Are Tea Drinkers Second-Class Citizens?

So...are tea drinkers second-class citizens? Forget about the fact that tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, after water. If you live in a coffee-centric society - such as the United States and many others - getting a decent cup of tea when you go out can sometimes be quite tricky.

Chris Mobbs elaborates further on this theme in Coffee Has Spoiled the Tea Party, an opinion piece from the Australian press. He also offers "10 simple rules for eateries" who serve tea or who might be considering it.

What do you think? Are we second-class citizens or just a bunch of whiners?

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The $7 Cup of Tea

Earlier this month, New York Times food critic Frank Bruni kicked off a new feature called That Costs WHAT?!? While the gratuitous punctuation seems...unseemly for such an august publication, it's interesting to note that first of these columns tackled the issue of tea.

Specifically, in this case, the tea served at a joint called BLT Market. While the specifics are not completely clear it seems that this was mint "tea" served in a bag, perhaps of the pyramid type. What's not so unclear is that the bill for this beverage came to $7. While there may be $7 cups of tea out there that are actually worth $7, it's highly likely that this is not one of them.

Features a pretty lively comments section, if you have the stomach for that sort of thing.

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Tea Review 90 - Portsmouth Tea Company (x3)

Irish Breakfast
Satin Oolong
Avalanche Rooibos
Portsmouth Tea Company

The good people at Portsmouth Tea Company sent along samples of a few of their teas recently. Here's my two cents worth.

Irish Breakfast
I haven't run across many breakfast blends that I really liked, but this one was a happy exception. Though they don't get as much attention as other types of tea, a topnotch Assam is a thing of wonder. This "hearty Assam blend" compares favorably with some of the best I've tasted and the tin was empty in no time.

Satin Oolong
I'm still not sure what to make of this one. It's described as a "milk-infused oolong," which means that the leaves are soaked in milk. This gives it a very strong buttery aroma. Not being a fan of butter or its awful aroma, I was put off by it and set it aside for a while. When I finally gave it a go I found that I could get past the aroma and the tea itself was quite good otherwise.

Avalanche Rooibos
Portsmouth calls this one "a delightful combination of apple bits, lemongrass, ginger, orange peels, basil and red pepper." Works for me. I don't care much for rooibos served hot, but I've taken to drinking quite a bit of it iced these days. This made for a nice change of pace from straight up rooibos, though my preference was to tone this one down a bit by mixing the two.


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PG Tips: England's Top Tea Readily Available in US

England's Number 1 Tea Now Easily Available to US Consumers
(from a press release)

Previously, fans of England's number 1 tea had to try and find their favorite brand. Now, the full selection of authentic PG Tips tea can be found at teadog.com, an Internet tea retailer.

English tea drinkers can get PG Tips in 80- and 240-tea bag boxes, PG Tips Decaffeinated in 40- and 80 tea bag boxes, PG Tips Loose in an 8.8 ounce box and PG Tips Special Blend in an 80 tea bag box. Scottish Blend, a blend of PG Tips created for the soft waters of Scotland, also is available.

PG Tips is one of the United Kingdom's top brands and still made in Manchester, England. In the UK, 150 million cups of tea are consumed daily with 35 million being PG Tips tea.

PG Tips was formerly introduced in the 1930s and quickly became one of the United Kingdom's top brands. In 1960, PG Tips in tea bags was introduced. PG Tips Decaffeinated became available in 2004 for tea drinkers preferring a caffeine-free option.

In 2005, PG Tips celebrated its 75th birthday and introduced a special limited edition tea. PG Tips Special Blend Limited Edition Tea was originally intended to be available for a short time. But the tea proved so popular it became a permanent addition to the PG Tips family of tea.

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American Classic First Flush Tea

As noted here a few months ago, the Charleston Tea Plantation ("America’s Only Tea Garden") has begun hosting a First Flush Festival around harvest time each year. This year's event has come and gone, but for now you can still get your hands on some of their First Flush Loose Tea.

The American Classic Tea that's made from leaves grown at the plantation is blended with black teas from elswhere, but the First Flush is 100% American-grown.

For ordering information, click here and scroll about halfway down the page.

Image: Charleston Tea Plantation

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Tea Forté Introduces Tea-over-Ice

Tea Forté Re-Imagines Iced Tea with the Introduction of Tea-over-Ice
(from a press release)

Tea Forté, the innovator of the contemporary tea experience, today announces the re-imagination of iced tea with Tea-Over-Ice. This revolutionary expression of iced tea begins with extravagantly blended tea infusions that are brewed fresh and then flash-chilled using the innovative, sculptural Tea-Over-Ice brewing pitcher. This unique flash-chilling technique locks in the fresh, luscious flavors and healthful antioxidants that have long been associated with hot tea.

At the heart of the Tea-Over-Ice experience are Tea Forté’s signature tea infusions, specially blended for iced tea using nature’s bounty of luscious fruits, healing herbs and flowers. Four Tea-Over-Ice blends have been developed, each delivering an extravagantly delicious taste profile that carefully balances the fruit-forward flavors that are perfectly suited for iced tea.

The Tea-Over-Ice brewing pitchers ($42.00 SRP) and specially blended iced teas ($24.00 SRP for 12 infusers) are available at specialty retailers nationwide beginning April 16, 2008. For more information or for online purchase please visit Tea Forte.

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Unhealthy Tea Drinks & Prison Tea

What's the unhealthiest tea-based drink? Men's Health magazine recently weighed in on The 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America and offered up a few thoughts on the matter.

Their nomination for Worst Tea-Like Substance went to SoBe Zen Tea. For Worst Iced Tea they gave the nod to Lipton Iced Brisk Lemon Iced Tea. Worst Chai Tea Drink? That would be Caribou Coffee Large Chai Tea Latte. The Worst Drink in America, by their reckoning, has nothing to do with tea. It's the Baskin-Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.

Speaking of tea-like substances, here's an article from a gardening expert that expounds on the question - Can Instant Tea Kill Weeds?

From the other side of the Atlantic, here's an article about a tea bar at Winchester prison that's staffed by volunteers from the local area. For more on tea and prisons, refer to this article, which discusses Russian prison tea, also known as chifir. It's a high-octane drink that's most definitely not for the fainthearted.

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