If you love tea (a bracing cuppa)

[Anonymous]

... not the herbal teas and tisanes BS...

What makes it great?
I try to love it. I just don't as much as coffee. I make it super piper hot from the kettle, I think I steep it enough (can't let the water cool or the tea get bitter) then I drink only with milk. It's never strong or hot enough. Is that what makes your cup of tea so amazing that you crave it? Is it the sugar?

Please help!

[Anonymous]

Degustibus non disputantum est.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm, not everyone likes it with milk. You don’t have to steep it long - I thought that too before I moved to England. Some people have it plain, with sugar, or with lemon or honey. Others like milk. Earl Grey is a nice starter. And I love English or Irish breakfast tea. PG tips or Yorkshire Gold are other brands to try.
And you don’t have to love it. You don’t. You can like coffee - that’s fine!

[Anonymous]

Speaking as someone who drinks both, I take milk with coffee but not with tea.
Try some different flavors. You basic lipton orange pekoe is not for everyone.
It can be fun to go into a shop and smell the different jars of loose tea.

[Anonymous]

You need a good quality black tea. I prefer Yorkshire Gold since PG Tips reformulated.

Also I don’t like it with just milk. I drink it black and occasionally with milk and sugar.

I don’t understand how it’s not hot enough, using my kettle a cup will stay hot for a while.

Tea is a bit more subtle than coffee or espresso, you aren’t going to get the same intensity of flavor.

[Anonymous]

For the best tea, used loose leaf, not teabags.

Use a teapot.

Warm it first with some boiling water, then pour out.

Add 4 or 5 teaspoons of loose leaf tea. Twinings is good, I like Ceylon Orange Pekoe or English Breakfast.

Add boiling water to almost fill.

Put on a tea cosy if you have one and leave to steep for 4 minutes.

Add milk to your cup and pour tea.

[Anonymous]

If you are putting milk in it then of course it won't be strong - or hot, unless you heat the milk. You are diluting it.

I like plain black tea and green tea, and also some flavored black teas. Most of them are not supposed to be made with actually boiling water - green tea, in particular, should be less than boiling. You only need to steep 3-4 minutes for most teas.

If you are looking for a strong tea flavor, steep Lipton in near-boiling water for about 3 minutes and don't dilute it. Lipton is the only tea I will sometimes sugar.
If you want to experiment with flavors, I like the chocolate flavor tea from Harney & Sons, and the Almond flavor from Republic of Tea. Harney also makes interesting loose leaf teas if you decide to go down that road, but I wouldn't invest in a strainer etc. if it turns out you just don't like tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the best tea, used loose leaf, not teabags.

Use a teapot.

Warm it first with some boiling water, then pour out.

Add 4 or 5 teaspoons of loose leaf tea. Twinings is good, I like Ceylon Orange Pekoe or English Breakfast.

Add boiling water to almost fill.

Put on a tea cosy if you have one and leave to steep for 4 minutes.

Add milk to your cup and pour tea.

Should have added of course that you use a strainer when pouring the tea.

Please don't drink Liptons. And please don't "experiment" with flavoured teas.

[Anonymous]

OP here
Thanks everyone. Good suggestions so far, and I hope I don't start a tea war!

I love the taste of black tea. I have some good loose leaf from duty free at Heathrow. But it was never tasting as hot or strong as I like. I'm going to try out some of these ideas. I do recall getting my personal pot in England. Maybe that helped. Does the tea keep steeping the in personal pot? Has anyone purchased those smaller pots (they were metal).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the best tea, used loose leaf, not teabags.

Use a teapot.

Warm it first with some boiling water, then pour out.

Add 4 or 5 teaspoons of loose leaf tea. Twinings is good, I like Ceylon Orange Pekoe or English Breakfast.

Add boiling water to almost fill.

Put on a tea cosy if you have one and leave to steep for 4 minutes.

Add milk to your cup and pour tea.

Should have added of course that you use a strainer when pouring the tea.

Please don't drink Liptons. And please don't "experiment" with flavoured teas.

Ugh, I can't stand a tea snob. People should drink what they enjoy.

[Anonymous]

I have a ceramic mug with strainer that I like for one cup:

https://a.co/d/9k91JNV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Degustibus non disputantum est.

This. It’s fine not to love tea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here
Thanks everyone. Good suggestions so far, and I hope I don't start a tea war!

I love the taste of black tea. I have some good loose leaf from duty free at Heathrow. But it was never tasting as hot or strong as I like. I'm going to try out some of these ideas. I do recall getting my personal pot in England. Maybe that helped. Does the tea keep steeping the in personal pot? Has anyone purchased those smaller pots (they were metal).

How old is the tea you have? It can expire.

Tea steeps as long as it's in water. You can definitely overdo it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the best tea, used loose leaf, not teabags.

Use a teapot.

Warm it first with some boiling water, then pour out.

Add 4 or 5 teaspoons of loose leaf tea. Twinings is good, I like Ceylon Orange Pekoe or English Breakfast.

Add boiling water to almost fill.

Put on a tea cosy if you have one and leave to steep for 4 minutes.

Add milk to your cup and pour tea.

Should have added of course that you use a strainer when pouring the tea.

Please don't drink Liptons. And please don't "experiment" with flavoured teas.

Ugh, I can't stand a tea snob. People should drink what they enjoy.

Okay, but if you need a bunch of “flavors” to distract from the actual flavor of tea (or coffee), then maybe you don’t really like tea or coffee. And that’s okay!

[Anonymous]

Only Yorkshire Gold loose leaf tea for us. I personally do not drink it often (I prefer tisanes) but my son drinks it every morning.