Let's talk about tea!

novella1186

I wanted to get one of my BMs some really good tea for part of her gift. She drinks it a lot and seems to know a lot more about it than I do so I want to make sure I don't get her a lame brand.

Can you recommend a brand, and what's your favorite flavor of that brand? (Preferably a decaf type cuz she has some stomach issues, but she said she sometimes drinks caffeinated too, so it's ok if it's not decaf)

ETA: Another question! For those of you that drink tea on a daily basis, would you rather have loose-leaf with an infuser, or tea bags? (Is the whole loose leaf thing too much work for a daily basis or is it really better?)

TIA!

dolewhipper

I love teavana for this reason. They let you smell all of them and they just have so many different kinds. If she has tummy issues, as I do, there are specific ones that cater to that. HERE are their herbal teas.

If you just want to do an easy boxed tea, Aveda's Comfort tea is awesome, and I usually have a bag of some kind of yogi tea in my purse.

ETA: Do you know what kind of flavors she goes for? I don't like very sweet teas, for example.

esstee33

I get basically all of my loose leaf teas from Teavana. My favorites thus far have been: 

Fruta Bomba green tea

Moroccan Mint green tea

Strawberry Paraiso white tea

Strawberry Slender Pu-Erh tea (this is supposed to be really good for digestive issues; I didn't notice much of an impact on mine, but it's delicious anyway.)

Wild Orange Blossom herbal tea

In bags, I really like Yogi (especially the Classic India Spice) and Twining's teas. Peppermint teas are always in my house, also. OH! And the Mighty Leaf Orange Dulce! 

climbingsingle

I really like The Republic of Tea. They have a lot of flavors I love.
I also buy loose tea from Common House Fly in North Carolina.

novella1186

dolewhipper said:

I love teavana for this reason. They let you smell all of them and they just have so many different kinds. If she has tummy issues, as I do, there are specific ones that cater to that. HERE are their herbal teas.

If you just want to do an easy boxed tea, Aveda's Comfort tea is awesome, and I usually have a bag of some kind of yogi tea in my purse.

ETA: Do you know what kind of flavors she goes for? I don't like very sweet teas, for example.

Well I know she'll drink caffeine sometimes because of the fact that she likes Earl Grey (which is the kind I drink every day but I just get whatever brand is at the grocery store). I also know she likes chamomile because that was another one we both had in common (I'm drinking that one right now!) so I'm guessing she doesn't typically drink overly sweet ones. But she also said she likes several different ones so I don't think she's quite as picky I am either.

novella1186

climbingwife said:

I really like The Republic of Tea. They have a lot of flavors I love. I also buy loose tea from Common House Fly in North Carolina.

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that brand! That's the one I used to always give as gifts (there are many tea drinkers in my life).

morewineplease

I would also suggest Teavana. I have been guilty of spending WAY too much money there from time to time. It is hard to pick a flavor though without knowing anything about her. I like White teas and the Rooibos teas, but it is like any other consumable, people have different tastes. 

If you know what flavor profiles she like (mint, vs fruit for example) that will help. Also Black teas tend to be the strongest. Teavana can help with more information too. Click here 

Edit - I do loose tea at home and always have some tea bags in the office. 

justjesss

Teavana is fantastic. Another option I love is Harney & Sons. Their valentine's blend has roses and chocolate flavor. I like caffeine so I'm not an expert, but I think it comes in decaf as well. They also have delicious herbal options!

novella1186

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! You ladies are awesome! I put another question in the OP (at the bottom) if you care to answer that one too

dolewhipper

Check out this tea blend HERE.

Chai and ginger will totally help her tummy.

climbingsingle

I use tea bags when I'm at work and use the loose teas when I'm home.

esstee33

RE: your new question

I'd much rather drink loose leaf tea with an infuser. I resteep the leaves so I get multiple cups out of the same scoop. This is the one I have: http://www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-cups-mugs/infuser-mugs/p/blue-angle-infuser-mug

huskypuppy14

Green tea is my favorite, but I just get the Bigelow brand, nothing fancy. I prefer tea bags.

rcher912

Teavana's a great suggestion if there's one near you - the people there are also really helpful (although far too good at sales, I never leave without spending a million dollars).

I personally love lemon zinger (lemon/ginger) teas, as I also have a sensitive stomach. I prefer sweeter teas, so anything berry/lemon/orange is fine by me. Teavana has a strawberry lemonade tea that I'd drink forever. 

ETA: If your friend does have a sensitive stomach, I'd stick closer to the green/white/Rooibos teas, and steer away from black teas - they're much stronger, even when decaf.

dolewhipper

novella1186 said:

I wanted to get one of my BMs some really good tea for part of her gift. She drinks it a lot and seems to know a lot more about it than I do so I want to make sure I don't get her a lame brand.

Can you recommend a brand, and what's your favorite flavor of that brand? (Preferably a decaf type cuz she has some stomach issues, but she said she sometimes drinks caffeinated too, so it's ok if it's not decaf)

ETA: Another question! For those of you that drink tea on a daily basis, would you rather have loose-leaf with an infuser, or tea bags? (Is the whole loose leaf thing too much work for a daily basis or is it really better?)

TIA!

Considering it's a gift, the loose leaf really is a better product. Perhaps giving her some loose leaf and a tea tumbler? It wouldn't take any more time than making a cup of coffee since she is letting it steep in her tumbler.

STARMOON44

I love Harney & Sons and as a big tea drinker, a non-flavored option. They have some very interesting origin teas that would be a real treat to explore. Personally Teavana doesn't do it for me.

hellohkb

I'm drinking kombucha tea now but I don't know if she'd be into it.

I also suggest Teavana .. Or perhaps Harney and Sons if she's not into loose leaf (not everyone is). They have these lovely silky tea bags that make a nice strong cup of tea. Teavana is so awesome though. FH went nuts for awhile buying different flavors.

dolewhipper

rcher920 said:

Teavana's a great suggestion if there's one near you - the people there are also really helpful (although far too good at sales, I never leave without spending a million dollars).

I personally love lemon zinger (lemon/ginger) teas, as I also have a sensitive stomach. I prefer sweeter teas, so anything berry/lemon/orange is fine by me. Teavana has a strawberry lemonade tea that I'd drink forever. 

ETA: If your friend does have a sensitive stomach, I'd stick closer to the green/white/Rooibos teas, and steer away from black teas - they're much stronger, even when decaf.

Have you tried chai or ginger teas? They are definitely much stronger in taste, but they are medically proven to help those with digestion issues. They help my ibs tremendously, and I swear by just some pieces of ginger in hot water to help, most times completely take away, with a stomachache or hangover.

dolewhipper

hellohkb said:

I'm drinking kombucha tea now but I don't know if she'd be into it. I also suggest Teavana .. Or perhaps Harney and Sons if she's not into loose leaf (not everyone is). They have these lovely silky tea bags that make a nice strong cup of tea. Teavana is so awesome though. FH went nuts for awhile buying different flavors.

OOOOOO kombucha is SO good for the tummy. I love it but agree, it's an "acquired taste"

rockin30ish

I love TAZO. We are stocked in it. I prefer chamomile. But we always have a bunch of different flavors. It's my night time relaxer. Actually, I think I'll make some right now.

I also like Mystic Chai from Sam's Club. FMIL got me hooked on it. It's instant but so yummy!

LadyMillil

I prefer loose leaf over tea bags. For work I got this great travel mug from David's Tea that has an infuser and a little spot to put the tea or sweeteners. I have a teapot with an infuser that I use almost daily at home. I like the Chocolate Rocket and Jumpy Monkey teas from David's Tea.

novella1186

In hindsight I shouldn't even have started this thread... Now I'm dying to buy all of these for myself and a whole bunch for my friend too!

LadyMillil

novella1186 said:

In hindsight I shouldn't even have started this thread... Now I'm dying to buy all of these for myself and a whole bunch for my friend too!

I know the feeling. I got a gift card to David's Tea for Christmas and DH couldn't understand why it took me so long to pick out all the different types I wanted to get. Then he ordered a cup of tea and understood.

rcher912

dolewhipper said:

rcher920 said:

Teavana's a great suggestion if there's one near you - the people there are also really helpful (although far too good at sales, I never leave without spending a million dollars).

I personally love lemon zinger (lemon/ginger) teas, as I also have a sensitive stomach. I prefer sweeter teas, so anything berry/lemon/orange is fine by me. Teavana has a strawberry lemonade tea that I'd drink forever. 

ETA: If your friend does have a sensitive stomach, I'd stick closer to the green/white/Rooibos teas, and steer away from black teas - they're much stronger, even when decaf.

Have you tried chai or ginger teas? They are definitely much stronger in taste, but they are medically proven to help those with digestion issues. They help my ibs tremendously, and I swear by just some pieces of ginger in hot water to help, most times completely take away, with a stomachache or hangover.

I haven't! I've had one or two chai teas but didn't love the taste. Like I said, I like lemon ginger, though, so I might try more ginger teas!! Thanks for the tip!

sarahufl

David's Tea and Teavana are both really good. But be SO careful before you spend 1 billion dollars on tea.

daria24

I love Teavana too. The Pineapple Kona is sooo good. So far I prefer Teavana to David's Tea.

I personally don't like the Yogi brand because a lot of their flavors have stevia leaf in it, so they have this weird sweet taste.

There are so many cute infusers, I have a yellow submarine one.

jacques27

I'll be the voice of dissent and say I actually don't much care for Teavana.  Mostly, it's because of their pushy sales people and sales practices though.  I find them to be unnecessarily expensive.  They refuse to sell tea in amounts less than 2oz. and for a long time they refused to sell anything less than 4oz., even in store.  That's a lot of tea.  In the store, they work very hard to convince you that you MUST buy at least one POUND of tea.  They also work very hard to upsell their tins and other accessories (the tins are unnecessary as long as you have a cool, dark, airtight place to store your tea).  And they brew their tea at least double strength for the samples and for what they sell in the store and put in A LOT of sugar.  Your tea at home will taste nothing like the sample and will cost you a lot more per cup if you try to make it like they do in the store.

For online, I like adagio.com - affordable, they sell sample sizes and they have sampler packs.  I also go to a local non-chain shop here that also supply the tea for my favorite local coffee shop - check with your local coffee shop if they also do tea and see where they get their tea.  For just grocery store tea, I tend to do Tazo or Stash.  Harney & Sons has a lot of fans, too - I just have more tea than I need and tend to not stray.

emmaaa

I'm not much help because I mainly drink sweet tea (Lipton decaf with 1 cup of sugar to the gallon). 

But if I drink hot tea I love Earl Grey.

ahyatt87

I perfer David's Tea to Teavana, but I know David's is a Canadian company, so I'm not sure what their market is like in the USA.

I love their sample packs:

http://www.davidstea.com/the-winter-collection-2014?&TF=3CC48AC1B8A3&DEID=
http://www.davidstea.com/the-sunshine-collection?&TF=A76D75A6F5F7&DEID=

The best part it is affordable, loose leaf, comes with an infuser, and filters!

amelisha

I do David's too. They only sell loose-leaf, but they do sell disposable bags you can throw your tea into if you don't want to clean out a tea ball/.strainer/etc every time. I also loooooove their sample packs and the way they organize everything so it's very easy to select a tea that's right for you (all the oolongs clearly marked together and that kind of thing.)

l9i

Love Teavana but I agree that they can be very pushy with sales.  I prefer more natural, unflavored teas like s simple white or oolong.  I've ordered teas online before from Culinary Teas and have had success.  I didn't care too much for a flavored one I got, but then again that's probably my preference.  It also is cheaper than Teavana.

I drink loose leaf at home and even some at work.  I have bags where I can make my own with loose leaf so I do that at work.