Real Simple magazine picks 8 best (bagged supermarket) teas
agree/disagree? Discuss. Tea seems to be all over the media this year. Maybe it’s just a New Year’s health craze, or maybe I am just more aware of it now than ever…
FYI – 3 of the eight categories are: Chamomile, Mint, and Red so it’s not all “true” tea.
Ugh, the orange mandarin? Lipton? Really? Did they get paid off to write that article?
most typical for that sort of thing but 1 or 2 I haven’t heard of or was shocked…
While I disagree on their choice of categories, I think this is great. I personally don’t choose to buy my tea at the grocery store, but I do look to see what they have. ROT’s red surprises me, not because they said it was the best quality (I’ve never tried it), but because I’ve never seen it in a grocery store.
And I do agree tea is all over the media. Now granted I practically never read a magazine, but I picked up the 1/18 issue of People and was surprised to see 2 different tea ads.
ive seen ROT’s red sold at my local whole foods and at stonewall kitchen…if that counts as a grocery store
This person has never shopped in the small town I live in…the only one that is available where I live is…Lipton and I when I saw that I just said “really” !?!
I got my issue last night and saw that!!
Real Simple is a funny magazine. I subscribe because I really like their recipes, but some of the other advice is off the wall!!! My biggest pet peeve is when they give “simple, inexpensive” wardrobe advice, and the blouse costs $200 or the dress costs $500! This issue, they said that to reduce credit card debt, pay twice or triple your monthy statement – umm, duh!!!! (not to mention you probably wouldn’t have used your credit cards to rack up debt if you had double or triple your monthly statement sitting around looking pretty in your bank account, but I digress!).
The magazine is full of crazy things like that, but I did mark almost a month’s worth of meals to try :) I just get a good giggle out of the rest of the stuff. Lipton? No thanks.
Lipton as the best black tea?! Bwhahaha! There are sooo many ‘standard supermarket’ teas that in my opinion are better than the ones listed in most of their categories.
I bet that the reviewer is happy to get the publicity for the new tea parlor she is opening up in just a few weeks.
http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/the-feed-blog/restaurants-bars/2010/01/the-feed-first-look-bosie/
Wonder if she’ll feature her supermarket picks there?
Oh man. Whilst I’m airing all my pet peeves ;) I absolutely HATE when people use the word “curate” to describe things like a tea selection or what’s in their store or even wardrobe (I’ve read so many mentions of a “well curated selection of shoes” and such nonsense.). That is such a red flag for all-style-no-substance!
I’m curious… if you were in her shoes, which eight supermarket teas would each of you have picked?
To be honest, I’d turn down the offer to participate in the article to maintain my integrity! (Then again, that’s probably why I make such a tiny amount of money working at an art school! Darn integrity!! ;).
Not all supermarkets are created alike. Your average supermarket does not carry Republic of Tea or Zhena’s Gypsy Tea. In my old neighborhood, they only sometimes had Twinings, and not the whole variety! The average supermarket has Lipton, Tetley, some of the Celestial Seasonings, and if you are lucky, maybe a few Bigelows or Twinings. I don’t see the point!
My belief is that for the same amount of money or LESS as the Republic of Tea Red Tea cited in the article (approx $10) you can go to a good local tea house or one of the respected online tea companies and buy excellent tea. That is the true economy, and “real simple” way to enjoy tea!
EDIT: and in the interest of science ;) when I was in the supermarket (Wegmans, Cherry Hill NJ) I looked around. Wegman’s has a special tea section (it’s the size of a small store and in its own separate nook) with lots of boxed, bagged tea and a few loose teas in tins. The Republic of Tea Red bags were 8.99 (a little over 2 oz). At my local, excellent tea shop, loose vanilla rooibos (made with top-grade Madagascar vanilla) is $9 for 4 oz. So, the supermarket stuff is not as good of quality and twice the price.
Well let’s see…
To start off, I actually do agree with their choice for Best English Breakfast. For the best mint and Chamomille teas, honestly I grow my own and like it just fine. All you need is a pot, some, dirt, seeds and somewhere vaguely sunny. Plus it has the advantage of being as fresh as it could possibly be. ;)
As for the rest:
Best Earl Grey: Twining’s Lady Grey
Best Green: Revolution Tea – both their Organic Green and their Tropical Green Tea are great.
Best Red: The rooibos and honeybush blends that Intaba sells are really nice, but I’ve only seen them in London Drugs and I’m not sure if any stores in the States carry it.
Best Orange: Mighty Leaf’s Orange Dulce
Best Classic Black: Here I have no clue, are they refering to only straight black tea or can flavoured/chai/whatever count?
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