Beer, it ain't the only thing we got brewin': Tea thread.

[milesofsparks]

Russian caravan tea is also smokey.

[Bernard]

If somebody mentioned tibetan butter tea, it was probably me. I love the stuff. Never had it with yak butter, though.

Right, that's what it was.

I don't sweeten my iced lapsang souchong, which was probably the smoky one you had, jm. I suppose it could also have been a pu-erh or some kind of super funky oolong that seemed smoked (or maybe almost malty?), but lapsang souchong is the only widely available one I know that is really smoky.

[jm]

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think I was fooled by a trick of sense-memory: I've tried lapsang souchong since, and it didn't seem nearly as smoky (or... meaty?) as it did the first time, and I think I've been mistakenly assuming that that wasn't the tea I was thinking of.

I'm pretty sure the one I had was a special import or something, rather than, like, whatever brand you can get at the Shop-Rite, so that may have something to do with it.

But yeah, that tea, iced, sounds great.

[alex]

There's definitely a continuum of different levels of smokiness within Lapsang Souchong. If you're looking for a supersmoky kind, I recommend walking into a really fancy and snobby tea specialty shop (I'm sure you must have those in NYC) and asking them for recommendations. I can never decide whether I love or hate those kind of places, but they're good for that sort of thing.

[Thermofusion]

Yeah I took a date to one of the local tea shops once (this one) and it was so affected and pretentious it made me nauseous

[milesofsparks]

I just attempted to make some iced tea with the last of my oolong from Special Teas, which doesn't exist any more, sadly.  there wasn't a lot of tea left in the bag, so I hope it works--I'll let it steep for a loooong time.  also discovered that I have some first flush single estate Darjeeling in the tea tin!   whooo!

don't know where I'm going to buy tea now that Special Teas is gone (maybe Harney & Sons?).  they were pretty excellent, with reasonable prices.  though for Chinese & Japanese teas, I always went to Ten Ren.

[elpollodiablo]

There's a great tea shop on Washington Square West that's not at all precious. More like a good coffee shop that takes tea very seriously.

[milesofsparks]

I don't know that one--I'll have to look for it.

[Trousers and Pat]

Moroccan mint tea is a very good call, by the way. I've never made it myself, but it's always a very strong incentive to go to the Moroccan restaurant in Leuven (along with the really excellent lamb dishes). If I knew a place that served it that wasn't quite so restaurant-y and where I could just go for a cup of tea, I'd probably be there every week.

mmm yeah, with a big pile of sugar and a drop of orange water (not sure what this is called in english)

[milesofsparks]

this mediumly-expensive Assam tea isn't as delightful as I wanted it to be, though I may have just slightly over brewed it.

[Anne the Man]

I bought feijoa tea last night. It was interesting, but not as mindfuckingly delicious as I wanted it to be. But then you guys don't even know about feijoas, I doubt, which is a sad thing. I don't know why they're mostly just an NZ thing.

[Bernard]

that would be a guavasteen
yeah, not too sure what that is either

[Anne the Man]

GUAVASTEEN

What the hell. B if you ever come over I will ply you with feijoas until you have delicious green grit coming out your ears. Or something less violent.

[G.C.R]

I think the ears is not the usual place it comes out of if you eat too many of them.

[Anne the Man]

That's how much you know

[clare]

I would like to like feijoas, but they make my mouth feel funny, so I don't. Other than that they taste kind of soapy...

[FreddyKnuckles]

Are you guys gonna make out?  Keep me posted...

[alex]

I drink green tea with jasmine almost to the exclusion of everything else these days. A nice cup of Darjeeling can be a very nice thing too. After three and a half years of living in the Netherlands, though, I have lowered my standards and am now happy with just about anything that isn't a bag of Pickwick tea and/or melon-flavoured.

Very shortly after writing this post, by the way, I remembered how nice it was to have a bit more variety in my tea-drinking habits, and have lowered my intake of jasmine tea. I bought some white tea leaves (Pai Mu Tan) a few days after writing the above post, and have rediscovered the Japanese green tea (Sencha, I'm pretty sure, though I didn't keep the package) that I still had at home. During the week I just spent in Hungary, I mostly drank black tea, because that allowed me to take advantage of the lemon juice and honey that you get there with each cup of tea. It turns out that even Pickwicks Earl Grey teabags can be used as a basis for a pretty serviceable drink, if you add enough lemon juice and honey. I'm going to miss this custom!

[clare]

I have always disliked chamomile tea, but not too long ago I saw some in a wanky tea shop that was chamomile and lavender. It's really really good, even better than I suspected it would be from its smell. Sadly it's the colour of a midday wee, but if I don't look at it, it's fine.

[Trousers and Pat]

I am on such a genmaicha kick. I just got a bunch from the classy tea shop.

genmaicha genmaicha genmaicha

[jess]

Mmm, genmaicha is one of my favorites. Now I want some—might have to make myself a cup. I also really like Korean roasted rice tea, which is kind of like the rice bits without any of the actual tea.

[Trousers and Pat]

Yes! the korean version was what I was looking for actually, but I couldn't find it...

[jess]

I still have a little from when I got it in Korea, but I haven't tried to buy any here. Have had it Korean restaurants though. And apparently you can make it yourself: http://koreanfood.about.com/od/drinks/r/Roasted-Rice-Tea-Recipe-Sungyung.htm