Adulterants in Teas

While I personally don't like flavoured teas, they do certainly seem to be getting more popular. In fact, growing up, I remember drinking iced tea as iced tea, now the store shelves are full of "Peach infused oolong" and all similar items, which I take as something to increase appeal. Perhaps the "soda-fying" of tea has incited tea sellers to try the same tactics? Earl Grey is as far as I go into flavoured teas.

While I don't really have a problem with someone who wants to flavour their tea, it's definitely not for me. It also increases awareness in the wrong way, IMHO since tea noobs probably think that this is the way it has always been (though acknowledge certain flavoured teas *have* been around for a long time). But I think it's here to stay.

Jasmine, Osmanthus, Lotus, Rose flowers is popular in China. The biggest abomination Jasmine over YinHao. The tisanes are poplular at my local tea shoppe. Its been popular in the West ever since Earl Grey. I occasionally add my own dried fruits and flowers. My favorite honeysuckle added to white bud tea.

Jim

niis> Lately I've been looking at tea store web sites, and I see all these

I bought some honeysuckle in a local (Tucson, AZ) international market, expecting the infusion to taste like a fresh honeysuckle blossom (or more precisely, the nectar, which I used to taste by sucking it out of the base of the blossom when I was a child). Instead, it had a taste that I would describe as "resinous". Is this your experience with honeysuckle?

Alan

Presuming you're speaking about the US here, there are plenty of tea purists to be found, but not enough to be a major demographic. Instead, tea retailers are attempting to reach the much much larger group of non-tea-drinkers by appealing to them with sweet and flavored drinks that have no connection to the bitter, lukewarm brew from a lipton bag that many americans associate with 'tea'.

Well, you can't be all things to all people, and you can't please everybody. I would tend to stay away from stores that sell all the flavored teas - and I would never drink any. I don't want them to possibly taint my other teas. And I would never brew them in my good tea ware.

In China, if you can believe it, there are plenty of tea stores that sell only 1 tea! It's not like they got an inventory of 100-200 teas in stock. There are so many stores like that. I always ask them: "besides tieguanyin, what other kinds of tea do you have?" They always reply: "Just tieguanyin."

Personally, I would look for a tea store that is more committed to selling non-flavored teas, and more focused on quality tea leaf. When I see flavored teas, I get the impression that they use lower-quality leaves, and use the fruit/flowers, etc. to mask and make-up for the lower quality tea leaf.

There are many varieties of honeysuckle so I assume the nectar is different. I spent many an hour sucking on honeysuckle in the South. I got mine at a folk remedy herbalist store. It is young bud with more suckle than honey ie a slight sweet note with a tinge of sourness. It looks like bean sprouts when brewed. I eat mine since they float on the top. I know Asian honeysuckle is popular since they dont let anything go to waste. Thats about all I know.

Jim

Alan wrote:

I think most tisanes arent more than $2/oz. So when I see them added to tea I dont expect to pay much. This is popular with Indian,Ceylon,African teas which are decent grades. My local tea shoppe has a real decent orange blossom oolong which is cheaper than a comparable oolong. I think in general these teas are better cold than hot. These days I drink the tisanes by themselves because it is hard finding a good match with a tea like honeysuckle and white tea. I think what you find is the herbalist pushing the tea more than the tea industry pushing the tisane. The local tea shoppe owner is a British expat and he is partial to his tisanes. He also has something called Irish cream which is a blend of excellent Ceylon OP and calendula petals. It has a transcendent taste worth trying. If I can see what is giving the tea the additional flavor I'll give it a try for curiosity if I can buy only a cup.

Jim

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

I like the lemon echinacea tea for colds and flu. Along the line of additives with health benefits, I would consider adding lemon juice to tea, but don't have experience doing this. I also have elderberry as an herbal supplement in the form of capsules that might be opened and added, but haven't tried this either. Seems possible that some herbals could be mixed with your teas, experimenting slowly. bookburn

"niisonge" snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote

Flavored teas attract people for their exoctiness, which usually wears off quick enough, that the people return to normalcy soon enough.

I think for every purist there is a tisane. Like the variety of teas there is a variety of tisanes. You need exposure to appreciate it. My only caveat I add it myself or trust the local tea shoppe. So there is the group who occasionally can appreciate the two like myself and the larger group who thinks it is the normal state of affairs. In honor of this post I am drinking a green tea with rose bud I got in Chinatown. It is what it is.

Jim

PS The p> "niisonge" snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote

Well, there is in China, all kinds of flowers like magnolia, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, lavender, jasmine, rose buds, etc. There are dried leaves of bamboo, licorice root, wolfberries, etc. Stuff like that is brewed as an herbal tea - and drunk during the summer to cool the body.

Tea leaves usually aren't mixed in - though they could be mixed in. But few people here would want to waste good tea and do that anyway.