Favorite "Cuppa the Brown Joy"

A trend that I have noticed among some steamers is the affinity, (or in the case of Professor Elemental, shameless addiction) for tea, particularly Earl Grey . After purchasing tea form a high end shop with the letters FTGFOP, some sort of tea pedigree, they told me , tongue in cheek it meant "far too good for ordinary people", but alas it was no better than my PG Tipps. I'm rather like the English about my tea, strong, with milk and pinch of sugar. One of my friends on the other hand, prefers to hold a tea bag over the cup and recite the incantation "see this is a tea bag", then adds a ton of sugar an drinks it..oh well!

Lucky enough to get an occasional care package from the UK I enjoy a proper cup on regular basis.

my favorites are :
Indian Prince
99
Yorkshire & Y gold
PG Tipps
Lifeboat (packaged for RNLI)

So whats your favorite Cuppa , Black, OP, Assam Earl Grey, etc?

If you haven't already , please do visit Professor Elemental's tribute to the British Cuppa..
purely educational!
http://steampunk.ning.com/video/cup-of-brown-joy

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Permalink Reply by Kapitan R. O. von Grelle on January 3, 2010 at 6:39pm

I get my tea from a German company called Tea Gschwendner who have a little shop in my area. Ever since being well... indoctrinated (IN A GOOD WAY) by my friends who work at or frequent the shop I've made my cuppas with my trusty electric kettle and a tea basket.

My favorite brews:
Vatta (an anisey blend in the Aryuveda collection)
Lavender Vanilla Cream (a blend my friend mixes specially for me
Marzipan (almond-tastic)
Victorian Earl Gray (the Gschwendner earl gray blended with rose)
Sikkim Temi (a gold Darjeeling)

PS: My favorite scone recipe- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simple-Scones/Detail.aspx

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Permalink Reply by Graf Georg von Ziger on January 3, 2010 at 11:54pm

I also get teas from the same purveyor, and fancy:

the aforementioned Victorian Earl Gray
a variant upon it called Edwardian Earl Gray (a gunpowder green tea with bergamot oil and rose tea)
Lemon Rooiboos tea
China Rose tea
Gunpowder Green

There's more, but those are some of my personal go-to favorites.

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Permalink Reply by CZGrey on January 7, 2010 at 8:07am

there is a well run tea shop nearby run by the World Tea Co. The tea is decent to high quality, much of it loose leaf. So far my preference happens to be the lavender dragon pearls.

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Permalink Reply by Major Girth on January 7, 2010 at 9:01am

COFFEE, you horrible swillers of that frumpy queen's brew! Strong, delicious coffee, plucked by appropriately servile peasants from the rich hills of... places south I believe... Columbia, Mexico, Charlotte... Roasted over fires built from the ruins of mighty forests and lesser countries! None of that brit bilge for this true son of the American skies!

...of course the wife quite enjoys Harney and Sons brand teas, with a penchant for Darjeeling, damn her traitorous blue eyes!

truly,
Major Girth

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Permalink Reply by Molly Starks on January 7, 2010 at 11:12am

I prefer my coffee from the Dark Continent, the home of the smooth and delicate Arabica, yet I am in agreement with you for beans over leaves!

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Permalink Reply by Ephraim von RoseEngine on January 7, 2010 at 10:59pm

I actually drink almost as much coffee as I do tea, seems most mornings I start with coffee, weekends I find a pot of tea easier.

"damn her traitorous blue eyes!" ya can't question their judgment much, after all look who they picked to marry!!...;)

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Permalink Reply by adam harmon on January 8, 2010 at 6:14am

I like my Coffee like I like my women, tied up in a burlap sack and thrown over the back of a donkey by Juan Valdez!

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Grimm on January 7, 2010 at 9:04am

Darjeeling is to my taste, a four-minute steep with lemon (pref. fresh) and honey. I'm a bit burnt out on Earl Grey, something to do with the Oil of Bergamot.
Black teas are to my taste, although green teas when dining Chinese are the way to go.

Boston has a few good purveyors, the names don't come to mind immediately. Twinings for off-the-shelf has proven reliable, and I search the packages for the freshest date codes if I can. I store in metal tins, of course, but opaque glass with a good rubber seal is OK too.

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Permalink Reply by Aloysius Fox on January 7, 2010 at 9:25am

I am similar to Professor Elemental in my inordinate imbibing of tea; prick the British and we bleed tea. I tend to put to kettle on with a measured litre and half of water which the exact capacity of my favorite, if somewhat plain, teapot. While fancy teas are certainly enjoyable, I have found that out here in the colonies the closest thing to your good old salt of the earth teabag from good old Britain is Tetley's "British Blend," of which I throw three bags in the pot. Like one who chain smokes, I pour mug after mug of fine brown tea with a splash of milk; occasionally I'll have a sugar or two, but I go through phases with regard to the sweetness of my tea.

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Permalink Reply by Ephraim von RoseEngine on January 7, 2010 at 10:55pm

I have a favorite Sadler Brown Betty 4 cup pot, 2 bags seems about right , other I'm right with you . Maybe a little less sugar

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Permalink Reply by Katherine 'Kat' Montpark on January 7, 2010 at 8:13pm

I'm afraid I have to part from the British in my tea preferences. I always have and always will prefer green over black. I can't even stomach Earl Grey without a lot of peppermint mixed in, but I can drink pot after pot of green tea with a grin. I also love African Honeybush, if I can get it.