carol who said

When people ask, what's your favorite tea?

When non-tea drinkers find that I love tea, I find that they often ask, “So, what’s your favorite tea?” Well, how can you possibly answer that question. I’m sure that like most tea drinkers there is no ‘one’ tea. If I think they might actually want to try tea I want it to be something accessible, not hard to find or make. Have any ideas for how to answer this question? I just hate standing there and saying …. umm, … well… it depends… ummm…

20 Replies
Cheri select said

I usually go with something like that, “It depends. Right now, I’m drinking [whatever I’m drinking] and I really like it because…”

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Usually I say that I love trying new things but my favorite are Taiwanese oolongs, Chinese blacks, and Japanese greens…either that satisfies them or they want more details which in turn opens up a whole can of conversational worms.

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Sami Kelsh said

It depends. I usually just tell them I’m a flavour scientist.

Unless they’re a Doctor Who fan, in which case I’ll start carrying on about Doctor Who blend teas.

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Sillyvicen said

Jasmine greens, although I like many other types too.

I have introduced many a non tea drinker to jasmine greens and have made a few converts too. (Pearls usually do the trick.) I usually try to find out what flavors they like and make suggestions of others that they might want to try based on tea & food pairings.

Jasmine greens are definitely my favorite, it is the only one where I feel panicky if I have less than a lb in my stash. Second favorite tea? Well yeah it depends.

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keychange said

I often tell them that I’m into a variety of different teas, but if they care to listen and I’m feeling chatty, I’ll probably explain that I typically gravitate toward flavoured or unflavoured blacks and then they’re like"…???? blacks? like, you take your tea plain, I guess?" LOL
It’s funny, because often I think people are hoping you’ll just be like “oh, vanilla tea by far!” and that can clinch the conversation. Once you explain though that tea is a passion/hobby/obsession/vice/addiction, many people ge tit.

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teaenvy said

I am totaly ok with hemming and hawing….Then I offer to share.
But when people are confrontational as in “but I thought you liked coffee!”. Thats when I loose confidence. Some people take it all so personally!

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Pyroxy select said

My default “favourite” tea is Earl Grey…most people have tried it and have at least an idea of what it’s like, so it’s not too far out of their norm.

If they react well to that then I start talking about oolongs and rooibos and chais and blends…I do my best to start them slow, though, since it can be a fairly overwhelming topic.

I do a lot of showing by example, though, so anyone who asks when they’re at my place winds up with lots of tiny cups of tea to try. :)

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Gabberjam said

I usually keep it simple with Earl Grey. Most people know what it is and hopefully know how delicious it can be.

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Katiek said

I tell them I drink lots of different kinds, even within one day, and that one of the things I like about tea is the seemingly endless variety. But my current ’go to" favorite is a vanilla flavored black tea.

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Lynxiebrat said

I usually just say “Oh a variety of teas depending on my mood or time of day.” If they ask for more info "Mornings, black or green teas (I usually don’t mention Guayusa or Mate.)afternoons till 4, mostly green teas that I know don’t have much caffeine. Evenings, white teas that I know have pretty low caffeine or herbals/rooibos. If they are still curious and not looking bored or desperate to get away from me, I’ll talk about some of my favorite teas.

But I’ve also been known to keep it short and say “Oh various flavored black teas, herbals and the occasional green.” Which is bit of a lie because there are not many greens that I like, I prefer whites but mentioning those just ends up me going into tea lecture mode.

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