Loose leaf tea

[Ridgerunner]

I once read that only a Yankee thinks you can add sugar to cold tea. Conspiracy indeed! Now Ive let out a Southern secret.

If you dont already, you might try adding the sugar while the water is hot, like when you are boiling it and see if that really makes a difference for you. I recently made a fruit punch where they want you to boil the sugar and water first to get it to dissolve properly.

I visited a tea museum and went through a tourist tea ceremony while visiting China a few years back. Im going by memory after I slept a few times on only two cups of coffee so Im taking a chance with facts on two counts, but best I remember there are five different basic types of tea with a tremendous amount of variety within each type. The different types require different preparation methods.

Im not a huge tea drinker but Im not convinced your problem is just tea bags versus tea leaves. The variety may be a huge factor, especially for subtle differences. If you can remember the brand and variety you used to buy, you may be able to find it online or hopefully somewhere local. Or if you cant recall brand and variety, you may have a real quest on hand to find what you are looking for. Good luck with it.

 

[canesisters]

My best friend is a BIG hot tea drinker and gets her tea here
www.teavana.com

And yes, you HAVE to add the sugar to the boiling water before the tea goes in - otherwise you get a slurry of sugar at the bottom of the glass. I'm not a sweet tea drinker (like it plain) but most of my Monday night group is and I've gotten quite an education on how to make 'good' tea.
For them its:
3cups water and almost a cup of sugar in a small sauce pot
bring to a rolling boil
turn down to simmer and add 2 large 'family size' tea bags (I use plain old store brand tea)
simmer just a few moments and turn heat off - let sit a while (15 mins or longer)
Fill a pitcher (1 gal) with ice
dump in very strong tea
top off with cold water and stir

 

[seedcorn]

ok, here goes another dumb question...
If you want loose leaf... why not just cut open the tea bag?

Store bought tea bags has less leaves, more powder from making the bags. When you buy tea leaves, you get more of the tea leaf and better quality. IMO. Has a different flavor.

I use to buy common Lipton tea leaves, can't find now. Really don't want "flavored" teas. Most websites I visited, are pushing their flavored teas-which I prefer hot if at all.

 

[journey11]

Seedcorn, what you are looking for is Orange Pekoe in a loose leaf tea. It is a higher quality tea than what comes in the little bags. (I used to work at a coffee shop and that is what we used to make our sweet tea...in southern VA, so we knew what sweet tea should taste like afterall, LOL.) As was mentioned by another, sometimes you can find it for sale in bulk at coffee shops, or try a whole foods store, or try online.

ETA: Orange Pekoe has nothing to do with oranges, btw... It is a plain black tea with that classic tea flavor you are looking for.

 

[seedcorn]

Thanks for info. Now to get time to find. Don't want to mess with credit cards over net and shipping, etc. just find it, buy it, & enjoy it.

 

[Nyboy]

Is sweet tea and ice tea the same? Never heard of sweet tea in NY everyone drinks ice tea.

 

[seedcorn]

Yes, except sweet tea is pre-sweetened. What I know as sweet tea is fairly strong but sweet-not a hint of sweet.