Cuppa tea love?

[Alan]

Ive been trying my best to try and apprciate tea. Ive been through a whole bunch of flavours and a whole bunch of variations and just about every one of them tastes like water ran through and old gym sock to me. The closest I got to liking was a "Morrisons The best" one that I believe was apple cinnamon and maple but even then I felt the only nice taste was the maple and it felt like it was teasing me by giving only the feint aftertaste and I actually found the taste experience to be frustrating if that makes any sense!

I can't even seem to appreciate Earl Grey, hot.

People seem to utterly love tea though so before I give up and resign myself to being an uncultured swine, would any of you have any recommendations? Both in flavour, brand and preparation. I dont understand why people love this stuff so much! Help me understand!



Maybe its because I'm Scottish and I can never appreciate the drink of the auld enemy.

[Mantis]

There's only so much you can get from bags. I buy loose leaf stuff and the flavour is far better when you brew it.

Bird and Blend do all sorts of interesting flavours. One of my favourites is a black tea called Smokey Russian, which has a lovely campfire smell to it.

If you're going to stick with bags, never put milk in first. Always give it a few minutes just in the water to let the flavour out.

[Wrathbone]

After a lifetime of only drinking regular tea with milk, I bought a selection of 40 random pukka teas last summer and I've been drinking herbal / fruit teas ever since:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pukka-Herbal-O ... +selection

I'd say 70% of them are nice, 20% are excellent and 10% are horrible. My favourites are peppermint and liquorice (strong flavour) and sweet vanilla green (green tea that somehow tastes genuinely good, unlike almost every other green tea I've ever had).

[Strudel]

I'm a big lover of tea. Currently I'm enjoying a lot of the T2 varieties, particularly Melbourne Breakfast, French Earl Grey, and Assam.

I dislike fruit teas for the most part; they always spell nice but just taste of hot water - I totally understand when you say you find it frustrating. I do love the fruit flavoured black teas (like the first two mentioned above) because then you do actually get the nice taste and aromas together.

I think the type of tea you'll like will very much come down to personal preference though. I know a lot of people who like the stronger black teas but find the fruit-flavoured black teas far too sweet for them.

[Sly Boots]

I used to be a big tea monster, nothing fancy, just your usual PG Tips, Tetley or whatever, but started to find it was playing havoc with my stomach so switched to coffee which seems to be milder in that sense. I still have a cup every few days as a treat to myself. Love the stuff.

[DjchunKfunK]

Sorry can't help, I also think it tastes horrid, as does coffee. The only hot drink I like is hot chocolate.

[Raid]

I love a cup of tea, but I struggle to explain why. I do put far more milk in mine than most seem to, so it has some body to it rather than just being basically water. There's just something immediately comforting and relaxing about it.

[Snowy]

For me it needs to be robust and only have a spot of milk, if any. Sugar is likewise off the menu completely.

I go for Assam or blends advertised as strong (although I do love a cup of Earl Grey too), then add boiling water slowly so as not to inflate the bag with air, and let it steep for 2 minutes. More and it can stew, less and you are denying yourself the tea-y goodness on offer. Spot of milk and a decent biscuit, heaven.

Also love coffee, but my bean-to-cup machine has made me into an espresso snob.

[Stormbringer]

Ive been trying my best to try and appreciate tea.

That's where you went wrong. Coffee is the only way.

[Sly Boots]

[Alan]

Ive been trying my best to try and appreciate tea.

That's where you went wrong. Coffee is the only way.

Kind of been my conclusion. I guess tea and olives are something I’ll just never understand.




It bugs me!

[Sly Boots]

If you've been adding olives to tea you've been doing it wrong

[Stormbringer]

It bugs me!

Just let it go and drink more coffee.