morning before I switch to black coffee since yes, I'm a junkie and then there's one for every ailment: detox for hangovers and general malaise, echinacea for colds, easy digest for, well, easily digesting and so on. And they all taste good!
I think Chai is generally used to refer to either a particular kind of tasty spiced tea, or to this weird milky sweet drink you can get at Starbucks that isn't really tea.
The word itself just means "tea" though, I think.
Yogi teas are generally quite nice (and come in bags!) though I have found that they can be a bit strong.
I visited a Russian tea room yesterday, which was really fun. The man behind the counter was really antagonistic and crabby, so we sat there and made up horrible stories about him while we drank our tea. The walls were painted deep scarlet red, and each table had a beautiful wrought iron lamp on it. It was gorgeous and reminded me of NYC. It's the first tea place I've ever visited that wasn't cloying and feminine and cutesy. I hate that.
Yea, Iconomy, I really do recreate that every morning. For some reason I don't like to do it in batches. I don't know why, I just like to mix it each morning as a meditative thing.
2.5 tablespoons of darjeeling, 14 lightly crushed cardamom pods, two crushed 2" cinnamon sticks, .5 teaspoon crushed white peppercorns, 4 cloves, .5 teaspoon diced dried ginger. Steep for 5-6 minutes, mix with warmed milk and raw sugar, serve.
It sounds like a lot of fuss, but it's really something I can do in my sleep now. And it tastes delightful. It's very close to the rishi, but it is much more flexible. Some days I feel like a little more pepper or a little less cardamom, and I can just make it so.
All the spices can be bought bulk from Kalustyans. I just bought $60 worth a couple of weeks ago, and that ought to last us several months.
Taz, chai is tea mixed and brewed with various spices. It's then usually served with milk and sweetening of some kind. The kind of tea used and the spices and proportions used are almost infinitely variable.
pliskie, that recipe - that's for one cup? How do you crush - with a mortar and pestle? (I think I may have spelled each of those words wrong... ;)
I'm salivating! I want to order all of those wonderful, aromatic, heavenly ingredients. What do you store them in - do you have tea canisters?
How other people have their tea is fascinating to me, as you can no doubt tell. I wonder if there's a really good tea blog out there where I can get some daily tea porn.
oh, yes! Thanks for the recipe... I can come up with that stuff (not sure about the white peppercorns). Do you dry the ginger yourself? Does it matter, I wonder, if it isn't dried?
No, it's for a pot, which holds, oh hell, I don't know. It's this pot. We get four cups of tea out of it since each cup of chai is like 2/3 tea and 1/3 milk.
Yea, mortar and pestle. Very satisfying to use. Crunch. Crunch. I store the spice in those glass canisters with the clamp top, like this but clear glass: ≡ Click to see image ≡
Taz, to me it does matter if it's dried or not. When it's not dry, it doesn't seem to give up its flavor quite as much. All I know is I tried it once and didn't think it was as present in the tea as when dried.
As for prep, I think what I actually do is almost light roasting. I put a sizable ginger root into the food processor and chop it very fine, like smaller-than-peppercorn sized. Then I spread it out on a tray and put it in our toaster oven at 100°F for about 1.5 hours.
Also, Taz, black peppercorns work fine. Their flavor is a bit stronger, so you can use a little less. If you like pepper, though use black pepper at that strength; you might like a peppery tea.
How funny - I was looking for tea blogs and came across this recipe, pliskie.
I'm going to order the spices and try making your recipe. I too am excited!
taz, thanks! Just on a quick skim, he's answered several questions that I haven't asked yet in this thread...heh. I was just looking at those rooibos red teas at adagio, and wondering how they taste, and his latest post descibes them.
Iconomy, I'm sorry to confess this, but I must. I'd hate for you to hear it from someone else first. The very tea you started the thread with is one...I panned.
*ducks head and slouches from room*
Does anyone know if tea is damaged by exposure to light? I've been storing some of my tea in Mason jars, but I've always wondered whether that was a good idea.
Yes it is, which is why tea canisters are usually ceramic or tin. I never knew that until I started researching about that same thing, a few days ago. I would think glass would be fine though, as long as you kept it in a pantry or cupboard or someplace away from direct sunlight.
selfnoise, I've found that very few things can withstand steady exposure to sunlight, particularly things with delicate flavors. Don't see why tea would be different. While I do store mine in clear containers, I keep the containers in a closed cabinet.
If it's strong enough to power all life on earth, it is probably bad for your tea.
I'm having a cup of Stash Orange and Spice right now. I like it, but not as much as Republic of Tea's Orange Spice. I first had that at a neat little boho place in the Northern Liberties section of Philly, and it's been one of my top 5 favorites ever since.
Yay, iconomy. This thread is making me want to go home and drink lots of tea. Chai with lots of milk and honey is my go-to comfort drink. The licorice spice is the only Stash flavor I have tried (I usually just drink Twinings) but I'm motivated to get lots more!
I'm narrow-minded when it comes to teas. If it's not from a Camellia sinensis bush, it's an herbal infusion. Herbal infusions are sometimes yum, but they're not "tea".
I prefer it plain, rather than flavoured [ie lapsang souchong (smoked) or earl-grey types (the blend is fine, but echhh bergamot)], and like the cured leaves (black) over the merely dried (green).
iconomy, i shiver at orange peel in anything.. tea included. It may be my imagination, but I swear it smells like that bloom of mould that oranges get.
You realize, don't you, that collecting tea paraphenalia can lead to whole shelves dedicated to such?
I don't do herbal infusions, because I need that mild hit of caffeine to complete the experience.
I will do certain flavored teas... Lapsang, Earl Grey, spiced tea, but usually nothing really sweet like an Orange Dulce or something. Tastes cloying to me.
my experiences with the new lady grey have been favorable
but i do love and irish or english breakfast
and yes, have gotten pg tips
but now have a tea ball of both cup and pot size (not pot though) so i can make whatever infusions i like, if i could get the herbs.
this is just in line with my tea bath/ herbal soak post idea that i somehow got distracted from.
i refuse to post what i already posted places of what i wish i could covet
so instead i do what no one else will:
photo by splunge
photo by TheophileEscargot
photo by Kronos_to_Earth
photo by ethylene
