Well when your method is to tip the sugar bowl and dump what looks like an appropriate amount, one tends to err on the too sweet side.

You mean "How Den adds sugar to her tea", right? lol I used to have a friend IRL who would make tea that was so sweet, it was almost more sugar than tea... and I couldn't stand it. It was too sweet for me.

But, the only tea I'll add milk to is usually Earl Grey or Lady Grey. It has to be almond milk though, 'cause normal dairy doesn't play nicely with me too often anymore.

I used to work at a place where we had to make sweet tea like that! I hear that's how they like to drink it in the south!

yeah, the traditional way to make southern sweet tea is to put so much sugar in the tea while it's hot, it becomes supersaturated when you cool it down.

Is it true what they say about tea being bad for your teeth?

I've never heard anything like that. A little quick research tells me that tea by itself isn't bad for your teeth, although it can stain them (which is harmless, it's only aesthetic).

of course, if you put a lot of sugar in your tea, it's just as bad for your teeth as any sweet drink. Really, it's sugar that's bad for your teeth, not tea.

https://www.deltadentalins.com/oral_health/tea.html

My wife's from the South. The reason you put the sugar in while the tea is hot before you add the ice isn't because it supersaturates when it cools. You do it because it tastes different than if you add sugar to unsweetened iced tea. Chemically, I'm guessing that the sugar starts breaking down from the heat into glucose and fructose, which your tongue responds to differently than sucrose.

Too much sugar is bad for you, but then again too much of most things is bad for you.

Moderation is the key!

Green tea does make your teeth yellow.

...I learned that the hard way.

Tooth enamel is porous so anything that stains will stain them. Some people just also happen to be born with enamel that naturally leans yellow.

actually, enamel is naturally light yellow. The bright, pure white color people get by bleaching their teeth is not only unnatural, but often damaging to the enamel.

I expect it varies from person to person. Some baby teeth come in shiny white, then life happens. It was brought up in one of my texts that the human body could probably live for 120 years before it falls apart, but that is shortened by general life activities.

I have Irish Breakfast tea today. :)

i have not had tea in a couple weeks @____@

Then come back when you have had tea! :P

Or have further opinions on tea. ;)

Pumpkin spice dirty chai latte. :9

I feel like such a hipster stringing those words together. :P It's just steamed milk, chai, a shot of espresso, and a couple pumps of flavored syrup, really not anything fancy.

I feel like even more of a hipster when I have to explain to a new barista (or the curious guy behind me in line) what my favorite order is. XD

Actual exchange from a few days ago: "What's a 'dark star'?" It's our local barista's name for a flat white with mocha. "What's a flat white?" It's a double ristretto with steamed milk. "Do I need to ask?" *laughing* A ristretto is the first half of a shot of espresso, it's sweeter than a straight shot. "Sounds good. Dark star, please?"

There is some unsweetened tea in the frige. I haven't had the courage to try it yet.

Ah well. One jug at a time. I'm working on drinking my open jug of apple juice first.

Don't think I've tried a pumpkin spice latte, just the bag tea I have back at home down south, so it's been a bit. I tend to usually go for actual pumpkin pie or baked goods with pumpkin rather than flavoured stuff. Although, there was a really good pumpkin pie vodka (I think it was) that I tried at an inlaw's house.

Oh my gosh, there is no way I'm reading 39 pages of how people take or ruin their tea! I'm so sorry!

I like to try new teas. Black tea is okay if there is no other option but earl gray. I will take almost anything over earl gray. It's just awful. And I can't stomach the thought of ruining any kind of tea with sugar or sweeteners, but if the tea is naturally sweet, then we're okay.

I've found I have a big fondness for fruity, floral and citrus teas, but I'm not a very big fan of cinnamon in tea. Loamier flavors can be nice on occasion, but I have to be in a very particular mood. And, the last time I had a properly made white tea, it was wonderful.

My favorite, though, is a matcha green tea. I'm very picky about how it's made. It has to be fresh-- I'm talking nitrogen sealed or nothing. The water temperature has to be perfect, and it definitely cannot be steeped any longer than 40 seconds. But after that, omigosh I love green tea.

And about matcha? Best idea ever! :D There are just so many things that are better when green tea flavored. Ice cream, kit kats, noodles, white fish... every day I find a new way to use matcha to make food is a happy day.

green tea ice cream is lovely. :3

I normally drink unsweetened oolong or green tea, but I think I steep them too long sometimes. Oh well, I can take the bitterness! I drink black coffee every day! Even espresso is fine with me! Oh yeah! Caffeine!!!

I only seem to drink fruity teas with honey because it tastes weird if they don't have some sort of sweetness to them.

And I think I only really add sugar and milk to earl grey, Assam, or chai tea.

Random trivia, cold black tea can be pretty soothing for accidental burns. At least that's what I've found out in my experience.

I forgot. Chai is the other tea I like with milk in it. :3

well, proper Indian masala chai is served with milk, so that makes sense. :3

I've seen some chai actually make in the milk. I went to an Indian restaurant with a friend one lunch and they had what I assumed (correctly) was chai in a coffee pot next to another with what I figured was coffee. I was a milky light brown.

I don't like matcha much, at least what I've encountered. If I didn't make me nauseous, it tasted chalky or rough like the powder wasn't totally dissolved.

Matcha's hard to get the consistency right on, imo.

Matcha doesn't dissolve. It just softens a little and forms a suspension in the water that'll settle out if you let it sit. You're supposed to drink it immediately after serving.

That said, it's not a flavor that everyone likes, because it IS very strong and rather bitter.

What Coda said. It's finely ground tea leaves. Something like that wouldn't dissolve. I... don't find it bitter at all, though. Not if it's made at the right temp and steeped properly.

lol maybe I just never really got the hang of mixing it right... It tasted good in smoothies, though! :D

Not bitter I find, but just doesn't sit right.

Hey, that's understandable.

What about rooibos, though? I had forgotten about it until just now, but I like rooibos teas. I had a rooibos cherry tea a few weeks ago. Was delish. One of my fave things about it is that you can't oversteep it, and it just gets more rich with time.

My favorite Rooibos has cranberry in it. Turns a lovely shade of red in the cup. :3

Teeeeeeechnically, rooibos isn't tea at all!

Ammutseba, if your matcha isn't bitter you haven't prepared it in the traditional way. ;)

Or maybe I just really like the taste of matcha and haven't noticed :P

But yeah, I don't make it traditionally. Once I have my own place, I probably will, but the place I am now is pretty crowded. It's weird to explain, but just trust me here.

I saw some oolong tea at my parent's house. It doesn't sound very tasty though.

Hey, Fulkth, don't knock it till you try it! I'm not a big fan of oolong, myself, but I have had it a few times to find out. :) You might be surprised.

oolong is good! I like it.

I am definitely more of a tea person.

Technically anything not made with the tea plant isn't tea, so most herbal stuff, too.

Rooibos doesn't well with me, either. I assume it has to do with the plant. Herbs and plants aren't innocuous things, which is why herbal remedies and such do actually work. I think my system is either unused to them or just doesn't like them.

I personally think my parents drink tea for it's health benefits and not for the taste. XD

I enjoy both coffee and tea. Some coffee I like black, others I like with cream and sugar. Sometimes I like it with eggnog instead, or with a little chocolate and a lot of milk. I also enjoy different sorts of coffee house coffees, like the frappachino(which I imagine is more sugar than coffee).

With tea, I like lemon, ginger, chamomile, red chai, vanilla chai, pumpkin spice, pumpkin chair, mint, green, and... yeah, a lot of kinds of teas. What I like with the tea depends on its kind. Most teas I like to drink plain, but some(like apple and pomegranate) are too sweet and need sugar to tone the sweetness down. Some others(like red chai) can taste nice with a little milk.