Brands of tea in Spain

[J Willhaus]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

 

[J Willhaus]

Please limit to brands you think I can get at Eroski or Dia as those are my shopping choices right now.

 

[Theatregal]

I'm a tea drinker and am always happy to see a selection of black tea (PG Tips is good), green tea and mint. There are good selections of all of those at Eroski or Dia. I'm not familiar with Hornsby tea.

 

[henrythedog]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

Teabags other than those sourced in the UK or Ireland (the spiritual home of tea) are universally awful.

Liptons yellow label and (IIRC) Hornemans should be banned.

Hornsby? Never come across those; but I’d leave them sealed and - if one is available - buried in a lead box.

 

[J Willhaus]

Might be Hornimans. I misread.

 

[Former member 49149]

Isn't it great how we can argue on the head of a pin? Head to Santiago, and even just pretend to be interested, heading up to the sisters in the pilgrim welcome centre, who will offer you tea - from Ireland. Isn't it so funny? Tea is from India, for God's sake!
I bring tea over when I come to Pamplona, in spite of the range of miniscule little packets so beautifully packaged here!

 

[Flog]

Isn't it great how we can argue on the head of a pin? Head to Santiago, and even just pretend to be interested, heading up to the sisters in the pilgrim welcome centre, who will offer you tea - from Ireland. Isn't it so funny? Tea is from India, for God's sake!
I bring tea over when I come to Pamplona, in spite of the range of miniscule little packets so beautifully packaged here!

Yep, proper builders tea (Barry's?) up in room 6 if you need a fix in Santiago..

 

[Flog]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

We went through a lot of coffee at Canfranc. I think I may have picked up tea bags in Eroski but there wasn't much demand..

 

[VNwalking]

PG Tips would be ok.
It's not FTGF OP Assam, but it's not awful past pull date dust either.

 

[RJM]

I drink both black or green tea, everyday. I drink it plain and squeeze every little drop out of the bag after it steeps for ten minutes. I can honestly say I notice no real discernible difference in taste between brands. I would drink any tea an albergue was kind enough to offer me.

 

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[roving_rufus]

Mint or camomile are nice to have but as for black tea most brands in Spain are just okay. But it's nice to find tea in an albergue!
But I'm from Ireland so we are one of the highest consumers of tea per capita, and whether it's Barry's Lyons Punjana or Nambarrie, our blends tend to be quite strong as heavy on Assam - which means most other black tea blends seem wishy-washy in comparison. And explains why a cup of Barry's tea in SdeC sounds amazing!

 

[VNwalking]

And explains why a cup of Barry's tea in SdeC sounds amazing!

Go to Tertulia. You can get a whole pot of Assam there. Made with loose tea.
Which is not to say you should give the Barry's from the welcome Centre a miss. You shouldn't - that has its own specialness, too!

Sorry @J Willhaus. Back to what you can get for Canfranc...

 

[roving_rufus]

Go to Tertulia. You can get a whole pot of Assam there. Made with loose tea.
Which is not to say you should give the Barry's from the welcome Centre a miss. You shouldn't - that has its specialness, too

Sounds good! Loose leaf tea always beats out teabags except in one regard convenience

 

[Colleen Kathma]

I drink both black or green tea, everyday. I drink it plain and squeeze every little drop out of the bag after it steeps for ten minutes. I can honestly say I notice no real discernible difference in taste between brands. I would drink any tea an albergue was kind enough to offer me.

Same! I add some Chai tea for variation. Brands? Tetley, Twinings . . . whatever on special when I shop. I'm packing for my Pilgrimage in August. Popped in a selection of tea - bags! I'll be grateful for access to hot water! Cheers!

 

[wayfarer]

And explains why a cup of Barry's tea in SdeC sounds amazing!

Barry's Gold blend....the only tea worth drinking IMO.
I always carry a supply with me when I travel and have often given some away like some kind of tea bag dealer.

 

[StuartM]

Teabags other than those sourced in the UK or Ireland (the spiritual home of tea) are universally awful.

Liptons yellow label and (IIRC) Hornemans should be banned.

Hornsby? Never come across those; but I’d leave them sealed and - if one is available - buried in a lead box.

Totally agree. The consistently worst tea I ever had in my life was travelling in Asia (closely followed by America). I was really shocked that tea-growing nations generally could not produce a decent cup of tea locally. It amazed me that 9 times out of 10 it was that yellow Liptons stuff that was on offer. If Coldplay was a drink they'd be Liptons tea.

As a hardened tea-drinker my heart would sink to see Liptons being the only tea on offer. I'm not particularly nationalistic but any non-British (maybe Irish, don't have much experience with it) tea would send me into a depression. It's one of the few things we do better than anyone. I'm not a fan of Tetley or PG Tips but I'll drink either instead of Liptons sheep dip or any other obscure European supermarket brand. My favourites: Yorkshire (the plain one, not the gold label), Ringtons, Lancashire, Scottish Blend, Nambarrie at a push. Never seen any of those in Spain (seen Yorkshire on sale in Italy so maybe it's spreading).

I think the only thing a proper tea-drinker hates more than being offered Liptons is being offered mint tea. I'd actually be quite insulted by it, it's like offering a coffee drinker a cup of warm coke because it's kind of the same thing.

I don't go more than 5 miles from home without taking teabags with me.

 

[Former member 49149]

Hilarious! I rarely drink tea, by the way, but some serious teadrinkers do know what they like, alright! If I do drink tea, it is decaf Earl Grey from Marks and Sparks. With milk.

 

[Skinnybiker]

Some AP service stations use Whittington tea which seems to have some connection with Lavazza coffee. My wife tells me the tea is v good and I quite like a cuppa lavazza. However may not be so common on the Camino.

 

[J Willhaus]

Well, I will do my best. We aim to please, but sometimes supply is the bottleneck.

 

[Laura Blue]

In Spain you mostly get Lipton's which is weak, Tetley or PG tips are fine for an English tea drinker, but then if course it depends if there is milk.
I guess when travelling it's best just to go with the flow and look forward to home comforts on return.

 

[lt56ny]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs

Don't know anything about teas. Strictly cafe con leche kind of guy. Thanks for volunteering. Are you in Canfranc?

 

[J Willhaus]

Don't know anything about teas. Strictly cafe con leche kind of guy. Thanks for volunteering. Are you in Canfranc?

Yep, we're here one more week. We leave Monday morning the 1st of Aug.

 

[GailGwyn]

Yep, proper builders tea (Barry's?) up in room 6 if you need a fix in Santiago..

I love visiting the sisters in room 6 when I reach Santiago. By then I'm ready for a 'proper' cuppa.

 

[Marcus-UK]

IIsn't it great how we can argue on the head of a pin? Head to Santiago, and even just pretend to be interested, heading up to the sisters in the pilgrim welcome centre, who will offer you tea - from Ireland. Isn't it so funny? Tea is from India, for God's sake!
I bring tea over when I come to Pamplona, in spite of the range of miniscule little packets so beautifully packaged here!

Tea is not from India. Commercial Tea growing originated in China. The Portuguese and British traders set up tea plantations in their former colonies which included India.

To get a decent Irish/English brew you need a strong black tea and usually double up on the local tea bags to hope for a decnt strength and colour.

 

[amancio]

Might be Hornimans. I misread.

hornimans tastes like stake sawdust, get rid of it now!!!

PG tips and Tetley are available in Mercadona and Lidl, both are reasonable brands. As a Spaniard, I have my tea imported from Ireland, actually, Barry's, or else Lyons from UK. Spanish tea is awful in general, we do not have a tradition to drink tea, and will never have one if we still only drink Hornimans and Lipton and the like.

Thanks for being so considerate, I carry my own tea bags when I go on the Camino, actually!

Another very common sin in Spain is regarding milk: people like to drink ultrprocessed cheap milk that tastes awful, it is not always easy to find fresh milk, the kind of milk you NEED to keep in a fridge. If you have an opportunity, try to avoid that shitty milk too.
Makes a lot of a difference!

Enjoy that amazing town, Canfranc, you are very lucky, I hope the river Aragón is full o fresh, clean water this year!

 

[J Willhaus]

hornimans tastes like stake sawdust, get rid of it now!!!

PG tips and Tetley are available in Mercadona and Lidl, both are reasonable brands. As a Spaniard, I have my tea imported from Ireland, actually, Barry's, or else Lyons from UK. Spanish tea is awful in general, we do not have a tradition to drink tea, and will never have one if we still only drink Hornimans and Lipton and the like.

Thanks for being so considerate, I carry my own tea bags when I go on the Camino, actually!

Another very common sin in Spain is regarding milk: people like to drink ultrprocessed cheap milk that tastes awful, it is not always easy to find fresh milk, the kind of milk you NEED to keep in a fridge. If you have an opportunity, try to avoid that shitty milk too.
Makes a lot of a difference!

Enjoy that amazing town, Canfranc, you are very lucky, I hope the river Aragón is full o fresh, clean water this year!

It is a beautiful setting here. Thanks for the tea advice. I haven't seen milk except the kind hermetically sealed in the 1 liter boxes, but my kids used to show dairy cows in 4H in the states so I know the kind you mean. We have not had a single pilgrim ask for or make tea yet, but I put out the choices we have every day and I make my own iced tea to drink during these hot days.

 

[Robi Diaz De Vivar]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

Hi there. I think that maybe you mean Hornimans (a popular Spanish brand of tea) not Hornsby. It is a very good brand and any of its many flavours are excellent, I am a particular fan of their Minty Moroccan. If your clientele is mostly Spanish then I recommend that you stock supplies of Manzanilla (camomile) Tila (lime flower) and menta poleo (penny royal-spearmint blend). I run a guest-house in Andalucia and this reflects our Spanish guests' preferences. Good luck and I hope that your peregrinos appreciate your thoughtfulness. Happy dia de Santiago!!!!!

 

[Brooklynpoet]

Teabags other than those sourced in the UK or Ireland (the spiritual home of tea) are universally awful.

Liptons yellow label and (IIRC) Hornemans should be banned.

Hornsby? Never come across those; but I’d leave them sealed and - if one is available - buried in a lead box.

Completely agree. And PH tips is fine. I think Twinings eng breakfast is awful though, though their darjeeling isn’t bad- so Twinings is a partial exception to the British/Irish rule. And of course for loose teas, China and India rule.

 

[Brooklynpoet]

Completely agree. And PH tips is fine. I think Twinings eng breakfast is awful though, though their darjeeling isn’t bad- so Twinings is a partial exception to the British/Irish rule. And of course for loose teas, China and India rule.

I meant PG Tips

 

[Kelly Ann]

Teabags other than those sourced in the UK or Ireland (the spiritual home of tea) are universally awful.

Liptons yellow label and (IIRC) Hornemans should be banned.

Hornsby? Never come across those; but I’d leave them sealed and - if one is available - buried in a lead box.

Agreed!

 

[Sharonih]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

Honestly tea like coffee is a preference thing but any tea you buy will be drank and appreciated.

 

[Bert45]

I think that the main problem with tea made on the Continent is that they don't understand that the water must be BOILING before being poured onto the tea in a warmed tea-pot. They seem to think that hot water will do. If you don't have a tea-pot (buy one!) you can still make a half-decent cuppa if you warm the mug before pouring the boiling water onto the tea bag. You must wait at least three minutes before adding milk. I use a tea-pot and always put the milk in the cup or mug first, but I have to adapt when I'm not at home.

 

[MariaSP]

Teabags other than those sourced in the UK or Ireland (the spiritual home of tea) are universally awful.

Liptons yellow label and (IIRC) Hornemans should be banned.

Hornsby? Never come across those; but I’d leave them sealed and - if one is available - buried in a lead box.

Totally agree about Liptons and Hornimans.

 

[J Willhaus]

I am personally a coffee snob and only like one kind/brand of coffee at home so I can understand preferences with tea would be similar. I only like coffee with cream although I drink it with whole milk or as coffee con leche here in Spain.

 

[amancio]

I think that the main problem with tea made on the Continent is that they don't understand that the water must be BOILING before being poured onto the tea in a warmed tea-pot. They seem to think that hot water will do. If you don't have a tea-pot (buy one!) you can still make a half-decent cuppa if you warm the mug before pouring the boiling water onto the tea bag. You must wait at least three minutes before adding milk. I use a tea-pot and always put the milk in the cup or mug first, but I have to adapt when I'm not at home.

indeed, it is very common to see people heat up water in a microwave which, on top of being quite dangerous (very hot water might splash in your face as you bring it out of the microwave oven). Indeed, water needs to BOIL. A teapot is desirable, but not a complete must, a decent mug, boiling water, a proper brand of tea and real milk, that is all it takes!

 

[MariaSP]

Hi there. I think that maybe you mean Hornimans (a popular Spanish brand of tea) not Hornsby. It is a very good brand and any of its many flavours are excellent, I am a particular fan of their Minty Moroccan. If your clientele is mostly Spanish then I recommend that you stock supplies of Manzanilla (camomile) Tila (lime flower) and menta poleo (penny royal-spearmint blend). I run a guest-house in Andalucia and this reflects our Spanish guests' preferences. Good luck and I hope that your peregrinos appreciate your thoughtfulness. Happy dia de Santiago!!!!!

Hornimans black tea is awful, I wouldn't offer it to my worst enemy.
Other Hornimans flavours are good, as you say.

 

[Former member 49149]

Tea is not from India. Commercial Tea growing originated in China. The Portuguese and British traders set up tea plantations in their former colonies which included India.

To get a decent Irish/English brew you need a strong black tea and usually double up on the local tea bags to hope for a decnt strength and colour.

Hey, grumpy, thanks, I sit corrected.. I know that is not your name, just being skittish. I also know the Chinese invented nearly everything. I was just being lazy. I know the traders you referred to set up everything to be in their favour. If it were not so serious, one would have to laugh. Everything comes back to bite us. Everything. We have short memories and don't want to know, though, do we?
Hang on, this is about tea, and specifically what Janet should pick up next time she goes shopping... good luck, Janet. And now for the nugget: the pilgrim accepts...
(and my father would drink ghastly stuff as black as the earl of hell's waistcoat, having been on the gas for hours...)

 

[RJM]

Same! I add some Chai tea for variation. Brands? Tetley, Twinings . . . whatever on special when I shop. I'm packing for my Pilgrimage in August. Popped in a selection of tea - bags! I'll be grateful for access to hot water! Cheers!

I don't know about now but pre pandemic on the Frances I found the availability of cups and a way to heat water for tea or even instant coffee to be hit and miss at the albergues. The only solutions I ever found practical is carry your own cup (microwave safe) and one of those electric water boilers that clip on a cup. Covers all bases.

 

[RJM]

I think that the main problem with tea made on the Continent is that they don't understand that the water must be BOILING before being poured onto the tea in a warmed tea-pot. They seem to think that hot water will do. If you don't have a tea-pot (buy one!) you can still make a half-decent cuppa if you warm the mug before pouring the boiling water onto the tea bag. You must wait at least three minutes before adding milk. I use a tea-pot and always put the milk in the cup or mug first, but I have to adapt when I'm not at home.

While on the Camino I've taken a couple of tea bags and squeezed them into my water bottle containing the warmest tap water I can put in it, and then I leave the tea bag strings hanging out the mouth of the bottle and screw the lid down tight. The threads keep it in place and I never leaked on me. I let it soak for a while and take out the bags and have 500ml of cool tea to drink.
Nice improvise, overcome and adapting, right?

 

[OTH86]

Ahh, I have my preferences, and my taste buds adjust to wherever WE are. WE always find that whatever is most common is usually the best - IF it's prepared by a local. ...except *bucks... never, wherever...

 

[Marcus-UK]

Hey, grumpy, thanks, I sit corrected.. I know that is not your name, just being skittish. I also know the Chinese invented nearly everything. I was just being lazy. I know the traders you referred to set up everything to be in their favour. If it were not so serious, one would have to laugh. Everything comes back to bite us. Everything. We have short memories and don't want to know, though, do we?
Hang on, this is about tea, and specifically what Janet should pick up next time she goes shopping... good luck, Janet. And now for the nugget: the pilgrim accepts...
(and my father would drink ghastly stuff as black as the earl of hell's waistcoat, having been on the gas for hours...)

BTW, The Portuguese introduced Tea drinking to the English. Katherine of Braganca brought it with her when she married Charles II. It became fashionable and as a consequence, the Opium wars ensued with China, who did not want to take Opium in exchange for Tea. This also resulted in the British transplanting tea bushes to India, Ceylon, Malaysia, Nigeria etc...

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Isn't it great how we can argue on the head of a pin? Head to Santiago, and even just pretend to be interested, heading up to the sisters in the pilgrim welcome centre, who will offer you tea - from Ireland. Isn't it so funny? Tea is from India, for God's sake!
I bring tea over when I come to Pamplona, in spite of the range of miniscule little packets so beautifully packaged here!

Tea actually had it's origin in China, but yes over that doesn't reaction. ;-)

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Isn't it great how we can argue on the head of a pin? Head to Santiago, and even just pretend to be interested, heading up to the sisters in the pilgrim welcome centre, who will offer you tea - from Ireland. Isn't it so funny? Tea is from India, for God's sake!
I bring tea over when I come to Pamplona, in spite of the range of miniscule little packets so beautifully packaged here!

I know the world should aspire to Barry's but can I put a mention in for Kenyan tea? Go on, go on, go on, go on

 

[backpack45]

Please limit to brands you think I can get at Eroski or Dia as those are my shopping choices right now.

I like English Breakfast, but IMO any kind of black tea is preferable to the alternates.

 

[Sixwheeler]

Teabags other than those sourced in the UK or Ireland (the spiritual home of tea) are universally awful.

Liptons yellow label and (IIRC) Hornemans should be banned.

Hornsby? Never come across those; but I’d leave them sealed and - if one is available - buried in a lead box.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Well, I will do my best. We aim to please, but sometimes supply is the bottleneck.

You have my sympathy.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Tea actually had it's origin in China

Indeed it did and China still has the best tea in the world. Last time I was there and went to a supermarket they had over a hundred different brands with some of them costing around a week's wages.

It is interesting what some people get used to when they have less choice, as in Britain.

 

[lizaqua]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

I am a big tea drinker from England and I would strongly suggest getting Twinings Assam and English Breakfast tea- you can order from Amazon. Earl Grey is nice - but EG is tea you enjoy- Assam & EB are the teas you NEED!

 

[AussieSunnygirl]

I love visiting the sisters in room 6 when I reach Santiago. By then I'm ready for a 'proper' cuppa.

@GailGwyn, what/where is this 'room 6' referenced in a couple of posts? Seems as a tea drinker only, I'm going to be in serious/desperate need of finding the sisters in room 6 when I arrive in SdC later this year.

 

[VNwalking]

EG is tea you enjoy

Oh, not it's not. Some of us hate the bergamot flavor of it. Ick.
Assam (if it's black) or matcha (if it's green). I guess I live in the extremes.

what/where is this 'room 6' referenced in a couple of posts? Seems as a tea drinker only, I'm going to be in serious/desperate need of finding the sisters in room 6 when I arrive in SdC later this year

It's upstairs from where you get your compostella. Just go up there and walk in the direction of the street you came in from. And the tea is a small part of what's offered there.

 

[Former member 49149]

Oh, not it's not. Some of us hate the bergamot flavor of it. Ick.
Assam (if it's black) or matcha (if it's green). I guess I live in the extremes.


It's upstairs from where you get your compostella. Just go up there and walk in the direction of the street you came in from. And the tea is a small part of what's offered there.

You are so correct, @VNwalking. The sisters offer a space to share something of your experience on camino if you wish, and the tea is incidental, actually! However, they understand very well that it is an attraction!

 

[Former member 49149]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

On your way home when you say goodbye to your service as hospitaleros, if you have nothing better to do, you can have a look at wiki for information on tea worldwide! I looked it up after some of the excellent information in the posts above helped me to visualise some of the old fashioned pubs, with lettering stating they were importers of fine teas...

 

[VNwalking]

However, they understand very well that it is an attraction!

 

[mspath]

It is often the simple sharing/drinking of tea that is most important. For a happy camino mutual celebratory brew read here

 

[legs]

Black tea with milk is the only way?

 

[Marcus-UK]

Hello my tea drinking pilgrim friends,
My tea choices in the US are limited mainly to Liptons and Tetley or an off store brand. I drink iced tea at home (unsweetened) and usually add a mint or orange spice tea bag to the brew for a different iced tea flavor.

I am a hospi at an albergue on the Camino Argonese and want to know what kind of tea to buy for tea drinkers. There is a partial box of mint tea and an almost empty box of P &G tips. There is an unopened box of Hornsby. Is the Hornsby ok? I seem to recall some remarks to the contrary in previous threads.

Please advise. There is no tea pot for loose leaf tea. Only a kettle and mugs.

You would normaly use loose leaf tea in a pot or a jug and after steeping/mashing the tea is poured through a strainer into a cup or mug.However it is OK to make Tea in a mug using loose leaf tea. Use a teaspoon or so of tea leaves and pour on boiling water. After you have added milk/sugar the tea leaves settle to the bottom of the cup and you just have to remember not to drink the las CM or half inch of liquid.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Black tea with milk is the only way?

Yuk! Who would be so uncivilized as to pollute any tea with milk.

 

[Skinnybiker]

Yuk! Who would be so uncivilized as to pollute any tea with milk.

The English haha.

 

[StuartM]

The English haha.

Loads of places in Asia use condensed or evaporated milk.

 

[wayfarer]

Yuk! Who would be so uncivilized as to pollute any tea with milk.

Any country that has fresh milk and anyone who doesn't mind buying it.

 

[Former member 49149]

I remember going to USA from the Philippines after a five month stay there in the late 70s. There were two things I was looking forward to; a bath, not a shower, and a glass of cold fresh milk.
Since then I have been out of my own place on many occasions. I have learned to try new things, without looking forward to what is familiar, just being where I am. My own take on the fact that fresh milk is either not easily available or very expensive in other places? There are reasons I know nothing about!
We all have our stereotypes, and we have to be careful as we may tread on sensibilities with our projections of what is right or normal.
Thanks again to Janet for the evidence of trying to meet little needs of passing pilgrims in asking for advice about popular teas... and safe return to yourself and Phil, Janet, when your hospitalero spell is up.

 

[GailGwyn]

@GailGwyn, what/where is this 'room 6' referenced in a couple of posts? Seems as a tea drinker only, I'm going to be in serious/desperate need of finding the sisters in room 6 when I arrive in SdC later this year.

It's upstairs above the Pilgrims Office. Pilgrims can pop in anytime for a cup of tea/coffee, but the sisters and volunteers always invite people to come at the end of the Mass in English. You can sit and chat to other pilgrims. They also have a more 'in depth' sharing, for those who want it, each afternoon. They call themselves Camino Companions. They belong to the FCJ order. www.fcjsisters.org. it's all very friendly and informal.

 

[wanderingsilvia]

Please limit to brands you think I can get at Eroski or Dia as those are my shopping choices right now.

Black tea is hard to find. You may find black tea with mint, which does not work for black tea drinkers like me. I would get any box of black tea you can find.

 

[Jacobus]

Yorkshire Gold…just st sayin

 

[LavanyaLea]

Tea actually had it's origin in China,

I held back for soooo long to jump in on the tea discussion

Indeed it did and China still has the best tea in the world. Last time I was there and went to a supermarket they had over a hundred different brands with some of them costing around a week's wages.

Indeed! I went to a tea plantation for dragon well tea, and they really pay attention to how they grow tea! Workers must come by bicycles so as not to pollute the trees, and tourists with cars can only come past certain hours. They have multiple harvests and produce multiple grades of quality tea, by late summer the tea was only good enough to make pillow stuffing () so at home I still have a pillow stuffed with dragon well loose leaf tea, it smells so nice. Re: Cost, I have some pu erh tea that is compressed into circular discs wrapped in paper, they look so posh and I have seen people put them on their display cabinet. No idea about the cost as I mostly get the good tea as gifts, but now I’m too scared to open mine!

Yuk! Who would be so uncivilized as to pollute any tea with milk.

Tea bags contain broken tea leaves, sometimes with twigs as well. So adding milk will improve the flavour

Also the bags will protect the leaves from getting burnt by boiling water, just being controversial here! So, green (and white) tea should be brewed at lower temperature, around 85C. Black tea at around 90C. In Japan people use a water heater and keep the water at 90C to brew tea. Never brew tea with boiling water!

The Chinese will actually throw away the first brew, to get rid of any bitterness from the dust stuck on the surface of the leaves. If in a restaurant, they use the hot water/tea to clean the plates and cutleries. Second and third brew are the best.

To be even more pedantic, you shouldn’t reboil the water as it will lose more oxygen and tea needs oxygen to develop the flavour - I guess maybe why the Japanese never actually boil the water, they just heat it until a set temp (in most houses I have been in it was 90C).

These are old grandmother’s tales that were told to me, but apparently Twinnings agree too!

But I agree that the beauty of drinking tea is not on finding the best quality leaves and brewing it the perfect way, but more on the spirit of camaraderie associated with drinking tea. Having a cuppa is more about relaxing, warming your cold hands around the warm cup of tea, sharing stories with friends.

 

[WGroleau]

As a hardened tea-drinker my heart would sink to see Liptons being the only tea on offer. I'm not particularly nationalistic but any non-British (maybe Irish, don't have much experience with it) tea would send me into a depression. It's one of the few things we do better than anyone.

I fid it amusing that we (myself included) tend to think that what we are accustomed to is better than the methods of the people we got it from.

 

[J Willhaus]

It is difficult at times where I live to buy black tea in the US unless it is an Iced Tea bag meant for cold brew. My husband does drink Constant Comment which is a black tea with orange spice blend. We do see sometimes see English Breakfast and Earl Grey, but many times my choices are limited to a variety of herbal teas without caffeine. I don't care for green tea. Loose leaf tea is only available at a specialty store or a supermarket of very large size even then with limited choices. In the winter we drink hot tea with honey, but the remainder of the time it is iced tea without sugar.

In the winter at albergues, I try to have ginger, lemon, or Jasmin tea available if I can find it.

 

[Greg Wilson]

Might be Hornimans. I misread.

I‘m a committed tea drinker and would like to pass on my experience of tea drinking on overseas travel. I drink tea several times a day by the pot, not too strong, without milk or sugar and occasionally add a wedge of Orange, do try it, very refreshing! My tea of choice is single estate Darjeeling loose leaf black tea which is great to come home to after time away. it’s sad that you have no teapot so sadly you have to use tea bags. I’m not familiar with the supermarkets in your area but I hope you can purchase Liptons Yellow label tea bags, its a universal blend of black tea very popular wherever I’ve travelled throughout Europe, Middle East and Far East, which you can make as weak or strong according to individual taste. I call it my overseas choice because its not sold in English shops, more’s the pity. Like all things it’s individual taste that counts and you can never please everyone. PG Tips isn’t bad if you can get it but if you can offer a modest selection of what is available to you I’m sure most of your guests will be happy. G’luck mate!

 

[wynrich]

When we were in Palencia in March, about to start our camiino, in our hotel I asked for black tea with hot milk. To my surprise, they brought a little pot with hot steamed milk with the tea bag on the side. No water. So, I steeped the tea bag in the hot milk. I like my tea with lots of milk and it was very good.

 

[RJ in CA]

Twinings English Breakfast tea with real milk. Twinings also make a great cold brew. I drink the cold brew every day. I found both in Spain, but the cold brew was sold in different packaging.

All this talk about tea, now I have to make a cuppa.

 

[Mycroft]

It is difficult at times where I live to buy black tea in the US unless it is an Iced Tea bag meant for cold brew. My husband does drink Constant Comment which is a black tea with orange spice blend. We do see sometimes see English Breakfast and Earl Grey, but many times my choices are limited to a variety of herbal teas without caffeine. I don't care for green tea. Loose leaf tea is only available at a specialty store or a supermarket of very large size even then with limited choices. In the winter we drink hot tea with honey, but the remainder of the time it is iced tea without sugar.

In the winter at albergues, I try to have ginger, lemon, or Jasmin tea available if I can find it.

I admit it has been decades since I was in Laramie, but if the population is >30,000 I wonder why it is hard to get good black teas there. Bigelow is trash--they like to use the 'fines' swept from the floor, or so I have read, and that is why they are about the cheapest of the name-brands on the shelf. I can understand why your husband likes Constant Comment, but see if you can find the original version from Good Earth.
Twinings make a pretty good lemon ginger tea, since you mention it.
I suppose God invented online shopping for these occasions.

 

[J Willhaus]

Only Walmart, Safeway, and Ridley's in Laramie and not that many tea drinkers...Coffee is king with Cowboys...

 

[Former member 49149]

I think this is the moment, before you depart and return home, to send you a photo of a poster in the house here, in Zabaldika!

 

[Iandvt]

I loved this thread - just going to make our Sunday morning tea.

‘Yorkshire Tea’ from Taylor’s of Harrogate of course. I have my stash ready for the C Portuguese, feel free to tap me up for a brew if you are on the coastal route

Send me your address I will post you a box

 

[Taswegian Traveller]

I am personally a coffee snob and only like one kind/brand of coffee at home so I can understand preferences with tea would be similar. I only like coffee with cream although I drink it with whole milk or as coffee con leche here in Spain.

Thanks for opening up this discussion about tea, really helpful for a wannabe peregrinas starting the CdN next April. I am someone who is not fully conscious until a mug of tea has been imbibed first thing, and use a range of brands plus (shock horror) soy milk!! So it probably doesn’t matter what brand of tea anyway!

Just a small segue with your mention of coffee and cream - am assuming if fresh milk is rare, is that the case with fresh cream too? I also love to have a daily coffee and also use cream, one of my (many) daily indulgences
But like OP have mentioned, I just go with the flow when travelling and have what is/isn’t available and that’s just fine. You don’t want everything the same as home otherwise why would you travel ??!!

 

[Taswegian Traveller]

I held back for soooo long to jump in on the tea discussion

Indeed! I went to a tea plantation for dragon well tea, and they really pay attention to how they grow tea! Workers must come by bicycles so as not to pollute the trees, and tourists with cars can only come past certain hours. They have multiple harvests and produce multiple grades of quality tea, by late summer the tea was only good enough to make pillow stuffing () so at home I still have a pillow stuffed with dragon well loose leaf tea, it smells so nice. Re: Cost, I have some pu erh tea that is compressed into circular discs wrapped in paper, they look so posh and I have seen people put them on their display cabinet. No idea about the cost as I mostly get the good tea as gifts, but now I’m too scared to open mine!

Tea bags contain broken tea leaves, sometimes with twigs as well. So adding milk will improve the flavour

Also the bags will protect the leaves from getting burnt by boiling water, just being controversial here! So, green (and white) tea should be brewed at lower temperature, around 85C. Black tea at around 90C. In Japan people use a water heater and keep the water at 90C to brew tea. Never brew tea with boiling water!

The Chinese will actually throw away the first brew, to get rid of any bitterness from the dust stuck on the surface of the leaves. If in a restaurant, they use the hot water/tea to clean the plates and cutleries. Second and third brew are the best.

To be even more pedantic, you shouldn’t reboil the water as it will lose more oxygen and tea needs oxygen to develop the flavour - I guess maybe why the Japanese never actually boil the water, they just heat it until a set temp (in most houses I have been in it was 90C).

These are old grandmother’s tales that were told to me, but apparently Twinnings agree too!

But I agree that the beauty of drinking tea is not on finding the best quality leaves and brewing it the perfect way, but more on the spirit of camaraderie associated with drinking tea. Having a cuppa is more about relaxing, warming your cold hands around the warm cup of tea, sharing stories with friends.

Very informative, thank you! And I have seen the kettles with different water temperatures here in Australia for very particular folk

 

[Anamiri]

Yuk! Who would be so uncivilized as to pollute any tea with milk.

I love my tea with milk- but not steamed milk (real not soy etc), I learned to wait until they put in the boiling water (or not in many cases) and then ask for milk. Asking for it all it in one sentence often gave me a steamed milk version - which is not great.
I had good tea in a lovely place in Viana that also did the foot washing and a meditation - a treat.

Random information -I've noticed that adding milk makes it a lot easier to clean the cups. Strong black tea (my husband) stains the cups. Also if you spill your tea, having added milk makes it easier to get out of the carpet.

 

[J Willhaus]

Whole milk is available in the carton at most breakfasts. I buy the individual creamer packs from Eroski (10 little cups) for when I am walking and carry them in a small hard plastic cup in my pack along with individual butter packs for making bocadillos.

As a hospitalero, I buy the small cooking cream cartons for my coffee and keep them in the fridge.

 

[StuartM]

I fid it amusing that we (myself included) tend to think that what we are accustomed to is better than the methods of the people we got it from.

Sadly, the methods of the people we got it from now seems to be using a mass produced teabag from Unilever rather than the locally produced tea. The times you get locally produced tea done in the traditional manner it's always lovely but in my experience it's harder and harder to come by. Last time I was travelling in Asia if I asked for tea it was generally one of those Liptons yellow teabags in a cup of lukewarm water that was served.

I have never met anyone who thought Liptons produced nice tea, it amazes me that the company sells anything. Which is sad as the company was founded in my home town and my parents and grandparents always talked fondly of Liptons shops, it was a quality brand at one point before the money men got their claws into it.

 

[wayfarer]

Sadly, the methods of the people we got it from now seems to be using a mass produced teabag from Unilever rather than the locally produced tea. The times you get locally produced tea done in the traditional manner it's always lovely but in my experience it's harder and harder to come by. Last time I was travelling in Asia if I asked for tea it was generally one of those Liptons yellow teabags in a cup of lukewarm water that was served.

I have never met anyone who thought Liptons produced nice tea, it amazes me that the company sells anything. Which is sad as the company was founded in my home town and my parents and grandparents always talked fondly of Liptons shops, it was a quality brand at one point before the money men got their claws into it.

This is why I love Barry's tea, its a family run company who import and blend their tea.

About Barry’s Tea | Irish Tea Brands

www.barrystea.ie

 

[StuartM]

This is why I love Barry's tea, its a family run company who import and blend their tea.

About Barry’s Tea | Irish Tea Brands

www.barrystea.ie

My local supermarket is a small, family-owned independent chain. They started out in the 1850's as tea & coffee importers and it's still one of their main focuses. I buy my loose tea from them. For teabags I buy Yorkshire, they're still an independent and tastes decent.

 

[MikeJS]

I never drink tea in Spain. I keep to coffee as they do know how to make that!

 

[Marcus-UK]

I fid it amusing that we (myself included) tend to think that what we are accustomed to is better than the methods of the people we got it from.

My very first summer job was making Tea and fetching sandwiches/Pop/Biscuits for mainly Irish bricklayers who were being paid bonuses for the amount of bricks laid so they rarely stopped for a break. I used to brew the tea up in a large billy using the instruction to throw in a whole packet of loose leaf tea plus a 2ilb bag of sugar and wait for the correct tar like consistency! It was then strained into the bricklayers enamel billy cans and I used to deliver it to the building sites along with cans of evaporated milk. After finishing one run I would collect empty billies clean them and start again. At the end of the week if the tea was good and food delivered correctly the brickies used to share some of their bonus with the Gofer Lads and it could be quite generous.

I used the same recipe for Tea 10 years later while in the Army (albeit with Tea Bags) and actually got a smile my company sergeant major!

 

[Embee12]

I had tea on my mind, also, because I'm not a coffee drinker (caf or decaf) nor do I drink caffeinated tea. (Thus, I will miss the famous cafe con leche!) Will I ever be able to find decaf green tea or rooibos anywhere? Markets? Restaurants? If I were to arrive at a cafe, say, or at breakfast at a lodging with my own bag of tea and ask for a cup of hot water plus milk, would that be very strange? I would purchase something, too...

 

[WGroleau]

Will I ever be able to find decaf green tea or rooibos anywhere? Markets? Restaurants?

We always had Rooibos (and a few others) available for our guests. We did our shopping at Aldi and Simply in Estella.