Teas

[idun]

Has anyone ever found a tisane in France that was in any way nice.  Every time I bought them they would smell wonderful, but the taste was always, well, what taste, any flavour in the hot liquid was practically non existent.

As so many people I know in France drink tisanes, seems strange that they are so awful. Since we found that Twinnings make them that not only smell wonderful but are also absolutely full of flavour, I take them back for french friends and my son.

Strangely I love the flavoured proper tea from France, Liptons (never seen it in the UK). I do not like their 'ordinary' tea at all, but I just love their The au caramel and The Mangue Passion.  So I get a few boxes brought or sent to me in the UK.

Tea is important to me, if my friends love their glass (or bottle) of wine, well, I love my tea.

[minnie]

You're right there idun. I do get the bio chamomile here which is drinkable. What I like to buy in UK is the pukka three ginger tea which seems readily available in most supermarkets but is pricey if bought through amazon. I manage to get the Twinings the vert here and that is what I have during the early part of the day with the chamomile later. Makes for a restful sleep. At max I'll have 2 cups of coffee a day, the last one immediately after lunch.

[nectarine]

My husband only drinks tisanes and has never found a fruity one that tastes like it smells! So all he drinks are the spicey Yogi teas (http://www.yogitea.fr/uk/products) which we can sometimes find in bio shops but we tend to order directly from the website. The best ones, that are really full of flavour, are Sweet Chilli, Classic, ChocoChilli, Men's Tea, Licorice Mint. They smell lovely and really do have a strong flavour although we leave the teabag in while we're drinking them.

[Hereford]

I love Lipton's "Infusion Séduction Cranberry" (French).  Good flavour.

[Val_2]

I like the Tilleul Citron infusion by Elephant at the moment, it is certainly full of flavour and tastes like hot sherbet lemon sweets. However the downside is that the teabag itself is very slimy when you remove it from the cup.

[Chancer]

But for the French, smell is taste, they always smell something first and if it doesnt please nothing you can do will persuade them to give it a taste, in their eyes they have already tasted it.

Ask someone to gouter something and all they will do is smell it, except of course anything made by my own foreign hands they dont even want to smell [:'(]

TBH I think the tisanes could taste of sh*t and they wouldnt even notice, by all accounts many do.

Not forgetting that tea or tisane must also come in a poncy sachet and be presented to them to choose from other poncy taste of nothing brews in a presentation box.

My favorite is Hambleden Tea's Spice Delight, I became very partial to it during detox at the boot camp, I havn't had any for a very long time so will try and order some for delivery right now.

[idun]

Tea is very dear to me, and I thought it would make a change of subject from all the politics and old resurrected threads.

Over the years I have tried all sorts of teas and now have my current favourites, daresay they will change eventually, but for now I am very happy with what I sup.

[Kong]

Tea is the only thing I still get from the UK. I had french guests who had toured some Indian tea plantations and seen the harvesting and packaging of tea. They told me all the good tea was sent to the UK - the rest went to other european countries!

Assam for me and Lapsang Souchong from China. Everywhere I've sourced it in France it has been stale.

[lindal1000]

Tetley for us, from UK! I think all herbal teas and tissanes taste revolting wherever they are from. Our English neighbour has developed a taste for the réglisse/ menthe one, which I find bearable, along with mint tea from UK. I used to like black tea with cardamom , I think it's a north African drink and quite refreshing. If you really want a proper tisane, the best thing to do is to pick the actual leaves and brew them in boiling water. The trouble with a lot of fruit teas is they just taste to me of artificial flavouring.

[Pommier]

I'm with you on that Lindal1000 - Tetley or PG Tips are 'proper' tea to me! I've tried fruit flavoured infusions and although they smell OK, they taste unpleasant to me.

[NormanH]

I enjoy mint and the mint/réglisse combination both of which I find do wonders for a funny tummy.

Other wise I like Green tea (you can get tins of Gunpowder in Carrefour).

If not I know a café that serves Yorkshire tea and tea-cakes ..[:D]

[Loiseau]

Tetleys or PG Tips for me, too! Though I rather liked some "Lady Grey" tea that I was served, milkless, in France.

I can't bear the fruit teas, but quite enjoy an infusion of mint. Oh, and

I like one of the "Nuit Calme" range, in the blue packaging.

Angela

[Chancer]

I've got some of those! Nuit Tranquille, I've put one on now so we will see how I sleep, mind you after what I did today I'm sure I will.

I started off with an 18k cross country race then I kayaked along the same route for 12K, sort of intended doing the same route by bike this evening to make mini triathlon but enough was enough, I was sunburnt.

I also ate my first baguette sandwich since giving up bread 3 years ago, twas nice but hard on my now weakened teeth.

[idun]

I love Lady Grey tea, without milk and earl grey too.

Holland and Barratt sell Nightime and I quite enjoy that too, camomile, spearmint, etc etc and it quite a pleasant bed time drink.

In the NE of England we have a very good tea from a company called Ringtons, best made in a pot and very tasty, as are their biscuits, their ginger biscuits are as good as any home made I have ever had, including mine.

[vivienz]

I usually drink Earl Grey - Twinings for preference as most of the own brands seem to skimp on the bergamot flavouring.  A while ago, Twinings made a limited edition tea called 'rose garden' and it was lovely, like Turkish delight tea.  For normal black tea, I think that Yorkshire gold takes some beating, especially if it's the loose tea.

Tisanes are so often disappointing, but Elephant make one, 'ligne et equilibre' which is yet to make me lovely and slim, but does reduce my caffeine intake.  It has rosehip, lemongrass and elderflower, which make for a nice combination.  The ingredient I always avoid in herbal teas is liquorice root.  I love liquorice, but find that this makes everything much too sweet for my taste.

[JeanS]

My OH only drinks Assam and gallons of it, so I always bring boxes of it with me. I prefer rooibos tea Dragonfly preferably, they also make Earl Grey which is really nice -  - no milk or sugar. Carrefour do a rooibos & vanilla which is OK for when I run out  I agree that most of the fruit teas/tisanes smell nice but the taste is lost somewhere. I drink lemon and ginger in the morning followed by Nuit Calme Drainage & élimination - which isn't too bad. 

[Pierre ZFP]

Karl Marx only ever drank things like fruit teas

Because as he said

All proper tea is theft  [;-)]

[YCCMB]

As I stopped drinking proper tea (like Karl Marx ? ) about 3 years ago, I've sampled a wide of alternatives since.

My teas of choice at the moment are Dragonfly Rooibos Earl Grey or their Rooibos Vanilla, or Pukka three mint.

I've also been driven to search for alternatives when in France and have found Lidl's flavoured green teas or Jasmine tea to be OK.

I'm also a big fan of the Tea Pig range....I just can't afford to drink them on a regular basis!

[Pierre ZFP]

I work with someone that only drinks Green Tea as it's 'much better for you than black tea'

He was astounded when I told him it was the same thing from the same plant, it's just that tea is usually allowed to oxidise in the sun for a couple of days so the tannin turns to tannin oxide which also increases the flavour.

[YCCMB]

It's also (the leaving out in the sun thing) what destroys the catechins which are the antioxidants that are ostensibly beneficial.

Personally, I prefer Rooibos anyway. ?