Any expert tea drinkers out there?

Ghot · Dec 4, 2022

I just ordered this tea. I normally drink Twinings Black Currant tea, which I love, but I figured I'd try this one.

Ahmad Black Currant tea

The most horrible taste in my 66 years. You can see from the Amazon reviews... 87% of 2,192 reviews were 5 stars.
Because of all the great reviews, I figure maybe it's something genetic.

In 9th grade Biology, we were discussing weird genetic differences among people. Like... some people can roll their tongues, some can't. Some people have attached earlobes, some don't. And some people have an extra set of taste buds for extreme bitterness.
They passed out these little strips of paper, which we were supposed to taste.
About 80% of the class couldn't taste a thing, the other 20% wanted to rip their tongue out. I was one of the 20% group. :/

I'm guessing that maybe that's why that tea tastes horrible to me?
Packing date: 07/2021 Best by: 07/2024
All the teabags are individually sealed in foil wrappers.

After tasting that tea, it was so horrible I gargled with Listerine.
I'm half way through a cup of Bigelow Raspberry tea, and I can STILL taste that Ahmad tea, that I only took one sip of.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this?
Or has anyone ever heard of tea.... going bad??

cereberus · Dec 4, 2022

Well, as a Brit, Tea is part of our culture. Tea comes from the Camellia shrub, and it is a joke (in my personal opinion) to classify fruit/other beverages as Tea.

The only thing they have in common is some (often manky) leaves that have hot water poured on them.

Yeah, and you have proved some of these beverages are disgusting.

Although I never drink these beverages, I will say if it comes from Twinings it will always be better quality (hence why you like it) but other brands like Liptons (even for real Tea) are rubbish.

Even when it comes to real Tea, I really detest Earl Grey which tastes like lavender. Give me an Assam or Darjeeling any time (Assam being more bitter, Darjeeling more gentle).

Like all Brits, I always put a packet of decent Tea in my suitcase when travelling.

Of course, there is nothing like tea made from actual leaves in a teapot served with toasted teacakes and butter or with scones (with sultanas), strawberry jam and Cornish clotted cream.

PS I hate coffee as I am allergic to it.

z3r010 · Dec 4, 2022

Fruit tea FFS :eyeroll:

Ghot · Dec 4, 2022

@z3r010
I don't put any cream or sugar in tea. Twinings Black Currant has just a hint of... other.
I've tried most of Twinings offerings.
Otherwise I pretty much only drink black or green tea.

@cereberus

Of course, there is nothing like tea made from actual leaves...

In the US, unless you're IN a city... there's really no tea-shops to experiment in.
And buying "leaves" online is kind of difficult with no experimentation, first.

Winuser · Dec 5, 2022

My wife's favorite is Newman's Own Organic Green Tea. We buy it at the Acme super market. I'm a diehard coffee drinker. No cream, no sugar and I want it hot.

cereberus · Dec 5, 2022

Ghot said:
@z3r010
I don't put any cream or sugar in tea. Twinings Black Currant has just a hint of... other.
I've tried most of Twinings offerings.
Otherwise I pretty much only drink black or green tea.

@cereberus

In the US, unless you're IN a city... there's really no tea-shops to experiment in.
And buying "leaves" online is kind of difficult with no experimentation, first.

Well, it was you guys who threw the Tea in the water in Boston, Maybe some crates still exist?

Ghot · Dec 5, 2022

cereberus said:
Of course, there is nothing like tea made from actual leaves

cereberus said:
Well, it was you guys who threw the Tea in the water in Boston, Maybe some crates still exist?

I bought 6x 20pks of the tea. It says sold in London, packaged in United Arab Emirates.

slava · Sep 15, 2023

I've a cousin who lives in Sunny Scunny and she will only drink Lipton's tea.

antspants · Sep 16, 2023

My wife is a big tea drinker, you’d laugh at the whole section of the pantry stuffed with all kinds of tea.

dencal · Sep 16, 2023

Tea = Liquid defused by the dehydrated leaf of tea sinensis with the addition of bovine lacteal fluid + sugar for those with a sweet tooth.

antspants · Sep 17, 2023

My wife last night “Can you make me a tea?” “Sure, which one?” “The one with the blue tag in the corner of the pantry”

Scannerman · Sep 27, 2023

BRAC · Sep 29, 2023

I may be the sole soul on the planet who detests/despises anything that smells/tastes like Tea or Tea-like. Less said about the lingering aftertaste the better.