Tips for becoming a tea person

Water temperature, dose, and steeping time definitely affect the quality of the finished cup. I’d recommend looking up guidelines for the particular tea you are drinking.

*don’t worry about the people who say it is odd to care about these things. They’ll love your tea.

I'm sure there'll be plenty of the European (mostly British) side of Tea drinking, so I'll talk about the Chinese style of tea drinking.

Starting with the differences, tea in china is typically brewed loose leaf, and differently from British loose leaf, an intact leaf is prized. Tea is brewed in a very small vessel - maybe 1/4rd of a cup - and brewed for a short amount of time. The tea is brewed multiple times - for something like a pu'er, that can be 10+ steeps. The person making the tea adjusts the brew time by taste over time.

There are a few varieties of tea:

Green Tea is the most commonly drunk type of tea. It needs to be fresh, and every spring the newest crop is the most prized.

White Tea is a Green Tea but with even less processing. Almost nothing more than the tea leaves after being dried. The herbal and grassy notes are amplified.

Red Tea is what most Brits would call black tea. It's oxidized and has a deeper, richer taste.

Raw Pu'er is a fermented type of tea with a smooth, deeper, almost nutty taste. I would wager almost no white people have ever tasted this, despite being fairly popular in China.

Ripe Pu'er is a more deeply fermented type of tea. The flavor is very strong, and has an almost earthy note to it. Often dried orange peels are added. Often recommended as a substitute for coffee because of strength of flavor.

No milk or sugar is added, as that masks the flavor.

I was just mocked for weighing tea...

I would say that this is somewhat in the culture. Chinese tea, unlike coffee, is a elongated experience. Coffee is brewed once - therefore, precision is required to get the optimal extraction. Tea is not like that. A tea master does not measure how much tea they use, because they don't need to. They change the length of the brew time based on taste. If they added "too much" in the first steep, in the next steep the steep time will be shorter, and vice versa. It's a "feel it" kind of thing, rather than the chemical precision of coffee brewing.

As for where to buy it online, this is a tea shop run by a youtuber https://jessesteahouse.com. Prices are very high, but shipping is better, the tea is high quality, and you get more instructions about how to use it.

For a more wholesale experience, go to https://yunnansourcing.com.

I'll drink upwards of 10 teas a day, though largely your standard fare. The Earl or something Yorkshirey, so perhaps not the sort of artisinal thing you're after.

I would advocate for oatmilk as - generally - the optimum plant milk for a brew.

As a coffee person (but nowhere near as enthusiastic), I find most teas very light in flavor.

For something very, very different that impressed me, try spearmint tea. We cold brew it sometimes and it's wonderful on ice for a refreshing drink.

American south phoning in - iced black tea is very good without any sweetener or milk. If you find it too bitter, mint or lemon can be a good addition.

That said, the thing that's worked for me getting off of Diet Dr Pepper was separating caffeine and hydration. Now I just drink (a ton of) seltzer water and take a caffeine pill every morning. Everything just works better when I'm properly hydrated.

I like herbal teas, which you can often sweeten to enhance the flavor. My suggestion would be to see if you can get a sampler pack of a bunch of different kinds and narrow it down to a few you could see yourself drinking a bunch of. Try varying preparation with sweetener or nondairy milks to see what you like most.

Also, tea doesn't always benefit from steeping in boiling water. Different temperatures are recommended for different teas, as are different steeping lengths. Covering while steeping can also be beneficial (I just found this out in the last year or so and I'm still bad about actually doing it).

I agree with redbearsam that oat milk is often great for tea. I also like soy milk. But not every tea needs added creaminess! I rarely add milk to tea myself, unless I'm going for a tea latte situation.

Tea snob here with the hot takes. You want to check out gong-fu cha, and more broadly Asian tea cultures over the British tea culture that prevails in the Anglosphere. China cultivated tea for millennia; tea is a widely varied affair there with a huge gamut of varieties. Britain was introduced to it a few centuries ago as an import that would have hung off the musty ass of a horse for months through sun and rain while it would have crossed the silk road. It's no surprise that they're only into black (i.e. the most oxidized) tea varietals that they then have to add cream and sugar to to make palatable. And screw the haters, measure your tea. I'll measure my tea, water volume, water temperature (definitely get yourself a variable temperature electric kettle), brew durations and brew numbers. It all helps refine and improve the experience.

P.S. There are other caffeinated beverages too you might like to consider for coffee alternatives besides tea. I also enjoy yerba mate. It brews like a tea but is not made from the leaves of camellia sinensis and thereby, like other herbal infusions, is not a tea.

If you’re into the fancy coffee shit, you’ll find that you can get just as (if not more) fancy with tea. Shame on whoever mocked you for weighing your tea; they clearly don’t know how complex the tea world is (:

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world, just behind water. There are plenty of ways to enjoy it, and it’s difficult to say where to start. If you’re serious about learning more, stay away from herbal teas or flavored blends (unless that’s something that interests you, of course); those aren’t necessarily “tea”. All tea (green, black, white, oolong, etc.) is made from the same plant, just prepared differently. It’s crazy how different flavors the flavors can be, depending on where the leaf is grown and how it’s processed.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, I’d recommend Harney & Sons if you’re located in the US. I started with their Golden Monkey (black tea) and Jasmine (green tea), and that sent me on a journey of tea discovery that’s lasted years and I’ve still got plenty to learn. Drink the tea plain, follow the recommended volumes and brewing times, and I hope you’ll find some pleasant flavors.

I’ve only been drinking tea “seriously” for five or six years now, but I’m happy to answer any other questions you have! I’m always astounded at how deep the tea rabbit hole goes, and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed while on your coffee break. Just keep in mind that tea does contain caffeine (varied depending on type), and it’s never going to taste as strong as coffee. It’s just as enjoyable, but they’re not 1:1 substitutes.

Firstly, I'd recommend reading this Serious Eats article, it's a great article that has what you're looking for and then some. The best bit of advice from the article though is to forgo tea bags, because they kinda suck for any "proper" cups of tea. Rule of thumb is that the lighter in colour the cup of tea is, the more the quality of the leaves matters, which is why the brits can get away with pretending that their shitty English black tea tastes good when they steep it for 10 minutes in boiling water to remove any hint of delicacy in flavour - It was never going to taste good regardless of how abused those poor tea leaves get.

I'm personally a Japanese green tea kinda person. I'll give a quick primer but there are tons of resources out there - Tezumi is a good site for getting into tea brewing (they also sell tea in the US, have never bought from them myself but I've heard generally good things).

The two main types of Japanese green tea that you're likely to find in the West are Sencha and Matcha. Matcha is its own thing and it's become really trendy as a flavouring these days - Personally I'm ambivalent on it, I enjoy it when it's made "properly", i.e. as a hot cup of tea in the traditional manner, but it's not a daily thing for me. It comes in a powdered form and you can probably find it in somewhere in your area.

Sencha, on the other hand, is the more standard form of tea, its name literally meaning "daily tea". It takes the form of green tea leaves, you steep them in water at ~70C for maybe a minute, and you can get multiple cups out of the same pot of leaves. It's my personal go-to. Unfortunately it's not the easiest thing to find locally; or rather, it's hard to find stuff that's local and good, most Asian stores will probably sell Chinese-grown sencha which is universally rubbish. You can order from a ton of places online, I've had good experiences with O-cha.

Will give an honourable mention to Genmaicha also, a type of sencha that contains toasted rice grains. The toasted rice flavour is really quite strong, so it was traditionally made out of lower-quality tea leaves, sort of like adding a mixer to a shitty whiskey. Which isn't to say that genmaicha tastes bad though, I really enjoy it and it's probably the easiest type to find in the West, so pick some up if you can. You brew it essentially the same as a normal sencha, maybe a little bit hotter, 75C or so for a first infusion.

Japanese green tea isn't for everyone, some people describe it as having an almost "fishy" taste, which I've personally never noticed, but there is definitely a sort of "vegetable-like" taste in certain types, particularly deep-steamed teas, namely fukamushi - There are different types of sencha based on how they're steamed, or if they've been placed in shade while growing (notably Gyokuro, arguably the fanciest green tea out there), but I'll save that for the 201 class. I quite like the taste, it has a strong umami flavour.

My one and only gripe with Japanese green tea is that it's particularly high in caffiene compared to other teas. Not nearly as high per ml as a cup of coffee, of course, but high enough that my dumb caffiene-hypersensitive body starts getting jittery and anxious after 3 or 4 cups, and the dream of an afternoon tea break is unreachable for me unless I feel like going to sleep at 4am. Probably not an issue if you're accustomed to coffee of course, but worth keeping in mind.

As for teaware, you can go fancy, or you can just, well, not. Personally I own a kyusu, a small Japanese teapot that I use exclusively for my green teas, but before that I used a simple mesh ball infuser and it worked alright (you want the tea leaves to have a large area to spread out in as they brew, helps with flavour). A generic porcelain teapot will work fine too, provided you have some kind of filter to keep the tea leaves from spilling out. If you feel like investing in an all-purpose bit of teaware, I'd go with a gaiwan, it's the most basic form of brewing vessel and you can probably find them relatively cheaply online.

Any top tips for getting into tea? I was just mocked for weighing tea... I guess that isn't as important in this scene.

Not at all! I always weigh loose leaf tea for the first few pots of a new packet. Different teas tend to have slightly different densities, normally when I open a new packet of tea leaves for the first time I weigh until I have a sense of how much is in a teaspoon's worth of leaves, after which I just go by feel. It's not a huge deal, you can mess around with tea/water ratios for any amount of leaves, but I like the same cup every time, more or less, so I sometimes weigh it.

I'm deep into both coffee and loose leaf (Chinese, Japanese, etc) tea. You can dive as deep in as you want or stay on the surface- all up to you.

Lapsang Souchong is nice, especially when the smoke is subtle and balanced and not overpowering (for me anyways). There's also a less common unsmoked Lapsang I've tried before that was nice.

I don't think weighing is strange at all actually. A lot of tea enthusiasts do weigh their tea out before brewing (some might eventually get to the point where they eyeball it, but weighing isn't out of the ordinary). I've seen plenty of "gongfu tea" enjoyers weigh the tea. Now, I'm sure that may be a less common experience in China, but for Westerners brewing loose leaf Chinese tea, I've more often seen scales than not and plenty of loose leaf tea vendors sell scales too

As others have said, lots of the same parameters as coffee (temperature, brew/steeping style and time, etc) that massively affect the taste, and depends on the type of tea, etc.

My favorite vendors tend to be Yunnan Sourcing (they have a .US site for separate warehousing in the US if that's closer to you), New Mexico Tea Co, White2Tea, Bitterleaf Teas, and Liquid Proust (admittedly this is more a boutique/experimental vendor), among a few others too. Note that the ones based in China can take some time to get the tea to you- and the tariff situation has made things messy- though a lot of vendors now do a special type of shipping where they cover any tariff costs to simplify things- just make sure to double-check any vendor- if you go down this road (or stick to vendors that have stock more geographically convenient to you)

99% of my tea experience is of loose leaf, plain/non-flavored teas, brewed either gongfu style or long steeps (Western style) in a teapot, I also don't add milk or anything- which I think is going to be more common with red/black tea and typical Western tea consumption- nothing wrong with it of course, but it's definitely optional. As opinionated about it all as I may be- the best tea is the tea you like to drink- so if that means adding milk, honey, or enjoying a flavored tea, or an herbal tisane, then more power to you

All that to say, there's multiple paths/roads to go down for enjoying tea, including as a coffee replacement, so find what works for you. All depends on what you want out of it (new hobby? deep dive? nerdy? or just a coffee replacement you can make without thinking about it, etc)

As a bone fide tea heathen, I grew up with iced tea as the preferred drink with meals. (It's a Southern US and Texas tradition). Originally, we'd have tea so sweet that the sugar would recrystallize on the sides of the glass, but I've grown out of that phase. Well, my body can't take high doses of sugar anymore, so it was a necessity.

Many of us in these regions still brew tea so strong that it can float horseshoe nails, but don't judge all of us for that. And no one I know is a connoisseur. Most still use plain Lipton's black tea. I find it both weak and bitter, which is a weird combination of flaws. I prefer Tetley British Blend, which is also a black tea.

Can't say as I care for hot tea very much. I'll drink one or two cups of it a year, in contrast to the five or six glasses of iced tea a day that I consume. Hot green tea with Chinese food is fine, though again, a rare drink for me.

I'm far more into the world of specialty coffee and barely understand tea but I can give you some tips from the perspective of someone who is deep into coffee. And when I mean deep, I mean right now I'm playing around with low pressure "soup shots" and low temp pour overs on lighter roasts but when it comes to tea, I just want something that's tasty when it's cold outside. Here's what works for me

1. Absolutely measure your tea the way you do your coffee. I'm using 1:100 which works fairly well for the tea I have

2. Temperatures generally works backwards from coffee. Darker teas, either from smoking or oxidation or another process, need higher temps ( I use 185F) while lighter teas use lower temps ( I use 170F for my green teas). However, like with coffee, increasing temp can also increase the presence of less desirable compounds like tannins. So if you want a stronger brew, use more tea

3. Brew times will vary depending on tea type and generally speaking, darker or herbal teas need longer steep times. Like wise, steeping longer isn't advised for "stronger tea" , just use more tea. In addition, many good teas can be steeped multiple times though I don't know how to determine which teas this works for and every time I've gone for a second steep, it's come out tasting like water, even when I try expensive stuff (yes I know expensive =/= good)

4. Absolutely drink your tea without sugar or dairy. I drink my coffee this way and I like my tea this way as well.

5. Caffeine is also kind of reversed in tea. Darker teas, unlike darker roasted coffee, have more caffeine in the cup than lighter tea. My understanding is lighter teas like green have more caffeine in the leaf but extraction at lower temp = less caffeine. The exception would be roasted teas like hojicha which have low caffeine since caffeine is heat labile.

Personally, I really enjoy east asian teas, particularly from China and Taiwan. When it comes to buying teas, I buy from adagio which has worked well for me over the last decade. I also use this tea infuser which I like as the infuser is easy to clean and the 24 oz size easily allows me to brew 500 ml of tea. As others have mentioned, use a variable temp kettle and I assume you already have a variable temp goose neck kettle. Personally, I find that my Fellow Stag EKG pours far too slowly for tea so I use the Fellow Corvo EKG and just use the same heating base. There are probably some other options options out there but if you have the money, the convenience of swapping out my Stagg for the Corvo is pretty nice.

I’ve replaced morning coffee with tea, but I have always liked tea. I still have espresso sometimes after lunch at the office, or the occasional cappuccino on a weekend (oat milk, I don’t drink regular milk and avoid most dairy).

I have always been a fan of Japanese green tea. Sencha is my go-to. It’s affordable compared to some fancier ones. I’ll be honest, I don’t pay too close attention to brew time or quantity. I have a measuring spoon of it but I’m not sure if I am using enough or too much. It feel fine to me. Tastes good if I don’t forget it in there for too long. As with cooking I kinda just go with my gut feeling and improvise. I’m sure it’s better if you do respect the ratio, the water temperature, and the steep duration.

The other tea I like is Earl Gray. I don’t add milk, but I do like adding a bit of sugar sometimes.

Regarding dairy, while I know it's common to add milk to tea in many cultures, you don't have to. My family never adds milk to their tea and we drink tea pretty frequently. It's just a personal choice.

I do not consider myself a tea person at all, so I don't have much more to add but I think the old adage of "it's all preference" reigns supreme here. The best tea is the one you like, so don't try too hard to be a "tea person" so to speak, and more so try to find what you enjoy.

I'm no tea connoisseur, but I don't discriminate in my love for caffeine, and decided to pick up some tea for work as I work night shifts and the coffee at my work is god awful.

I've been buying and consuming Yogi tea, and enjoy it. I'm sure more knowledgeable people can offer more specific recommendations, but for a starting point, I've been quite pleased with it!

I'm also a person who is working to get into tea, in my case to avoid caffeine. I got a sampler with a ton of different flavors at first and it helped a lot.

I still don't much care for plain tea, but there are a wide variety of flavors out there though, both herbal and caffeinated, and they made it easier for me to transition into tea. I used to not like the chai or anything with cinnamon, but when I started out I loved the lemon teas because I think drinking lemon is more familiar.

I also make a thing out of the tea ritual. Get a cup I really like, relax and prep the tea as a timeout in the day.

*sips on a steamy cup of decaf earl grey.

There are a lot of reasons, occasions, or urges that drive tea consumption, so I think any good advice will need to resonate with you and what you're into/hoping for. Personally, I drink a shit load of tea. Half my drinks during the day are tea, and probably 80% in the winter months. But that doesn't mean I drink one thing all day. Clumping tea into one category is harder to do that clumping all coffee into one category. Outside of "tea" ass "tea - english breakfast, oolong, green, etc - there are so many plants, fruits, herbs, and spices that make up tea. So before saying "I want to supplement my coffee drinking with tea" maybe think of what tea you might want when.

In the morning I drink much brighter, punchier teas: Earl Grey, Gunpowder, Toasted Rice, etc. Things that get me going and moving outside. Often later in the day I'll grab for an herbal tea - hibiscus or peppermint - to mellow out or help me digest post meal. And I'll always end the day with something calming: Camomile, Sleepy time, or Lavender. Different times of the day call for different things, so the teas change accordingly.

It's the same with seasons. In the winter or fall, I'll often reach for more spiced and fruity flavors: Winter fruit (apple, lavender, and cinnamon), Mulling spices, orange peel, etc. In the spring I'll got for bright and fragrant options: lemon grass/ginger, roobios, mint, green tea, etc. So beyond just thinking about what time of day it is, I'll take into account how the climate feels.

And then there is the question of utility with my tea drinking. Am I sick? Then I'm going to grab some fresh ginger to crush up. Or maybe I'm just doing lemon and honey. Or hell, am I really stuffed up, maybe I'll combine all that and throw some whiskey in. Or maybe I have a sore throat. Sounds like it's time for licorice based throat coat. Am I constipated? Time for some Peppermint and Senna Root. That'll clear me out. Or maybe I'm just trying to wake up. A big cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast will do the trick.

My advice is to have many kinds and blends on hand at all times. Because there will be a moment when your "go to" tea won't sound good, but one of the others might. If you can find a store that sells by the pound, bring lots of little mason jars or tins, and just go ham. If it's a fun exciting thing, vs a poor replacement for coffee, I think you'll find it to be a better experience. Tea gets a bad wrap because people experience tepid, shitty, boring tea. Find the ones that speak to you and I think it'll be an easy swap!

I'm a big coffee guy and I really don't like tea.

The only tea I can tolerate is cinammon with bay leaf. Pot of water, two sticks of cinammon, five bay leaves. Usually takes about an hour to boil.

As mentioned, European tea styles tend to be bagged with milk and/or sugar to taste, but I've always been a black/straight tea drinker, usually. I got into Chinese tea in various formats but these days lean heavily on grandpa-style (take a bunch of leaves in a larger cup, fill with hot water, drink over time, top off when you near the bottom). I actually have a 1L beer mug I fill with like 5g of leaves, pour water in (heat depends on temp, oolongs get 195F, greens get 175 usually), and have a good time with it.

Any top tips for getting into tea? I was just mocked for weighing tea... I guess that isn't as important in this scene.

Experiment. Get that one tin on Amazon, go to a specialty store (online or in-person), find what you want to try. Many people in the west who enjoy Chinese tea will us a company like Yunnan Sourcing (with a Chinese and US warehouse, .com/.us respectively)), for relatively well-priced well-sourced tea.

As others have said, find what you want. I prefer plain, whole-leaf Chinese and Assam (Indian-derived) tea and some Japanese varietals, but there's a lot of blends, flavors, preparations, etc.