How'd you get your start in tea?

At my grand-parents, after the dinner, we'd drink herb tea instead of coffee. That was good, then I tried other sorts of herb teas, German fruit teas, flavored teas. Also, there was always jasmine tea in pseudo-Chinese restaurants and mint tea after couscous. Much later tea, I drunk good tea not-flavored (that was expensive, and uncommon in my family). And I tried others, on my trips.

Kuri

I actually hated tea as a kid, because I thought it couldn't compare to soda or coffee for boldness of flavor. I started having green tea ice cream and mochi and really liked it, so I figured I'd give green tea a try. I started with jasmine boba tea (still a guilty pleasure!) and I tried a few hot green teas and was hooked from there.

I've had a facination with tea for as long as I can remember. Must have been that childs tea set my mom bought me when I was 5 or 6. For the longest time I was restricted to herbal teas. Not because I was young, but because I was Mormon. Mormons arn't allowed to drink tea or coffee. At about 16 I began to doubt my relidgion, and at 19, I left. Which freed me to drink all the coffee and tea I wanted! Coffee was very available, but lipton kinda sucked. Then one wondeful new years, my husband and I went to Salt Lake's 'First Night' celabration, and a tea house (the beehive tea house to be exact) was offering tea leaf readings. The tea there was exceptional! The rest is history :) Marlene

I got my start in High School. After growing up in a coffee culture here in the south, I was introduced to loose teas by my History teacher. He was quite popular in his eccentric ways...brewing various and sundry loose teas and selling each cup for a quarter to the students. He got me into tea connoisseuring and I was hooked.

Mike

I was raised in Asia so I can not remember a time I didn't drink tea. As a westerner being raised in Asia I never found Asian culture or tea culture "odd" it was just part of everyday life. Culture shock came when I came back to the States at 14 being most Asian in habit to find a whole country of backward, coffee drinking barbarians!LOL j/king. But seriously there was a cultural adjustment and now im my 40's I find myself with one foot in the east and one in the west. I am pleased that

30 years later cultural views are becoming more accepting of each other. I am also pleased that tea culture has grown and continues to grow in the west.

always liked tea. But then I had a British girlfriend who had it every night and it kinda got me hooked.

I had an Anglo friend who was raised in Japan and when he came to the states he hung out in Japanese markets because that's where he felt most at home.

.. so I figured I'd start a light topic (plus I'm new so I figured it would help me know where people are coming from). How did you get your start in tea?

Well, In our family, half English and half American, what else could you drink? I believe that My grandma kept a coffee pot going in her home, but grandpa drank mostly tea. He even had a moustache cup, which had a sipping space below a moustache guard. Very necessary in the early part of the 20th century if you didn't want to have a soggy cookie duster when you were done with your tea.

Dad came from the mountains of Appelachia. His family, though english, drank coffee. But in our home, my parents drank both. I wasn't allowed to drink tea til I could afford to buy my own but it has been my drink of choice ever since.

I tried to learn to drink coffee for a few years, but I'm allergic to it so tea it is. I've only begun to branch out into gourmet tea, Twinnings, Harrogate, etc. Before that, Liptons was the best available, and my husband still drinks it almost exclusively.

Kitty

I moved to China and stumbled into a teashop on mistake whereafter a beautiful girl made gongfu tea for me. Been hooked ever since.

How did you get your start

Commercial tea bags, to Twinings varietals in bags, to Twinings loose. These are all available in most US grocery stores. That led to the realization that there was a whole universe of new tastes and varieties in loose tea. That led to some Asian groceries, Ten Ren and to McNulty's, a coffee and tea store in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. They carry many varieties of loose tea and packaged loose teas from the UK and elsewhere. That led to learning about mail order sources and the rest is history.

Warren

Growing up in Honolulu with parents who enjoyed eating out at least once a week meant that many Chinese, Korean, and Japanese meals were consumed - all with tea. It was a natural part of life. In American-style restaurants, Dad drank the usual Lipton tea while Mom drank coffee and I had soda (I experimented a lot with Lipton, but we never did get along and I eventually gave up trying). At home, Mom drank coffee, Dad drank buttermilk, milk and water; and I had juice or water.

On my own, a friend introduced me to chamomile and catnip teas and someone else's mom introduced me to Constant Comment. That got me to trying different supermarket teas.

Then, I discovered the joy of the fresher, loose black, green, white teas, and blends.

Which tea goes with spam musubi?

My family kept to British ways so I can't remember when I had my first tea. We had tea for breakfast and in the afternoon, and I probably had the first sip when my mother deemed me old enough for caffeine--probably when I was seven or eight. My mother being very traditional, we'd usually have English Breakfast in the morning and Darjeeling in the afternoon, with the odd Ceylon thrown in. Mostly Twinings tea bags, except when guests were around or my mother could be bothered with loose teas. Boarding school and university broadened my horizons, chiefly thanks to a group of Asian friends. Then I started working in a tea shop and that was it. I couldn't afford most of their teas, but got hooked anyway.

Howzit!

Guava juice was the mainstay for us. No orange or apple or grapefruit, not even passion fruit or pineapple except when we went up to the Dole hut by Wahiawa. Then, we always drank lots of pineapple juice and ate the fresh pineapple. Tea was only in restaurants except a girlfriend's family had iced tea with dinner...I tried it once then drank water because I didn't care for it...pro'lly Lipton's, lol.

I think the Chinese green and white teas make fine cold tea as well as hot. I only like them straight, but I'll put honey sometimes in black teas.

Liliha, huh? That's close. I was off Nuuanu. Used to eat lunch at Chun Hoon's with my dad every Sat.

Spam with eggs and rice. Spam omelette. Spam musubi. Mmmm...ONO!

My grandmother's cousin...I called my Aunt because I was so young...was a missionary in China for most of her adult life. I went and stayed summers with her when I was nine until she died a few years later. She and I used to sit and have hot green tea together and she would tell me Chinese children's stories and stories of her time in China. Because of her I have a great love of hot tea, Chinese art and decor, and even worked at a Chinese restaurant while attending university. The owners and I got along famously.