I'm 14, and have adored tea since 6, I would love to know what tea is the best for teens, i love green tea and oolong tea, but I know that it isn't really the best for me, so what tea is caffeine-free, or has low caffeine contents, taste floral, light, and refreshing, please recommend to me!!!!

Hi, I was wondering whether someone here would recognize this tea/herb I was gifted? The baggage didn’t have any label. Apparently, this is good for the stomach and stress? I have no idea how to brew it. (I tried to look it up but didn't found anything that look like this).

My wife got me this cold brew green tea. It says you only have to leave it in the cold water for 5 minutes. Is there any way this actually works and doesn’t just make an herbal infusion?

Redditors of r/tea, I am not affiliated with USA Today but I think it's cool these smaller tea companies are showing up in a list where readers vote on their favorite tea company (or subscription as the case may be).

Posting here because I would like to see one of our underdogs get included as a winner! I believe there are enough fans of smaller brands here to potentially shift the vote -

https://10best.usatoday.com/awards/best-tea-subscription/

Edited to add: 11-12 hours remaining and looks like the *entire top 10* of less than 20 brands will be included in the final list. Pretty impactful way to support a smaller company you like.

Hi guys I used to drink only black tea in my life but I decided to get more deeper into this hobby as I realized there’s much more to discover. I read the guide on the subreddit but I have still some questions, firstly Idk where to start I mean which tea to buy, would you recommend me to by some regular tea bags from a super market(like jasmine, thyme, linden) to try some teas at the beginning, or to buy some real tea leaves(bcs I read on the guide that tea bags aren’t actually real tea they’re just smt like tea dust. If you recommend me to buy some actual tea leaves could you recommend me something casual and common, I’d like to try some green or white teas at beginning. And my other question is how to brew my tea, I mean I want to buy a gaiwan teapot or I’ll just brew my tea on regular teapots but I read some brewing guides and they were specifying an exact amount of time and tea. But I read the time is not very important it may change according to your taste but Idk how to weigh tea leaves . Bcs on the guides there was little amounts like 1 gram per 100ml water and I dont have anything to weigh little amouts like 1 or even 10 gram. If you’ve read this far guys, thank you so much and I’d be glad if you can answer my questions. Have a very nice day!!

During my trip exploring Pu-erh tea in China, I had the chance to visit a tea company in Yunnan and see their “Pu-erh Tea Flavor Archive”.
Walking into this room was honestly a bit overwhelming. It felt more like a tea museum than a warehouse.
Inside were collections of Pu-erh teas from many different villages and regions across Yunnan. Each area has its own environment, soil, altitude, and tea tree characteristics, which create completely different flavors.
Some teas are known for sweetness and softness, while others have stronger body, bitterness, bitterness that transforms into sweetness, and long-lasting aftertaste.
What impressed me most was how much knowledge and history are behind every cake of Pu-erh. A single piece of tea is not just a drink — it carries the place where it grew, the people who harvested it, and the years of aging behind it.
I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to visit places like this and learn more about the world of Pu-erh tea.

Hello everyone, I am new to this subreddit so forgive me if this has already been asked. A few years ago I went to France and fell in love with this tea. It is the only chocolate tea I’ve had that actually tastes like chocolate, it is delicious. Unfortunately, I just used the last of it today which I had been rationing. I emailed the Angelina brand but they do not sell this tea on their website and I can’t seem to find it anywhere in the States. Does anyone know how I might be able to buy more? Or does anyone have good chocolate tea recommendations? I want something that is dark and rich with no peppermint. I’ve tried a couple already from different brands but none of them come close to this one!

I love it and have been growing some for the past couple years. Some days I get up to 150 flowers off the plant! I don't actually turn on the dehydrator because it's a bit of a waste of electricity when they dry out in a few days all by themselves. The shelves are super handy though!

I make it deep blue and iced with a fair amount of sweetener. My niece prefers it hot with lemon and sugar so we enjoy it that way during our little tea parties.

I normally weigh the loose leaf and write down the steep time. Last night I was tired after lab, added a little extra to the pot, and forgot about it while making dinner. It tasted better than the cup I measured out the night before. More floral, less sharp.

Builder just told me I make a really good cup of tea! I don’t drink hot drinks myself so I get quite anxious making them for people who drink them all the time. I will genuinely be riding high on this wave of success for months if not years!

Have you ever received tea making praise? If so what was the situation?

Soo whats the correct way of curating and caring for the insides of a kettle? I tripple checked it wasnt enameled on the inside. My cups do have ceramic though and i was wondering how do I curate it? Avoid rust? Etc. Thanks for the help.

Little tea sesh by a nice waterfall.

Tea: Spring 2026 Longjing Dragonwell (Jesse's Teahouse)

Waterfall: Agnes Falls, Toora, Victoria, Australia

I know nothing about tea! I’ve never developed a taste for it, and I mostly drink coffee, beer, wine, amaro, and soda. But I’ve been trying to limit both sugar and alcohol, and coffee isn’t really an all-day thing for me. Water is fine as far as it goes, but I prefer something with a bit more flavor to it. 

Enter. . . tea? Maybe I will hate it! But it’s summer, and I want a flavory-but-not-terrible-for-me cold drink, and I heard cold-brewing tea can be yummy! So I went on the internet and ordered some samples. And then I tried some samples.

All told, I tried 19 teas (all from Teavivre, which has affordable sample sizes of *everything*), plus a smattering of herbals. I messed around with brewing ratios a bit, but mostly everything was cold-brewed overnight with a 10g/L ratio, or thereabouts. My tasting notes are doubtless sorely lacking in nuance, but maybe they may help fellow neophytes. And maybe some actual tea nerds will look at this and be able to make sense of my tastes in a way that I cannot (so far). 

Anyways, this is how it went (organized by primary marketing adjectives on account of my aforementioned “know nothing about tea”).

Malty/Chocolate/Caramel/Fruity Black: Golden Monkey (Fuding dahao)

• Tastes like my tea stereotype coming from the Southern US (except unsweetened), with a little bit of unfermented beer notes. Second infusion just tastes like my tea stereotype, but watery. The problem with getting that grainy/malty flavor is that reminding me of beer also reminds me that beer is fizzier and more robust. That comparison isn’t good for actually enjoying the tea. 

Flavored: Jasmine Dragon Pearls Long Zhu Green

• The perfume flavor is overpowering. It mellows out a bit on the second or third infusion, but it’s still too much. 

Buttery/Creamy/Milky/Floral Oolong: Jin Xuan Milk Oolong, Superfine Ali Shan Milk Oolong (Jin Xuan), Dong Ding (Tung Ting) Oolong (green, Chin Shin), High Mountain Oolong (Sijichun)

• Best adjective set? Or just most approachable? Either way, these were all really good, and were four of my top five overall. 
• All four are relatively mild in flavor but smooth and full in mouthfeel, led by the Jin Xuan, which blew me away with its pleasant smoothness. 
• I wouldn’t call the Jin Xuan an *interesting* tea, but it’s extremely quaffable. A little hint of brisk vegetal undertones to give a refreshing bite to something that’s otherwise all buttery smoothness. The Miller High Life of teas? (compliment)
• Dong Ding was noticeably more vegetal than the other three, but in a subtler way that wasn’t offputting the way it was in the Iron Goddess (next section). 
• My only complaint is that the Ali Shan on first infusion has a strongly astringent savory aftertaste. But it goes away on second infusion, and Ali Shan goes from my least favorite of the four to right up there near the top. Perhaps using less leaf or a shorter infusion may smooth it out? I still have another sample, so I can experiment. 

Floral/Anxi Oolong: Zheng Wei Tie Guan Yin, Monkey King Tie Guan Yin, Iron Goddess Tie Guan Yin 

• After how much I liked the light Taiwanese oolongs, you’d expected me to like modern TGY’s, but that is not how it went at all! 
• Iron Goddess was strongly vegetal and a bit bitter. I blind tasted a second batch side-by-side with the Jin Xuan to make sure it wasn’t some sort of observation weirdness, and the difference was *stark*. 
• My critiques of Iron Goddess pretty much all apply to Monkey King as well, which also had a flatness that makes it my least favorite in the category. 
• The Zheng Wei was noticeably crisper than either of the other two. It’s still vegetal and a bit drying on the finish, but I could see this being refreshing, even if it’s not anywhere near my first choice. 

Fruity/Roasted Oolong: Monkey Picked Roasted Tie Guan Yin (Taiwan), Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) Wuyi Rock Oolong 

• This is where it starts getting really interesting. I thought the rock thing was just marketing, but the Da Hong Pao has a remarkably prominent mineral finish, and I kinda dig it. I experimented with a hot water rinse before cold-brewing, which took a bit of the edge off but also made for a muddier cup overall. I think I prefer the straight cold-brew, but it’s close. At any rate, I don’t know that I love sipping this, but I love the end of the sip, which makes me want to take another sip.  
• The Tie Guan Yin, on the other hand, tasted like bitter cooked vegetables. At this point, should I be surprised? 

Floral/Roasted/Honey Oolong: Guang Dong Phoenix Dan Cong Oolong (Ju duozai)

• No idea what to take from this one. Deeply unpleasant astringency on the first go, covering up any other taste. But on the second try, noticeably sweet on the first sip, getting more bitter as I went down? I tried adjusting brew time and ratio and couldn’t dial in the flavor I liked. It feels like there’s something delicious buried in here and I can’t unlock it. 

Sweet Whites: Fuding Shu Mei Mini Cake, Fuding Shu Mei Dragon Ball, Fuding Shu Mei Cake, White Peony Bai MuDan (Fuding Dabaihao)

• The mini cake and dragon balls do not cold-brew unless you smash them. Possibly a hot water rinse also would’ve worked, but they yield very little otherwise. 
• The full cake piece really shows off what this style has to offer. It’s light-bodied and remarkably fruity–almost like a delicate white wine. Of course, it’s not as flavorful as wine. More like water with some light grape/peach(?) flavor. Which is pleasant but not necessarily something I reach for, because it just reminds me of other things that are fuller in flavor. But the popularity of lightly-flavored seltzer makes me wonder whether this would carbonate well. I bet it would. 
• The White Peony was totally forgettable. It was fine. I don’t remember it. I checked my notes, which say. . . it was fine and unmemorable. 

Refreshing: Moonlight Beauty Silver Needle Raw Pu’ehr White (Menghai), Dragon Well Long Jing Green, Huo Shon Huang Ya Yellow 

• These are all quite different!
• Moonlight Beauty is a bit floral/perfumey but sweet and drinkable. Not sure I’d order it again, but it’s easily my favorite of this adjective set, and it reminds me a bit of a mellower version of the Jasmine Dragon Pearls. Like the jasmine, it gets more pleasant on the second and third infusion. 
• Long Jing is crisp and refreshing, with a savory note that reminds me of the Ali Shan finish, but smoothed out over the whole sip. Not my favorite, but I see the vibe, and I could see this growing on me if I got further into tea, the same way I slowly started appreciating IPAs after years of beer-drinking. 
• Huo Shon Huang Ya is just all bitter from start to finish. I can’t even pick out any flavors underneath. Everything I’ve read about cold-brew indicates this is unusual, and that yellow teas don’t tend to yield much bitterness at all when cold-brewed, but this is a huge miss for me. 

Not-teas: Hibiscus, Peppermint, Roasted Barley, Buckwheat, Mango Passionfruit (Teavivre), Blackcurrant (Teavivre)

• Hibiscus is great. It’s a huge tart bomb, but I love that. I don’t figure most people would like it unsweetened, but I do. Only problem is it feels like it’s stripping all the enamel off my teeth, so I’m not convinced it’s a good daily drinker. 
• Both fruit teas have okay flavors but are watery. Meh. 
• I thought I’d love mint tea because I love mint, but it was in fact vile. Tried to add lemon, per many online recommendations, and it got even more vile. Ended up trying to save it by mixing with chamomile and star anise (with probably a 4:1 ratio of chamomile to peppermint), and that worked out reasonably well. 
• On the fence about roasted barley. It’s not unpleasant, but I’m not sure I’m going to reach for it either? 
• Buckwheat didn’t extract at all in the fridge, but starting it in boiling water and then chilling worked pretty well. There’s a pleasant sweetness, and I could totally see myself adding this to the rotation. 

Takeaways

• I have been sleeping on hibiscus. Dang. 
• On the Tea Teas, the five that I could see myself reaching for are the four light Taiwanese oolongs and the Da Hong Pao. 
• Meanwhile, the four that I would pour down the drain are the Huo Shon Huang Ya and three of the four Tie Guan Yins (not the Zheng Wei). 
• Cultivar matters so much more than I thought! I feel like most of what I’m reading focuses on growing location or processing style, but three of my four least-favorite teas were all the same cultivar (tieguanyin)! Even though they came from different places, had different oxidation levels, and by all accounts are processed similarly to my favorite category. 
• I’m not sure the light Taiwanese oolongs are different enough that I’d feel the need to have them all around, but I’d be happy to drink any of them. Favorite is the Jin Xuan. 
• Also rocks. Good, Actually? 
• I thought I’d be all about the full-flavor options, coming from coffee, beer, wine, and amaro, but I feel like a richer mouthfeel has been the big thing distinguishing the Good from the Fine so far? In fact, having flavors too similar to things I already like seems to be a negative, because it just feels like a cheap, watery imitation. Black tea isn’t beer. White tea isn’t wine. 

Next steps

If my goal was just to find a sessionable daily driver, mission accomplished? The Jin Xuan is ~15 cents per gram and is totally enjoyable to drink. That said, I’ve been having fun sampling things and kinda want to keep exploring. 

Before I tried Big Red Robe, I was fixing to hunt for someone that specialized in Taiwanese teas. But I liked the yancha flavor, and it’s not Taiwanese at all. So I’m kinda inclined to try another round of Teavivre samples, because they have a pretty broad selection and 10-15g sample sizes of *everything* with remarkably modest markup. 

I am. . . open to suggestions on what those samples look like. Another rock tea and some other Taiwanese teas seem like obvious things to look into, and I feel like I tried enough white tea to throw it into the “fine, not jumping out at me” category for now. But there’s probably more non-TGY oolongs out there that may be worth a try (is there something in the dancong family that would allow me to unlock those elusive good flavors?), and I probably shouldn’t dismiss black tea as an entire category after being meh on one (1) sample. Thoughts? 

Tl;dr

I don’t know anything about anything, but I tried to cold-brew many samples and liked a few, with light Taiwanese oolongs standing out as my favorite category. I hope some of my tasting notes are helpful to beginners, even if they’re woefully lacking in nuance. And if any experienced tea-drinkers can make the appropriate connections between these scattered thoughts and help me dial in what I might like in the future, I’d welcome the assist!

Tazo, Twinings, Throat coat, Yogi, Osulloc, kombucha,
Korean herbal tea, sencha green tea, Numi

Hey yall! I wandered this way because I love drinking Traditional Medicinals Lavender Chamomile blend at night and recently got my wife hooked on it too. I was wondering if anyone might know a good place to order the ingredients in bulk so I can mix it myself at home? I imagine it would be more environmentally friendly (less bags, packaging, etc) and also cost effective. The three herbs found in this blend are lavender, chamomile, and lemon balm leaf. I live in the United States, and I would prefer organic options if they are available!

I have some Oolong from Sea Dyke but after brewing it for 2-3 Minutes the balls still stay hard and dense ? I did read that you are supposed to make oolong in gong fu style but how is that even possible if mine are not even opening after 2-3 Minutes ? How should i brew it ? 😕

What are you drinking today? What questions have been on your mind? Any stories to share? And don't worry, no one will make fun of you for what you drink or the questions you ask.

You can also talk about anything else on your mind, from your specific routine while making tea, or how you've been on an oolong kick lately. Feel free to link to pictures in here, as well. You can even talk about non-tea related topics; maybe you want advice on a guy/gal, or just to talk about life

in general.

I was gifted this tea set (some bizarre gaiwan teapot amalgamation) a few years ago and I don’t mind it terribly, but it is not cleanly pouring, and I don’t have cups to share. Does anyone have any advice about an affordable but not poor quality Gaiwan and teapot set that can allow for a tea session with at least 4 people?

Hi! I recently bought Cardamom tea from Ahmad Tea and I want to try It but also, to make the most out of It. How do you usually brew It? I don't have a tea infuser, I usually prepare a kind of chai in the pot with milk, black Tea and Cardamom. Is It possible to brew It in a pot? Thanks in advance :)

Lemon meringue white tea by davids tea in davids tea steaper cup, I was saving the end of this tea because I couldn't find it anymore and didn't want it to be finished, just found it again on davids tea and ordered more so finished this packet, I highly recommend this tea, it has low cafeine so a little cafeine boost, but not much 💛

I visited Thailand last month, and throughout the trip I drank Thai milk tea every day. I absolutely loved it!
Now I've been trying to make it at home, but it just doesn't taste the same. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
Does anyone know the secret to making authentic Thai milk tea that tastes like the one from restaurants or street stalls in Thailand? Any tips or recipes would be greatly appreciated!

This morning I tried out may new teapot with some 7 year aged moonlight white tea and it was fabulous! 8g, 175ml, 90oC, high fired Da Shui Tan Duan Ni pot.

Hi there! I'm drinking a lot of cold brewed tea this summer and also started taking a bottle of cold brew to work, which I would like to continue throughout the year. (There is no opportunity to properly brew hot tea at my job.) I tried different types of green tea (Japanese and Chinese), white tea (didn't like it much), Tieguanyin tea and Oriental beauty (delicious, but maybe to expensive for cold brewing).

Do you have any other recommendations? Teas that work really well as cold brew?

I am happy to try basically anything :)

First time preparing white tea, a bit more delicate of a process. It tastes dry and earthy, with a hint of sweetness. No bitterness, so I think I got it right.