A question for tea drinkers

I'm in PA on a business trip, and I stopped in to a nice little Thai place for dinner tonight. I ordered some hot tea to have during the meal. The waitress brought me out a nice sized kettle of tea and a cup and said it was Thai Tea. It turned out to be a fantastic tea. It was dark, but still had an orange color to it. It hade this woodsey kind of smell too it, but was extremly smooth and just a touch sweet. I didn't even need any sugar. At the end of the meal I asked the waitress again what kind of tea it was, thinking it had some specific name, and she said simply Thai Tea.

Do any of you tea drinkers know about this tea? It was great and I'd love to buy some, but I've never heard of Thai tea, and have never seen it to the best of my knowledge.

Thanks all.

There are approximately one billion different teas sold. Perhaps your waitress didn't speak English. Her response was no better than when I ask the cutie at the local take out what kind of tea they have, and she says "Chinese tea".

In any event, you are probably out of luck. The good news is that if you continue to search for it, you'll find plenty of others that you like.

I will bet, but I'm not certain that it was probably some type of oolong tea to taste woodsy and sweet.

It's actually Chinese in origin, but a lot of different places serve it. The fermentation process makes it very complex and most delicious.

For the risk of passing on TAD to you have a look at Peets.com you will find some good information and some great teas.

Boogie said:

... It was dark, but still had an orange color to it...

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Yes, it does sound like an oolong tea. Not very robust but still pleasant and kind of sweet.

I have a great joke about the three teas of Texas, but it's only suitable for the mod forum.

Thai Tea


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_tea

==Tom

ouch said:

I have a great joke about the three teas of Texas, but it's only suitable for the mod forum.

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Then make me a mod so I can read it.

I suppose a PM would work too.

A.de.Lioncourt said:

I will bet, but I'm not certain that it was probably some type of oolong tea to taste woodsy and sweet.

It's actually Chinese in origin, but a lot of different places serve it. The fermentation process makes it very complex and most delicious.

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Oolong encompasses a tremendous range of oxidation ("fermentation"), from just past what would be considered green to virtually black. I tend to prefer oolongs from Taiwan that produce a light, yellowish-green liquor.

sparkchaser said:

Then make me a mod so I can read it.

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Hey, that part is up to you.

Thanks for all the info guys, I appreciate. And thanks for the link too, that was very interesting, and not what I expected.

It sounds like oolong from the description. However, it is also fairly common for Thai restaurants to serve Jasmine tea-at leats where I live. Did it have any kind floral bouquet at all?

Perhaps he will answer in his next post, which by the looks of things should be in another four years or so.

I had tea at a Korean place not too long ago that I had the same reaction too. I had a few back and forths as I asked the waitress about the tea (unfortunately I couldn't understand her very well. Turns out it was steeped with roasted corn (she finally brought a handful out and said this is whats in it), giving it a very distinct taste with a touch of sweetness to it. Not sure if they do that with Thai tea though.

Just a piece of information, 90% of the worlds teas are grown in Thailand and Bangladesh. So she was giving the most honest answer.

mffjm95 said:

Just a piece of information, 90% of the worlds teas are grown in Thailand and Bangladesh.

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I wouldn't believe that for all the tea in China.

ouch said:

Perhaps he will answer in his next post, which by the looks of things should be in another four years or so.

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Bangladesh and Thailand are not the largest producers I misspoke, Correction, China is the largest producer. Sorry for that little mistake.

You can usually find packaged "Thai Tea" in most Chinatowns. If I remember correctly, the ingredients of the ones I've seen include black tea, vanilla, corn, and an orange dye.

Swing back by the place and buy a bag or box of the tea from her or ask her or owner for name of tea and supplier. That way, you can make a definite tea ID.

I know I am stationed in the UK and hot tea is kind of a big thing. but my in laws got me hooked in TX on that good old southern sweet ice tea. mmmmmm cant beat that. other then you think you will go into a diabetic coma. still love that tea though!