I have such huge respect for the OzBargain brains trust, so so thought I'd pick your brains about loose-leaf teas, tisanes, infusions etc.
What teas et-al do you think are:
* Your favourite
* The most interesting
* Most delicious (not necessarily best value)
* Best value
* Etc…
Where do you buy your tea, how do you prepare it, tell us all about it.
I like twinings black teas, have to check these out.
Rooibos tea is always a crowd pleaser I find - especially for the caffeine sensitive friends. Plain is nice as is or get fancy with the vanilla infused ones.
it's a very satisfying tea
sometimes hard to find a good one
what brands do you like?
Nerada or 'just roobios' tea. Both commonly available at coles. You could get a hit fancy and go T2 but i wasnt that impressed with it.
TWG for me; their marketing is great and I am a sucker.
One of the biggest rorts around.
Founded in 2007/2008, has 1837 on their label, but even can't decide what it represents.
From their website: TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, was established in Singapore and celebrates the year 1837 when the island became a trading post for teas, spices and fine epicurean products.
From Wikipedia: The firm's spokespeople claimed that it was instead a tribute to the "year when the Chamber of Commerce was founded in Singapore".
That's why I said I am a sucker!
It doesn't have any lineage, history, pedigree or anything - just very good (somewhat misleading) marketing and labelling.
I was about to say, TWG ftw :)
They do have good teas!! Wish they had actual shops here like they do overseas.
Do they ever go on sale? I hate paying a marketing premium on things, but sometimes it's worth it.
Sometimes they have 2 for 25% off at DJs.
koala tea
https://www.koalatea.com.au/
try their herbal breakfast (mint, roasted chicory root, cinnamon, orange peel) and their dreamtime tea (chamomile, lemon balm, passion flower) if you don't like caffeine
try their eucalyptus tea (black tea, eucalyptus leaves) if you like it
samplers: https://www.koalatea.com.au/product-category/koala-gift-item…
harney and sons
their australian shop has a fraction of their US range. can also get some more varieties online at retailers.
https://www.google.com/search?q=harney+and+sons+tea
try their blue and yellow (chamomile and lavender)
best of all teas imo are pure single herb teas (tisanes)
they are very hard to buy packaged though
* cheapest and easiest source is to grow a tea / herb garden - buy a plant once, plant in ground (pots are a pita) mulch and water, grab some when ever you want a cup - start with rosemary, chamomile, lavender, mint (these are the hardiest)
* second cheapest and easiest is to buy fresh and pure dried herbs from supermarket or health shops online
good herbal blends are also hard to find
supermarket herbal blends are generally complete sh!t and full of hibiscus and artificial flavoring - read the ingredients not the name; for example a hypothetical supermarket tea called 'rose and lavender tea' with contain 94% hibiscus, 5% lavender and 'rose flavoring' or 98% black tea, 1% lavender and 'rose flavoring'
koala and harney are the best herbal blends i've found so far
i'm sure someone who knows all about camelia tea-tea and yerba mate will chime in with it's many complexities
i can't do caffeine and decaf teas are all cr@p and sometimes carcinogenic so i just don't do camelia tea nowadays
i will say that imo like anything a tea doesn't necessarily have to cost a fortune or be praised by tea snobs to be ok
like this lotus peak white tea you can buy in bags at woolworths for 14c a cup - https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/228519/lot…
is it going to win an award - no
is it the worst cup of tea i've ever had - certainly not
What a post, thankyou.
I've planted some lavender that's doing really well, some lemon verbena that's just dumping its leaves because it got a bit cool and dry (not looking after it well enough) and there's plenty of rosemary and mint around.
I've also just planted some chamomile, but it was the last sickly seedling left at Bunnings, hoping it makes it.
That's a good tip about the ingredients, and I'll check out those links!
Non caffeinated barley tea - the likes from Ito En or House of foods, can be made either hot or cold, preferably cold. Maybe not technically a tea ;)
"Barley tea contains melatonin and tryptophan…" Interesting!
ooo i learnt a new tea thank you
Recent favourites:
- yorkshire tea with milk
- genmaicha (Japanese roasted rice green tea)
If you’re from/visiting Melbourne, I really like the teas from Lupicia!
Sydney, but I'm sure there's a way, I'll have a look around!
I really like Sri Lankan (Ceylon) teas. Mlessna and Zesta are very good. But Dilmah is more widely available here.
For the Crème de la crème I'd go for something like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mlessna-Pure-Ceylon-Loolecondera-St…
I'm not a fan of Dilmah, I'd be interested to try Mlessna and Zesta to see if it's the brand I don't like, or the type of tea.
Korean roasted corn tea, especially comforting in winter.
https://shop.myfoodmart.com.au/products/dongsuh-corn-tea-150…
I like these ones
https://twinings.com.au/products/passionfruit-mango-blood-or…
https://shop.coles.com.au/a/national/product/twinings-herbal…
https://www.t2tea.com/en/au/tea/creme-brulee-loose-leaf-gift…