I’m an earl grey with honey man, but if I’m being honest, I’ve never really tried much else.
Lapsang souchong
This is my go to. It’s a lot, but I love it. If you want a tea that isn’t afraid to be bold, this is great. However, anyone around will think you’re cooking something with all the smoke smell.
Tastes like old leather and tobacco. Fabulous.
Black tea with almond milk and honey.
Green, don’t really care about specifics and I have tried dozens of boutique varieties. There is a variety called “gunpowder” that is fairly robust, I like it. My daily driver is Bigelow with pomegranate. Usually straight but sometimes I use local honey.
Early Grey man myself but there is a Hawaiian Cocktail tea that has dried pineapple and other tropical fruits that is absolutely exquisite. I’m not usually a fruit tea person as I love bitters. Wish I knew who made it but we’ve had it for quite some time and I don’t.
You see, I’m weird and get bitter teas only to fill them with sweets like honey.
Sugar just doesn’t do it for me anymore. I’d much rather have a bag of chips or a salt lick than ice cream.
⚠️ More information than you require: I grew up on diabetes tea and pretty much cut out all sugar (stopped drinking soda) years ago. I felt 100x better after a few weeks and realized how much sugar I was actually drinking. The adult limit for sugar without trashing your blood sugar is about 28g/12oz. Most soda is in the 38-45g range. Way too much and makes you feel like shit, you just don’t realize it because you’re used to it. After not drinking super sugared drinks for a month you become re-sensitized to sugar and absolutely can’t drink it again. Cole, etc tastes absolutely awful to me now. If I have sweet tea I basically do a 1/4 sweet tea to unsweetened tea ratio.
Oh yeah, I stay away from sodas as much as I can (except the very occasional Sprite during outings because how could I live without it). And I’m lactose intolerant, so I too prefer a savory treat to a sweet one. Tea has always been my one exception, though; I couldn’t tell you why.
Sweet Tea. The Southern US kind, black tea brewed with more and more sugar until, ideally, it’s actually a supersaturated solution. Then served cold over ice. Literal diabetes juice.
I don’t have it often, but it’s the best tea in the world because, on the whole, tea is garbage water.
Fight me. 😂
Black tea with some lemon and sugar.
This is how we drank tea in communist Poland when I was a child and I tried so many teas in Japan with the nice ceremony, Chinese green tea, american peach ice tea, English tea with milk, etc. But nothing comes close.
lemon and sugar
Ah, memories. I can’t drink that any more unless I don’t want to eat for several hours until my teeth stop being sensitive, but during my childhood it wasn’t just delicious, it was a way to bond with my older relatives.
Ah wait, there is one which is close, Indian chai, it’s so flavorful!
One more notable is marrokean peppermint tea, but it’s just to sweet.
Day to day is Yorkshire tea with a little sugar. Every now and then I like to mix some Darjeeling with licorice tea.
Scottish Breakfast is my new favorite I put just a touch of oat milk in it. (no dairy for me)
I enjoy a good Irish breakfast, not sure what specifically is the difference between that and a traditional english breakfast. Just tastes smoother to me.
It has a different blend of teas.
Milky oolong. It has just the right amount of sweetness and just evokes feelings of coziness for me. Sometimes I add a little bit of jasmine as well.
Lady Grey
Earl Grey in a pinch
Pu’er (fermented black tea sold in big solid disks or chunks) it’s nice and dark, reminds me of coffee. I also enjoy iron goddess(Tieguanyin) oolongs and white peony.
I like Earl Grey, but also drink a lot of Mate (although not sure if people consider this a tea)
I love strong black teas. English Bteakfast is my go to, but I love a good PG tips now and again.
Please try August Uncommon Teas. August.la is the link. I raved about them to a friend who honestly became annoyed with me going on about them. Then, tried them. She called me and was like, “Oh, shit. Nico was right.”
Go to Turkey. Visit the shops in Istanbul where they sell carpets. Be invited in for a beer and a meal.
They will serve delicious apple tea.
But really, it’s the whole experience. And that’s the best tea.
Went there as a kid, great mint tea. Some of the most inviting people I’ve ever met. Sat with nomads hocking black wool from their herd.
To be fair, i think most people are like this if you take the time to talk to them. However, their tea may be less good.