*cracks knuckles*
All right, I'm going to spend more time than I aught to on this and it is going to sound like a ramble.. but so be it, you called the tea-kraken.
Bottom of the barrel while still being good is Lipton. 300 some teabags for $10 at Sam's. Can't go wrong with it, but I want to put even a pinch of effort into making some good tea I'll skip it.
For black tea, Twinnings or Bigelow are great. English Breakfast or anything similar are great and taste better than Lipton. Their Earl Greys, though, I find to have far too much bergamot and the tea tastes like metal. I haven't had bagged Earl Grey in a very long time.
Loose leaf Earl Grey however is another story. That's good.
Pre-COVID I used to go to Prestogeorge Coffee & Tea on Penn. They had a large variety of home made flavored teas (I especially liked their lime black tea) which were in small packs for only a few dollars. But since covid they closed their 'show room' so you can't browse what they have.. they just have a paper with what they have. No fun.
I like Allegheny Coffee & Tea Exchange further up the road. They have giant containers of both tea and coffee beans, and you can smell them before you buy. Reasonable prices too. I bought 12oz of English breakfast and Chamomile tea in early 2020 which I still have some left.
Loose leaf tea is a better value than bagged tea. You can mix the teas, and I feel that your dollar goes further than with bagged tea... though it is arguably more effort to make a cuppa loose leaf.
For herbal teas, they are mostly the same. Something warm to drink. Chamomile is good. Rooibos is good too.. I know I have a few other packs of loose herbal but I can't remember what they are. They are mixed, some with dried apple, pineapple, mint.. really flavorful stuff.
But I'm more of a black variety tea drinker myself. My favorite though would be a variety of Irish breakfast. Rarely in the store do I see Irish bagged (or even loose, haven't seen it for a while) under the Twinnings brand. That stuff is STRONG. Love the bitter flavor there.
Green teas, unless mixed with a herbal variety, not my fancy. It never tastes strong enough for me, and when it is brewed stronger, it is very bitter and nasty.
White tea, while a it costs a little bit more than black per oz, is very good too. The downside with this variety is that you need to brew it longer and hotter to have a good flavor. I have a thermos with a tea filter. Pour boiling water in it, put a small spoonful of white, and let it sit for an hour or two, or even overnight. Doing it longer makes it stronger but the flavor is never overwhelming. Sadly longer than 12 hours and the thermos starts to cool down too much
Adding into tea... never sugar, unless it is Lipton and I want sugar. If I do Lipton I'll do honey if I want it sweet. Other black teas, honey, cream, or lemon juice (but not with cream) depending on how I feel. Earl Grey is sublime with cream and honey.
Herbal, green, or white teas, I never add anything in.
Your Favourite Type of Tea
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