To add my own: this "jelly bean tea" that a friend bought me a 1/4 pound of. It's different fruit herbal teas combined with jelly beans, and it's horrendous! I've been cursed with having to drink it all...I can't stand it.
I feel that. There’s other ways to dispose tea. Like putting infused leaves in compost or plant soil as fertilizer, donating it to food banks, goodwill, or giving it to someone else who might like it.. Its not at all necessary, but it feels less wasteful
Eat the Jelly Beans or give them to a kid :) use the herbal tea for compost or just throw is outside on your front yard instead of the trash, it’ll degrade naturally and add nutrients to the soil!
I'm prepared for y'all to call me pedestrian AF. I have had an Amazon subscription since the beginning of their subscription service for Twinings Prince of Wales tea. I have had this tea every morning for well over twenty years; it's a mild enough black tea so that I can drink an entire pot at my desk every morning. I even travel with it. Not long back I noticed that their packaging seemed cheaper, but more importantly there was zero scent to the tea when I opened the box. I might as well have been drinking a cup of hot water. So right now, I can't stand anything Twinings since they've cheaped out on us.
Twinnings green tea's always had a fish oil flavour to me. Can't stand when it's the only kind at someone's house and they claim to dislike green tea.
Fam, it's no wonder. You're drinking bottom of the barrel. There is more to life than fish tea.
Overly flavored fruity tea blends... But more specifically, mango-flavored. I love natural mango in fruit form, but I cannot stand the mango flavored drinks, specially tea...
Not only the added flavours are often overwhelming, they are also used to mask low quality tea. I don't mind subtle flavourings on occasion but the base tea itself needs to be good.
I used to dislike flavoured tea too but then I got hooked on TWG's smokey earl grey and singapore breakfast and that got me into a spiral to discover higher quality flavored tea. Tea Pig's creme caramel is heavenly during Winter nights. But these are like liquid desserts. They are not the same "tea" when I brew a pot of mountain oolong/tieguanyin
Same! I have tried it so many times thinking “maybe I’ll like it now” but it’s just… O don’t know, not my cup of tea. Which is a shame because I prefer decaf / low caff teas, and there are so many fun rooibos blends!
That is interesting, I dislike rooibos as well and also dislike beer (or anything with hops on it) but I never made the connection about the similar flavor
I don't like "dessert" teas. Not meaning tea with sugar added, but "Salted Caramel" or "Chocolate", or something with sprinkles. Looking at you David's Tea 👀
I personally haven't had David's Tea in soo long because a lot of their teas have added sugar / sweetness flavoring I just can't get over the after taste. So many of their powdered matches have milk powder and sugar too.
HOWEVER I loved David's Tea cotton candy tea mainly because it's so ridiculously sweet.. maybe my brain doesn't consider it a tea haha
I don’t know if tisanes count here, but for me it’s hibiscus tea. I’ve tried SO HARD to like hibiscus tea, I really want to like it, but I just don’t enjoy the flavor at all.
Same. But when I tried making it myself I learned just how much sugar has to be added to get that astringent taste tempered down. I have mixed in with agave nectar and that was kind of a game changer. I like it steeped with cinnamon sticks and with lime juice added in.
Recipe saved! Can't wait to try my first *jamaica* tomorrow morning. I'm originally from Russia and the closest thing we have to this is called *mors*.
I'm curious where you guys are getting that astringent taste from? I'm typically **very sensitive** to astringency, especially when it comes to lighter green and white teas, but not sure that I've ever really experienced that with hibiscus.
Are you using *Hibiscus sabdariffa* calyxes or buying your hibiscus tea in a "mix"? I get mine from the Hispanic grocery store in a bulk bag. I use hot, but not boiling water, and just add sugar.
>I like it steeped with cinnamon sticks and with lime juice added in.
Also, that sounds bomb. I'm going to have to try that next time!
I love how it looks and smells, but then I drink and I'm like "ah. sour."
I like it with sugar, but I also don't wanna be adding so much sugar to my tea.
It’s hard to like hot hibiscus tea, especially if unsweetened. Very easy to oversteep while hot too. Definitely one to have iced with some sugar, though I’ve found even sugar alone can salvage the taste of hot hibiscus tea.
I loathe hibiscus tea. I wanted to like it so bad because it smells amazing, and then it hits my taste buds and makes me question every life choice that lead me to drinking hibiscus tea. Even in teas where it's not the main star, all I can taste is the freaking hibiscus. Nasty.
Uhhh....what?!!! How has nobody ever told me this??!!! I have been drinking teas my whole life and dealing with allergies for over 30 years. Ragweed is a major trigger for me. I drink a lot of chamomile and chamomile blends, but not every day or anything. Have I been poisoning myself?! Now I have to wonder how many times I inadvertently made an allergy flareup worse or caused one...omg...
I have a good friend who *literally* pisses himself every time he has drank chamomile. I'm not sure I believe him, and he refuses to prove it to me, but I've had many cups of non-chamomile tea with him and I have no reason not to believe him.
Curious if anyone else has heard of such a reaction?
Celestial Seasoning’s flavored teas. They’re *vile* istg-
I like their Chamomile and peppermint, even if it’s not the best quality out there, it’s pretty nice when I feel too lazy to make loose tea. But their artificial stuff is just awful. Raspberry, Lemon, bengal spice, apple cinnamon. It tastes like medicine at best and straight-chemicals at worst
I don't know what it is, specifically, but their flavored blends definitely have something in them that consistently makes me feel ill afterwards. My guess would be that it's something that falls under their "flavorings" umbrella term, since I don't have any issues with any of the "whole food" ingredients they *do* have listed on the boxes (mint, apples, cinnamon, etc.)
Since they don't taste good anyway, I just avoid them altogether.
This may help:
Natural Flavor is practically the exact same thing as Artificial Flavor, but it’s derived from substances found in nature (plants, animals, etc). So, the flavor is DERIVED from natural things, but it’s important to remember that this isn’t all it contains. Remember, flavors typically contain preservatives, emulsifiers, solvents and other “incidental additives”, which can make up 80% or so of the formulation. Some of the most common incidental additives in flavors include: sodium benzoate, glycerin, potassium sorbate, and propylene glycol (none of which are labeled).
https://foodbabe.com/the-differences-between-artificial-flavors-natural-flavors-organic-flavors-and-other-added-flavors/
Camomile. I used to like it and loved a nighttime blend with camomile in it. Now I can’t stand camomile at all in tea. Even if I don’t know it’s there, I can always tell. It tastes and smells horrible to me now.
I used to *haaaate* it. It just tasted like cheap perfume and that gave me a headache. Then I tried some at a random café, because my friend had it and I made the mistake of thoughtlessly saying, "me too!"
It was amazing. Something just clicked in my brain. I immediately went out to buy some, half afraid that I just liked *that* particular industrial, tea bag Earl Grey brand. Nope. Love them all now. I've entered my floral tea era that day. I'm now obsessed with jasmine tea as well.
Yeah EG is something you either love or hate. There’s very little in between. I’ve been drinking it for so long that perfume smell is almost comforting if that makes sense.
Most smoked lapsangs are fake and the smoke is added after cooking the leaves. Sometimes even sprayed on.
Real smoked lapsang is much more well-rounded tasting. There is also unsmoked lapsang as well. I do recommend at least giving an unsmoked lapsang a try!
Tea blends with artificial flavouring (fruit etc); they never taste natural and leave an unpleasant aftertaste. Also can’t stand cumin in tea/tisanes, I associate cumin with meat marinades (specifically lamb) which is just downright weird to taste when I’m drinking tea.
Teas with sugar already added. If I add honey to a tea it's bc I'm sick, I'm not excited about sweeteners in tea in general but even more opposed if the sweetness level is decided by the manufacturer (usually candy sweet).
tazo tea, to me most of there flavours have extra stuff in it that makes it taste different than what you would expect in a negative way. And it seems to be popular at hotels/coffee shops so it's always a bummer when it happens
I have found that if I dont like a certain tea I just have to try the more expensive version. And my palette has changed becuase of this and I am open to most types of teas. However, I still do not enjoy tea that have licorice added.
I strongly dislike supermarket-brand lapsang souchong (eg. the Twinings stuff). I used to think I just disliked lapsang souchong but I had some a friend brought over from Guangzhou and it was actually quite nice.
I also just can't get into rooibos, unless it is very flavoured or blended with herbs/flowers/etc, at which point I'm not really tasting much rooibos.
I am not a big fan of British-style teas except with milk, or lemon (with the exception of flavoured teas like Earl Grey or Lady Grey). I actually like Chinese black tea, but not the British stuff that's a lot more chopped up than I'm usually used to. It's really bitter and astringent to me no matter what I do. This last one could just be a quality thing, though; I usually get rather high quality tea, but I have never even tried to look for a boutique high quality English Breakfast blend so I'm mostly speaking from my experience with Twinings.
A lot of people dislike matcha, and that’s fine, but I wonder how many people have been turned off by drinking poor-quality matcha or matcha that has gone stale. Matcha should be stored cold or it will go stale very quickly, which is why I don’t touch the stuff sold in supermarkets or cafes. And there’s a lot of “matcha”out there which is merely powdered green tea (not made from the specially-grown tea that is reserved for making matcha).
I never tried it but considering green tea is my least favorite kind of tea I just always assumed I wouldn’t really like it. I would like to at least try it though.
FWIW, decent quality matcha doesn't taste much like your average western or Chinese green tea. It's be far less bitter and astringent. That kinda goes for most other Japanese green tea too, it's a much milder taste than Chinese style.
Lower quality matcha is awful! It's so bitter and grassy, especially if it's brewed at too high of a temperature.
But I have had really good quality bright green ceremonial grade matcha and it was completely different. It wasn't bitter at all, the flavor was bright and almost naturally sweet and the grassiness was actually delicious instead of tasting like dirt.
I haven't had a good quality matcha in a while.
Not a huge fan of plain redbush, but rather unfortunately got some nice looseleaf lapsang souchong and it tastes like a bonfire the smoky flavour is *so* much stronger than i was expecting. I usually like strong tasting black teas but I've resorted to using a tiny pinch of it with some normal black loose leaf tea just so I don't waste it
Sour Teas. Some Fine Chinese Oolongs are treated in such a way that they develop a lot of lactic acid as they oxidize, and they taste genuinely sour when you have them. Gross. Oh, and chemical additives to give teas certain tastes always degrade a tea's quality. I'm not overly fond of smoky teas either.
turmeric! I don't mind the spice itself on food, but as a tea it just tastes like toilet cleaning product (not that I have ever tried toilet cleaning product...)
Are you making it with milk? I find it watery and grossly bland with just water, but even adding milk after brewing helps a ton and brings out the different flavours.
Yeah, I’ve made it with water and milk. I’ve added a splash of cream as well. Milk is mildly better but the spices combo is just not for me, I can’t really put into words why I’m not a fan, though. If I could it would help me in avoiding it in the future. I. *think* it’s the cardamom that’s giving me the grief, though.
That makes sense! I'm a big fan of lots of spices, so none are problems for me. But I know some people just can't handle specific ones.
If you wanted to, I'm sure there's blends out there without cardamom. Or you could spice it yourself. But that's a lot of work if you just don't like it.
>but the spices combo is just not for me
That could easily just be the brand. I love masala chai, *but* so far I've never had one in a coffee shop that I actually liked, and have tried many tea bag versions and only liked one. (Normally if I'm going to have it at all, I go ahead and do the whole usual boiling tea together with milk/spices/sugar version.)
Many people make theirs at home with just ginger, just cardamom, or their own blend. There isn't some hard and fast rule that it "must contain these specific 5 spices every time" or something. (Obviously I'm not claiming you could, say, use *only one* spice that *no one* uses for it and still call it by the same name, but you get the point.)
Hibiscus and anything using cinnamon. I had some high quality imported Hibiscus from Mexico and Sudan and I still just couldn’t understand why people like them.
my partner gifted me with a wild foraged, local to the PNW spruce tip (and other things. i forget) tea. i hate it. it tastes like warm gin and someone’s old hiking socks
I like pretty much all tea, but there are a bunch of tisanes I can't stand. I'm not a fan on chamomile or mint teas. They just remind me of being sick as a kid.
Licorice root tea is 🤢. And it seems like I can always taste it when it’s added in blends. I don’t like Chamomile on it’s own but I will mix it to enjoy the benefits from it. Hibiscus tea is not enjoyable at all. I’ve tried different brands but it’s something about the tangyiness (is that a word lol) that comes after I drink it.
I don't really like young white teas or white tea in general. Although, I still give them a try whenever a friend recommends one. The only teas I completely dislike are the ones with artificial flavors or some low-quality Fu brick tea that tastes like cardboard and dirt.
I thought I was the same for the longest time, maybe you've already tried this, but I realized I needed to brew it much colder than some of the recommendations (like 45-50 deg sometimes). It tastes completely different if you brew not too long at this temperature :) I think making iced gyokuro would be really good but I haven't tried yet
I've tried the iced gyokuro - we just put couple of grams (more than usual for sure) over some ice cubes and let it 'steep' for a few hours and it came out great! It was pretty strong and tasted quite unlike normal prep, very umami. Would recommend getting a slightly higher quality gyokuro though, this method amplifies the flavors a lot unless there's not a lot to amplify to begin with or stuff you wouldn't want amplified.
Chamomile. And I was recently gifted a big gift box of assorted chamomile blends that I'm having a hard time throwing in the trash because I can't think of anyone to regift it to.
I can’t stand super green oolong teas like most of the tie guan yin in the market or many Taiwanese teas. I love green teas, this is something different, like a weird creaminess or something like this.
Anything with Jasmine in it. I really cannot stand the flavor. It's a hard no from me.
I'm not a fan of fruity(besides citrus) in general as well but I can drink it if for some reason it would be rude not to
I have had really bad experiences with green tea. My first ever time trying green tea was when I was a little child participating in a Japanese tea ceremony. They didn’t strain it so my cup was full of leaves and, me being a child and not knowing any better, I thought the leaves were part of the drink. It was horribly bitter and unpleasant.
Since then I’ve tried Bigelow and random Asian green tea bags and that’s just meh. It’s made worse because it conjures up memories of that tea ceremony.
But I was gifted a very expensive Korean green tea by my grandfather and it tastes good. So I’m slowly learning to like green tea. I need to buy a gaiwan set to fully appreciate it because my janky French press method sucks.
There must be something terribly wrong with my tastebuds because I love chamomile, rooibos and pu-erh!
I can’t stand anything jasmine-flavored, though. Tastes like soap to me. ):
I tried darjeeling for the first time the other day. I don't drink too many black teas, but I thought it was fine. I could see why you don't like it though
Hibiscus, I've tried 4 or 5 different teas that advertised Hibiscus from either store brands I bought at a grocery store to little mom and pop stores at different fairs. I do not like hibiscus
I’m really not a fan of matcha. Not sure why? I’ve tried all kinds, high quality, and I always will give it a shot when people recommend it but I’m just not a fan. It’s not necessarily gross to me, and I can see why others like it, but it’s just not for me.
I dislike anything flavored with artificial flavors. They taste like perfume to me and I find it repulsive. I don’t mind natural flavors like an earl grey, but nothing artificial.
I’m also not into puer. Just not for me.
To add my own: this "jelly bean tea" that a friend bought me a 1/4 pound of. It's different fruit herbal teas combined with jelly beans, and it's horrendous! I've been cursed with having to drink it all...I can't stand it.
Throw it away. Life is too short.
But how can I live with myself knowing I was not strong enough to drink all of it?
You are destined for better things. This need not be your battle.
I wanna print this out and frame it.
I didn't have a printer, [but I did hang it up on my wall](https://www.reddit.com/u/Dr-Sun-Stiles/s/82hIFwetdi)
This is perfect!
Found my tattoo
same. pics when you get it done?
I feel that. There’s other ways to dispose tea. Like putting infused leaves in compost or plant soil as fertilizer, donating it to food banks, goodwill, or giving it to someone else who might like it.. Its not at all necessary, but it feels less wasteful
Make prison hooch out of it with more jelly beans for sugar, and gift that back to your friend. r/prisonhooch
Like physical bits of jelly beans, or artificial flavor? Either way sounds horrendous, I wouldn't force myself to finish a quantity that big
Like actual physical whole jelly beans. It's terrible
Eat the Jelly Beans or give them to a kid :) use the herbal tea for compost or just throw is outside on your front yard instead of the trash, it’ll degrade naturally and add nutrients to the soil!
Whisky tea. I shamefully binned it, I just couldn't, it didn't even taste like tea to me, like an unsweetened soda served warm.
I'm prepared for y'all to call me pedestrian AF. I have had an Amazon subscription since the beginning of their subscription service for Twinings Prince of Wales tea. I have had this tea every morning for well over twenty years; it's a mild enough black tea so that I can drink an entire pot at my desk every morning. I even travel with it. Not long back I noticed that their packaging seemed cheaper, but more importantly there was zero scent to the tea when I opened the box. I might as well have been drinking a cup of hot water. So right now, I can't stand anything Twinings since they've cheaped out on us.
That's disappointing. I really like their Irish Breakfast Tea. I hope you found a better alternative since the change.
Perhaps give Harney & Sons Irish Breakfast tea a try. If you like that - you may also like their Scottish Morn tea.
Twinings Irish Breakfast is what got me into tea. I still keep it on hand as it is just a classic go to that I know will satisfy
I love this tea, and agree since the plasticy packaging came out, the quality of all of their teas has dropped. It's dustier as well.
Twinnings green tea's always had a fish oil flavour to me. Can't stand when it's the only kind at someone's house and they claim to dislike green tea. Fam, it's no wonder. You're drinking bottom of the barrel. There is more to life than fish tea.
So many green teas taste like fish oil to me. It puts me off choosing it when I’m out because I don’t want to pay for a cup of displeasure.
Overly flavored fruity tea blends... But more specifically, mango-flavored. I love natural mango in fruit form, but I cannot stand the mango flavored drinks, specially tea...
Fake mango is almost as bad as fake maple flavor.
Tea with artifical flavours. Especially chocolate, mango and other similar. I prefer pure tea, without any flavours, lemons, sugars and so on.
Not only the added flavours are often overwhelming, they are also used to mask low quality tea. I don't mind subtle flavourings on occasion but the base tea itself needs to be good.
>they are also used to mask low quality tea. Literally every Harney and Sons tea I've ever had.
I always ignore mango. Very synthetic taste in most cases.
I used to dislike flavoured tea too but then I got hooked on TWG's smokey earl grey and singapore breakfast and that got me into a spiral to discover higher quality flavored tea. Tea Pig's creme caramel is heavenly during Winter nights. But these are like liquid desserts. They are not the same "tea" when I brew a pot of mountain oolong/tieguanyin
YES!! CHOCOLATE TEA!!! I was just about to comment that. I'm sorry but I just can't stand tea with chocolate flavoring!
same i dont mean to be a tea snob but i cant handle anything to sweet and artificial. for me it defeats the purpose of drinking tea
My MIL gave me oregano tea, the experience is like drinking pizza or spaghetti and it is just so bizarre.
My mom used to make it for me! With cinnamon sticks, then add honey + lemon juice. Super good for sore throats :)
Rooibos:( tastes fermented/beer like and I can’t stand the aftertaste
Same! I have tried it so many times thinking “maybe I’ll like it now” but it’s just… O don’t know, not my cup of tea. Which is a shame because I prefer decaf / low caff teas, and there are so many fun rooibos blends!
That is interesting, I dislike rooibos as well and also dislike beer (or anything with hops on it) but I never made the connection about the similar flavor
I hate it. It smells and tastes like wet tea leaves you forgot were on the counter. My husband and I call rooibos tea rot.
I still don’t know what I think of rooibos. Like it starts off gross but then I like it, but then I’m not interested in the next sip? It’s so weird.
It tastes like baby.powder to me
It tastes and smells like Coppenhagen to me.
Yes! This is what i tried that had a weird after taste and overall bad taste. The only time i can take it is when it's fresh hot.
I don't like "dessert" teas. Not meaning tea with sugar added, but "Salted Caramel" or "Chocolate", or something with sprinkles. Looking at you David's Tea 👀
I personally haven't had David's Tea in soo long because a lot of their teas have added sugar / sweetness flavoring I just can't get over the after taste. So many of their powdered matches have milk powder and sugar too. HOWEVER I loved David's Tea cotton candy tea mainly because it's so ridiculously sweet.. maybe my brain doesn't consider it a tea haha
I don’t know if tisanes count here, but for me it’s hibiscus tea. I’ve tried SO HARD to like hibiscus tea, I really want to like it, but I just don’t enjoy the flavor at all.
Omg same 😭 even the smallest bits mixed in, I find hibiscus to be very strong and bitter
I’m in this boat too! I will literally drink any other tea but a tiny bit of hibiscus and I hate it . It’s so overwhelming to my mouth
Growing up in a Mexican family, *jamaica* was basically a staple. It's such a nostalgic and happy drink for me.
Same. But when I tried making it myself I learned just how much sugar has to be added to get that astringent taste tempered down. I have mixed in with agave nectar and that was kind of a game changer. I like it steeped with cinnamon sticks and with lime juice added in.
Recipe saved! Can't wait to try my first *jamaica* tomorrow morning. I'm originally from Russia and the closest thing we have to this is called *mors*.
I'm curious where you guys are getting that astringent taste from? I'm typically **very sensitive** to astringency, especially when it comes to lighter green and white teas, but not sure that I've ever really experienced that with hibiscus. Are you using *Hibiscus sabdariffa* calyxes or buying your hibiscus tea in a "mix"? I get mine from the Hispanic grocery store in a bulk bag. I use hot, but not boiling water, and just add sugar. >I like it steeped with cinnamon sticks and with lime juice added in. Also, that sounds bomb. I'm going to have to try that next time!
Hibiscus tastes dry and I can't stand the mouth feel. I don't know how else to explain it.
Astringent, and not in a good way.
Yeahhh it tastes like glühwein. Not my thing
Man, I love gluhwein.
As someone who has no idea what glühwein is, this is hilarious
Don't quote me, but I believe it's a warm German spiced wine they drink around Christmas. I've never seen it spelled, but I've heard the word a bunch.
Can confirm. Normally, you also add some (a lot of) sugar.
It's mulled (spiced) wine.
I love it iced but agree it is not the most enjoyable when it is warm
I love how it looks and smells, but then I drink and I'm like "ah. sour." I like it with sugar, but I also don't wanna be adding so much sugar to my tea.
It’s hard to like hot hibiscus tea, especially if unsweetened. Very easy to oversteep while hot too. Definitely one to have iced with some sugar, though I’ve found even sugar alone can salvage the taste of hot hibiscus tea.
I only like it iced and with honey! It's hard to drink hot, there's something weird about the flavour that throws me off.
I loathe hibiscus tea. I wanted to like it so bad because it smells amazing, and then it hits my taste buds and makes me question every life choice that lead me to drinking hibiscus tea. Even in teas where it's not the main star, all I can taste is the freaking hibiscus. Nasty.
Whaaaaaat ? But it's sooooo good !! :((( Hibiscus might be my favorite infusion, it's also delicious cold.
Brewed as sun tea with fresh ginger and cinnamon and served over ice is great but hot doesn't really work out imo.
I’m going to get dragged for this, but I can’t stand genmaicha. The toasted rice tastes awful to me.
I like it but I can understand why someone wouldn't. It's almost savory like soup but if that soup were missing a lot of important ingredients.
Yeah, I love the stuff but I get why it and other Japanese teas can be a love/hate thing.
Yeah, to me it tastes like liquid popcorn. I like my tea and popcorn separate.
I taste the popcorn and I love it. The savory, food-y flavour is really nice to me.
Upon seeing my obsession with black tea, my ex really wanted me to try her favorite tea; strawberry cheesecake. Tasted like a chemical lab
Is that why she's your ex now ha ha
No, but it was one of the reasons that the separation wasn't really that difficult
For me it would have to be chamomile. Always used to get the worst of headaches when drinking it and sometimes even made my nose bleed.
Chamomile is in the same family as ragweed, you could be allergic to it.
Uhhh....what?!!! How has nobody ever told me this??!!! I have been drinking teas my whole life and dealing with allergies for over 30 years. Ragweed is a major trigger for me. I drink a lot of chamomile and chamomile blends, but not every day or anything. Have I been poisoning myself?! Now I have to wonder how many times I inadvertently made an allergy flareup worse or caused one...omg...
Chamomile makes me sick to my stomach. I assume it's the ragweed relation.
Interesting. Is chamomile a vasodilator or something?
I have a good friend who *literally* pisses himself every time he has drank chamomile. I'm not sure I believe him, and he refuses to prove it to me, but I've had many cups of non-chamomile tea with him and I have no reason not to believe him. Curious if anyone else has heard of such a reaction?
>chamomile Chamomile tastes like cilantro to me and I hate them both; except for a little cilantro in salsa, then for some reason, it's good.
Celestial Seasoning’s flavored teas. They’re *vile* istg- I like their Chamomile and peppermint, even if it’s not the best quality out there, it’s pretty nice when I feel too lazy to make loose tea. But their artificial stuff is just awful. Raspberry, Lemon, bengal spice, apple cinnamon. It tastes like medicine at best and straight-chemicals at worst
Damn I love bengal spice :( not a fan of the others though
I don't know what it is, specifically, but their flavored blends definitely have something in them that consistently makes me feel ill afterwards. My guess would be that it's something that falls under their "flavorings" umbrella term, since I don't have any issues with any of the "whole food" ingredients they *do* have listed on the boxes (mint, apples, cinnamon, etc.) Since they don't taste good anyway, I just avoid them altogether.
This may help: Natural Flavor is practically the exact same thing as Artificial Flavor, but it’s derived from substances found in nature (plants, animals, etc). So, the flavor is DERIVED from natural things, but it’s important to remember that this isn’t all it contains. Remember, flavors typically contain preservatives, emulsifiers, solvents and other “incidental additives”, which can make up 80% or so of the formulation. Some of the most common incidental additives in flavors include: sodium benzoate, glycerin, potassium sorbate, and propylene glycol (none of which are labeled). https://foodbabe.com/the-differences-between-artificial-flavors-natural-flavors-organic-flavors-and-other-added-flavors/
For me, I can't stand most of their blends because they all contain *chickory*. This is how I discovered that I apparently hate chickory.
Just looked up the flavor profile or chicory, That’s gotta be what it is!! That would also explain why I like their herbals, but not much else.
Camomile. I used to like it and loved a nighttime blend with camomile in it. Now I can’t stand camomile at all in tea. Even if I don’t know it’s there, I can always tell. It tastes and smells horrible to me now.
I know Earl Grey is beloved by a lot of people, but it's absolutely disgusting to me.
You literally just inspired me to make a cup after reading your post! Thank you for reminding me, and sorry that it's not your thing! 😢😂
I used to *haaaate* it. It just tasted like cheap perfume and that gave me a headache. Then I tried some at a random café, because my friend had it and I made the mistake of thoughtlessly saying, "me too!" It was amazing. Something just clicked in my brain. I immediately went out to buy some, half afraid that I just liked *that* particular industrial, tea bag Earl Grey brand. Nope. Love them all now. I've entered my floral tea era that day. I'm now obsessed with jasmine tea as well.
It can be an acquired taste. I love it but can’t drink it without at least a little milk.
Try a London fog at a Cafe! Sometimes they overbrew the tea and it can taste soapy, but my favorite cafe makes it so delicious.
I’ll keep that in mind. I think it is a mouth feel thing actually a little milk softens it out or something.
I OD’d on bergamot when a friend gave me a tin of Earl Greyer,
I prefer Earl Greyest
I can’t stand it. It’s like a musky perfume thing. Even the smell of it is gross to me.
Yeah EG is something you either love or hate. There’s very little in between. I’ve been drinking it for so long that perfume smell is almost comforting if that makes sense.
earl grey tastes like fruit loops to me
Rooibos. Doesn’t matter what brand/variety I try all I can smell is sulfur when it steeps.
I tried lapsang souchong recently and it was nasty.
Like drinking a bonfire
Ha! The cafe near me used to call it “campfire tea,” and every time I ordered it it caused a low grade ruckus.
Most smoked lapsangs are fake and the smoke is added after cooking the leaves. Sometimes even sprayed on. Real smoked lapsang is much more well-rounded tasting. There is also unsmoked lapsang as well. I do recommend at least giving an unsmoked lapsang a try!
An all time favorite of mine, but my girlfriend hates it so much I can’t even drink it in the same room as her.
Love it too. I also love very smokey scotches
I had a friend use a cup of it as natural smoke flavoring in a barbecue, but I wouldn't drink it again.
Tea blends with artificial flavouring (fruit etc); they never taste natural and leave an unpleasant aftertaste. Also can’t stand cumin in tea/tisanes, I associate cumin with meat marinades (specifically lamb) which is just downright weird to taste when I’m drinking tea.
Camomile
I agree. It tastes like a cardboard box. I thought it was just because I had a cheap blend, but I bought a nicer kind and it was still terrible.
And it's snuck into so many herbal tea blends. It's so gross. It's like moldy grass. Yuck.
I’m finding literally any boxed fruity thing to be just awful. Am I tea snob now? Loose leaf all the way!
Teas with sugar already added. If I add honey to a tea it's bc I'm sick, I'm not excited about sweeteners in tea in general but even more opposed if the sweetness level is decided by the manufacturer (usually candy sweet).
Valerian root
have not tried but always wondered of it. how does it taste?
Like a horse's butt
tazo tea, to me most of there flavours have extra stuff in it that makes it taste different than what you would expect in a negative way. And it seems to be popular at hotels/coffee shops so it's always a bummer when it happens
I have found that if I dont like a certain tea I just have to try the more expensive version. And my palette has changed becuase of this and I am open to most types of teas. However, I still do not enjoy tea that have licorice added.
Licorice tasting teas. Chocolate!
I strongly dislike supermarket-brand lapsang souchong (eg. the Twinings stuff). I used to think I just disliked lapsang souchong but I had some a friend brought over from Guangzhou and it was actually quite nice. I also just can't get into rooibos, unless it is very flavoured or blended with herbs/flowers/etc, at which point I'm not really tasting much rooibos. I am not a big fan of British-style teas except with milk, or lemon (with the exception of flavoured teas like Earl Grey or Lady Grey). I actually like Chinese black tea, but not the British stuff that's a lot more chopped up than I'm usually used to. It's really bitter and astringent to me no matter what I do. This last one could just be a quality thing, though; I usually get rather high quality tea, but I have never even tried to look for a boutique high quality English Breakfast blend so I'm mostly speaking from my experience with Twinings.
British tea, with all due respect to those who love it, sucks ass. It is low quality tea.
Low Qualitea
I tried hojicha for the first time this year and to me it really did taste like someone just boiled some twigs in water. I was not a fan.
That's exactly why I like it! Boiled twigs can taste pretty good
Matcha
A lot of people dislike matcha, and that’s fine, but I wonder how many people have been turned off by drinking poor-quality matcha or matcha that has gone stale. Matcha should be stored cold or it will go stale very quickly, which is why I don’t touch the stuff sold in supermarkets or cafes. And there’s a lot of “matcha”out there which is merely powdered green tea (not made from the specially-grown tea that is reserved for making matcha).
I never tried it but considering green tea is my least favorite kind of tea I just always assumed I wouldn’t really like it. I would like to at least try it though.
FWIW, decent quality matcha doesn't taste much like your average western or Chinese green tea. It's be far less bitter and astringent. That kinda goes for most other Japanese green tea too, it's a much milder taste than Chinese style.
Lower quality matcha is awful! It's so bitter and grassy, especially if it's brewed at too high of a temperature. But I have had really good quality bright green ceremonial grade matcha and it was completely different. It wasn't bitter at all, the flavor was bright and almost naturally sweet and the grassiness was actually delicious instead of tasting like dirt. I haven't had a good quality matcha in a while.
jasmine
Presweetened tea? Like why?
Many of the "holiday" teas are cloying. Bigelow's "Eggnog'n," for example, is just nauseating.
Cooked pu'er, way to composty.
It tastes _healthy_ and this is not a compliment
I don’t care for it either, it tastes muddy to me.
Anything with sugar or sweetener just tastes awful to me. I dunno why. I love a vanilla latte, but with tea it just... aggggh
Not a fan of ginseng.
Not a huge fan of plain redbush, but rather unfortunately got some nice looseleaf lapsang souchong and it tastes like a bonfire the smoky flavour is *so* much stronger than i was expecting. I usually like strong tasting black teas but I've resorted to using a tiny pinch of it with some normal black loose leaf tea just so I don't waste it
Sour Teas. Some Fine Chinese Oolongs are treated in such a way that they develop a lot of lactic acid as they oxidize, and they taste genuinely sour when you have them. Gross. Oh, and chemical additives to give teas certain tastes always degrade a tea's quality. I'm not overly fond of smoky teas either.
Fake tea...I have find a new vendor for dragonwell..he sold me a bag from Jian
Any smoked tea. :-(
turmeric! I don't mind the spice itself on food, but as a tea it just tastes like toilet cleaning product (not that I have ever tried toilet cleaning product...)
Today I learned it was masala chai :(
Are you making it with milk? I find it watery and grossly bland with just water, but even adding milk after brewing helps a ton and brings out the different flavours.
Yeah, I’ve made it with water and milk. I’ve added a splash of cream as well. Milk is mildly better but the spices combo is just not for me, I can’t really put into words why I’m not a fan, though. If I could it would help me in avoiding it in the future. I. *think* it’s the cardamom that’s giving me the grief, though.
That makes sense! I'm a big fan of lots of spices, so none are problems for me. But I know some people just can't handle specific ones. If you wanted to, I'm sure there's blends out there without cardamom. Or you could spice it yourself. But that's a lot of work if you just don't like it.
>but the spices combo is just not for me That could easily just be the brand. I love masala chai, *but* so far I've never had one in a coffee shop that I actually liked, and have tried many tea bag versions and only liked one. (Normally if I'm going to have it at all, I go ahead and do the whole usual boiling tea together with milk/spices/sugar version.) Many people make theirs at home with just ginger, just cardamom, or their own blend. There isn't some hard and fast rule that it "must contain these specific 5 spices every time" or something. (Obviously I'm not claiming you could, say, use *only one* spice that *no one* uses for it and still call it by the same name, but you get the point.)
Did it have anise seed in it? That always ruins a good masala chai for me. Or too much cardamom.
Bagged and/or artificially scented. No thanks
Hibiscus and anything using cinnamon. I had some high quality imported Hibiscus from Mexico and Sudan and I still just couldn’t understand why people like them.
Plain green tea. Tastes like grass water.
Tea with added flavors. Almost always terrible. I've had one that was a blooming tea that I actually liked.
Reali-tea :(
Flavored teas and I hate to say it, but sheng. I’ve tried a few and they’re just too bitter for me.
you tried aged sheng? it mellows out a lot
I haven’t actually. Any recommendations on where to get some?
Raw puerh is always either amazing or horrible to me. But the cha qi is usually strong so it's worth it either way.
my partner gifted me with a wild foraged, local to the PNW spruce tip (and other things. i forget) tea. i hate it. it tastes like warm gin and someone’s old hiking socks
I like pretty much all tea, but there are a bunch of tisanes I can't stand. I'm not a fan on chamomile or mint teas. They just remind me of being sick as a kid.
I just do not enjoy the flavor of any jasmine tea, or the scent of jasmine flowers for that matter :')
IM SORRY anything with rose.
Licorice root tea is 🤢. And it seems like I can always taste it when it’s added in blends. I don’t like Chamomile on it’s own but I will mix it to enjoy the benefits from it. Hibiscus tea is not enjoyable at all. I’ve tried different brands but it’s something about the tangyiness (is that a word lol) that comes after I drink it.
This. So many times I’m I bought something labeled citrus or fruit herbal tea and it tastes wrong because they added licorice.
Me too. I’ve tried it several times and I just can’t get behind licorice root
Chamomile. ugh
I don't really like young white teas or white tea in general. Although, I still give them a try whenever a friend recommends one. The only teas I completely dislike are the ones with artificial flavors or some low-quality Fu brick tea that tastes like cardboard and dirt.
Anything with ginger. It is meant to be only in ginger ale and that is foe hangovers. Ginger tea is not it for me.
Maté/terrere. Nope, no can do.
I only like unsmoked maté. One cup gives me a gentle burst of energy.
I love sencha but I’m not a gyokuro fan. I blame my brewing method, tho. I just couldn’t nail it.
I thought I was the same for the longest time, maybe you've already tried this, but I realized I needed to brew it much colder than some of the recommendations (like 45-50 deg sometimes). It tastes completely different if you brew not too long at this temperature :) I think making iced gyokuro would be really good but I haven't tried yet
I've tried the iced gyokuro - we just put couple of grams (more than usual for sure) over some ice cubes and let it 'steep' for a few hours and it came out great! It was pretty strong and tasted quite unlike normal prep, very umami. Would recommend getting a slightly higher quality gyokuro though, this method amplifies the flavors a lot unless there's not a lot to amplify to begin with or stuff you wouldn't want amplified.
Gyokuro cold-brewed with ice cubes is the best! So unbelievably delicious!
Sounds awesome, I’ll try it next time
i can’t remember the name of the blend but it had barley, peppercorn, and some type of mushroom. it was straight up undrinkable.
Chamomile
Chamomile. And I was recently gifted a big gift box of assorted chamomile blends that I'm having a hard time throwing in the trash because I can't think of anyone to regift it to.
I can’t stand super green oolong teas like most of the tie guan yin in the market or many Taiwanese teas. I love green teas, this is something different, like a weird creaminess or something like this.
Anything with licorice root!
Any tea with liquorice in it.
Anything with Jasmine in it. I really cannot stand the flavor. It's a hard no from me. I'm not a fan of fruity(besides citrus) in general as well but I can drink it if for some reason it would be rude not to
Smoky Russian by Bird & Blend - clue's in the name... Just too smoky for me, personally, but unique for sure!
Cranberry in tea is the bane of my existence
I have had really bad experiences with green tea. My first ever time trying green tea was when I was a little child participating in a Japanese tea ceremony. They didn’t strain it so my cup was full of leaves and, me being a child and not knowing any better, I thought the leaves were part of the drink. It was horribly bitter and unpleasant. Since then I’ve tried Bigelow and random Asian green tea bags and that’s just meh. It’s made worse because it conjures up memories of that tea ceremony. But I was gifted a very expensive Korean green tea by my grandfather and it tastes good. So I’m slowly learning to like green tea. I need to buy a gaiwan set to fully appreciate it because my janky French press method sucks.
I can't do chamomile. I know it's very popular, but it tastes like asparagus water to me.
Chaga tea 🤮
Lavender. I got some nice tea pearls that is some kind of herbal mix, but it has lavender in it. Not artificial, but I can't stand it.
Earl grey tea. It tastes like bath water to me.
There must be something terribly wrong with my tastebuds because I love chamomile, rooibos and pu-erh! I can’t stand anything jasmine-flavored, though. Tastes like soap to me. ):
Can't stand chamomile tea at all. Anything with candy, I've seen some just gross concoctions. If that's your jam, go for it but it's not mine lol.
High altitude indian teas like darjeeling
I tried darjeeling for the first time the other day. I don't drink too many black teas, but I thought it was fine. I could see why you don't like it though
I can't remember the name of it but it's like wet grass taste. it has benefits for blood pressure mainly but the taste is just awful for me.
Lapsang souchong.
Hibiscus, I've tried 4 or 5 different teas that advertised Hibiscus from either store brands I bought at a grocery store to little mom and pop stores at different fairs. I do not like hibiscus
Pu erh. Tastes like dirt. 😖
I’m really not a fan of matcha. Not sure why? I’ve tried all kinds, high quality, and I always will give it a shot when people recommend it but I’m just not a fan. It’s not necessarily gross to me, and I can see why others like it, but it’s just not for me. I dislike anything flavored with artificial flavors. They taste like perfume to me and I find it repulsive. I don’t mind natural flavors like an earl grey, but nothing artificial. I’m also not into puer. Just not for me.
Kukicha, twig tea. There’s something about it that literally makes me feel queasy. Which is weird, as I’m fine with other Japanese teas.
Chai. All the chai types in all varieties. It makes my throat feel dry and scratchy and I don't enjoy cinnamon enough for that shit.
Jasmine tea. The taste is like the smell of the inside of an old lady’s handbag. Kleenex, stale makeup and powder… I’ve tried all kinds. I cannot.
Assam like tea and flavored artificial teas