Alright, Keith says “tea bags suck.” Fine, fine, be a tea snob. Here’s the thing: I’m kind of a tea snob too, which is why I’m stuck with tea bags. Here is where I once again bitch about something I can’t get in Portugal, and you all sigh with boredom and say, “Again?” Yep, again. Back to the issue at hand:
I’m a tea snob because the only tea I will drink is white tea. Black tea is too strong; drinking it, I get the same strange icky feeling in the back of my throat as if I had just downed a shot of vodka. Green tea is too… green. And often bitter. Herbal tea can be okay, but I usually want some caffeine. White tea is just perfect and delicious. It has less caffeine than green or black tea, but it is there, just enough.
I’m sure I would love white tea brewed with a tea infuser like Keith uses — they just don’t sell loose white tea here! I am okay with it though, because during my first ever Makro excursion recently (which I was really way more excited about than any grocery shopping trip deserves) I found Tetley Mandarin Orange White Tea in drawstring tea bags.
This tea is awesome. Yeah, okay, it has “orange flavoring,” which I know isn’t all that wonderful, but it also has some actual bits of Mandarin orange in it (as opposed to bits of real panther). The awesomest thing about this tea though, is the drawstring. Seriously? I bought it because it was white tea. But the drawstring won me over.
I always hated trying to use a spoon and the little paper tab thingie to squeeze out a teabag before throwing it away. I burnt my finger doing it every time. And it would still drip all over the place before I got it in the garbage can. With the drawstring tea bag, all you do is rip the paper where it’s perforated, and pull in opposite directions, and it actually works. I haven’t burnt my finger or dripped any tea anywhere once since I got them. And that, my friends, is a damn good reason for me to keep using them.
Clacked by Cate Cropp
on May 22, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
The “icky feeling” resulting from black tea is probably from the tannins. How are you with red wine?
Herbal tea isn’t tea at all, so it doesn’t really count.
White tea is nice. It’s delicate and it’s real tea.
Also, a note about green tea: Many times it’s prepared incorrectly. The water is supposed to be hot, not boiling. I’ve read that using boiled water can make it bitter. Over-steeping can also be a factor.
I’m done now.
I hate regular tea but love green tea. In fact I’ve been trying to drink it in place of coffee in the morning since its healthier. It hasn’t been working because it seems when I don’t make it at home (with a tea bag) it sucks. Thanks Andrea I think you explained why. My breakfast stop in the morning gives you only boiling water to make it with.
I think you’re right on all accounts, Andrea. Red wine is not my friend at all. Also, I don’t use boiling water for tea, but I probably oversteep often. With white tea it’s not very noticeable, though – another reason I love it so much!