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
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    15 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
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      14 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
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    15 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
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    15 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
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    15 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
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    15 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
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    14 days ago

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

  • milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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    14 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
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      14 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.zone
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    15 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.

  • OpenStars@piefed.social
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    15 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

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    14 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.

  • atro_city@fedia.io
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    14 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.

    • 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.

  • Monkey With A Shell@lemmy.socdojo.com
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    15 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
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      15 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.

  • randombullet@programming.dev
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    15 days ago

    Darjeeling is just a region where tea is made right?

    It’s like my Keurig tastes the same as my hand ground coffee from Columbia?

    • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
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      15 days ago

      Champagne is just a region where sparkling white wine is made grown right?

      Some regions just have the right mix of climate, soil, sun, temperature, precipitation etc that gives the product its cachet.

      • zout@fedia.io
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        15 days ago

        You’ve just proved the point, there are plenty of good regions for sparkling white wine which are not named Champagne.

        • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
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          14 days ago

          Oh, for sure. I’d pick an unknown Cava over an unknown Champagne any day of the week. The thing is that humans have this inbuilt competitive thing - coffee, tea, wines, tobacco, potatoes, ganja, cheese, etc etc all have the same mythos around them. The experts want to class one particular product “best in class”. To the casual enjoyer it can often all taste/look pretty much the same. Also “industry best” does not have to equate with personal favourite. They can be two different things.