What's your favorite flavor for tea? What does that tell you about yourself?

[Think_n_See]

I like green tea. I am a health-minded, sometimes serious person.
I mint mint tea. I like freshness and cleanness.
I like camomile. I like being relaxed.
I like fruity teas (with caf or without). I like variety and interest
in life.

:)

[da5zeay]

I like the variety of tea, because there are so many of them, and so
many different ways of preparing them. So when I try different teas,
I'm reminded that they come from different places and perspectives,
with sometimes very strict points of view.

For example, the preparation of English teas requires that you pour
boiling water (not boiled) right onto the tea leaves, otherwise you get
an "insipid" cup of tea...I just learned this from listening to the
audio book of "The Salmon of Doubt". However, the Chinese would
consider you QUITE INSANE if you did that...the water should be less
than boiling, otherwise you'll destroy the delicacy of the brew. My hot
water pot has three different temperature settings...I'm not sure who's
tea the third one is for, but they cater to different theories of tea
brewing, which is really neat :-)

Flavor-wise, I think I have associations...

I like chinese black tea and oolong because that reminds me of sitting
with my family and chatting. This is a fairly recent memory, because
when I was younger I wanted soda all the time :-) The tea pot and the
tea drinking is a kind of prop for conversation. Jasmine tea I like
too, because it reminds me of dim-sum, conversation, and being in a
kind of boisterous place. It also smells nice, and I kind of like
chewing on the jasmine parts (sort of like pulpy orange juice).

Green tea I like too, because it's soothing and somehow meditative for
me. It's mellower, more reflective. I also associate it with a bunch of
Japanese restaurants in Cambridge in Porter Exchange, where you can get
quick favorites like Tonkatsu and curry cutlets. Mmm. I wish I was
there now. I felt like I'm travelling, I suppose, when I was there.

Peach ice tea I like a lot for some reason. It reminds me of the good
times having lunch in Boston, when I used to work there. It was sweet
in a way that was also kind of like a genuine warm smile, kind of like
honey but not quite as cloying. I'm thinking of Snapple Peach, in
particular. Lipton I didn't like so much.

The only time I like Lipton tea is when it's prepared as a big pot of
iced tea. There is a Zagat-rated BBQ Place in West Newton, of all
places, that has a big container filled with sweet ice tea that you can
refill endlessly. It's awesome! The way sweet ice tea should be :-) I
think it's called "Blue Ribbon"...will have to dig up the menu. We
found it completely by accident.

I haven't tried many herbal teas, but I remember being surprised at the
variety of them! I guess they're not "tea" in a strict sense, but I
liked seeing the box that they were presented in at a restaurant, so I
think of fun things, new experiences, and surprises that come in boxes.

[CarmenSunshine]

I tend to focus on herbal teas as I get jittery from caffeine. My
current favorites are Honeybush tea (from Numi), Madagascar Vanilla
Red, and MetaboPartner by Celestial Seasonings.

The Honeybush tea is earthy, sweet and refreshing, the Madagascar
Vanilla Red has more body to it, and has a lot of Redbush in it, and
the MetaboPartner has a great grapefruity taste to it in the summer
time, or in the winter if you want a taste of summer!

[da5zeay]

Those are cool sounding teas, Carmen! I like the idea of the grapefruit
one :-) I think I will have to find a special box for a bunch of teas
and fill it up, maybe put it over my hot water pot as a kind of "tea
center".

[LoveBelief]

Jasmine tea. The bomb. Excellent. Aromatic, lovely, gentle.
Peppermint or mint teas.
English breakfast.
all the way