In which Forsyth inquires about tea

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 5:18 pm

It was, I bought it at lunch because I was up at 4:30 to open the frickin place and needed some caffeine. If you can recommend a better kind I may place it somewhere on the list after the other stuff I want to try.

Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 5:20 pm

Twinings and Bigelow are both good in my book. They are smooth, rather than harsh.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

also MightyLeaf makes an awesome organic earl grey if you feel like looking for it

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

Tazo is definitely really terrible. The teas are real bitter, especially the blacks. I drink it a lot because I go to Starbucks a lot but I'm not sure why anyone would take the two teabags they offer in large teas because the tea is so disgustingly strong and weird. I don't hate it but I have to drink it sort of weak.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 2:59 pm

Okay, I must be doing it wrong. How long do you soak a tea bag for?

If I don't soak it for a way long time, it usually tastes way too weak, but I just made a packet of the Tazo chai from a bag, and it taste like ass. Harsh and all those other things Boorishly and others have said about it, and I can't even taste the spices. But I really like the chai from the Tazo concentrate. So maybe it's the sugar and vanilla and other stuff they add to that, or maybe I just left this bag too long. So what's a general rule of thumb for soaking time?

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:06 pm

Okay, a little bit of milk and honey helped make this taste a little bit less like ass, cut the harshness and stuff, but it's still not very good, nor is it anything like it should taste.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:18 pm

I guess you could either (a) try adding a lot of stuff to poo in the hopes it won't taste like poo anymore, or (b) stop eating poo.

Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 3:57 pm

But the Tazo chai concentrate tastes so good! Same company, shouldn't it be made from the same stuff?

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:48 pm

So, tea update!

I bought a "Six Assorted Teas" box by Bigelow. So far I've tried half of them. The Plantation Mint was okay, but not nearly as minty as it smelled. The "Constant Comment" was really good. The "English Teatime" I'm drinking now is really kinda eh, but I mighta let it steep too long, too. I still have to try the "Lemon Lift", the Green Tea, and the Earl Grey. I'm saving the Earl Grey for last, 'cause the Tazo one was so bad.

I also tried my fiancee's Celestial Seasonings Madagascar Vanilla Red, that was really good. I also picked up this Zhena's Gypsy Fireside Chai. Mainly because the can looked really cool. It's good too, though I have yet to make a brewed chai taste as good as the concentrates.

Also, on the chai front. I picked up a box of Oregon Chai concentrate, it's not bad. Doesn't have quite the kick of the Tazo, though. And I got a chai at Panera Bread the other day, that was really good. Apparently they use Republic of Tea, I'm going to have to look into that.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:27 pm

The Bigelow lemon tea is nothing too exciting either.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

Tea Update:
I'm a traitor and switched to coffee.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:49 pm

You will not be too impressed by the Bigelow green tea either. I never was anywa. Constant Comment and Plantation Mint are two of the best Bigelows, but I also really like their Earl Grey, their Oolong Chinese Fortune, and probably something else I'm forgetting. They make some good non-tea herbal infusions too -- Cozy Chamomile, Perfect Peach, uh there's an orange and nut one I forget the name of.

Anyway, Godspeed young Forsyth. I don't know boo about any chai concentrates, but I used to go to college with a girl who raved nonstop (to the point of annoyance) about Oregon Chai. We don't talk anymore.

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 10:02 pm

B-because of the chai?

Or just because you're not in college any more?

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

Chai: Ruiner of Friendships

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

or maybe it was the Oregon

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 10:14 pm

Well really it was because she was a pretty big jerk and kind of annoying all around, so I guess the Oregon Chai thing was just one insignificant example of that.

Joined: 29 Jun 2005 Posts: 3795 Location: Gotham City

"ciao, chai chick"

Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 11:37 pm

I was walking through Chinatown in Toronto with a friend (of Chinese parentage, who spoke some Chinese) and while looking at some sign she suddenly stopped and said "Chai means TEA! In CHINESE! IT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW!"

then we kept walking

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 782 Location: USA

Andrew wrote:

I was walking through Chinatown in Toronto with a friend (of Chinese parentage, who spoke some Chinese) and while looking at some sign she suddenly stopped and said "Chai means TEA! In CHINESE! IT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE NOW!"

then we kept walking

Just wanted to let you know that I am totally gonna use that as a short comic and if I don't you have my permission to imagine yourself beating me up.

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:17 pm

I thought it was Indian? Whichever.

Chai Tea is like ATM machine. Only more redundant.

Joined: 18 Feb 2007 Posts: 1297 Location: realismland

the japanese reading is "cha," cause they stole it from chinese.

Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 782 Location: USA

Wikipedia says that chai comes from a Chinese root, and also apparently there's a lot of languages that use the word chai for tea. I dunno, I may have misread that last part.

ALSO: Andrew, you are now NOT ALLOWED to imagine yourself puching me anymore.

Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 16347 Location: TaBB Graveyard

Forsyth wrote:

I thought it was Indian? Whichever.

Chai Tea is like ATM machine. Only more redundant.

not really because chai isn't normal tea

Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 9009 Location: SOMEWHERE EXTREME

an ATM isn't a normal machine either

Whimsy Overcomes Him Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 8612

guys you realize that in english chai doesn't actually mean "tea" right
so the argument that "chai tea" is redundant because "chai" means "tea" in another language makes absolutely no sense

Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 741 Location: Palo Alto, CA

Chai tea is a type of tea, so it's redundant.

Just like "green tea," "black tea," "iced tea," &c.

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:26 am

On the rare occasions when I go into Starbucks I ask for the "China green tips" and they are always like "bluh bluh wha???" Then I tell them it is one of the eight kinds of tea they sell.

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 1:54 pm

you made sure to clarify "tiPs", right?

Joined: 31 May 2008 Posts: 16 Location: Sydney, Australia

The important thing to clarify is "not Earl Grey", on account of how that stuff tastes like soap.

Christmas came early Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 9225

Factitious wrote:

Chai tea is a type of tea, so it's redundant.

Just like "green tea," "black tea," "iced tea," &c.

did anyone ever tell you that 'redundant' isn't the same things as 'adjective'