The best black tea

[Bufofrog]

My wife is a tea drinker, I myself am a coffee drinker.  I have been making tea for her for 25 years.  We are from the States so as young people we were raised on crappy tea, and coffee for that matter.  Anyway the point is my wife discovered loose leaf Yorkshire Gold tea, which she fondly refers to as cocaine tea because she is addicted to it.  I have talked to a couple of 'blokes' from England and they agree that it is a fine tea.  

Finally to my question - do the tea aficionados here agree or are we just deluded 'mericans thinking this is excellent tea?  What are your recommendations for a really good tea?

[StringJunky]

If you want to play around with regional teas, Twinings teas are worth looking into.  

https://www.twinings.co.uk/tea

If she likes drinking her tea the strength of tar i.e. stewed, then what she's on now is as good as ought.

Edited April 9, 2019 by StringJunky

[Prometheus]

Never tried that particular brand - i assume it's English Breakfast tea which is a blend of Assam, Ceylon and something else - all Indian though. It's fine if that's what you like.

My experience of tea, as an Englishman, is that the Brits don't have a clue. We have one type and we're sticking to it. I didn't even know there were types for ages.

Try Chinese, Japanese and other Indian teas - far more variety. Pu erh and Lady Grey are my favourite black teas, though i generally prefer green or white tea. Black teas aren't always the highest in caffeine content: gunpowder tea can have a high content. So many to try.

Apparently T2 is in the US too - it's a good tea shop, lot's of variety.

[Sensei]

At the moment, I am drinking TET tea with bergamot flavor.

http://www.tettea.com/en/classic-tea-en/

 

[CharonY]

Considering OP specified black tea, we can assume that the discussion is about the more oxidized tea versions (green tea are untreated and oolong are intermediate, roughly speaking). Most of the popular black in the UK are actually blends from black teas from different regions. 

Of course you can have purists who state that one might want to try the original teas first, to get an idea about the depth of their flavour. Typically, these unblended black teas are named after their origin. Well known examples include Assam, Keemun, Lapsang souchong, Assam, Darjeeling and Ceylon. However, unless they are single sourced they can still be blends to various degrees. One could argue whether blends of the same plant from the same region but from different estates are indeed blends or not, but they can also have different levels of oxidation and the resulting composition can have significantly altered taste (also, they can be producded in different regions, which further alters taste).

The basic composition of Yorkshire tea seems to be a blend of black tea versions Assam, Ceylon and Kenyan black, yielding typically a robust flavour. All tea varieties are known for their bold taste which favoured in the UK as they can stand up to the addition of milk. Kenyan black tea and Assam often provide the earth, malty notes and Ceylon the slight citrusy undertones. Edit: As Prometheus pointed out, a typical breakfast blend. Pu-erh tea is interesting in terms of black teas. In Chinese, the typical British black tea would be called "red tea" . Pu-erh is a type of tea that is further (microbially) fermented yielding its characteristic taste. Perhaps confusingly, this tea is called a black/dark tea in Chinese but is not what one would consider a black tea in the English speaking world (I think it is often called dark tea, but am not sure).

That all being said often times the processed teas are a bit generic in taste (especially when they come in form of bags). If you enjoy loose leaf tea, I would try to give less oxidized versions (including oolong as a great compromise) a chance as they bring out more mellow subtle flavours that are very interesting. Even if it turns out not to be your cup of tea (heh) it might help you explore what elements of the blend or flavour profile are what you really like. Examples including higher lower tanning content (bitterness), more floral (e.g. Keemun) or more malty (e.g. Asssam) and so on.

You might then get an idea to source some really good teas (even from the same estate, they may be harvested at different times which e.g. affects tanning content) and then and make your own blend. For coffee, it is obviously precisely the same thing and it can be really fun (and tasty). However, depending on how deep you got into the rabbit hole, your wallet may not like it that much. Especially when regular teas in the supermarket somehow appear dull. I think addiction really kicks in at that point.

please send help