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If you'd like to start drinking tea, I heartily recommend the Adagio IngenuiTEA and sample kit to get started. It's dead simple to use and clean, and their tea

by mrkurt 16y ago

If you'd like to start drinking tea, I heartily recommend the Adagio IngenuiTEA and sample kit to get started. It's dead simple to use and clean, and their teas are really reasonably priced: http://www.adagio.com/gifts/holiday_ingenuiTEA.html?SID=094a8e6f6640eda7ad237ce0b678e4f4 http://www.adagio.com/gifts/holiday_ingenuiTEA.html?SID=094a... I'm a giant fan of their Spiced Green and Gunpowder green varieties. Incidentally, if you're anywhere near Chicago they have a retail store in Naperville where they'll brew up any of their teas for you to try. It's fun.

tony584 16y ago
IngenuiTEA is a great way to do it. or you can MacGyver it and just strain the leaves with a cheap strainer. Their Naperville shop is great.
jakevoytko 16y ago
I get most of my tea from Adagio, but I recommend Golden Moon Tea's starter set: http://www.goldenmoontea.com/gifts/tea-taster-s-sampler-with-l-tremain-steeper.html http://www.goldenmoontea.com/gifts/tea-taster-s-sampler-with... It has 31 single-serving sample teas, and a teacup with a strainer. The quality is reasonable, and the variety is spectacular. After finishing it, you'll know which teas you enjoy. I took notes to remind myself which teas I liked and didn't like, but it was worth it. Plus, I still use the teacup and strainer!
- etm117 16y ago
  Another vote for Golden Moon here. I have been using them for about 2 years now. Good tea at reasonable prices. Plus when you buy the bigger sizes (once you find the flavors you like in the starter kit) the leftover tins work for random storage containers.
- larrywright 16y ago
  That looks nice. Is the teacup/strainer good? I like that it's ceramic vs the plastic one from Adagio.
acgourley 16y ago
Seconded on the IngenuiTEA and also their hot water kettle (utiliTEA). My favorite tea there doesn't get a high rating but I've had a pound of it in the last year and still love it. Green Anji: http://www.adagio.com/green/green_anji.html?SID=531a749987021fafbb704c914068e60f http://www.adagio.com/green/green_anji.html?SID=531a74998702... Their masala chai and wuyi ensemble are also both really good.
silentbicycle 16y ago
Adagio is a great tea shop in general, and tea is particularly well suited to mail order. Their tiny sample tins (usually ~1oz for ~$2) are a great way to try several varieties out. If you've got a good local tea shop, definitely give them a try though. They should be able to steer you towards varieties you'll really like. I particularly like lapsang souchong (smoked Chinese black tea), sencha (Japanese green), and Assam (Indian black).
- Alex3917 16y ago
  I don't think there is any one source for the best tea of all genres. For example, my favorite lapsang souchong comes from Grace Rare Teas, my favorite dragon well and most of my favorite black teas come from specialteas.com, and my favorite favorite flavored green tea is the pineapple ginger green tea from Republic of Tea. In general though I recommend specialteas.com, I went through a major tea phase five years ago and they quickly became my favorite web shop. Their organic dragon well is really good, as well as their mount everest blend and their vanilla sunday blend. I also really like mate de coca, which you can now get from Amazon.
  - silentbicycle 16y ago
    Well, I get some good teas from local Korean and Vietnamese grocery stores, but Adagio is a bit more accessible for most people here. :) Roasted barley tea* (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugi-cha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugi-cha) can be pretty good, too, both hot and iced. Korean markets often have big sacks of roasted barley for cheap. The roasted corn tea is also good. * Not really a tea, it's...roasted barley. Surprise surprise. Yerba mate is also good, but deserves a completely separate top-level post.
    - Alex3917 16y ago
      If you like mate then stop by The Mate Factor if you're ever in Ithaca. It's run by a cult whose religion somehow requires them to make the best mate in the world. You have to be part of the religion to work there, so I was seriously thinking about converting for a couple months just to learn how to make some of their drinks and food items.
arvinjoar 16y ago
That's exactly what I've been looking for. My dad always brews his own tea, and he makes like 4-5 cups and then when the tea gets cold he microwaves it in a glass (yeah, not a cup, he's Iranian). Anyway, this is much simpler, I'm lazy and I don't want to brew tea, the cleaning and everything involved takes too much time, so I just use teabags. This seems so much better than teabags since I can use higher quality tea.

by mrkurt 16y ago

tony584 16y ago

IngenuiTEA is a great way to do it. or you can MacGyver it and just strain the leaves with a cheap strainer. Their Naperville shop is great.

jakevoytko 16y ago

I get most of my tea from Adagio, but I recommend Golden Moon Tea's starter set: http://www.goldenmoontea.com/gifts/tea-taster-s-sampler-with-l-tremain-steeper.html http://www.goldenmoontea.com/gifts/tea-taster-s-sampler-with... It has 31 single-serving sample teas, and a teacup with a strainer. The quality is reasonable, and the variety is spectacular. After finishing it, you'll know which teas you enjoy. I took notes to remind myself which teas I liked and didn't like, but it was worth it. Plus, I still use the teacup and strainer!

etm117 16y ago
Another vote for Golden Moon here. I have been using them for about 2 years now. Good tea at reasonable prices. Plus when you buy the bigger sizes (once you find the flavors you like in the starter kit) the leftover tins work for random storage containers.
larrywright 16y ago
That looks nice. Is the teacup/strainer good? I like that it's ceramic vs the plastic one from Adagio.

acgourley 16y ago

Seconded on the IngenuiTEA and also their hot water kettle (utiliTEA). My favorite tea there doesn't get a high rating but I've had a pound of it in the last year and still love it. Green Anji: http://www.adagio.com/green/green_anji.html?SID=531a749987021fafbb704c914068e60f http://www.adagio.com/green/green_anji.html?SID=531a74998702... Their masala chai and wuyi ensemble are also both really good.

silentbicycle 16y ago

Adagio is a great tea shop in general, and tea is particularly well suited to mail order. Their tiny sample tins (usually ~1oz for ~$2) are a great way to try several varieties out. If you've got a good local tea shop, definitely give them a try though. They should be able to steer you towards varieties you'll really like. I particularly like lapsang souchong (smoked Chinese black tea), sencha (Japanese green), and Assam (Indian black).

Alex3917 16y ago
I don't think there is any one source for the best tea of all genres. For example, my favorite lapsang souchong comes from Grace Rare Teas, my favorite dragon well and most of my favorite black teas come from specialteas.com, and my favorite favorite flavored green tea is the pineapple ginger green tea from Republic of Tea. In general though I recommend specialteas.com, I went through a major tea phase five years ago and they quickly became my favorite web shop. Their organic dragon well is really good, as well as their mount everest blend and their vanilla sunday blend. I also really like mate de coca, which you can now get from Amazon.
- silentbicycle 16y ago
  Well, I get some good teas from local Korean and Vietnamese grocery stores, but Adagio is a bit more accessible for most people here. :) Roasted barley tea* (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugi-cha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugi-cha) can be pretty good, too, both hot and iced. Korean markets often have big sacks of roasted barley for cheap. The roasted corn tea is also good. * Not really a tea, it's...roasted barley. Surprise surprise. Yerba mate is also good, but deserves a completely separate top-level post.
  - Alex3917 16y ago
    If you like mate then stop by The Mate Factor if you're ever in Ithaca. It's run by a cult whose religion somehow requires them to make the best mate in the world. You have to be part of the religion to work there, so I was seriously thinking about converting for a couple months just to learn how to make some of their drinks and food items.

arvinjoar 16y ago

That's exactly what I've been looking for. My dad always brews his own tea, and he makes like 4-5 cups and then when the tea gets cold he microwaves it in a glass (yeah, not a cup, he's Iranian). Anyway, this is much simpler, I'm lazy and I don't want to brew tea, the cleaning and everything involved takes too much time, so I just use teabags. This seems so much better than teabags since I can use higher quality tea.