I’m on a weekend vacation and forgot to bring my tea and the international grocery didn’t have it, so I settled for Darjeeling. I can barely notice the difference. It’s so subtle that it might as well just be a different tea brand.

  • Peasley@lemmy.world
    62·
    13 days ago

    IBT is on the stronger/darker side, Darjeeling is on the lighter side.

    IBT should be rich, dark, high in caffeine, with a strong flavor that doesnt get overpowered by milk, or ruined by a little oversteeping. It can still be burned if you use water that’s too hot.

    Darjeeling should be amber-colored, light tasting, moderate in caffeine, and should have some floral notes. The flavors can be drowned out by milk or oversteeping in my opinion. Best black and lightly steeped in sub-boiling water.

    • 200ok@lemmy.world
      5·
      12 days ago

      This is a great description of the difference between bold and light black tea! I never thought about the over steeping and milk overpowering aspects and it makes so much sense – thank you!

  • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
    28·
    13 days ago

    I’d have to assume that the Irish breakfast tea you had before just simply wasn’t Irish breakfast tea.

    Darjeeling is one of the lightest teas, not good for much other than “afternoon tea and cakes at Gleneagles hotel” kinda thing

    Try giving a cup of that to Bunny McGarry and see how fast he shoves a hurley up yer arse

  • then_three_more@lemmy.world
    21·
    12 days ago

    Sounds like you’ve been drinking some shit twinings level Darjeeling.

    Alternative

    I think the £3 bottle of prosecco I got from aldi and the £100 Champaign taste the same.

  • the_weez@midwest.social
    151·
    13 days ago

    I think you got ripped off. Darjeeling has a different taste than Irish Breakfast, but I’m terrible at describing tastes.

  • fireweed@lemmy.world
    12·
    12 days ago

    Are you comparing bagged tea or looseleaf? I feel like bagged tea tends to taste pretty similar, especially if sourced from a grocery store vs a tea shop.

  • Tiuku@sopuli.xyz
    10·
    12 days ago

    OPs reasons may be wrong, but the conclusion is nonetheless correct: Big tea did scam you.

  • OpenStars@piefed.socialEnglish
    9·
    13 days ago

    IBT is best tea and I will die on this hill.

    Or maybe any hill. Perhaps I just want to die on some kind of hill? (/s btw:-P)

    img

  • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
    9·
    12 days ago

    One time a friend brought me some good quality, loose leaf Darjeeling tea. The box said to drink without milk or sugar, so I thought I’d give it a try.

    I am now a convert to plain black tea. That stuff was good!

    • Taalen@lemmy.world
      2·
      12 days ago

      A few years ago I got myself a nice tea maker with adjustable temperature and brew time. Then I got some nice Assam tea, brewed a pot, and it turned out so nice I decided it didn’t even need milk. Then I ended up on a wikipedia spiral and found out that the Brits apparently started putting milk in their tea when they started drinking Assam tea, after being used to milder Chinese teas. Heh.

  • aufbau161@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    9·
    13 days ago

    do you mind me asking about the amount of tea you have used as well as the time you let it sit for? most black tea like darjeeling and blends of breakfast teas taste very similar if brewed too strong (i.e. too much tea or too much time). i like to use about a tee spoon full of tea for a mug size and let it sit for about 3-4min max.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    8·
    12 days ago

    If you don’t notice the difference, well, your loss. I take a nice Darjeeling or Assam over a British Zombie Tea any time.

  • ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.comEnglish
    139·
    13 days ago

    This may be one of the most ‘first world problems’ worthy problems I’ve ever read…

    edit: /S for the downvoting folks that take a shower thoughts post seriously

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
      203·
      13 days ago

      It’s a shower thought, dude. Also, there’s no such thing as Big Tea as far as I know.

      Edit: I literally thought that in the shower and it amused me.

      • ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.comEnglish
        9·
        13 days ago

        Yeah, see I’d hardly know the difference from the $5 a box bags I buy to make iced tea in the summer.

        –Barbaric Murican 🙂

        • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          12 days ago

          I mean, your tea game is dire. Far too dilute, and made with cold salt water! Who would want to drink that. If that’s the best Boston can do, it completely explains why Americans don’t drink tea!

          • ShellMonkey@lemmy.socdojo.comEnglish
            3·
            12 days ago

            Well we had to make enough for a whole party. The salt was just a bonus knowing no true Brit would ever let seasoning get near their meal.

            • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              12 days ago

              We accidentally built an empire looking for new seasonings! It got so bad we started naming our new dishes after where we stole the flavours from!

              If you want to salt the tea, that’s your business, but at least heat the water first!

      • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        13 days ago

        The British empire has entered the chat (backed by a very heavily armed fleet of warships).

      • KittenBiscuits@lemm.eeEnglish
        5·
        13 days ago

        There is however a Mr. T, and he would indeed pity the fool duped by a Darjeeling flim flam done in his name.

      • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
        2·
        12 days ago

        I knew a guy who looked into starting a tea growing business in Nepal. He was simplifying, I’m sure, but his answer in the end was it’s all controlled by the tea mafia!

  • atro_city@fedia.io
    4·
    12 days ago

    I’d argue that most people can’t see nor taste the difference between similar products unless they are literally beside each other.

    • 𝕽𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍@midwest.social
      3·
      12 days ago

      Many products, sure. And with many caveats; Earl Grey is clearly distinct from Darjeeling, although both are black teas, simply because of the added bergamot. I can tell many apples apart - I couldn’t name them in a blind test, but in most cases I can tell you which aren’t Honey Crisp - the textures and tastes are very different for many varietals of apples. However, I don’t think I could identify what kinds of apples are in an apple cider.

      I’m sure you have your own examples. I’m not disagreeing with you, in general.

  • aesthelete@lemmy.world
    52·
    12 days ago

    Tea bags – depending upon your locality – are also a large source of micro plastic consumption. I’ve switched to loose leaf but it’s ridiculously expensive and very worse.

    • filcuk@lemmy.zip
      1·
      12 days ago

      I’d expect (and from experience is the case) loose leaf to be cheaper, since it requires less packaging.

      • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        31·
        12 days ago

        Loose is usually higher in quality (depending on brand). The tea bags are usually just dust and basically production trash.
        Good quality tea can also be brewed multiple times. And there you can make the price good again.
        Say 12g cost 20€. Brewing 4g one time equals 5€ per cup.
        If you brew the same 4g 5 times it reduces to 1€ per cup.
        Some teas can be brewed up to 6 or 7 times but I had only luck with <5 times.

        I am not saying tea bags are shit but they arent good either. A local testing company in Germany also tested a high amount of heavy metals in tea like lead.
        Loose tea isnt immune to that but may be less suscepticle to it due to less machine handling.

    • atro_city@fedia.io
      1·
      12 days ago

      Microplastic? I thought teabags were quite organic. Do you have a source on being microplastic?

    • Aux@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      14·
      12 days ago

      “Tea” inside tea bags is just dust from the tea factory floors. Micro plastics are the least of your concern.