• mitchty@lemmy.sdf.org
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      3 months ago

      Ok I’ll bite, I’ve had Brit coworkers try to draw me into their tea cult with Yorkshire tea which they “promised” me was like crack in a cup.

      Note before you say I didn’t make it right I have an electric tea kettle with options for all tea types and I steep things like black tea for 4 minutes as is recommended.

      It was… ok, not worth the bother if I’m honest. I’ll stick to matcha or Japanese green tea personally.

      But I will yeet any British tea into the nearest harbor out of spite to being told tea is the best beverage ever.

      • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I am sorry… They gave you Yorkshire tea and expected you to be impressed? Please tell me you are joking.

        In Canadian equivalent it’s like trying to take a foreigner to Tim Hortons. Just because it’s the historical cheap swill choice of the masses one participates in out of habit doesn’t mean it is objectively good.

        • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          To be honest, Yorkshire Gold is probably the best black tea you can get in US grocery stores. I have some kind of weird tannin sensitivity that causes it and most grocery store black teas to be painfully bitter, but it’s a nice “try this and see what you think” tea.

        • mitchty@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 months ago

          Yes and not joking. They were from Leeds if that matters but even if it’s the timmies of black tea they’re the ones to blame. I tried I mean I love jasmine tea and green teas and black teas it’s just tea though not a cult.

          It wasn’t bad just if I can invoke a phrase from my grandma it’s acceptable.

          • Drivebyhaiku@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Yeah, but if you are trying to actually impress someone it’s not where you start. I buy Yorkshire when I am hard up for cash because I am already addicted to black tea and it’s ridiculously cheap but in the realm of tea in general it’s equivalent to the same supermarket coffees.

            If you actually want to hook someone you give them the good stuff first to show them the experience to aspire. If it’s coffee go to a roaster, buy whole bean, grind it yourself before brew and use good technique in prep or go to a shop that knows their shit to do it all for you. If it’s tea go and spring for a loose leaf properly sealed, pay attention to steep time and ideal water temp. You want to see their eyes shine when they take their first sip with the realization of a new word opening up.

            Give it like a few years and they’ll drink Yorkshire of their own volition. If you didn’t grow up with tea as a nostalgia you got to traverse a barrier and create a memory they want to relive in another way.

            • Denjin@lemmings.world
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              3 months ago

              Actually having to search out specially selected obscure teas, relatively expensive equipment and follow stringent instructions on how to correctly prepare something will put most people off.

              If someone wants to learn to play the guitar you don’t go out and spend 1000s on a top of the range guitar and amp and pay Dave Grohl to give you lessons. You get a beginner level rig and see if you like it first, then graduate onto refining.

      • the_toast_is_gone@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I prefer loose-leaf tea as well. I can’t tell whether I prefer a sweet and relaxing cup of silver needle or a whiskey-strength brew of gyokuro. Genmaicha with matcha dust during a work day is a great little escape, and you can’t go wrong with a big-leaf Chinese black tea.

        Ironically, the Brits conquered the world only to shut themselves out of every culture they could have learned from.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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        3 months ago

        Irish blends tend to be better, IMO. Better yet, a good Yunnan black or pu ehr. Must Yunnan blacks that I’ve tried so far even stand up to milk quite well.

        • mitchty@lemmy.sdf.org
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          3 months ago

          If you’ve a recommendation shoot your shot I’m willing to try it. I do refuse to steep black tea for a minute like they said, tastes like piss at that point and my tea ducky infuser gives me the look of disapproval.

          • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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            3 months ago

            Happy to make some recommendations. What flavors do you like and are you attached to tea bag/infuser or are you interested in gong fu/multi-infusion?

            • mitchty@lemmy.sdf.org
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              3 months ago

              Jasmine, green and black generally are my go tos. I’m only attached to the tea ducky infuser just so I can sing the rubber ducky song while it infuses tea if I’m honest. I’ve no clue what the latter words mean if I’m honest. I’m a simple man, drip coffee and loose leaf tea or bags is fine by me.

      • jpeps@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        I think people are overselling it. Typical British tea isn’t amazing and it isn’t trying to be. It’s more like a simple slice of bread and butter when you’re feeling peckish but there’s nothing else to eat. It just hits the spot. Once you’ve acquired the taste, you experience it differently. Spend an hour walking home in the rain, get home and change into your jammies, then curl up on the sofa with a nice cuppa. Then it’s amazing.