How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (Full Version)

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YourhandMyAss -> How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 10:51:28 PM)

Take for instance caramel vanilla chi, sounds decadent, but was very watery and not very caramelly or vanilla'ey tasting. I microwave the water for 3 minutes then put a tea bag in and let sit, oh I don't know say about two minutes, every once in a while dunking it up and down. I know that certain tea's have to be made a  certain way and need certain steps to be their best, but even if you follow the "correct formula" they're still weak and disapointing.

I've also had that happen with blue berry tea, orange spice tea, and a few others.

It's awfully disapointing and a huge waste of money, to get a tea that sounds so yummy but in the end is crappy.



DomKen -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 10:54:31 PM)

The primary problem is that you're getting teas that aren't really tea. All those flavorings have to be added in place of the tea leaves.

Try a good earl grey or for a subter but still excellent tea try a jasmine.



Owner59 -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 10:58:56 PM)

This is the brand I use.Very availible and very high quality.

I buy it by the pound and make fresh iced tea every day.

Try this.

http://www.twinings.com/home.php

American brands tend to be poor quality.



YourhandMyAss -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:00:24 PM)

I've tried lady grey, and I do like it.

I watch good eats, and Alton did a special on tea's and brewing up a good batch, and he said sometimes less than stellar companies put in lots of dust particals and low quality parts of the leaf, and that leads to poor quality tea.



YourhandMyAss -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:02:18 PM)

Owner, I did see a twilling brand I am considering, but it's 16 dollars on amazon so I am shying away.

Honeybush, Natural Orange and Mandarin Flavor With Other Natural Flavors.

Ever heard of this flavor?
quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

This is the brand I use.Very availible and very high quality.

I buy it by the pound and make fresh iced tea every day.

Try this.

http://www.twinings.com/home.php

American brands tend to be poor quality.



giveeverything -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:13:27 PM)

Is there a tea shop in your area?  We have a tea shop and they sell high quality that you can purchase loose.  It makes a huge difference taste wise. 
quote:

ORIGINAL: YourhandMyAss

Owner, I did see a twilling brand I am considering, but it's 16 dollars on amazon so I am shying away.

Honeybush, Natural Orange and Mandarin Flavor With Other Natural Flavors.

Ever heard of this flavor?
quote:

ORIGINAL: Owner59

This is the brand I use.Very availible and very high quality.

I buy it by the pound and make fresh iced tea every day.

Try this.

http://www.twinings.com/home.php

American brands tend to be poor quality.




Owner59 -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:16:45 PM)

I get my Twinings at Path Mark.

I`ve seen it at Walmart,too.

Amizon is notorious for marking up prices,big time.Don`t use them.



cmdrspock -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:18:46 PM)

Another possibility is that you are brewing the tea for too short a time period. Two minutes to brew a chai? Not if you want a chai that doesn't suck. Try closer to 10 minutes. And chai is supposed to be had with milk. (which ironically destroys any benefits you might have had antioxidant or herbal health wise.) I tend to let my herbal teas brew around the same amount of time. Dunking rapidly like you're doing does cause it to change color more quickly, but you're cheating yourself out of a properly seeped tea. It's ok if time is an issue, but taste requires more effort.

Just my 2 units of currency.



YourhandMyAss -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:26:19 PM)

Really. I never knew that. Maybe one of these evenings I'll look up tea brewing tips and stuff online.


quote:

ORIGINAL: cmdrspock

Another possibility is that you are brewing the tea for too short a time period. Two minutes to brew a chai? Not if you want a chai that doesn't suck. Try closer to 10 minutes. And chai is supposed to be had with milk. (which ironically destroys any benefits you might have had antioxidant or herbal health wise.) I tend to let my herbal teas brew around the same amount of time. Dunking rapidly like you're doing does cause it to change color more quickly, but you're cheating yourself out of a properly seeped tea. It's ok if time is an issue, but taste requires more effort.

Just my 2 units of currency.




Owner59 -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:29:41 PM)

It`s gotta gotta be good water,too.

If your tap water is so-so,so will the tea.



tweedydaddy -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/29/2008 11:51:01 PM)

Assam, hot, with milk and sugar in the morning, with toast and marmalade.
Earl Grey in the afternoon with lemon biscuits.
Perfection.
If it's not from India, it's not tea.
I had murders getting a decent cup of tea in Las Vegas. no one understood the hot tea thing, kept getting a paper cup with hot water and a tea bag of dubious origin, usually liptons which is crap.
To balance this though, in the UK tea now means a mug with a minature tea bag scalded and left danging in it on a bit of string. Or a lilliputian stainless steel tea pot designed to hold enough tea to half fill whatever cup you get.
To make decent tea, get a china teapot, no steel, not plastic, not ceramic, china, bone china is what you need, Heat it with boiling water for a few seconds, then tip out the water and spoon in a teaspoon of tea per person or cup, fill to the amount you need with boiling water, preferably still boiling and close the lid.
Leave it alone for a few minutes, then pour into the mug or cup, add milk, and sugar if required, then with freshly boiling water, top the pot up.
In LadyLove's case, repeat six times a day, she has never, to my knowledge drank a cup of tea in her life, she drinks at least four in every sitting!



Termyn8or -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 8:16:36 AM)

OK, while I am not an expert on tea I used to drink it. The regular kind, but I found out a thing or three over the years.

I think part of the problem is that less is more. I never thought there was enough tea in the bags and I used many of them, perhaps four to a cup.

I also didn't steep for a long time, and I think that at least with regular tea it tastes better done that way. Some do not agree, but that is a matter of personal preference.

Perhaps I am prone to excesses though. I am the type that uses over a half pound of bacon on a BLT and if I make french toast I use about one whole egg per slice. (of course I use a hearty bread)

So you might find that using more tea suits you, or as another poster said, to steep it for a longer period of time. The flavor is likely to be different with those two methods.

Don't even get me started on coffee, I am the type to put a cup under the coffee maker right at the beginning when that excellent black stuff comes. One time I went out on the boss'es boat and it got late so I slept on his couch. In the morning I was there with my cup and right behind me there he was, also with cup in hand. He said "Oh you do that too", I said "Yup. Then I said "I knew there was something I like about you". He also said that once he got the strong stuff, the rest of the family actually liked what was left.

Thing is I agree that alot of people seem to like colored water. Back when I drank koolaid, I would get it unsweetened and use about three packets for one batch, with the sugar only for one batch. Those days are over but the trend has been there for a long time. 

I just don't like bland.

T



sub4hire -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 8:26:22 AM)

I'm with the others who said its just flavoring.  I've alreadys read the tea to mean a hint of this or a hint of that.
I'm a pretty big tea drinker but its all in iced tea.  Not hot tea for me.
Last year around the holidays they came out with Egg Noggin tea.  Had just a hint of egg nog.  I do love egg nog, just don't drink it so much because of the heavy fat content.  The tea was exceptional. 

If you think of it as you're getting just a hint of the taste instead of the entire taste being laden down with it.  You might be better off.
It is there to enhance not to over power the tea itself.




Aneirin -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 12:13:50 PM)

I am a coffee drinker as tea I find just tastes sort of wet even if you brew for ages, it still tastes a bit thin. I have however just been introduced to lapsang souchong, the jury is still out on that one, as I love the smell of it.



amativedame -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 12:25:58 PM)

A lot of the brands out there tend to leave a lot to be desired IMO (although of course that has a lot to do with what you want for taste I think...)  Twinnings is also one of the nicer store brands out there, and I've yet to find a grocery store that doesn't carry them.  Personally, I swear by my Stash brand tea (although its outrageously expensive in most grocery stores so I buy through them online in their catalog where I can cut my prices down to about 13 cents a cup depending on the blend.  You do get caught having to pay shipping, but I bypass that by buying 6 months to a year supply at once so even with shipping I end up paying a lot less.)  Twinnings is also one of the nicer store brands out there

Sometimes how you brew it can make such a difference.  Personally, I've never been able to make a decent cup of tea with water I heated in the microwave.  (I think this has to do with the temperature, but I don't know the big mechanics with tea making to really say.  I know water boils at 212 degrees.. and I'm pretty sure black teas need to be seeped at around 200.)  How long you seep it makes a difference too.  Not long enough won't let it brew strong enough, too much and you'll bring out the bitterness in the leaves.  Try letting it brew for around 3 minutes or more, see if the taste improves at all.  Stash had a neat little temp & brew time chart in the FAQ: http://www.stashtea.com/teafaq.htm

As another poster said, try not to play with it as much, soak it and then leave it.  My other question/suggestion would be... how much water are you using?  Cups these days seem to be getting larger and larger.  If you're using a cup that holds more then about a 8 ounces of liquid your issue may be as simple as not using enough product for the amount of water.

(As an aside, I generally have the same issues with chai tea so I don't buy them.  As another poster said, I think most companies then to reduce the tea ratio when adding in the other items so the product isn't as good.  Whenever I brew a chai I need to use at least twice as much tea to get a decent cup.  If you'd really like a chai at home, you may want to think about buying it in its loose form.  Then you can play around with how much you need to get your tea the way you want it.  You don't need a fancy pot either, just something large enough to hold the loose leaves & the water, and a small cup size strainer to pour the tea through to catch the leaves.  Most dollar stores sell the little tea strainers.)





LaTigresse -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 1:00:09 PM)

Regular tea, I am not that excited about. However I loved herbal teas since I was a child. I go to the healthfood store and get my goodies.

I really am more of a coffee and chickory drinker. Hot, black as pitch and oh so strong.



mistoferin -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 1:14:44 PM)

How much water are you using? Most tea bags are designed to make a 6 to 8 ounce cup. Most coffee mugs you buy at the store start around 10 to 12 ounces....and some of them hold much more than that.



SageFemmexx -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 1:31:31 PM)

I am a heavy handed loose leaf Lipton's fan. I hate bags, they have a taste which distracts from the flavor of the tea. I have an electric teapot which boils water quickly and then I let the tea steep for fifteen minutes in the cup. Tea is an acquired taste like wine--there are numerous ways to drink it and garnish it. As people are saying, drink it as a treat with something else in order to enhance the flavor and the experience.

Sage



JustDarkness -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 1:35:48 PM)

chai is great indrrd...nicely spicey

btw..some tea's need water of 80 Celsius, not always cooking water.



YourhandMyAss -> RE: How come sometimes some of the most enticing tea names are so watery and disapointing? (10/30/2008 2:24:35 PM)

I use a mug that's about 8 ounces. there's a store next to daddy's work place that sells loose tea monday I wanna go try some, or maybe tuesday.


quote:

ORIGINAL: amativedame
My other question/suggestion would be... how much water are you using?  Cups these days seem to be getting larger and larger.  If you're using a cup that holds more then about a 8 ounces of liquid your issue may be as simple as not using enough product for the amount of water.

(As an aside, I generally have the same issues with chai tea so I don't buy them.  As another poster said, I think most companies then to reduce the tea ratio when adding in the other items so the product isn't as good.  Whenever I brew a chai I need to use at least twice as much tea to get a decent cup.  If you'd really like a chai at home, you may want to think about buying it in its loose form.  Then you can play around with how much you need to get your tea the way you want it.  You don't need a fancy pot either, just something large enough to hold the loose leaves & the water, and a small cup size strainer to pour the tea through to catch the leaves.  Most dollar stores sell the little tea strainers.)






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