I recommend "Twinings English Breakfast" to kick off your inaugural relationship with "Rosy Lee".

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions. I am going to order some Twinings in a variety of flavors--I am especially interested in trying this Russian Caravan and even giving the bizarre-sounding Lapsang souchong a go! Also, Dilmah IS available in the US (100% pure Ceylon, not a blend of teas), and I will order some of that as well.

Elijah, I will make sure to shop for a proper tea cup, and of course, milk last.

I do not know if anyone on list has ever had Lipton's black tea, but comparing it to the Twinings I mentioned before, yes, straw that tastes like dirt is a good description.

Michael Newberry--ugh, yes, there is NO SMELL AS SWEET as a strong cup brewing in the morning. My choices at the office are: some utter garbage coffee provided for free in my office suite (toilet water); brew my own (any decent coffee I bring 'disappears' and I do not have the patience to brew it); Starbucks--many of their rotating coffees are garbage and the service is SO BAD I stopped going; Caribou - brews good strong coffee but the people who work there are awfully strange and I caught them TWICE trying to mis-ring me or keep my change (I tip every time but on two occasions, the woman ringing me "forgot" to give me my change for a $20, and once just assumed I mean to let them keep a $3 tip for a $2 cup of Joe--they lost a repeat customer); Corner Bakery- their coffee is less than great but I get free refills and they are pretty friendly. I SHOULD get a good pot and brew my own, I agree. It certainly would put me in a good mood every morning!

Scott DeSalvo

www.desalvolaw.com
FREE Injury Report and CD Reveal the Secrets You Need to Know to Protect Your RIGHTS!

Imbibing of green tea is a behaviour enabling greater philosophical contemplation through the extra concentration required to uncover its subtleties.

My all-time favourite is Lapsang Souchong, black Chinese tea smoke-dried over pinewood fire:

"Lapsang souchong's flavour is strong and smoky, similar to the smell of a campfire or of Latakia pipe tobacco. The flavour of the pine smoke is meant to complement the natural taste of the black tea, but should not overwhelm it.

Tea merchants marketing to westerners note that this variety of tea generally produces a strong reaction - with most online reviews extremely positive or strongly negative."

Twinings do a tea bag in this, but I just put the leaves straight in the cup. I like to brew it for a while. I cover the cup with a saucer to keep it hot, for extra brewing time. Then I add a tiny splash of milk, just enough to make it cloudy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong

Second choice would be a home-made Chai using freshly ground spices, and lots of strong black tea leaves. Boil it in 50-50 water and milk, and serve with a generous spoon of honey.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai

As you might guess, I am not a fan of the watery stuff which most people serve as tea.

Dilmah is the "ethical" tea, that will be why it is so tasteless.

"Who is John Galt?"

Sandi, you better hope Richard Wigg is a Choysa drinker!

Choysa is the tea I was thinking of when I said all other teas are like drinking water in which straw has been soaking. Next you'll be saying you like green tea.

Attack my beloved Dilmah will you Sandi!!!!????

Un acceptable. If Sandi is not banned within the hour I'm flouncing!  

For goodness sake Mark - Dilmah??!!!

For the coffee lovers out there, I would compare Dilmah tea to equal pegging to that of Bushells instant coffee. In other words given the choice between either, a true discerner would opt for the flavour of a wet rag that has been wrapped around the rear axle of a farm vehicle for a couple of years.

Nothing more to be said.

Oh, and as for my tipple. Most definitely Yorkshire Tea (when in the UK) and for NZ - Choysa Extra Strong (purple label).

Give me coffee or give me death!!!

Trader Joe's Espresso or French Roast, whole beans, ground fine seconds before use, fresh filtered water, and it all put through a Krups espresso machine. Then add frothed whole milk. The promise of exaltation begins simply by waking up, then intensifies from the smell of the grinding beans, to the steam pressed aroma, to the inhalation of the ethereal liquid. 

Tea?

Michael

www.michaelnewberry.com

Try and adjust to Twinings Green tea Scott. You'll live longer with the anti-oxidants if all goes well. Not with milk so you could save there too.

 "I know this will sound snobby...but adding milk first is very, very 'Non U'..."

Correct Elijah. There is an English saying that goes something like, "She's a milk in first kind of girl." Means common, I think.

"The ultimate result of shielding men from folly is to fill the world with fools."

-Herbert Spencer 

The best tea I've tasted is Twinings Russian Caravan tea. Its colour is quite caramel and its flavour is strong and slightly smoky. Because of its strength, its a good one to have in a tea-bag at the office.

Oh and Elijah is quite correct

Tea cups > mugs.

https://www.tleaft.co.nz/

Wifey and I went on a tea kick for a while. Our favourite everyday tea is an Earl Grey/blue flower blend, another great tea especially in winter is a straight traditional chai or even a chai espresso which is mildly coffee flavoured.

For a pot I'd recommend an infuser styled teapot, where you can actually remove the leaves. The reason is that robust black teas brewed for longer than 5 minutes tend to go a little bitter.

Tea bags are fine, Twinings do a decent enough bag tea, I believe that they actually put some effort into making the teabag not affect the flavour too much.

Portable cup infusers can be used in place of tea bags. Though I found them fiddly and a PITA.

Try this, Scott.

Starbucks

Grande Hot Chai
6 pumps (less if it's too strong)
No Water
190 degrees
Cinnamon on top

I'm with Matty, Scott.

I don't know whether you can buy Dilmah tea in America, but once you convert, there's no going back to any other brand (they're like drinking soaked straw).

Wherever we go on holiday, we take the Dilmah with us.

Twinnings English Breakfast...I have no idea if it is the 'same' English breakfast tea we get in New Zealand, but presumably it is.

Put the tea bag and sugar into the cup; then the water...let it brew for a couple of minutes and only then add the milk.

I know this will sound snobby...but adding milk first is very, very 'Non U', and although I have never done so, from what I am told it rather ruins the flavour...(because boiling water is hitting cold milk and the milk curdles and it is that which starts fermenting, rather than the boiling water hitting only the tea, and only the tea fermenting - which is the objective)

When you are at home, Scott, use loose tea in a pot....one spoon of tea 'for the pot' and one per cup (e.g if you want to make three cups of tea, say you had some visitors, you put four spoons of tea into the pot).

When your pour the water into the pot let it brew for at least three minutes before pouring into the cup/s (milk in last); and in order to maintain the heat purchase a silver tea pot.

I know this will sound odd...but drinking tea out of a mug tastes different to drinking out of a cup, so my suggestion is to use a cup wherever possible.

On election day...tick the LIBERTARIANZ box...

Dilmah.