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OogieBoogie Agreed, and tea (as well as coffee), at least for me, needs to be raised to an art form... or at least not casual. I've never, with the exception of Japanese Green Tea, been much of a tea drinker... hot tea anyway. Even then, I had to play with it a bit to give it a boost in flavor. Basically I use about half again as much leaf as is the usual.
I do though like ice tea, but again, I want to get a bit more kick out of it and am struggling to get that without the bitterness of longer stepped tea. That's why I went to a cold brew method (much longer brewing time with the bitterness of hot brewing for longer periods), and am playing with the exact brand/type of tea to get the flavor and not the bitterness. I bought a small box of the Lipton many were suggesting and have tried it - nope, not it.
I am now, after your wrote of it, interested in the Russian Caravan, more specifically the idea of the mix you mentioned. Does the lapsang impart the smokiness or is it the mixture of the black tea and the lapsang that does it? I drink quantities of ice tea... like a couple of quarts a day, so I'd probably be able to buy in bulk with it going stale. Loose leaf I use around 70 grams of leaf every day to day and a half... so lots of tea :).
I like the idea of maybe flavoring it with Raspberry - is there a liquid flavoring one can use or do you use raspberries in some form?
In the mornings I'm still a coffee person, but I take the time to brew espresso and often carry on to make a nice cappuccino. That's my Zen moment for the day... a tranquil time to savor the hot brewed flavor and let the mind wander peacefully.
Thank you for taking the time to share your tea musings and experiences. I quite enjoyed reading the words - sort of felt as if we were sharing a cup and talking about it.
Oh, I do indeed use airtight glass containers to store the tea. Only way to go! I do the same for my coffee... airtight to seal in the flavor!
