I Used to Dislike Tea

Do you think tea tastes like water and grass? Do you find yourself completely indifferent to the concept of leaf-flavored water? That was me, and if that is you, let me tell you how I figured out tea over the past year.

I do not like green tea, it tastes like grass.

I tolerate black tea, it has a flavor...sort of... somewhere.

And those two basic boring bitches are most of the tea you get exposed to. If you like them I'm happy for you, and honestly a bit jealous of your ability to enjoy the most popular tea flavors.

For me everything changed when I bought a hand-crafted packet of various flavors of tea. And I don't mean various flavorings of black tea, I mean various types of tea, pure and unflavored.

Before you try to find your favorite seasoning from blueberries to lemongrass, you should try various types of tea because there are tons. And the base flavor of the various tea types is suuuper important. If you find one that you like you can further tweak it with additional flavorings.

So I've found two types of tea I like: pu-erh and oolong. Yes, of course they are more expensive than your basic black and green.

Pu-erh is fermented tea, kinda. It's strong and usually not recommended for first-timers. For me it was perfect, because finally tea had a proper taste beyond lightly flavored water. If you find basic teas kinda flavorless, consider picking up pu-erh. I specifically enjoy fruity pu-erh which has, you guessed it, fruits in it. Makes it a bit softer and, well, fruitier.

And my new find I'm still learning about, oolong, specifically four-seasons oolong. I tried it once and immediately went to get more. That particular oolong was incredible, it was mellow like green but did not taste like grass. It had almost a sweet aftertaste to it despite having nothing besides tea-leaves in it. A great find if you dislike bitter or grassy teas.

Finally, the market variety teas. Many swear on the more expensive loose-leaf teas sold in specialty shops. I can't really say if hand pouring on your loose-leaves is truly that much better but I have found much enjoyment in the process. Making a trip to a teashop to explore the various specialties is much more likely to find you a tea that you like than whatever they put in the mass-market teabags.

My friends that pushed me to properly explore the world of teas were correct. If you don't like tea, you just havent found the one for you. Or you prefer coffee, I suppose. So get yourself a cheap strainer and small pouches of various loose-leaves. Initially it will cost you maybe 10 to 20 bucks. Soon you will be splurging on the expensive limited-season premiums, I'm sure.