r/tea • • 18h ago

Question/Help What's in your cup? Daily discussion, questions and stories - October 21, 2026

11 Upvotes

What are you drinking today? What questions have been on your mind? Any stories to share? And don't worry, no one will make fun of you for what you drink or the questions you ask.

You can also talk about anything else on your mind, from your specific routine while making tea, or how you've been on an oolong kick lately. Feel free to link to pictures in here, as well. You can even talk about non-tea related topics; maybe you want advice on a guy/gal, or just to talk about life

in general.


r/tea • • 2d ago

Recurring Marketing Monday! - October 19, 2026

3 Upvotes

We realize there are lots of people involved in the tea industry here, so this thread is a weekly feature where anyone can promote their current projects without worrying about the self-promotion rules. Feel free to include links to your shop, crowdfunding sites, surveys, sales, or discount codes. The rule against claims of health benefits remains in effect here. It should go without saying that we still expect people to be respectful and follow the reddiquette. While we intend for this to be a free-for-all promotion zone, please don't overrun the thread posting the same thing over and over.


r/tea • • 9h ago

Photo Lapsang Souchong Earl Grey?

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324 Upvotes

As a tea fan, scifi nerd, and Magic player, I'm of course adding this card to my collection (along with the few other cards featuring tea), but the flavor text at the bottom had me scratching my head.

I've never had Earl Grey with Lapsang Souchong, or even heard of the combo. Does Picard specify it at some point? And has anyone else tried it? It does sound pretty darn good, actually.


r/tea • • 14h ago

Photo Qilan Rock oolong 🫰

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116 Upvotes

Yancha is definitely a top 3 type of tea for me so far and this Qilan from One River Tea hits just right


r/tea • • 3h ago

Discussion What Christmas holiday tea blends and snack companions are you looking forward to getting?

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9 Upvotes

Halloween hasn't even started but stores such as World Market already have their holiday tea blends & holiday snacks up on shelves! I promised a Swedish friend to get a Swedish sweet treat so if anyone’s Swedish, please, feel free to recommend biscuits and other sweet treats to me! A mulled spiced apple tea seems right up my alley! šŸ‘€


r/tea • • 1d ago

Photo Pls show me your gaiwans I need ideas and a job

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797 Upvotes

Thinking about getting this one


r/tea • • 9h ago

I've been eating ochazuke(tea over rice). I've been using unsweetened bottled green tea(oi ocha) and I've also brewed gyokuro for it. Very satisfying.

22 Upvotes

I add short grain rice or medium grain rice(whichever one i have at hand) to a bowl, and then pour tea into the bowl. Then I add a little bit of soy sauce to it, and lately, I've been eating it with cuts of "meat" that i make from impossible ground beef. I also add some torn up seaweed.

Also, the oi ocha unsweetened tea is just good in general. I know it's bottled, but don't sleep on it.


r/tea • • 1h ago

Question/Help Suggestions for a good alternative to black tea??

• Upvotes

Sadly I have been forbidden from having caffeine AND tannins due to a medical issue, for the foreseeable future. :'( I live for my black tea with oat milk every morning and this week has been rough missing out on it. It's the epitome of cosy to me and chamomile, peppermint, etc, are not cutting it. Does anyone have suggestions for good alternatives to black, something that I could put my oat milk in? My very favourite tea is from Murchies and has a combination of Ceylon, Darjeeling, Keemun, and Assam. So those are the flavours I tend to like best. I do like Rooibos but at least the one I've had doesn't really ring the same as a good black tea. I'd so appreciate any suggestions! (Or, if I'm just going to have to suck it up and go without...) Thanks so much!


r/tea • • 16h ago

Recommendation It's an East Frisian Cage Match!

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63 Upvotes

I did a taste test between Harney & Sons 'East Frisian' and the recommended Bünting Tee 'Bio Original Ostfriesentee'

5g ea for 4 min at 212f/100c, actual Kluntje used (5g ea), and the thickest cream from the farm up the road

Summary: Bünting is more rounded and less sharp than H&S but they are very similar and once you get down to the sugar level, you cannot ascertain a difference. Both are excellent! I will add that since I am in the US, I did get stuck with paying tariffs for the tea. The sugar is actually available at Harney & Sons

I am going to be WIDE AWAKE now, lol


r/tea • • 8m ago

Photo Wanted to share my East Frisian moustache cup

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• Upvotes

Inspired by u/mezbit's post about East Frisian tea, I wanted to share this sweet moustache cup I bought from a secondhand shop in East Frisia last month.Ā 

If you haven't heard of a moustache cup before, they were popular in the late 1800s/early 1900s. There is a 'moustache guard' built into the cup that was supposed to save your beautiful wax-styled moustaches from getting tea all over it. Sadly I do not have a moustache (maybe I will when I'm an old lady, here's hoping) so I can neither confirm or deny if it works.Ā 

The poem on the cup loosely translates to:Ā ā€œBeautiful moustaches are scarce nowadays, so make use of this cup."Ā 


r/tea • • 1d ago

Photo Tea flight at a teahouse in Gion

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293 Upvotes

r/tea • • 42m ago

Question/Help what is this herb?

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• Upvotes

This plant is sold as ā€œpassifloraā€ where I live (Turkey). But I’ve seen the live passiflora plant before, and I couldn’t quite match it to the herb in this photo.

What is this, exactly?


r/tea • • 6h ago

Recommendation I feel like I’ve done something wrong

5 Upvotes

So I’m starting the hobby of trying teas and haven’t gotten my full setup of a tea pot to properly brew but I do have a tea strainer that I am using

I got some white tea from a website I saw recommended on here called adagio and I feel like the tea is bland like I had better flavors from a bag white tea from marshals


r/tea • • 16h ago

Photo Starting my day with some Tie Guan Yin

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40 Upvotes

A cup of the nonpareil Anxi handmad Tie Guan Yin oolong from teavivre I got as sample. I will be ordering more of this for sure as I find it deliciously vegetal, floral, buttery, mellow, easy to drink. No bitterness or astringency that I could perceive throughout my session. 3.5g of tea, 95ml water at 88C.


r/tea • • 4h ago

Recommendation Teapot recommendations - Australia

3 Upvotes

Hoping for some recommendations for a great tea pot available in Australia. I have usually used simple glass teapots with removable infuser but hoping to get something a little nicer. I drink primarily green teas, so looking for something where I can remove the tea to avoid oversteeping, for 1-2 people and easy to clean. Thanks in advance!!


r/tea • • 2h ago

Discussion Thoughts on plant/floral water or syrup for your tea?

2 Upvotes

I have been using rose water & rose syrup in my tea for a while now but orange blossom water is a banger! Pomegranate molasses surprisingly goes well with green tea, too! Game changer! I've created my own spearmint infused water for tea which I've enjoyed! Let's see if saffron water liquorice water, chamomile water, or anise water does anything!

I'm so witchy. My younger siblings 17M and 14F see my tea combinations and say I'm making potions. I suppose I am!

Fun Fact: Food-grade rose water is perfectly fine for your face as a toner! I love using it!


r/tea • • 17h ago

Review Yorkshire Regular is better than Yorkshire Gold

33 Upvotes

I’ve been getting gold for years because I’m fancy AF. I drink my tea without milk or sugar and I’ve noticed lately that the end of my morning cup always has a bitter and facetious twist at the end. I brew with filtered water (see fancy AF above) and always for exactly four minutes, so this was very odd and suspicious to me.

Yesterday, I went to my local Cost Plus World Market to obtain more Yorkshire tea and I thought I would try the regular tea as well. After all, it was the exact same price, and I felt that the colorful pastoral scene on the box was a bit more appealing than the garish gold packaging of the fancy blend.

It’s 7am, I’ve been awake for not even two hours, and I’m on my third cup of Yorkshire Not-Gold. It’s smoother, the flavor is richer. It’s simply better. I’m never going back. I may have taken a hit to my fanciness, but it’s worth it.


r/tea • • 8h ago

Question/Help Darjeeling

7 Upvotes

Where can i get some solid samples? I’ve used Yunnan Sourcing and The Steeping Room for tons of awesome Chinese black tea and a little bit of Assam. What’s a good site for Darjeeling?


r/tea • • 3h ago

Question/Help Shou Mei is the only tea I like so far

2 Upvotes

I don’t mind white, green, and black cheap teabags but for loose leaf/cakes I only like Shou Mei. I haven’t tried blacks because I’m worried about teeth staining. I tried silver needle, oolong, and raw pu-erh. Silver needle is ok. It gives me an intense tingling in my mouth and seems a bit of a weird taste. The oolong and raw pu-erh I like less. Oolong is a crazy flavor. It tastes a bit like coffee to me (I don’t like coffee). Raw pu-erh is too green. I think I like greens the least. Any recommendations? Maybe white peony or gongmei


r/tea • • 12h ago

Photo I can't remember who recommended this recently but it's delightful, especially for £26!

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9 Upvotes

As a Lapsang lover, this is ticking a LOT of boxes. A great first experience for raw pu ehr.


r/tea • • 14h ago

In one's spare time, have a cup of tea and enjoy it.

12 Upvotes

This clip shows me brewing Xiao Qing Gan, also known as tangerine ripe pu-erh.

It’s a hollowed young mandarin orange stuffed with fermented ripe pu-erh leaves. I place the whole little citrus fruit in a glass strainer on top of my glass pitcher, pouring hot water over it. The amber tea slowly drips through the fruit peel into the pitcher below.

It gives a lovely mix of smooth, earthy pu-erh flavour and bright, fresh citrus aroma. Super fun and satisfying to watch it steep.


r/tea • • 9h ago

Question/Help Buying Unprocessed Tea Leaves in the USA?

5 Upvotes

I’ve been wanting some fresh unprocessed tea leaves (in the Camellia family rather than an herbal tea) for a while now, maybe just to experiment on or just for fun.

I would just want to buy an amount of leaves that was reasonable for personal use. I don’t have much of a green thumb either and I’m not sure how much yield I would get from a couple plants either. It also seems like I would have to wait several years to get a drinkable harvest.

Would my best bet be to ask a local tea farm or is there some other way you all know of to get tea leaves that are fresh picked in the United States?


r/tea • • 5h ago

Recommendation Send ur best autumnal recommendations

2 Upvotes

I love a roasted oolong or a thicccc ripe puer. I typically use a gaiwan, sometimes I grandpa style.
I’ve tried a few vendors: W2T, West China, YunnanSourcing, CrimsonLotus, Liquid Proust… if there’s anything from these vendors, great, but I’m also curious to branch out!!!

I’m mostly gearing toward roasted oolong right now. What screams ā€œAutumnā€ to you?


r/tea • • 2h ago

Question/Help Long lost teas

1 Upvotes

Hi all, first time poster. Hoping someone might be able to help me figure out some teas I had years ago and maybe find something similar in case they're (almost definitely) retired. They were a gift and I had JUST gotten into tea so I didn't bother to write their brands down.

Banana Bread (literally tasted exactly like a warm, buttery banana bread, third fave tea of all time)

Campfire s'mores Oolong

Seaberry Spa

Green Apple Kombucha (this is still my top tea of all time)

I believe the apple was from David's, I think the banana was too? I can't remember, I tried to search in the DM’s of the friend who gifted them (this was ~5 years ago) and she said something about T2 for the banana bread? I know thats so incredibly vague but I have nothing else to go on. I typically shop local (Apothica Teas in Niles, MI !! Their maple taffy is my second fave tea of all time though I believe it's now retired or in-house only, and every blend I’ve had has been so good), so I know next to nothing about online retailers </3 any help would be appreciated.


r/tea • • 1d ago

Photo Tea making class in Vietnam

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50 Upvotes

I tried Shan Tuyet from Ha Giang and Dragon Claw tea. Such a great setting and just a two person class (my partner and I)