Tea from England, Recommendations?

[beforewisdom]

A friend of mine who lives in England offered to mail me tea.

I like all kinds of tea and I am not an expert, so I thought I would ask for recommendations of what to ask for.

I would like to use the opportunity to get something uniquely British/UKish or at least something I can't easily get in the US.

Is there a particularly good brand of early grey in the UK that isn't easily available elsewhere?

Any recommendations greatly appreciated

[ninearms]

London Tea Company do very nice tea. The vanilla chai is especially tasty. Harvey Nichols rose congou is also excellent.

[JP]

to get an idea of the very normal every day brittish tea drinking get some yorkshire tea, or tetleys.

for nice earl gray, maybe lady gray? i cant really tell the difference, i LOVE earl gray and never noticed much difference between brands i was buying

[JP]

twinings do very good earl gray, but can you get it everywhere?

[beforewisdom]

to get an idea of the very normal every day brittish tea drinking get some yorkshire tea, or tetleys.

The previous shipment from my friend included a box of Yorkshire tea. I love it. It tastes like battery acid, but it is strong and puts me in a good mood when I drink it

[beforewisdom]

twinings do very good earl gray, but can you get it everywhere?

Sort of. I *think* they blend it differently for different countries. A friend of mine bought one of their large tins of loose Early Grey from the British Twinings Site and then one from the Twinings US site. The tin from the British site had noticeably stronger smell and test.

[baldy]

What kind of water do you have in the US? UK tea is normally blended for hard water, we have tons of stuff in the water.
Scottish tea is apparently blended for soft water, I have heard there is almost a cult following of Scottish Blend tea.

Barry's Tea from Ireland also has a crazy following.

[blinki]

Scottish Blend all the way. Never tried it in yucky English water though so not sure how it does with non-Scottish water

ETA: Welsh flatmate says Glengettie is the best Welsh tea

[beforewisdom]

What kind of water do you have in the US?

Interesting, I never hear that term applied to US water ( "hard water", "soft water" ). According to this map I might have "slightly hard" water

[blinki]

According to this map I might have "slightly hard" water

I imagine that's like Manchester water. When I drink it it seems different but not too bad where as South East England water I just won't drink. I think you could get away with Scottish blend with that even if it's not quite ideal.

[xanthia]

I'm a pretty big tea snob, I really like Whittard of Chelsea if she can get to a shop.

[mabli]

Ive just realised Ive been boycotting Twinings thinking they test on animals when in actual fact it's Liptons... doh!!

If you'd like me to post a packet of lovely welsh tea I can, I'd recommend something from these folk caffi cristobal

or for more "normal" tea

Glengettie Tea and Paned

[sergio]

Barry's Tea from Ireland also has a crazy following.

I drank A LOT of this brand when I was on Ireland. It's an awesome tea, I really miss it. Well, I also miss having 25 different brands of tea in the supermarket.

And yeah earl grey rocks! best tea ever.

[beforewisdom]

Thanks People!

I asked my friend to look for

1. Whittard of Chelsea's Organic Loose Early Grey tea
2. Barry's Golden Blend
3. Scottish Blend

[Talyn]

You can get Whittard online: here

They also do amazing flavoured hot chocolate.