I've been a tea lover since high school, and that was fifteen years ago. I
knew I liked Earl Grey, and Lipton... As I tried new teas, I discovered
Oolong, Green, and English Breakfast. Great teas, but I was buying fannings
in a bag.

I bought twinings tins of Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, Russian
Caravan, etc. Usually making them with a coffee maker with very mixed
results. I've always used a couple of pyrex dishes, and a strainer. I like
the way tea tastes the most when I get water SCALDING hot, not BOILING, and
I steep black tea for 3 minutes or so. I stir the tea, leaves flying around
everywhere in one of the pyrex dishes. I then pour it into a warm SECOND
pyrex dish through a cheap strainer. By this time it is quite warm, but not
HOT tea. I consume it rather quickly. It's a little messy, and uncouth as
a process goes, and if this is the best way to do it, then I'll keep doing
it this way.

My instincts tell me that this is NOT, however, the best way to do it. My
favorite teas right now are actually NOT stand-alone teas. I'm on a diet,
so decaf is a necessity for now. (Minus 40 pounds since January, by the
way.) My favorite varieties in order:

1.) Green Tea with Mint
1.5) Earl Grey
2.) Monk's Blend
3.) Czar Nikolai (but I can't drink that one because it's not available
caffeine free.)

Stand Alone tea...
1.) Darjeeling (wonderful flavor/complexity)
2.) White Tea
3.) Green Tea

I drink a lot of herbal teas as well. Rooibos is a staple, chamomile,
fruity/etc... Think Celestial Seasonings, and that's all it is. My wife
enjoys them too.

I made a decent sized purchase at www.culinaryteas.com and was at first
disappointed in their Earl Grey, but I'd followed their suggestions, and put
their teabags in BOILING water. I got bitter, rancid filth that had me
emailing them, and complaining about the quality of their tea. When I used
my decade of experience, using hot, scalding water, it worked out just fine.
The teas I'm drinking that I got from them are just fine. I enjoy them, but
I am as interested in quality as I am saving money.

This brings me to my main set of questions:

1.) is there a all-in-one teapot that is feasable for use in the workplace
that can be used in conjunction with a microwave to help brew superior tea?

2.) Is there a consensus within this group where to buy the finest teas
online, and a place to get the best prices for them? I would be interested
in learning of both.

For those of you who read this all the way through, I think you very much.
Tea has been a major part of my life for a long time, and I want to learn
more, and try more. There are tea purists who would snub me for my liking
such a variety, I'd think... Considering the "fruity" nature of Monk's
Blend, but I was nonetheless quite impressed, and taken with it. Earl Grey
has been a favorite ever since I first heard of it watching Captain Jean Luc
Picard on Star Trek. (You must admit, he had to increase the sale of the
stuff!)

Now that I have my brewing technique mostly down, I would like to buy
appropriate equipment for doing this. When I'm home, I don't mind the
silly/uncouth ritual, or something similar, but I would like to try and
avoid the pieces of leaves that I get in my service pot (which are plenty...
The filter isn't quite fine enough.) What I *DO* know, though, is that tea
DOES like to be out in the open when brewing. It is a superior tasting brew
if you can avoid getting enough tea leaves in your main service to cause
bitterness. I'm just looking for a better method (if there is one) and to
hear some more suggestions on teas to try.

I'm a little interested in this "Pu-erh" stuff... Can anyone describe the
flavor characteristics, and can one buy this decaffeinated?

Thanks a million for your anticipated response! This seems like a nice,
friendly group.

Regards,

Daniel

Hi, Daniel and Welcome! (more inline)

"Daniel J. Morlan" > wrote in message
...
>
> I bought twinings tins of Earl Grey, Irish Breakfast, Ceylon, Russian
> Caravan, etc. Usually making them with a coffee maker with very mixed
> results. I've always used a couple of pyrex dishes, and a strainer. I
like
> the way tea tastes the most when I get water SCALDING hot, not BOILING,
and

While black teas are best brewed in boiling water, oolong/wulong, green, and
white teas are supposed to be steeped in water that's 180°F or less and some
Darjeelings do better in less-than-boiling water, too.

> I steep black tea for 3 minutes or so. I stir the tea, leaves flying
around
> everywhere in one of the pyrex dishes. I then pour it into a warm SECOND
> pyrex dish through a cheap strainer. By this time it is quite warm, but
not
> HOT tea. I consume it rather quickly. It's a little messy, and uncouth
as
> a process goes, and if this is the best way to do it, then I'll keep doing
> it this way.
>
> My instincts tell me that this is NOT, however, the best way to do it.

By Pyrex dish, do you mean a measuring cup or a baking dish? 'Cause,
actually, using a Pyrex cup isn't a bad thing at all except there's no lid
to keep the heat in which doesn't seem to matter as much for teas needing to
be steeped at lower temps.

> (Minus 40 pounds since January, by the way.)

Congratulations!

> I made a decent sized purchase at www.culinaryteas.com and was at first
> disappointed in their Earl Grey, but I'd followed their suggestions, and
put
> their teabags in BOILING water. I got bitter, rancid filth that had me
> emailing them, and complaining about the quality of their tea. When I
used
> my decade of experience, using hot, scalding water, it worked out just
fine.
> The teas I'm drinking that I got from them are just fine. I enjoy them,
but
> I am as interested in quality as I am saving money.

Watch out for their blackberry 'cause mine had way too many stems. Oh, wait,
you said teabags...maybe nebermind <shrug>.

> This brings me to my main set of questions:
>
> 1.) is there a all-in-one teapot that is feasable for use in the
workplace
> that can be used in conjunction with a microwave to help brew superior
tea?

Many enjoy the IngenuiTea from adagio.com.

> 2.) Is there a consensus within this group where to buy the finest teas
> online, and a place to get the best prices for them? I would be
interested
> in learning of both.

I get the majority of my teas from uptontea.com.

> Earl Grey
> has been a favorite ever since I first heard of it watching Captain Jean
Luc
> Picard on Star Trek. (You must admit, he had to increase the sale of the
> stuff!)

Oh? I thought that was done by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .

> Now that I have my brewing technique mostly down, I would like to buy
> appropriate equipment for doing this. When I'm home, I don't mind the
> silly/uncouth ritual, or something similar, but I would like to try and
> avoid the pieces of leaves that I get in my service pot (which are
plenty...
> The filter isn't quite fine enough.)

You have several options. Glass teapots provide the best visual
entertainment and are easier to keep clean than ceramic. Chatsford teapots
(and mugs) are excellent for providing a clean beverage because of their
patented brew basket - Upton has a wide variety. Teeli or Swissgold brew
baskets are also excellent. The finest-meshed strainer I've found is the
Empress Tea Room strainer by G&H available for $4 - 4.50 (or more!) at
various places online.

> I'm just looking for a better method (if there is one) and to
> hear some more suggestions on teas to try.

Have you read our FAQs?

http://pages.ripco.net/~c4ha2na9/tea/faq.html.

In addition to the FAQs, you might want to read the "How to Begin" thread
started by Serendip on 2/19/05 for suggestions for teas or google this
group. If not, just stick around. For some reason, we're nearly always
talking about something that's related to drinking tea .

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

"Daniel J. Morlan" > wrote in message
...
>
> 2.) Is there a consensus within this group where to buy the finest teas
> online, and a place to get the best prices for them? I would be
interested
> in learning of both.

Here's something that may be of interest to you:

http://www.normbrero.com/cgi-bin/vie...t.cgi?pageId=2

Also this, since you're into Earl Grey:

http://www.concentric.net/~Dusted/EarlGrey/index.html.


--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:19:21 -0600, Bluesea wrote:

> Hi, Daniel and Welcome! (more inline)

[A little snip here, a little snip there...]

>> Earl Grey
>> has been a favorite ever since I first heard of it watching Captain Jean
>> Luc Picard on Star Trek. (You must admit, he had to increase the sale of the
>> stuff!)
>
> Oh? I thought that was done by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .

*ahem*

"A short while before this, Arthur Dent had set out from his cabin in
search of a cup of tea. It was not a quest he embarked upon with a
great deal of optimism, because he knew that the only source of hot
drinks on the entire ship was a benighted piece of equipment produced
by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. It was called a Nutri-Matic
Drinks Synthesizer, and he had encountered it before.

"It claimed to produced the widest possible range of drinks personally
matched to the tastes and metabolism of whoever cared to use it. When
put to the test, however, it invariably produced a plastic cup filled
with a liquid which was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

April 29, 2005 will be a good day.

--
Derek

"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what
they a precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way.
Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from."
-- Al Franken, "Oh, the Things I Know", 2002

"Derek" > wrote in message ...
> On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:19:21 -0600, Bluesea wrote:
>
> > Hi, Daniel and Welcome! (more inline)
>
> [A little snip here, a little snip there...]
>
> >> Earl Grey
> >> has been a favorite ever since I first heard of it watching Captain
Jean
> >> Luc Picard on Star Trek. (You must admit, he had to increase the sale
of the
> >> stuff!)
> >
> > Oh? I thought that was done by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .
>
> *ahem*

LOL! The winkie, man, the winkie!

> "A short while before this, Arthur Dent had set out from his cabin in
> search of a cup of tea. It was not a quest he embarked upon with a
> great deal of optimism, because he knew that the only source of hot
> drinks on the entire ship was a benighted piece of equipment produced
> by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. It was called a Nutri-Matic
> Drinks Synthesizer, and he had encountered it before.
>
> "It claimed to produced the widest possible range of drinks personally
> matched to the tastes and metabolism of whoever cared to use it. When
> put to the test, however, it invariably produced a plastic cup filled
> with a liquid which was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."
>
> April 29, 2005 will be a good day.

Ahh...looking forward to it .

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 17:06:34 -0600, Bluesea wrote:

> "Derek" > wrote in message ...
>> On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:19:21 -0600, Bluesea wrote:
>>
>>> Hi, Daniel and Welcome! (more inline)
>>
>> [A little snip here, a little snip there...]
>>
>>>> Earl Grey
>>>> has been a favorite ever since I first heard of it watching Captain
>>>> Jean Luc Picard on Star Trek. (You must admit, he had to increase
>>>> the sale of the stuff!)
>>>
>>> Oh? I thought that was done by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .
>>
>> *ahem*
>
> LOL! The winkie, man, the winkie!

Ok. There's something almost lewd in that statement.

>> "A short while before this, Arthur Dent had set out from his cabin in
>> search of a cup of tea. It was not a quest he embarked upon with a
>> great deal of optimism, because he knew that the only source of hot
>> drinks on the entire ship was a benighted piece of equipment produced
>> by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. It was called a Nutri-Matic
>> Drinks Synthesizer, and he had encountered it before.
>>
>> "It claimed to produced the widest possible range of drinks personally
>> matched to the tastes and metabolism of whoever cared to use it. When
>> put to the test, however, it invariably produced a plastic cup filled
>> with a liquid which was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."
>>
>> April 29, 2005 will be a good day.
>
> Ahh...looking forward to it .

Ditto. I just reread all 5 books, and thoroughly enjoyed them. In
fact, I enjoyed them more now than when I read them in the 80s.

Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin is just casting at its best.

--
Derek

"Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored." -- Aldous
Huxley

Another HHGTTG fan!

This *IS* a good group!

I can hardly wait for the movie, too...

Own the books, the BBC radio series, the BBC TV Series, and the day THIS one
comes out on DVD I'll own it too.

Excellent series...

Daniel
"Bluesea" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Derek" > wrote in message
> ...
>> On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 15:19:21 -0600, Bluesea wrote:
>>
>> > Hi, Daniel and Welcome! (more inline)
>>
>> [A little snip here, a little snip there...]
>>
>> >> Earl Grey
>> >> has been a favorite ever since I first heard of it watching Captain
> Jean
>> >> Luc Picard on Star Trek. (You must admit, he had to increase the sale
> of the
>> >> stuff!)
>> >
>> > Oh? I thought that was done by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy .
>>
>> *ahem*
>
> LOL! The winkie, man, the winkie!
>
>> "A short while before this, Arthur Dent had set out from his cabin in
>> search of a cup of tea. It was not a quest he embarked upon with a
>> great deal of optimism, because he knew that the only source of hot
>> drinks on the entire ship was a benighted piece of equipment produced
>> by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation. It was called a Nutri-Matic
>> Drinks Synthesizer, and he had encountered it before.
>>
>> "It claimed to produced the widest possible range of drinks personally
>> matched to the tastes and metabolism of whoever cared to use it. When
>> put to the test, however, it invariably produced a plastic cup filled
>> with a liquid which was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."
>>
>> April 29, 2005 will be a good day.
>
> Ahh...looking forward to it .
>
> --
> ~~Bluesea~~
> Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
> Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.
>
>