Would like info on tea-How/where to start?

Want to start enjoying tea for the health benefit and to drink in the afternoons/evenings when coffee is too much.

The only quality tea I've tried is from Teavana. I don't know which particular tea I had, but I remember enjoying it.


I enjoy coffee immensely and do enjoy other hot beverages. I don't regularly drink tea, but I know I'd enjoy it and certainly benefit from the healthy properties of tea.


It's time for me to start drinking some. I have coffee pourover equipment, a Bonavita electric kettle, but don't think I have a teapot or anything similar.


What exactly is needed? And what tea is a good place to start? I enjoy strong, robust coffees and espresso drinks. I drink coffee black and enjoy the flavor of good, fresh-roasted coffees.


Someone lend some direction, please? I'm open to try anything.


Thank you ahead of time. B&B always comes through with great advice.


Cheers!


Dan

as a coffee drinker i would recomend black teas most any dealer has some very good black teas

Some info: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Tea_FAQ

More info, and a good source to start, here: http://www.jas-etea.com/about-other-teas/

Thanks, fellas. I've used the Wiki for tons of things, didn't think to check for tea. Duh!

I always fall back to recommending Steve aka Jas-etea, and trying a sampler of his Green, White, Oolong, Pu-erh, etc to discover what you like. You might also enjoy his blog postings on tea.

Getting a nice teapot can improve the experience, but to start out I recommend getting a metal infuser that sits in your tea/coffee cup, as that allows for easy brewing and cleanup.

Wikipedia has a great article about tea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea

+1 Jas-etea is fantastic for classic, Chinese teas.

If you want to check out a variety of tea from around the world, visit the Mark T. Wendal website.
I like their Russian Caravan, English Breakfast, the smokey Lapsang Souchong and Rooibos herbal.

Sampler of black tea ordered from Jas-etea and a Yixing teapot set are en route. Wasn't a large expense to get supplies.

Will update once received and tried.

Thanks everyone for the info.

Cheers!

Dan

Good idea. Try more teas. I find black/red or cooked pu'erh closest to coffee but fresh green tea is delight.

Ok, I'm a newbie as well. Actually, my wife likes tea, and I have bought her some teas from Teavana before. But I can't get her to use them herself. She just wants to grab a bag and drop it in her hot water cup. What would y'all consider to be the best pre-measured teas out there? Probably more brand specific here. She enjoys a lot of different types/favors, so I will likely get some sort of sampler. Thanks.

Ok Gents,

I've gotten my tea gear. I ordered a full Yixing Tea set with a nice box shown in pics. Also, ordered an extra teapot, the very decorative one that looks like a dragon. I'm using the dragon pot for Black tea and the other pot for Oolong. I also ordered a bamboo tray when I ordered tea from jas-etea.com. I ordered a sampler of Black tea, a sampler of Oolong tea and they tossed in an assorted Chinese sampler. I've dedicated the two pots I have to Oolong and Black teas. I'll use a standard type teapot for the assorted Chinese teas, as I don't want to mess up one of my dedicated pots.

Question- Can I use the assorted Chinese teas in one of my dedicated pots? Or is this not good?

I read up on how to season the pots and I did so with each. I've enjoyed some Oolong tea already this week and tonight trying the Black tea. I'm having Organic Fengqing Golden Buds Black Tea.

I've found that my pot dedicated for Oolong is already improving in taste From use. Tonight is the first use of the dragon pot and first taste of Black tea. It is much like the first time with Oolong- seems a little weak in flavor, but I know the pot flavor increases with use.

The Black tea tonight is extremely smooth and really has a nice flavor. I did a small pot of Oolong as well to contrast and this is where I noticed it has improved in flavor already. The Oolong tonight was superb IMO. It had a rich, defined flavor. I wish I knew what Oolong it was, I had put the leaves in a tupperware and failed to label it. I'll figure it out.

I'm thoroughly enjoying having tea in the evening as opposed to coffee. It may have caffine, like coffee, but I don't know. It is in my head that if I have coffee after 5, it will be trouble sleeping.

I'm finding that the entire process is not only enjoyable, but somewhat theraputic and relaxing. It seems the tea and the process, being relaxing as it is, helps me sleep.

Thank you all for the input and assistance. I'd certainly consider this a huge success. I was a bit skeptical, even though I do enjoy hot beverages.

Here's some pics. The tea set was grabbed off ebay for $20 +$10 shipping - reasonable IMHO and the dragon pot was also found on ebay for $12 + $5 ship. The tea and bamboo tray from jas-etea.com the 2 samplers plus extra sampler tossed in and bamboi tray all totalled about $75. But I'm all set for a while.

Thanks again B&B!! Cheers!!

Tonight's Black Tea- delicious!

Nice setup.

Regarding the Chinese tea selection & seasoned pots:
It depends on the teas included and how ocd you are. I would brew the white and green tea in a separate vessel, the black/red/pu-erh in the dragon pot & the Chinese oolong in oolong pot. I keep anything flavoured, scented, heavily smoked or just suspicous away from my clay pots.

Dantheman said:

Question- Can I use the assorted Chinese teas in one of my dedicated pots? Or is this not good?

I read up on how to season the pots and I did so with each. I've enjoyed some Oolong tea already this week and tonight trying the Black tea.

I've found that my pot dedicated for Oolong is already improving in taste From use.

Click to expand...

I'd keep each pot dedicated for one "type" of tea. So ... oolong, black, pu-erh*, each get their own. (For pu-erh, there is "sheng" and "shu" ... aka "raw" and "ripe/cooked" ... tea; they are significantly different, and most people will say sheng/raw is much better ... I'd have a "sheng" pot and a "shu" pot, kept separate.

You can also look into getting a porcelain (or tempered glass) teapot or gaiwan, which you can use for any tea interchangeably, because they are impermeable, and will not "soak in" the flavour of the tea.

I need a few suggestions, please, but coming from a different angle.

On Ebay, I found a 20 - 22 ounce, made in a blue willow sort of design, (a nice dragon instead), with the 'maker's square' on the bottom. It does not have an 'infuser', but the 'port' leading to the spout is 3 small holes, which I guess is for loose leaf tea.

I am a coffee/tea drinker, and do find black teas enjoyable, and on some days, (oh no!), more preferable than a cup of Joe! My teas of choice, (for the time being - I know it's 'dust' and not leaves), are Twinings Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast; a non-descript Oolong that is that elusive pot of Chinese restaurant tea, that you can drink pots of, all day long (the box was mostly Chinese characters - but I can't remember if from wal-whatever or the local Brookshire store).

Now, please, how to use this pot to it's full measure, with the Louisiana winter looming, and the Farmer's Almanac, calling for another year of 'snow on the bayou'?