tea question

[porthos]

right now i am using about 1 tablespoon (a little less) of rishi brand earl grey tea in a large tea bag. i can't seem to get it strong enough to suite me. shouldn't need more than i am using. 10 years ago i used the same and it had plenty of flavor. maybe my taste buds are failing. anyway, any recomendations for a strong tea. there are hundreds out there; and i don't want any exoctic stuff, just a lot of flavor. how about english or irish breakfast, or________??

[Outpost75]

I get loose Ceylon BOP from San Francisco Herb Co. About $10 per pound. Very similar to that served in the mess on British Royal Navy ships. A fine ground, full bodied black tea which stands up well to adding milk and of the same variety commonly used for making chai. After the first Dog Watch I spike mine with a tot of the Pusser's rum.

[HWooldridge]

Lapsang Souchoung is a very good, strong black tea with a smoky taste - I've been drinking it for over 50 years. Earl Grey seems to vary from source to source.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Dollar store Black tea in tea bags. 100 bags for a buck an quarter. I use two bags per 10 oz cup of tea.

[stubshaft]

I like a strong cup of tea and usually get Irish Breakfast Tea from Mark Wendell Co.

[GregLaROCHE]

I use two tea bags in a large mug. As got used to tea like it stronger and with plenty of lemon.

[varmintpopper]

Use boiling hot water when brewing and leaving it in the hot water longer should make it stronger.

Good Shooting

Lindy

[porthos]

i've did all of the above. ordered several kinds from moteray tea co

[huntinlever]

right now i am using about 1 tablespoon (a little less) of rishi brand earl grey tea in a large tea bag. i can't seem to get it strong enough to suite me. shouldn't need more than i am using. 10 years ago i used the same and it had plenty of flavor. maybe my taste buds are failing. anyway, any recomendations for a strong tea. there are hundreds out there; and i don't want any exoctic stuff, just a lot of flavor. how about english or irish breakfast, or________??

Irish and Scottish breakfasts will be bolder than the English Breakfast. Any of the "Breakfasts" will be robust enough to be where you might be looking. Ceylon is also an option. Lapsong Souchong is strong, though some might find the smoke off putting. Russian Caravan is an option here. Robust, not quite as smoky as it's blended with Oolong.

If you want a stronger tea, add more tea. Don't lengthen the time of the steep. If you oversteep, you are extracting more of the astringent tannins and the bitterness isn't as pleasant.

[Good Cheer]

Can't say I'm picky though most all are good enough. Could blame my tea tastes on the London girl I met June 29th of '73 (made an impression on me) but it was my decision to stay with her for five years.

[georgerkahn]

porthos -- It is interesting to me that the tea bag was purportedly an accident! Merchants would wrap their different teas in fabric satchels, and by happenstance -- some folks immersed them in hot water and the Tea bag" was discovered/invented :). When I was in the UK, it was spelled out clearly to me that tea brewing can be an art/science. While many of the homes I had the privilege to visit had a pot brewing "forever" -- new leaves just added, with I'd imagine (never looked ;)) perhs afew cm's of sludge at bottom, but the brew was quite tasty. But what intrigued me were the "high class" restaurants who maintained that the water need be "99 degrees" (this in Celsius -- one degree below boiling) and brewed just the right duration to maximize flavour. (My wife drops a Red Rose brand teabag in a cup, adds some boiling water, and upon it being drinkable "cool-ness" -- she's happy!)
Anyhoos -- perhaps your water is not hot enough, or your steep time's a tad too short? Regardless, I hope you find the solution to your problem. As they said in Northumbria: "What cheer! Joy your jar of tay!"

[farmbif]

I used to drink earl grey, twinings, but im now hooked on Publix brand tea bags, it's a long drive to get it so I just stock up when I do get to a Publix. anyway when I want it strong I use one of the giant tea bags that is intended for making a pitcher of iced tea for one large mug full, steeped 6 or 7 minutes after pouring boiling water into the large bass pro shop mug, about a tablespoon of honey, thats how it been doing it lately. if not wanting it super strong I use two regular tea bags.

[GhostHawk]

Agree with post #3 Lapsang Souchoung is one of my favorites. Tea is dried over a smoky fire, has smoky or tarry elements. A real man's tea.

For just general drinking I like Ceylon Orange Pekoe from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F4F95W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is very smooth, mellow.

I have discovered that Chamomile tea can quiet the dragon in my bowels.
For the last year I have been suffering from terrible cramps + explosive diarrhea 3 to 5 days a week. The Chamomile stops the cramps with the first 2 or 3 sips. Allows things to settle down to where I can read, nap, etc.

Oolong while light on flavor is good for your high blood pressure. As it is one of my wife's favorites I have been drinking more of it lately.

But if you really want flavor, try Chai Tea.

Essentially it is "Tea" in Indian.

I can recomend this, not tooo strong, a little sugar, a half teaspon of creamer and it is pretty good.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049K99RW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[waksupi]

Check your local plants. I have bergamot growing wild on my property, and you could make it as strong as you can stand! It's the flavor you get in the Earl Grey.
https://www.britannica.com/plant/bergamot

[375supermag]

I have tried a few different teas and finally settled on Bigelow Earl Grey. I drink too many cups every day for the last 30+ years...by too many I mean in excess of 6 cups or more per day.

[HWooldridge]

I drink tea instead of coffee - both hot and cold. I start with a hot cup in the morning and drink tea all day long, and it's usually the last thing I have before going to bed.

[TreeKiller]

If you have time to brew it look up Turkish tea and fallow the directions. you can order Turkish tea on line for about $15.00 a kilo.

[reloader28]

No need to complicate it. I usually use a bag of Earl Grey and a bag of English Breakfast in my mug with a bit of honey.
The bags stay in it until I'm done drinking it

We got some huckleberry tea a couple years ago and it was very good.

[huntinlever]

In another life, an ex-Greek Orthodox priest and then, coffee-shop owner, once told me, "Paul, always leave a little room for luxury." Meaning, a good cup of Greek coffee (or Turkish, or espresso, etc.), is not a bad thing to work in, among the vices. Never touched coffee growing up but got hooked on good coffee during college, pulling too many all-nighter study or writing ordeals. And I've been hooked ever since. Go insane hearing "coconut oil-saffron-steeped-caramel orangenello, light organic yak milk 2/3 foam, 1/3 steamed milk, AOC regional small-batch turbinado fast-crystal, and Maltese bamboo stirrer. Please."

But good, strong, deep coffee.....man, look forward to it in the morning. Much the same for good tea, though I hardly drink it. Better than a lot of other money- and time-drains, to this guy anyway.

[Walks]

Supposedly half your taste buds are dead by the time your 50yrs old.
Considering how much pepper and other spices I use, I tend to believe it.

[Beerd]

Lapsang Souchoung, someone has been reading Michener's Centennial.
..

[GhostHawk]

Long long long ago. Yes. Then I got some and decided I liked it. Michener knows of what he speaks.

[HWooldridge]

I first tried lapsang in 1972. We had a head shop within walking distance of my home and they sold a bunch of exotic stuff, including tea and other foodstuffs. The hippie dude who ran the place educated me on tea varieties - and olives. I used to get a couple of sample tins and taste test, then buy larger cans when I found a winner. The olives were good, too…LOL

[justindad]

Tazo brand Awake black tea is my favorite in the USA.
*
In China I like red tea (pu er). The leaves are fermented. That’s the good stuff.

[Alferd Packer]

Bigelow tea has been a favorite, but now I use Lipton instant tea and have a water distiller for my water and ice cubes.
Works wonderfull!

[greenwart]

Kalami Assam The brand I got was Ahmad tea. The instructions are in Cyrillic and Arabic, probably going to Russia, Turkey and the Stans.. Loose leaves will probably create a stronger brew than using a bag. the instruction say brew for 8 minutes. way longer that the 3 minutes the tea snobs tell you to brew for. Try different times amounts and teas and see what you like. I had a bunch of green teas which I didn't really care taking up cupboard space and blended them all together. It actually tasted much better since one note teas like green sencha got toned down a bit.Keep adding to it like the Chili powder jar.

[.429&H110]

Lapsang Souchong! An acquired taste! I have some on the shelf.

For my oil burner decade, I'd rinse a quart stainless thermos with boiling water
dump it out toss in three bags of Lapsang, fill it with very boiling water.
Yah, steep it all morning!

If you've been handling #2 oil, coffee tastes like #2 oil.
Lapsang steeped bitter always tastes like Lapsang.
Really overpowers nasty high sulfur #2!

1993 I was shoveling a roof with a kid.
Stopped for lunch on the roof, I carry lunch, always did
Offered the kid a cup, he smelled it
and climbed away down the ladder
"How can you drink that stuff?"

I might say the same about his Miller Genuine Draft Lite in a can.

[Nazgul]

We always had a pot of tea on the table growing up. Salada brand. Still drink it often.

Don

[Kosh75287]

I have a FAR greater AFFECTION for teas of any kind, than I have KNOWLEDGE of them. From a CHEMIST'S perspective, however, I would look at steeping time, if the newer teas seem to come up weak. When I want tea, I tend to want it fairly immediately (hence an always present brewed pitcher in my house), but letting the hot stuff steep an extra minute or so might do the job.

[BrassMagnet]

I get loose Ceylon BOP from San Francisco Herb Co. About $10 per pound. Very similar to that served in the mess on British Royal Navy ships. A fine ground, full bodied black tea which stands up well to adding milk and of the same variety commonly used for making chai. After the first Dog Watch I spike mine with a tot of the Pusser's rum.

I do like Pusser's rum!

[GregLaROCHE]

Lapsang Souchoung, someone has been reading Michener's Centennial.
..

Centennial is one of my most favorite books. I couldn’t put it down.

[barnetmill]

Check your local plants. I have bergamot growing wild on my property, and you could make it as strong as you can stand! It's the flavor you get in the Earl Grey.
https://www.britannica.com/plant/bergamot

I do have a bergamot orange tree. But I have not yet done anything with the oranges yet. There is apparently more than one bergamot orange that makes it confusing and I have not really learned how to properly scrape the rind of the orange.

I happen to like lychee tea also that I order on ebay from Ceylon.

[barnetmill]

I have not done it yet but it seem possible to grow tea trees in the southern USA. I need to check and see what temps will kill the tree.
I spent some time in africa and locally the best tea was shipped for export and what was in the stores seemed to be like sweepings and was too strong with tannins. I found that if i put them in a filter and poured boiling water through it I got a decent tasting brew of tea out of it.