Non-alcoholic Drinks

[mitlen]

any dunkins.

Thanks JCA.

[GburgNatsFan]

any dunkins.

They serve cold brew cold, right? They don't serve it hot...

[JCA-CrystalCity]

They serve cold brew cold, right? They don't serve it hot...

no.  They are predominantly hot drip, and use that for the basic iced coffee.  The cold brew iced is an add on alternative to their primary iced coffee (e.g., what I have on IV drip all summer).  they even do espresso drinks now. 

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

No wonder the Unibomber did what he did. 

they even do espresso drinks now. 

[mitlen]

No wonder the Unibomber did what he did. 

It was the math.    It was the math.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Sad to say but my favorite place to pick up loose leaf teas closes its doors Friday.  Old Coffee Tea and Spice was my go to, but after about 20 years, the proprietor decided it was time to move on.  The coffee and tea inventory is down, but as of last week, they had a lot of brewing stuff for coffee and tea (pots and the like).  I picked up a nice green tea, Young Hyson, which is smoother and sweeter than most greens.  I also got a greenish oolong, and a lichee flavored black tea. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

been a year and I have back to back posts on this, but I'm now starting to use Quartermaine's in Bethesda for loose leaf tea.  Seems like a good selection and decent price points.  I picked up a 1/4 pound of Hao Ya Keemun which was fantastic.  Light on the smokiness but still there, sweet, and minimal astringency.  I forgot how much I preferred Hao Ya to Assam that I've been drinking.  It is priced right at $14.95.  That's about the same as the similar Lion Mountain Keemun I used to get at Peets.  I also picked up what they call something like "Ceylon Choice."  It's Nuwara Eliya from Sri Lanka, from the description (high mountain tea light in body with citrus-like flavor).  That was dirt cheap - $4.25.  I have not tried it yet. 

[bluestreak]

been a year and I have back to back posts on this, but I'm now starting to use Quartermaine's in Bethesda for loose leaf tea.  Seems like a good selection and decent price points.  I picked up a 1/4 pound of Hao Ya Keemun which was fantastic.  Light on the smokiness but still there, sweet, and minimal astringency.  I forgot how much I preferred Hao Ya to Assam that I've been drinking.  It is priced right at $14.95.  That's about the same as the similar Lion Mountain Keemun I used to get at Peets.  I also picked up what they call something like "Ceylon Choice."  It's Nuwara Eliya from Sri Lanka, from the description (high mountain tea light in body with citrus-like flavor).  That was dirt cheap - $4.25.  I have not tried it yet.

Have you tried Teavana? It’s pricey though...

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Have you tried Teavana? It’s pricey though...

not fond of teavana, mostly because it is a ripoff.  They make some nice herbal blends, or at least they used to until Starbucks started shutting down the Teavana shops.  They also do have what they pass of as some higher end varietal teas, but in truth their price scale is so off I can't tell if it is really good stuff.  For example, I used to occasionally get their Keemun, which had a nice smoke to it and probably was a good Mao Feng, but seemed overpriced in comparison to what I could get my old tea shop (he sold Mao Feng, too). 

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I've recently become addicted to bottled iced teas, and Teavana's stuff was putrid to me.  Their green tea tasted like a foot.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I've recently become addicted to bottled iced teas, and Teavana's stuff was putrid to me.  Their green tea tasted like a foot.

can you find a bottled ice tea that tastes like tea?

I don't know the physics / chemistry / whatever, but I guess ice tea is a suspension and it settles in a bottle unless nasty stuff is done to it, so people put in fruit flavors and sugar to mask this.

I remember in the early 70s when Lipton came out with the first ice tea in a can.  The dad of another camper at my summer camp worked for Lipton and brought up a couple of cases of it.  The kid became popular.

[HalfSmokes]

I like Inko's, but it doesn't really taste like good fresh tea

[KnorrForYourMoney]

can you find a bottled ice tea that tastes like tea?

I don't know the physics / chemistry / whatever, but I guess ice tea is a suspension and it settles in a bottle unless nasty stuff is done to it, so people put in fruit flavors and sugar to mask this.

I remember in the early 70s when Lipton came out with the first ice tea in a can.  The dad of another camper at my summer camp worked for Lipton and brought up a couple of cases of it.  The kid became popular.

Not enough of a drinker of fresh tea to really compare (I went for the bottled stuff out of convenience), but I like the stuff made by Tazo and the ingredients list doesn't indicate a heavy dose of extra bullcrap to mask the tea.  I can only really speak for the green teas, though - that's my drink of choice because they don't pump a crapload of sugar into those.

[DCFan]

can you find a bottled ice tea that tastes like tea?

I know it's sacrilege to the tea purists here but what about brewing your own tea (I use Lipton or Red Rose)? And throw it in the fridge for future consumption.

I don't know the physics / chemistry / whatever, but I guess ice tea is a suspension and it settles in a bottle unless nasty stuff is done to it, so people put in fruit flavors and sugar to mask this.

I know this is the non-alcoholic drink thread but I'll take a glass of the tea I mentioned above and put it on ice with a shot of Jack and Honey. Yum.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I know it's sacrilege to the tea purists here but what about brewing your own tea (I use Lipton or Red Rose)? And throw it in the fridge for future consumption.

yes, that's the go to.  Bottled stuff for me is more for grab with a sandwich, maybe. 

[Panther Modern]

While on the topic of tea, has anyone had success brewing their own sweet tea and it's actually good?