LD Black with Chai - killer combo

[daruckis]

lx i will warn you theres a lot of faux chai shit around these days. way i see it, it is to tea what US camel is to snus. the chai ive been drinking is adagio teas masala chai.

i agree we need more tea talk here. last year my girlfriend got me for christmas a ton of samples of loose leaf tea from adagio.com and an ingenuitea, which is THE SHIT! i then had to have the utilitea kettle that heats water up crazy fast to the appropriate temperatures for black, green, white oolong or whatever. my favorite of the adagios ive had is probably their earl grey bravo (im a bergamot dude) or the white blueberry. jasmine oolongs are great. ive been needing to make a tea order for months but its taken a backseat to my snus lately. i mostly drink loose leaf, but if im having tea bags, its got to be yogi tea. yogi makes the best shit in a bag under earths yellow sun. i just got cold season and throat comfort to deal with this flu or cold ive had since last thursday. other faves of mine are the bedtime and kava stress relief. calming is nice as it makes you real chill, but not groggy, great for reading.

if youre curious, i do believe yogi mails out free samples, just go on the website and request a sample, and you can choose from a bunch of different 3 bag packages.

TEA DRINKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!!

[Tin Man]

I just got the chai sampler from adagio, and the masala goes great with Oden's ES Kanel.

I love me some tea. Along with the chai sampler I picked up a black sampler and a few rooibos tins. The ingenuitea thing they sell works pretty good too.

There is no better way to start the day than scrambled eggs, oatmeal and a steaming cup of irish breakfast tea. Damn, I can't wait til morning.

[MojoQuestor]

There is no better way to start the day than scrambled eggs, oatmeal and a steaming cup of irish breakfast tea. Damn, I can't wait til morning.

Oh man, that sounds good. I have some decent steel-cut oatmeal, and the loose-leaf Irish (and English) breaktast tea is on the way, with a couple of brand-new infuser pots. I could even omit the eggs.

[Tin Man]

Steel cut is the best kind of oatmeal. And yeah, I dig the english breakfast as well, just right now I've been on the irish kick. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Another thing. Like daruckis said, there is a lot of crap chai floating around. It's the big trend now, and I think rooibos are next, so if anyone cares for the wonderful goodness of the african redbush, find your favorite before the garbage hits the market. I usually don't like bagged tea, but I've found Republic of Tea has some pretty decent stuff, especially the flavored rooibos. Caramel apple and Good Hope vanilla are my favorites. I'm going to make a cup now.

[MojoQuestor]

Steel cut is the best kind of oatmeal.

I always thought so, too, then I read this and a similar NYT piece:

http://food.theatlantic.com/behind-t...er/oatmeal.php

Still, steel cut is the best I'm liable to get, and plenty good; even the Quaker I happen to have right now. I just hope it isn't too old...

And yeah, I dig the english breakfast as well, just right now I've been on the irish kick. Either way, you can't go wrong.

I can hardly wait. I haven't done tea in quite a while. Now that the weather's turning I'm really getting in the mood.

Another thing. Like daruckis said, there is a lot of crap chai floating around. It's the big trend now, and I think rooibos are next, so if anyone cares for the wonderful goodness of the african redbush, find your favorite before the garbage hits the market. I usually don't like bagged tea, but I've found Republic of Tea has some pretty decent stuff, especially the flavored rooibos. Caramel apple and Good Hope vanilla are my favorites. I'm going to make a cup now.

I just ordered a rooibos for a friend, from a usually-reliable source. I hope this isn't some of the crap of which you speak. We'll see.

[Tin Man]

I always thought so, too, then I read this and a similar NYT piece:

http://food.theatlantic.com/behind-t...er/oatmeal.php

Still, steel cut is the best I'm liable to get, and plenty good; even the Quaker I happen to have right now. I just hope it isn't too old...

I probably should have been more clear. By best, I meant my favorite (while still being one of the best health wise). Any kind of oatmeal will do, I just don't go for that sugar laden instant stuff. I've got a small barrell of rolled quaker in the pantry that will do just fine if I run out of McCann's. I haven't had Macroom, but now I feel the need to look for it.

I just ordered a rooibos for a friend, from a usually-reliable source. I hope this isn't some of the crap of which you speak. We'll see.

You should be fine. Rooibos isn't very popular yet, and the few places I've gotten mine have sent quality product. Once it hits Starbucks and everyone on every city street corner has one, then it's time to watch out. Adagio, Republic of Tea and Teavana all have good rooibos. Some people are sensitive to it though, headaches seem to be a problem. Not one I've experienced.

Now I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I have to go to bed early just so morning comes and I can have my oatmeal.

[MojoQuestor]

Yeah, I just--there's this thing in me that wants to try the very best oatmeal on earth just once. I can live without tasting the very best steak, the very best beer, the very best wine--maybe even the very best snus--but somehow I haven't lived until I've had the ultimate oatmeal. I know it's very weird; I can't explain it myself.

Now I feel like a kid on Christmas eve. I have to go to bed early just so morning comes and I can have my oatmeal.

That's an awesome way to be, actually.

[lxskllr]

I got some rooibos from South Africa. It's the only kind I've had so far, but I like it a lot. I still haven't had a verifiabley good chai yet :^D The couple I've tried have been pretty fake. I bought a box of chai a couple of days ago, but damned if I can find it. It's a good brand that I can't recall the name of atm, so it should be a good introduction.

Edit:
Found it!! Good Earth chai. I'll make some now and see what it's about.

Edit2:
Verdict... The chai's a winner. Hopefully they'll have some more at BigLots tomorrow, and I can get a couple more boxes.

[justintempler]

After years of drinking CocaCola™ by the case I've finally given up that habit. Now that I've gotten my taste buds back after quitting smoking I'm starting to experiment.

I use to not care about my tapwater because I couldn't taste it, now I can and it's horrible. I'm a cheap bastard so I don't like the idea of paying for bottled water. Today I broke down and bought a Kenmore water distiller . It's the same as the WaterWise 8800 without the timer.

At some point I want to try the Masala Chai, and a quality Earl Grey tea. I wasn't impressed with Bigelow's Earl Grey.

Leaf as opposed to teabags sounds interesting

I thought this was cute:

Story
It is said that in 1830, an Englishman named Charles Earl Grey traveled on a diplomatic mission to China, where in return for his act of kindness, a local mandarin presented him with the recipe for making this distinctive tea.

A few corrections are in order.

Firstly, the Chinese have never been black tea drinkers, and were unlikely to have a recipe for Earl Grey to bestow on visitors.
Secondly, Charles Earl Grey never set foot in China.

Otherwise, the story is completely true.

http://www.adagio.com/black/earl_gre...712cdfe0d24d91

[Ainkor]

Ok,

I broke out the chai tea. The only stuff I have left is chai spice black tea from Stash.

I'll get back in a bit with my thoughts. I am glad I had an LD Black tin in the freezer

.....

Hrmm....

I am not a huge tea drinker (My wife and kids area) so some of it is lost to me, but it's not bad. I do like chai, maybe it's the LD that's hitting me funny.

Wish I had some catch licorice, that I do like plenty!

[fedora]

I broke out the chai tea. The only stuff I have left is chai spice black tea from Stash

Ok - you are not being fair to yourself using the Stash. Nothing against them but their tea isn't that good.

For a great Chai in bags - Tazo Chai. Starbucks carries the Tazo line - and it is surprisingly very good (maybe cuz it isn't Starbucks?) Anyhow - get the loose leaf too. That will surprise you. Get ready for a very hearty tea. Compared to the tea bags it is very strong.

Next: For red tea (rooibos) I found that the Trader Joe's Ruby Red Chai is excellent. the other good one is Kalahari Red Tea (various flavors). Cost on both of these brands is very affordable.

My 2 cents.

This thread is about LD and Chai - but I must say - I drink Chai with regular snus and it is awesome, too.