Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's possible that the tea you're drinking could be old and stale. IME, tea starts losing its flavor 6 months after opening (or earlier if it's not packed/kept well). Air, light, and heat will all degrade tea. It will keep its flavor longer when kept sealed in a cool dark place.
A lot of what you mention isn't even tea, they are tisanes. Sleepytime has NO tea in it, it is an herbal infusion. Pito pito - also not tea, yet another herbal infusion.
You might as well call "coffee" tea as all that other stuff. You seem to think anything steeped in hot water is tea. ONLY TEA is tea.
That said, *I* can certainly taste the difference between most, if not all, kinds of real tea.
I don't care for green tea myself, but I wouldn't say that means no one ELSE could possibly enjoy the taste.
I asked for black tea in a Chinese restaurant recently and when they brought it out, I had to spit it out. Turned out it was *shudder* LIPTON domestic tea.
At this restaurant they only had Jasmine tea on the menu. I don't mind jasmine tea so much, but its uber trendy here and its often the only tea on the menu.
Turns out this restaurant was used to people asking for "black tea" who really wanted the cheap crappy domestic tea bags like Lipton. They didn't like more sophisticated and less processed black teas such as oolong.
Now I know to ask for oolong there.
So yes. I CAN tell the difference. Some I like and some I can't stand (such as the US version of Lipton - Indian Lipton is quite a different animal).
Yes tea needs to be made from..... tea bush leaves. Those other things are simply infusions of whatever other plant parts.
I've never heard the word tisane before - thanks for that!
As for Lipton - its made from sawdust not tea. True story.
They taste like hot water to me too but this is because I am not fan of hot drinks. everything taste like hot water to me. I can taste the difference between herbal tea and green tea and between others but since I am not big fan, at the end of the day they are flavored hot water I am drinking.
So i understand where OP is coming from. It is not that I am blind to the flavor difference it is that I am indifferent to the flavor difference because I can't get pass the hot water part. Coffee & tea with milk taste almost same to me
IMO, the mistake that many people make is that they don't steep their tea for a long enough period of time, and/or they don't use boiling water.
One of my favorite loose teas is Tea Forte's tupelo honey fig. I LOVE this tea but I have to be super patient with it because it needs to steep at least 10 minutes in boiling hot water. By the time it's done steeping, it's cooled off enough that it's easily drinkable without scalding my mouth lol
I'm the same way. I have at least 6 or 7 types of teas (combination of tea bags and loose). They definitely do not taste the same. I have a box of saffron jasmine and red rooibos tea which tastes nothing like the green/black blend I have.
Also, with loose teas, it's important to use enough tea based on how much water is being used along with steeping time. Steeping for 10 minutes won't make an 8 oz cup of tea tasty if not enough tea is being used (depending on the blend).
Agree that you are not steeping long enough, and perhaps not using hot enough water, to be bringing out the flavors.
I'm wondering if they're using too much water. If the OP is using tea bags and mostly herbal teas then it's possible they're using too much water if they're not tasting the difference.
One of my favorite loose teas is Tea Forte's tupelo honey fig. I LOVE this tea but I have to be super patient with it because it needs to steep at least 10 minutes in boiling hot water. By the time it's done steeping, it's cooled off enough that it's easily drinkable without scalding my mouth lol
Similarly, one of my favorite teas--Harney & Sons Cinnamon Spice Tea--needs to be steeped for ~10 minutes in order to develop the deep, rich flavor that I really like. If I'm in a hurry, I use another one of my black teas that only needs to steep for 2-3 minutes.
I've tried green tea, black tea, sleepytime tea (or whatever you call it), orange tea, even little known PITO PITO tea.
All tea's taste like hot water to me...anybody else have that same experience.
Maybe you're not letting it steep enough. Or maybe you're not used to more subtle flavors; do drink a lot of soft drinks, or coffee--strong flavors?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
