Thinking of what a dismal winter it has been here and the state of mind that a lot of us seem to be in lately brought to mind what I hear people refer to as "comfort foods" - chocolate and other sweets, homemade goodies. Mine is not a food though, it is tea, really hot tea? Does anyone else enjoy tea? What types and flavors?

Even though I enjoy being outdoors, our mud in winter, our dust in summer, working with our animals, outdoor projects, gardening, indoor renovations with all the sawdust and general mess, I still like the idea of having favorite teas in a pretty tea cup poured from a pretty teapot. Any other gals share this delight?

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Answers

I do to!! My granny and I used to have tea together and I have her pretty tea pot. I like a variety of teas, herbal as well as the "real thing".

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Boy, do I hear you Terry! Red Rose Tea is the reason I get up in the morning, has to be the Red Rose brand, others are just not the same, even good old Lipton can't compare. Can't stomach coffee at all, seems to turn my insides sour, but the tea makes up for it, double strength in a large mug, with honey and fat free half and half.

Sure am glad that even black tea is good for you, green tea just doesn't taste strong enough, and herbals don't cut it till late evening, but Celestial Seasonings Tummy Mint is a favorite then.

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

I make tea from the herbs I grow, spearmint, peppermint, lemon verbena, lemon balm, chamomile, and sage (for sore throats). I like the Celestial Seasongs teas too.

I bought a tin of Earl Grey tea on sale for $3.00 (1/2 price) that is from England. I found it is much stronger than the Earl Grey I have tasted in the past. I love it!! - will be sorry when it is used up.

I collect (for use not just to look at) tea cups and saucers. I love to find them at garage sales and flea markets and have been given a couple as gifts. A friend has given me a two pretty teapots, I have a child's size set that was my Grandmother's and my oldest son bought me a beautiful blue and white server set for Christmas year before last. It has a teapot, sugar bowl, cream pitcher, small square box (that we think may be for sugar cubes or tea bags?) and they all sit on a lovely serving tray. Problem is, I usually have tea by myself or with my youngest son - older ones just aren't into "tea" :-).

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Rofl Terry..I just looked at your email address..aunt TM...cool! I gave up the pretty teapot thing after I broke yet ANOTHER one (what is it with me and breakables??)this one being one that I had glazed and decalled at a ceramics class..it was real purty. Now I have a stainless steel sucker thats gonna out last me. But I have no pretty tea cups..just servicable big coffee mugs in which my teas get too cold because it takes me so long to sip one down. I like green tea with mint. I also adore chai!! I think thats got to be my favorite. Annie, I didn't know you could get Red Rose in the USA. the commercials always make it sound like you can only get it in Canada ("Only in Canada you say? Pity!' in very rich and disappointed British accents). As for comfort food, I don't think I have just one. That half a lemon meringue pie I ate Monday was pretty comforting though! :o)

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Annie,

Where do you find Red Rose Tea? I have never seen it.

Alison, a friend's children call me that. It's from my first and last initials but a lot of people never think about how it sounds when it is said alound, which got me to wondering, how many young people seen the Wizard of Oz? I just take it for granted that everyone has seen it.

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

"Alound"? I hate it when I do that!

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Giving up here - alound, seen instead of have seen? I know I need new glasses but don't think I can blame all this on my eyesight, or can I? :-) Turning red but trying to be more careful.

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Being from the south I love iced tea the best but can't help having a tea party with my new 4 yo step daughter. We make C.S tea any flavor that sounds good that day and have fun!!! Yes I still a kid at heart. I love to collect different cup and saucers and use them to fit my mood.

Since it's chilly here today I think I'll go fix myself some hot tea with some lemon and honey!!

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

In the winter I have hot tea nearly every day, often twice a day. Red Zinger (Celestial Seasonings) was my favourite for many years. Lately I have taken to mixing together one of their multi-berry teas, such as Wild Berry Zinger,Wild Cherry Blackberry, or Black Cherry Berry (Think those are the names) with a bag of green tea. Very pleasant that way, plus the antioxidant green tea added in (not that I don't like green tea on its own either).

I like Earl Grey as well, but have found that the tannic acids in regular black teas doesn't agree with my stomach very well anymore...by using one bag of Earl Grey and one of Green, it is fine.

I don't like it terribly hot, I think it interferes with the flavour of the tea. In Japan, green tea is traditionally made by heating the water JUST hot enough to make an infusion, NEVER boiling it or even heating it very very hot, as they think it drives off the aromatics of a fine tea, and I have to agree with them.

Eh, if I'm drinking green tea, I might haul out my handmade pottery tea bowl for it, otherwise I'm a barbarian and just drink it out of a china mug with a dog or a horse on the side! I frequently stop to admire the cute Westie or Cairn terrier on the mug -- I'm a fond fool for them. The passing sight of one on Tv, or in an ad in a magazine always elicits an 'aw!!' or "OOoh!" from me, and I drag it over to my mother's house later to show her -- we both admire the Westies on the calendar on her wall about every day (but that's another story).

Sometimes in the winter another comfort food of my childhood is Cambrick (sp?) Tea, also known as Uncle John's Coffee. There is no tea and no coffee in it, it is merely hot water, sweetened with sugar (I like natural turbinado type sugar for it), and a little evaporated milk (traditional) or half and half (if it is sitting in the fridge threatening to go bad). A splash of vanilla isn't traditional, but it's good -- just a drop.

Other boxes of tea found in the pantry...Organic Peppermint, Organic Chamomile, Sleepy Time, Red Zinger, Almond Sunset, Country Peach Passion, Mandarin Orange Spice, Vanilla Maple, Green of course, and Sugar Plum Spice (usually only sold at Christmas time, you have to hoarde it to last all winter). Non Celestial seasonings teas include Green Gold, Stash Wild Blackcurrant, and I picked up a couple of Alaska Wild Teas -- rosehip and strawberry -- on a close-out sale that I haven't tried yet.

I have four teapots at least. A bright red round one on white china with a wicker top handle, a matte black round Art Deco looking one with a flat shiney black lid and side handle, and two that are on the design of Brown Betty's, made with red clay overlaid with a celadon green glaze, one big, one little. If I had more room, I might collect more teapots, even some of the fancy Japanese ones that are more show than function, but I don't. Four are probably all that I will ever really need! The red one dates all the way back to my college days when tea started to really become popular in many flavours and herbal forms (rather than just a bag of Liptons, say). If I can't drink all the tea I make, I'll pour it into a glass or pitcher (there is usually ice tea in a pitcher in the fridge anyway. Tea is a main beverage year round here, that or water.) and drink it cold later on. Even things like Almond Sunset can make quite nice iced tea.

All this talk of tea. I must go and put the kettle on!

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Terry, the Red Rose Tea might be a "rural thing", but most all the little family food stores carry it here, it's all over in the deep south, once at a hotel in Key West I went to the front desk asking for it, and the dear clerks got into their private stash to fetch me some, the rooms were stocked with plain ol' Lipton!

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

I love tea, but (hoping this doesn't get me stoned) I really HATE Red Rose! Sorry! But that means all the more for those who do love it! ;-) I'm not much on black tea anyway -- I drink it if I can't get anything else. I do like Earl Grey, Darjeeling, and Oolong, usually, and I buy organic whenever I can get it.

I usually have a couple of pitchers of iced tea going. When I want some hot, I usually zap it in the microwave. Not the best thing I know, but it's fast, and I usually need warming up FAST!

My day-in-day-out iced tea is made from 4 bags CS Lemon Zinger, 2 bags lemon balm (or other lemon-flavored herbal, if I can't get the lemon balm), and 1 bag Earl Grey decaffinated. Being winter, the other blend I usually have going is made with 4 bags CS Mandarin Orange Spice and 3 bags CS Sunburst C (which has the cutest illustrations of chipmunks on the box!). Sunburst C by itself is great when I'm feeling ill, also any of the ginger teas, which I also use for nausea or motion sickness (pre-travel). In the spring or fall, the second pitcher of iced tea is likely to be some blend of CS berry-flavored teas. In the HOT summer, I have a blend of mint teas going, usually CS Mint Magic, some peppermint and/or spearmint, and lemon balm (which is in the mint family, of course). Sometimes when I have enough fresh mint, I make tea up from that. Otherwise, I often throw fresh sprigs into the pitcher or the glass. Pineapple mint is good for that.

I have a few boxes of CS teas that I DON'T like -- Bengal Spice and Roastaroma. Anyone want them? :-/ The Roastaroma was an attempt to find a replacement for Bigelow's Take a Break tea, which they don't make any more (BOO HOO!!!) -- that was a favorite. It was my version of coffee (which I don't like).

If I had some land, I would be growing HUGE patches of the various mints to make tea. Catnip too, mostly for the kitties, but that's good in tea too. Oddly, though it stimulates cats, it's sedative for humans. I like to drink camomile tea too, when I need to relax or go to sleep. Anyway, as it is, I do grow various mints in pots, but they usually don't make it through the winter. Not enough light in the house, and I haven't had luck overwintering them outside. THIS would have been the year to try it, but I didn't know that, did I?

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Iced tea isn't just a southern "thing". Here in Maine lots of folks I know always have a pitcher of iced tea in their fridge...although mostly in the summer. Red Rose tea is very popular here, too!! I can't live without my one cup of coffee in the morning...but that's all I want. After that, it's either very hot tea or orange juice!! I think my favorite "comfort" food is hot homemade cocoa with a good dollop of mint chip ice cream in it! And I don't mean fat-free ice cream :-)!!!!

-- Anonymous, February 13, 2002

Coffee with vanilla ice cream is really yummy too. Found that out when we ran outta milk one time. Do you guys boil your water or make sun tea for your iced tea?

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2002

Always make sun tea when I can. We are big ice tea drinkers here also, all year long.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2002

I do both, Alison. Of course, being winter, sun tea is out for now. I don't get enough sun, even on the deck. I've also "cold brewed" tea, just putting the bags into the water and then into the fridge. I do need SOME heated water, as I use honey to sweeten the tea and it needs help dissolving.

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2002

Joy and others, we make all our regular tea with the cold brew method. Not with the special "cold brew bags" but with just the regular Lipton bags. What makes this tea special is that it doesn't seem to bother peoples stomachs. My sister cannot drink hot brewed tea because of a stomach problem but has no problem since she started using the cold brew method. Have no idea why.

I know Terry said, "Any other gals share this delight" so I'm swishing my hips when I walk and typing this with a lisp.

Wildman, (crossing over)

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2002

HaHa.......Wildman, how I missed you went you went missing!! Now don't forget to place that pinky high in the air when you are partaking of your cold brew.........oh and btw, about what you said re the stomach problems......with the essiac tea that I sell, we package it so that the leaves are separated from the roots/bark, because they have to be processed differently. Leaves that are boiled, at least for certain herbs, too long or violently or even at all, lose their medicinal quality, probably into the air. They must be slowly steeped for them to work to counteract disease and boost the immune system. So I am supposing this is a similar concept when it comes to the stomach problems and cold/hot processing?

Course 'cold brew' brings to mind something entirely different to some of us (past present and future) Wisconsinites......

By the way, Terry, I find this thread quite lovely.......and how smashing it is to see so many posts about tea....( I am enjoying a case of "sudden british dialect" because I have Antique Roadshow on the telly in the background, and I absorb accents like a tape recorder) GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!! (you too, Wildman)

Hmm.......my boring comments about tea......I am sadly not a huge drinker (of tea that is); have on average a cup a day, except when I'm under the weather, when I feel the need to drink lots of medicinal teas. When I make tea, I use two teabags, cuz I really cannot abide weak tea (or coffee, which I LOVE...have a cup or two most every day, but almost always organic and decaf....um.......Annie.....with lots of CREAM!! ;0 Yikes...... I dont have lots of serious tastes about tea; I try to have one of Susun Weed's suggestions for menopausa-helpful teas everyday, but mix it with something tastier than like oatstraw (blargh). Oh! I do love licorice root tea!! Which everyone else in this house hates, so its ALL MINE!!

We all drink herbal teas, for various reasons; always have on hand about two or three dozen varieties; Ali drinks them least often, mostly only when she doesn't feel well she comes to me for a suggestion; she loves Earl Grey ...........um, but she puts two tsps of sugar in it! (ok, its turbinado or sucinant (sp?),for what thats worth).....and decaf coffee with cream and sugar;

Lotus also loves Earl Grey...must be decaf........she becomes a manic drunken maniac with the slightest bit of caffeine.......but Lotus is a reformed SUGARHOLIC....and so now she drinks it with no sweetener whatsoever, and looks with disdain upon us weaklings who still cannot find any pleasure in sugarless tea or coffee.......argh......sanctimony is something she is working on.....I mean working against.....she also has learned to love decaf sugarless Lattes.......and sips them ever so imperiously.....

Bren drinks of all the teas in the house; of regular tea she likes Darjeeling the best. And so it goes.......Cheerio!

-- Anonymous, February 14, 2002

Gosh, EM, even I gotta put real, abeit, fat free, half and half in my tea, it is just NOT the same with the fake stuff, or soy milk, only real half and half will do! And not just a little bit, but a great big dollop too. Like you, I use two tea bags to one large mug, none of that weak tea taste please, but strong enough to really taste it.

BTW, Land O' Lakes make a wonderful fat free half and half that us low cholesterol users can really enjoy, tastes very, very close to the real full fat thing, with no fat whatsoever.

Hey, Wildman, I really want a picture of you drinking your tea, swishy and all....

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2002

Yes!! Pictures Please!!

-- Anonymous, February 15, 2002

Hmmmm...posting pictures of Wildman doing his "swishing thing" might change us from a G rated site to an X rated! Yeah...let's do it...post them pics, Wildman!!

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2002

For those that requested a picture. Putting a picture of the Wildman on the board would cause Joy all sorts of problems. First, I don't think that anyone on here wants this board to be considered obscene. I use to have a web cam connected to my computer until my ISP got so many complaints that I had to remove it in order to stay on line. Second, a picture that's a cross between Quasimodo, the Hunchback and the Phantom of the Opera, would not be conducive to good digestion for days. But, it might not be that big a deal since you wouldn't be able to keep anything down anyway! Third, why anyone would want a picture of a middle aged (read ancient), fat man in tight pants, swishing his butt and drinking tea out of a dainty cup while holding his limp wrist up and sticking his little finger out, is beyond me. Unless you're masochistic... Notice I mentioned "tea" so that this wouldn't be considered thread drift.

However, since Joy has the power to delete it if she gets too many complaints, I might look around for one that's acceptable.

Wildman, (non-photogenic)

-- Anonymous, February 16, 2002

Wildman, I am absolutely positive I have looked at far worse things without flinching! Or ruining my appetite or digestion! ;-) If you insist, I can tell you some . . .

If you know how, you can insert a picture here. Or you can go to our picture book and upload it there. LINK

-- Anonymous, February 17, 2002