Tea Enthusiasts: gift question

[pbutter]

I really like this store. I bet if you call their customer service they could give you some great ideas.
www.teagschwendner.com/US/en/About_us.TG

[audette]

I'm a low-brow tea enthusiast. As in, I am happy with commercial tea in bags.

But, in the past, I have played with loose leaf tea. I have a couple little mesh basket thingees that can sit in/on top of a mug or teapot, and can be filled with loose tea, but allow water to pass freely, so looseleaf tea can be used in them. They are pretty handy, especially when experimenting with various loose teas.

Do you know _why_ he dislikes mass-marketed tea bags? I find some brands are just too weak for my tastes (I like a strong black tea, which doesn't happen with some brands). Is he interested in trying more than just black tea? (ie: green, red or white tea?) My company's office has a water kettle that has different settings for the optimal temperatures for each type of tea, which might be useful if he wants to experiment with types of tea. (wait, sounds like you already have something like this... oops...)


We have an on-demand hot water dispenser here in our apartment. It is _awesome_. It means I can brew tea whenever I want without having to fill and start a kettle (it's also tied into our water supply system, although similar appliances can be found in the US that have a large reservoir for water, which would mimic what this thing does).


Most of my tea is purchased on visits to tea shops. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to see and smell the loose teas I buy before I buy them...


I have no idea where you are located, but perhaps a gift card for a local tea shop? Or for a tea ceremony, if somewhere local offers them? (I recently attended a Korean tea ceremony, which was pretty nifty...)

[gt7301b]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I love the Irish Breakfast tea sold at TJ's. It is much stronger than the rest of the mass market teas.

[lasagnasshole]

If he wants to get serious about tea, I'm assuming he'll want to go the loose tea route. I LOVE my ForLife steeper mug, and I really want to get a pot so I can make it for guests and for H and I together.  They have multiple styles of steeper mugs and pots.

I am not well-versed in different brands to be able to recommend them, but of the stuff I've had, my favorite brand is Rishi.  (Disclaimer: there's a bit of nostalgia/local pride factor in it because it's a Milwaukee company, but it's really, really good.)  If you have a local tea shop, they should be able to recommend things, too.

[lasagnasshole]

Also, if he wants some to take to work and doesn't want to deal with cleaning a steeper, you can buy empty tea bags and fill them with loose tea. This is also nice because you can mix different kinds together.

[audette]

Oy, yeah, avoid the basic Lipton tea you see in the US. It is horrible.

Lipton actually makes some decent teas, they just aren't frequently available in the US. (look for their "pyramid" tea bags...)

Other brands I drink that can be found in the US, are TJ's Irish Breakfast, Twinnings Irish and English Breakfast, PG Tips, and, if none of those are available, Bigelow English Teatime. Starbucks "Awake" tea is OK, but again, still somewhat weak.

None of those should break the bank, so they might be good stocking stuffers. And would totally throw him off of a tea-related larger gift, if you want to get a steeper or other loose-leaf tea related items.

[keweenawlove]

I don't consider myself a tea snob (I'm fine with most of the mass market tea bags). My officemate is somewhat of a snob and likes Adagio. They sell a huge variety of loose leaf teas. You could get a few of the smaller bags so he can try out a few different ones.

[lasagnasshole]

Nov 27, 2013 9:16:45 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Also, if you want a specific suggestion, I've been obsessed with genmaicha for a while.  It's a Japanese green tea with delicious flavors of toasted brown rice.  Not as strong as some of the pure brown rice flavors you might get in a Korean tea, for example, and I appreciate the more subtle mixture of flavors in the genmai.  Tealuxe offers a fantastic genmaicha (and I like them way more than Teavana in general).

I have a Rishi one of this. I knew nothing about it but just thought it sounded good. LOVE. Such a great nutty flavor that reminds me of the green teas I've had in sushi restaurants.

[Deleted]

I really like this individual teapot: www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html

H once got me a larger teapot, but he's not a tea drinker and it's too big for me. So I really stick with the Ingenuitea. I clean it in the dishwasher.

I mostly drink loose-leaf tea because I like green and herbal teas. I have gotten tea from Teavana, but it's just so damn expensive. Adagio is priced a little better. I've also bought Republic of Tea, I think from Whole Foods. I wouldn't say I'm a tea snob per se as I'm not particular about brand, it's just that the types of teas I like are hard to find in mass-market tea bags. 

[lasagnasshole]

Also, H got some tea from this company, and I really like it:
www.twoleavestea.com/

[thedutchgirl]

Ditto the recommendation for Adagio. They have fun sampler size tins of loose tea.

[sa]

We really like this: www.teavana.com/tea-products/tea-makers-infusers/p/large-perfectea-tea-maker-ii
We have the single and double, but use the double more often.

As far as teas, I'm not loyal to one brand. I can recommend some of our favorites though:

Earl Grey:
-Laduree (unfortunately you may need to call a store to see if they can ship this to you, because it's not sold online)
-The earl grey from www.serendipitea.com/ is good as well, but to me Laduree is tops.
-For a twist on earl grey we like Anastasia from Kusmi: us.kusmitea.com/our-teas/russian-tea/anastasia.html

Best Green Tea:

-We have a green tea we get from China. Everything is in Chinese so I don't know the brand. My husband orders it, I'll ask him where he orders it from. It's in pearl form and opens to full leaves once steeped. It has a very delicate almost floral flavor.
-I also like this brand of Jasmine green tea and it's dirt cheap:
www.amazon.com/Yamamotoyama-Jasmine-Tea-16-bags/dp/B0002G3UZE/ref=pd_sim_gro_4

Best White Tea:

-Silver needles - no brand, just search for silver needles.

We've liked the selection at Davidson's organics as well (Moroccan mint was good):

www.davidsonstea.com/

[noodleoo]

My BIL got us this set from amazon last year and we love it! The teapot is beautiful and it comes with a glass diffuser. We don't really use that, we just put loose tea in the pot and strain as we pour into the cups. The flowering teas are really beautiful and taste good too! We use them whenever we have company.

www.amazon.com/Primula-40-Ounce-Blossom-Infuser-Flowering/dp/B00D16KVI6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385564758&sr=8-2&keywords=primula+tea

We drink tea almost every day and this was one of the best presents we've ever gotten!

Loose, whole leaf tea is definitely better than prepackaged tea bags. They can be expensive, but you can usually resteep tea 3-5 times depending on the variety, so that helps if you drink a lot at once.

ETA: actually I think he got us this one which comes with some green, black and white loose leaf tea and 6 flowering tea balls.  A good sampler pack. We really liked the green and white teas. I don't think we've opened the black yet!

www.amazon.com/Primula-Flowering-40-Ounce-Blossom-Loose-Tea/dp/B001QXD53E/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1385565238&sr=8-8&keywords=primula+tea+pot

and this (the variety pack was nice as the jasmine only was a little too jasmine-y):

www.amazon.com/Primula-Flowering-Green-Tea-12-Count-Canister/dp/B0037TKJNO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385565392&sr=8-1&keywords=primula+flowering+tea

[Deleted]

I like the Bodum tea press if I want to make a few cups. If I just want a single cup I use a tea ball.

For teas I primarily drink loose leaf teas. The first time I buy a tea I like to go into a store a sniff them to get an idea of what they taste like. Once I've done that I will order them on-line if possible.

Teavana has a great selection and after Christmas they normally do a ridiculous sale with something like 50-70% off teas so I stock up then.

[starbuck]

www.tealuxe.com

My favourites are Buckingham Palace Garden Party and the jasmine Earl Grey.

[heliocentric]

I have a tried a ton of teapots and this one is my favorite because 1 it's big, 2) the size of the basket is large enough to accommodate leaves that plump or unroll, and 3) it's clear so I can see the color of the tea. (I am too lazy to time the tea.) Bonus that it's cheap.

www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90150071/

[cjeanette]

I am loving this post. I mainly stick with loose teas from Kusmi.

[alleinesein]

I prefer loose leaf teas from Fortnum and Mason in the UK and Harney and Sons in the US.

You can find Harney and Sons in the US; Barnes and Noble carries a few different flavors. I love the Historic Royal Palaces collection; I've seen the Tower of London Blend in a few specialty shops but most of the time you have to order from the website or pick them up in the UK at one of the palaces. www.harney.com/harney-teas/tea-collections/historic-royal-palaces.html

Fortnum and Mason has a good starter set for loose leaf black teas. You can order from the website or if you know of anyone flying though LHR they can pick it up for you at the airport. www.fortnumandmason.com/p-5016-tea-gifts-tea-gift-sets-tea-caddies.aspx

Laduree has some AMAZING teas; they have a shop in NYC so you might be able to contact them directly to order some. The Melange Special Laduree is good and so is the Marie Antoinette.

[sa]

Thanks for bumping the post. Apparently the green tea I thought was so wonderful is actually oolong tea. Anyway, this is the one I really like:

www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Spring-New-FuJian-Anxi-Tie-Guan-Yin-Premium-AAA-Grade-Chinese-Oolong-Tea-/181134836952?ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:US:3160

[Deleted]

My husband likes Teavanna and I find some of their tea blends pretty good. They do have a coupon code for 25 off of 60 (code is 25OFF60) and free shipping at $50.