Oh yes.

I propose an exhaustive taste test first. You shall be Supreme Taster(being so close to Scotland and all), I shall be a Lowly Assistant. We must find The Most Inexpensive Tea Suitable for Discard. Fine cheeses, crackers, tarts and what have you should be employed as requisite to properly cleanse the palate. Fine English ales would also be appropriate lest our results be skewed by false taste impressions; we do not want to get this wrong, for a country's future lands in the balance.

I will leave it to you to decide when we should have completed the research. I feel not qualified in the least. If you should deign to ask my opinion, I would like to defer to your Superior experience in tha matter only of course to ensure a fair and impartial assessment. If we disagree, I suggest (most humbly) that any and all of those Members(Teh Forum) what are Necessary to Determine a Suitable Tea are asked to Break the Impasse. The queen Mum will of course provide financial recompense for these libations and fortificaions.

A humble proposal from One Who Drinks Tea infrequently at Present, but Who Could be Swayed to Drink More in the Future in the Name of Pure Research. Naturally, this should occur in England, city of your choosing.

It's a great idea, but I think that relying on Teh as arbiter of taste might be a weak point. Most of the proles here drink what can best be described as floor sweepings. They add milk and sugar to make it bearable. Xen probably drinks NAAFI tea or, worse, Tetleys. Graphitone, coming from the People's Republic of Yorkshire, likely drinks Yorkshire Tea. These are the sorts of teas that can only be improved by dumping them in the harbour.

 :-@

• I like a fine Assam thankyouverymuch. I have no regional based political bearings driving my taste in tea. In fact, I've tried Yorkshire tea and found it as base as Typhoo.
• I've never got on with Darjeeling or jasmine tea.
• TBH, I have nothing against PG Tips, they make a good tasting decaf tea.
• White tea's my favourite at the moment.  :-)

Yeah, I'm kind on a white tea kick.

I like Darjeeling (particularly first flush, which sounds like an early morning toilet break, but is v. nice).

I don't know if you get it in the UK, but the only thing worth drinking in Starbucks is China Green Tips. It is really good!

I try to avoid starbucks as a rule, but if I'm ever in a situation where I need tea and I'm passing, I will check it out.

I tried a nice peppermint tea from Teapigs a while back, I was pleasantly surprised, it was nice n' smooth. I've found others can be a tad acerbic. Hmph, first world problems, eh?

Oh, me too. But Mrs B is a caffeine junkie.

I'm glad I don't like coffee because it means I'm not one of those people that say they can't function without a few cups in the morning.

I'm slowly getting back into caffeine, my stomach/reflux situation has improved to the point that I can drink full fat tea without any side effects. I went for 2 - 3 years without caffeine and just got used to it.

However, I like the caffeine hit that a cup of tea gives me in the morning, just enough to wake me up and get my brain in gear. Coffee (when I can drink it) or two cups of tea sends me loopy, I feel really on edge, my gums starting itching and with coffee I get bad stomach cramps. :C

Coffee can fuck right off.

 

I do drink tea (and pretty strong tea) throughout the day but I don't seem to get an obvious caffeine kick.

During the summer I'll generally have a brew when I arrive at work and drink juice the rest of the day.

But saying all this, I don't have kids so maybe my level of tiredness isn't quite the level of most other people! I just have a cat that wants to sleep next to me at 4am.

It's the taste of coffee that puts me off. On occasion I'll have one of her ladyship's Nespresso coffees, but it's really once in a blue moon.

I prefer tea that's not too strong (either in flavour or caffeine), no milk or sugar. I am faggot.

Slightly coloured water then.

 :-D

Yep, having kids definitely makes you tired in ways you'd never have thought possible. I actually need a nap on a Sunday afternoon. It's not optional, I /need/ a nap and will have one no matter what else is going on.

I've turned into my father.

:((

I have been known to drink Lipton, Red Rose (grandmum's favorite, most likely the name I expect - you know, English Rose). I am a two-bagger because one Lipton is not really strong enough for me. I also like to add one bag of chamomile with the other two sometimes. I expect Lipton is probably not considered much more than floor sweepings there, but proper tea is quite expensive here.

If Teh folks are not up to the job, so be it. More for you and me, Mr. B. I enjoy milk in tea sometimes but I am lactose intolerant so I might skip it. If I have a sweetener it is generally honey because I am anti-white sugar (have been for years)
because it is truly awful stuff. Raw is better but then if one has to change the color and the taste, what is the point of drinking it?

Generally, I only ever drink tea at home or at Chinese/Japanese restaurants. For some reason, most Americans do not realise that black tea (mostly what we use here) must be made with boiling water. A restaurant or diner here would likely use water from a coffee maker run through an empty filter bowl to make the water hot, or crappy tap water microwaved to steaming. Blick! Tea tastes like shit-water made like that.

I enjoyed proper tea over there years ago very much. Coffee was another story altogether. I DO NOT drink instant coffee, I'd rather have Postum® . I tried coffee there three different times and it was total crap. I have heard good coffee is best obtained in someone's home.

It would seem we've strayed a bit off topic, except wars and independence were sought over tea, coffee and sugar.

Chamomile might help with the cramps. But one has to like chamomile.

Maybe only half a faggot, katsungII.

Some people get wired by caffeine or have a reaction to it. Bad coffee is usually what puts them off, and as a coffee aficionado, I relegate Starbucks to the crap coffee category. I don't like coffee that tastes burnt.

I've recently taken to drinking chamomile as I was told it helps people sleep (and is claimed to have the additional benefit of reducing the frequency of migraines).

I wasn't prepared for how potent it is, though. It proper knocks me out. Good shit.

The taste takes a bit of getting used to, starts off as a mixture of grass and flowers. Now I'm accustomed to it I just taste the flowers and rather like it.

Thanks for the advice. I've had chamomile in the past, but found it tasted odd - like Xen said, a bit like grass or even too 'natural', like raw liquorice is. I went for the one with with vanilla in it and found that nice n'palatable.

People over there make tea in a microwave? (fail)

Here's some tips for your indigenous friends:

Tea is made in a pot. 3 bags, please.

Milk in first, then the tea.

Dunking is allowed, but not in restaurants.

You don't boil pizza.