Tea Pantry

My Life


My canister of Jasmine tea pearls.

Tea makes me feel safe. It helps me write, it keeps me awake past 8:30 when we have company, it soothes my aches when I feel defeated.

I carry tea in my purse when we travel to alleviate homesickness, and generous friends have brought me so much tea that it fills a chest of drawers in our entryway.

Lately I’ve been reducing my collection to teas I can’t live without. A lot of them are from The Republic of Tea, because I get them in bulk at my local market, but there are a few others as well.

I’ve been collecting vintage tea tins with an eye to building a shelf for the essentials. So here’s what will live there:

Black Teas

Kusmi Prince Vladimir Tea (loose leaf)
This smells as good as it tastes–a bit spicy, with a lot of floral and citrus. One of my top-two favorite teas.

Earl Grey by Mighty Leaf
This is traditional pick to have on hand for guests who just want a familiar cup of black tea.

Green Teas

Jasmine Pearls
Green tea and jasmine blossoms hand-rolled into little pearls. This is my other favorite tea, and I tend to keep a pot of it nearby while I work throughout the day. It makes the house smell great. I get mine from Chinatown, or friends who make business trips to China, but the tea linked above is the one you’re most likely to find at a gourmet foods shop.

Mystery Tea from China
Bryan was working in Urumuchi, China a while back and brought back exceptional teas for me. All the packaging is in Chinese though, so I have no idea what I’m drinking. My favorite isn’t long and grassy like most green tea. It looks like dark, balled leaves when dry, and unfurls into whole leaves with stems when brewed. It has a light, floral flavor. Any ideas?

Herbal Teas

Ginseng Peppermint by Republic of Tea
Strong, spicy mint tea with a sweet aftertaste. Similar to the sensation you get after you’ve eaten an artichoke and take a sip of water. My favorite herbal.

African Nectar by Mighty Leaf
I tend to find herbal teas too weak for my tastes, but this is a nice, strong, fruity herbal that I have when I’m too wired to drink another cup of real tea.

I also like plunking a big bunch of fresh mint or ginger in hot water to make a tisane when I’m avoiding caffeine.

Iced Teas

Good Earth Original
Good Earth makes flavorful bagged teas (I like their sweet Green Tea blend too), but this one is the best. It’s very sweet even without sweeteners, and is a strong cinnamon and spice flavor. Refreshing on ice.


Ginger Peach by Republic of Tea
Exactly what it sounds like, and great cold (with or without sugar).

Mate

Mate Latte by Republic of Tea

For when I need a caffeine boost, or if I’m craving milk in my tea. It smells like cocoa, and has strong, comforting vanilla notes.

So those are the all-stars.

If you’d like to start trying better teas, but don’t want to give up the ease of using tea bags, you can’t go wrong with Mighty Leaf and Tea Forte. I find they’re some of the best whole-leaf teas that come in bags. I used to evangelize Steep Teas because they’re tasty and the matchbox packaging is bangarang, but now I can’t find the matchboxes online anymore. Boo.

If you’re a tea drinker, leave your favorites in comments.

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111 thoughts on “Tea Pantry”

  1. My favorite tea is ‘Awake’ by Tazo, which is a black tea that I get at Starbucks on my way to work every morning. I get it in a large cup with 2 bags. I also love Republic of Tea’s Blackberry Sage black tea, which is also awesome on ice.

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  2. Oooh, for a special afternoon pick-me-up, I LOVE Russian caravan tea – pine-smoked black tea.
    It tastes like the good parts of camping.

    And for breakfast, Irish Breakfast.

    All loose-leaf, all the time, though I DO always carry an emergency teabag in my wallet.

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  3. Twinings Yunnan blend, although this is no longer being imported to Australia.

    Sob.

    I also love expensive Chinese black tea, the kind my Chinese friends bring me from Guangzhou with incomprehensible packaging. They tell me you need to start at $200/kilo for the good stuff, up to $2000/kilo for the *really* good stuff.

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  4. I’ve had good luck ordering from Adagio Teas. I like their spiced green tea in particular.

    And I have to agree with you about the iced ginger peach from Republic of Tea–absolutely delicious.

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  5. I LOVE Vanilla Bean Tea by Mighty Leaf. It tastes like a treat and is just the ticket to keeping me up past my bedtime when I need to be!
    This is a great list – thanks, from a tea drinker!

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  6. so i’ve recently discovered tea gschwendner… which has international locations, but the downtown chicago shop is particularly great.

    they’ll brew you anything from their collection to try, which i love, because it’s not a super secret surprise when you try something new… that ends up costing $30 to try.

    http://www.teamerchants.com/US/en/Homepage.TG

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  7. I love the black teas. Right now I’m loving Adagio’s Irish Breakfast and Republic of Tea’s Assam breakfast. When I need something more mellow, I go for Aveda’s Comfort tea or Throat Coat.

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  9. We primarily drink Tazo ‘Zen’ green tea, which has both lemon and minty notes – a nice alternative to plain generic green tea, which we brew in larger batches to make iced. We go through so much of it that the budget can’t handle anything fancy.

    Right now I’m having a cup of peppermint something that my husband made me. I have to write a paper and it’s helping me get started, right after I finish reading my blogs 🙂

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  11. The best tea I’ve ever had was from Mariage Freres in Paris. You can order from their online store, and occasionally their teas will show up in gourmet stores in the US, but for the full experience you have to go to their salon in the Marais. Your waiter will tell you which tea would best accompany your lunch order, and then you can buy loose tea from ridiculously handsome men in dark green suits. My favorite is a blend called “Inde: the des maharajahs.”

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  12. No specific comments about teas, but have you ever been to the Boulder Teahouse in Boulder, CO? They have a fabulous tea menu and it’s a heavenly setting.

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  13. It took High Tea at the Empress Hotel in British Colombia to get me to truly enjoy a good cup of tea. I like the Empress Orange Pekoe with a touch of milk and the Berry Berry as an herbal. Thankfully they take phone and web orders. My 2nd favorite herbal is the Citrus C from Peet’s. I love the hibiscus in both of the herbals.

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  16. Maggie:

    How about a picture of the packaging of that mystery tea? You do have readers that are Chinese, I imagine. I for one am!

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  18. Oh Maggie, I was ready to comment before you even asked me to. I LOVE Traditional Medicinal’s Roasted Hojicha Green tea. It has the most marvelous mellow flavor – not as sharp as many green teas – and a smooth finish. It’s the one I carry in my purse, stock in my office, and have in my hotel room right now.

    I also like their Cold Care tea when I’m all congested.

    Thanks for the inspirational post!

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  19. My favourite tea is Lipton’s Russian Earl Grey. It smells wonderful and tastes great :). They’re in little fabric pouches instead of the typical bag. Unfortunately I can’t find it here in Malaysia so I beg my boss to buy several boxes each time he travels to Paris.

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  20. plain, tea taster’s term to denote dull liquor with sour taste plucking, the process of harvesting the tea by cutting the flush from the growing tea shrub. polyphenols, astringent compounds present in tea pu erh, a type of tea most notably from the Yunnan province of China. Damp green tea that has been fermented microbiologically to a black leaf. puerh, a type of tea most notably from the Yunnan province of China. Damp green tea that has been fermented microbiologically to a black leaf. China Travel

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  21. I have to second the recommendation for Upton Tea Imports (uptontea.com). I drink their flavored black teas almost exclusively and have been ordering from them for years. My current favorites are the New England Harvest Blend, Russian Caravan, Scottish Breakfast, and East Friesian Sunday Blend.

    Since I now have a five-month-old, though, sometimes I can’t sit around waiting for my loose tea to brew (I use a mesh tea ball), so I use Republic of Tea’s Vanilla Almond as my instant tea.

    I drink all my teas plain and strong. 🙂 Thanks for such a great tea list!

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  22. I love the tea from a small, California business called Gypsy Tea (www.gypsytea.com). I went to college with the founder; her teas are all so tasty. I really enjoy the Raspberry Earl Gray. In Portland, we have a spot called the Tao of Tea. When we were childless, I enjoyed going there on dates and really savoring the tea and food served there. About the mystery tea — I was going to say oolong as well. I’ve had the very good fortune of enjoying oolong in the mountains of Taiwan, a National Geographic adventure I won’t soon forget.

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  23. Mmm. Tea. A favorite and comforting topic.

    Being that The Husband is British, the household goes into panic mode whenever we’re low on PG Tips. Yorkshire will do in a pinch. Aside from the standard black tea, Adagio Jasmine with honey got me through a bad cold recently, and loose leaf chamomile (I get mine from the local independent coffee shop) is a must for the cupboard to remind me of the first time I tasted it in a kitchen in Riga and thought it was some magical Latvian potion.

    Thanks for your recommendations.

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  24. I like rooibos, African red or “bush” tea. It is an herbal tea, no caffeine. Republic of Tea has several versions, I like Safari Sunset (with spices) and Capetown Harvest (with blossom and fruit flavors)

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  25. http://www.harney.com/index.html
    I’m a bit of a tea snob & I love to buy bulk loose teas from Harney & Sons, a family company that has been blending tea for decades. Their tasting room are like an old apothecary shop & their catalogs are full of stories about where the leaves originate.

    I especially love their Queen Catherine & Supreme Breakfast blends.

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  26. My mother started every day with a cup of tea, and it’s carried over to me.
    I really love Whittard’s Afternoon Blend w/jasmine and bergamot, as well as Republic of Tea’s Blackberry Sage, Tazo’s Joy, and Twining’s Irish Breakfast.

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  27. I drink PG Tips in the morning, with a touch of sugar and milk, a habit picked up from working at a company with an amazing kitchen stocked by Brits (though it being southern California, I’d have avocado on toast along with my tea).

    My favorite non-caffeinated tea is called Heaven Rooibos from Steap in Philadelphia (link below). It smells like Thin Mints, and has an amazing flavor without being too sweet. I drink it with milk, no sugar. It’s great for when I’m craving cocoa or something warm but don’t really feel like drinking a cup of candy.

    The coffee shop across from my school carries Mighty Leaf, which is great when I need a midday boost — I’m a big fan of their Organic Earl Grey.

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  28. I recently discovered Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast — very strong and very cheap. Plus, no strings or staples, which I feel better about. I like Choice Teas green jasmine too. I’m going to try the Jasmine Pearls for sure.

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  30. I love green teas as long as they’re not fruity or minty. Anything ending in -cha, really: matcha, sencha, genmaicha.

    One flavor I keep coming back to (that does not end in -cha) is Republic of Tea’s Honey Ginseng Green Tea. I love that stuff! Just the right amount of sweet.

    This past summer my boyfriend and I were vacationing in Durango, CO. He had a stomachache so he got some tea called Earth at a restaurant. The next day we went to the local shop where it was made and bought a whole tin of it. I highly recommend it.

    http://tinyurl.com/yq9xr8

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  31. Bengali Spice by Celestial Seasonings. Cheesy box with a tiger, but the best tea ever with soy milk and honey. I used to go through a box every three days (20 tea bags) when I lived in Milwaukee.

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  34. I adore rooibos. Yogi Tea has a great chai rooibos. I can’t have any caffeine any more, but I miss black tea, especially Earl Grey. A good Irish Breakfast with honey and lemon when I had a cold was so healing.

    Anyway, what is up with Mighty Leaf not listing ingredients? It irks me.

    Celestial Seasonings Madagascar Vanilla Red is a great cheap vanilla rooibos.

    Good Earth rooibos is awesome too.

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  35. I would guess that your mystery Chinese tea is green oolong. It has a very different flavor if it hasn’t been fermented.

    Since you are in SF, do you ever frequent Lupicia (a Japanese tea company)in Stonestown? They have lovely green and black teas in an unbelievable variety of flavors.

    My latest tea obsession is green matcha tea powder on vanilla ice cream. Pure heaven.

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  36. Black Tea: Lady Grey (Twinings), Earl Grey French Blue (Mariage Frere), and Lovejoy’s Blend (Lovejoy’s tea room, SF).

    Rooibos: I second Mighty Leaf’s African rooibos, and Mariage Frere’s Rouge Vanille (with milk and honey).

    Mystery tea: Could it be oolong? My favorite is DongDing (cold roof) Oolong. Hands down the most refreshing cold tea I’ve ever had (great hot, too).

    Herbal: Mighty Leaf mint melange and Tazo’s Refresh.

    Chai: I like to use the Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice (brew in pot with heated milk).

    I also love flowering jasmine tea that come in tight balls, which unfurl as you pour hot water on them. So pretty, and tasty.

    I’m pretty certain that a Mightygirl hosted tea party would have big draws! I’ll bring the scones and handwash the china.

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  38. I used to love Mighty Leaf teas, and one of my very favorites was their black vanilla tea. I miss it now that I’m in New Zealand where it’s not available. I’d recommend it as an alternative for guests who, like me, aren’t into earl grey but love a nice cup of black tea.

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  39. I’ve never been a tea drinker, but I recently had some excellent tea at the Northern Ireland Parliament building, and that paired with the multitude of tea shops in central Dublin has made me want to explore the beverage more. Perhaps I’ll use your faves as a guideline for my taste-testing. 🙂

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  40. I’ve been going through tea phases lately, but I know all this started when I bought a loose leaf orange pekoe in Malaysia. Great stuff. Current favorites include genmaicha (mmm toasted rice flavor), loose leaf chamomile, and a spicy cinnamon-orange black tea which is so potent that it will seriously punish you if you let it steep too long. I love it. My favorite grocery store teas are the Celestial Seasonings apple cinnamon herbal and the Tazo green ginger.

    Thanks for this post! I’m looking forward to trying some of the recommendations from the comments as well.

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  41. Mariage Freres The Rouge Bourbon, a vanilla-scented rooibos tea that my friend made for me when I visited her in Paris after a long sleepless overnight flight. Comfort in a cup that always brings back great memories.

    Mighty Leaf’s Chamomile Citrus has all kinds of other good things in it to jazz it up (and they list the ingredients on their website). Also, I’m all about fabric and texture, and I love the little silken pouches that show off the gem-like ingredients inside.

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  42. Kusmi tea’s are the best! If you can find their bagged tea it is excellent also, it’s the same quality as the loose leaf (many companies use cute leaf tea in the bags, but loose leaf is whole tea) and the bags are muslin.

    My favorite Kusmi’s are Boquet of flowers and Troika and of course prince vlad.

    Taylors of Harrogate has excellent loose leaf, with exceptional Earl Grey.

    For green tea I was lucky enough to get a chance to go to Japan recently. There is an awesome green tea shop in Kyoto, Ippodo. We got some excellent Gykuro and Sencha also we got some genmaicha(green tea with roasted rice). Ippodo does ship overseas, it’s pricey but defiitely worth it. It can be quite difficult to find high quality green teas in the states.

    It’s especially hard to find the bancha’s, which there is such a wonderfull selection of with hojicha(roasted green) and genmaicha being the best bancha’s in my opinion.

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  43. I love Harney & Sons loose tea. I have various tins in my cubbard, but always seem to go to the Irish Breakfast tea. It reminds me of sitting hungover in Dublin with my family, slowly awakening to a new day, while waiting for my eggs and sausage to arrive.

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  44. If you like Rooibos, check out MiTea’s South of France Rooibos, with hints of blueberry and lavendar. I can hardly stay away from the stuff.

    I’d also highly recommend Upton Importers. I like their British and Irish Breakfast blends (great with cream), as well as the China Yunnan East Frisian Assam.

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  45. As far as tea infusers go, I love the IngenuiTea infuser from adagio.com. (their tea is wonderful as well)

    It’s such a clever design!

    k.

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  47. People love tea!

    My ultimate staple is peppermint – any kind’ll do – b/c it’s pleasant to drink, mixes with the another staple (chamomile, of course – I like Argo from Chicago or any loose, chunky kind that’s whole, tried flower heads) and crucial for the occasional upset stomach. Wipes out heartburn like *that*.

    Other than that: a rotating supply of various herbals, blacks and greens.

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  50. Pomegranate white tea with safflowers

    Rooibos Raspberry

    Rooibos after Eight – chocolate & mint flavors

    Monkey Picked Ti Kuan Yin Oolong, mostly because of the name

    Rooibos African Jewel

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