Please recommend a weak tea

[NotaVicar1]

NC as I am worried that this will follow me everywhere as the subject of tea can raise strong passions, but you could probably work it out if you thought it was worth the effort.

And I apologise for this novel length post, but I'm trying to avoid drip feeding and 'yes, but...' posts.

I have stupid issues with food. I used to love tea but after a new set of food issues cropped up, I got severe stomach pains every time I drank it. I then got addicted to diet cola and I'm currently on around two or three litres of Aldi's diet cola a day. I have found that I can manage tea if I have rice milk (not almond, soy or oat) but I can't manage strong tea or strongly flavoured tea. I've just invested in some darjeeling, but I wondered if anyone could recommend something pathetically weak and inexpensive. I've always drunk my tea weak anyway.

I like tea, it's probably better for me than cola and I'm wanting to cut down the weight of the shopping - it's easier to carry a week's worth of tea than a week's worth of cola and I'm trying to cut down time spent in shops.

I also can't bear a lot of the herbal teas. I just tried Tesco lemon and ginger and threw the box out. And there is the issue of caffeine addiction. I'm not keen on green tea either.

Coffee gives me sick headaches.

Considering putting just one bag in a big teapot, but not sure about how that would work.

Grateful for any suggestions.

Try Darjeeling or Ceylon they're softer in flavour than most English breakfast blends. You can get them in bags or try loose leaf so you can alter the amount of leaves and water you use.

Have you tried Earl Grey?

White tea is nice but it can be expensive. Have you tried just tea without milk? It's my favourite, no sugar or anything.

Earl grey and lady grey.
Well done on reducing the Cola - it's a hard habit to kick - keep going.
I also have fridge cold peppermint tea which I find helps my tummy.

If caffeine is an issue, you could try Clipper decaf tea. I drink loads of it. It’s fairly weak unless you leave the bag in to stew for a long time (which I do - but if DH makes me a cup of tea, he often takes the bag out too early and I end with a very feeble cup of tea).

I would get a small teapot with a built in infuser (like the ones you get in lots of cafes) and use loose leaf tea - works out cheaper and you can put as much/little in as you like. Once you’ve poured a cup, top up the pot with some more water.

Lots of supermarket own brand breakfast teas can be bought loose leaf and are much more economical than bags.

Have you tried loose leaf tea?

I think the problem with teabags in the U.K. is that most of that tea is specifically selected for drinking with milk. It’s all very strong and pretty acidic which can upset your stomach even in a very diluted form, if you try to drink it without milk.

A loose leaf earl grey should be ok. Darjeeling might be, but cheaper versions can be pretty acidic too. I think Assam is a strong tea, wit lots of caffeine but not that much acidity, so that might work too.

I agree that Clipper decaff are extremely weak.

I also drink quite a lot of Rooibos in summer, different taste to tea but summery and refreshing. Caffeine free.

Ceylon orange pekoe, white and green teas are lovely, what about a mint or fennel it ginger?

Thank you for the replies.

I can't drink tea black, it just doesn't work :(

Earl Grey and Lady Grey taste of perfume. It's like cologne got on the cup before the tea was brewed. I'm not a fan at all.

I may try brewing stuff from leaves in a strainer. That sounds like it could help, and stocking up on Darjeeling and Ceylon

I never thought of the acidity. I may try a weak brew of Assam.

I can't bear peppermint tea, which is a shame as it's a really healthy, beneficial brew. I always feel like I've been chewing grass.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I tried brewing Yorkshire Tea weak. I brewed it in half a cup of the boiling water, removed the bag, added around half a cup of rice milk. It tasted too strong. No idea why.

I drink green tea. Jasmin pearl is lovely with a delicate flavour and no need for rice milk.

www.kensingtontea.com/

imperialteas.co.uk/

These guys are great and often do sample packs,

I like Morrison's lemongrass and ginger - it's not like lemon and ginger (horrible, too sweet and tastes like medicine) at all. It is my go-to when I really want coffee but have already had 4 cups.

Pukka 'night time' is a nice, gentle flavour - it has chamomile, valerian and lavender in there so you might be put off by the perfume. It doesn't make me sleep!

Waitrose Earl Grey is massively weaker than other brands of the same - I know you said you didn't like the smell of it but it barely tastes of anything so might be more what you want.

If you basically like 'normal' tea but weaker, why not just dunk the teabag in very briefly? You can alter the strength of tea by varying the amount of tea you use (if using loose leaf), the length of time you brew it, or with some teas the heat of the water you use (only really works with green tea imo).

Yorkshire tea is famously strong, so give that a miss, (just go for a standard PGTips or something). And you'd be better off brewing briefly in half a cup of hot water, removing the tea bag, then adding more water and then a normal amount of milk (rather than just the half cup of water and loads of milk, which won't dilute the strength of the tea as well as adding more water).

Brewing your tea in half a cup of water is probably why it's too strong! Try a much larger vessel, such as one bag per small teapot, then pour the cup size you want, and add a little milk. Half a cup of milk per cup of tea would be utterly vile!

You could use a normal bag in a normal cup for less time, and reuse the bag next time round for weaker taste.

Fennel tea is nice (aniseedy taste), but if you don't like mint, it's unlikely to be your 'bag' either.
Mint tea doesn't agree with me (I know! And it's always recommended for bad stomachs, but it gives me stomach pains) so I switched to green tea. I leave it tonsteep for two minutes, and I reuse the bags (just once, so two years per bag).
I use clipper green tea which is a little expensive, but I'm getting twice as much out of the box. It's often reduced at Sainsbury's or Waitrose, every few months I stock up.

Ceylon has a lovely taste too. Again- more water or less steeping time, not more milk.
Really, you want to cut down the milk further and further until you don't use it at all, probably the same way you have done with diet coke- well done, because that stuff is very addictive!

"to steep" and "two teas per bag"
It would be weak after two years use!

Thanks for the advice.

I think getting a huge pot and using one teabag to fish out might be one way, and I always liked PG.

Really appreciate the ideas and suggestions.

Have you tried Matcha? It's a good quality green tea that comes as a powder.
I like it very weak and use a fraction of a teaspoon in a mug and it's not horribly bitter like most green teas I've tried.

I'll add another vote for Pukka's NightTime.

Loose leaf tea in an infuser in a teapot then you can work out how much tea you need to please your palate. This supplier gives a description of the tastes, theuklooseleafteacompany.co.uk/ there are loads of others online too.

it seems a shame to just go for a mass produced bag when there's such a vast selection out there.

I'm not keen on ordinary tea but I love this, try some for a nightcap www.aldi.co.uk/gunpowder-whisky-liqueur/p/021651318852800

I hate strong tea, much to my DM's horror. I like Sainsburys Kenyan teabags.

Clipper tea.. Super weak, even the non decaf stuff. Definitely not Yorkshire!

I drink Tetley green tea, a quick dunk will be very weak.
Getting a teapot is a good idea.

@BlankTimes does the Nightime tea help you sleep or is it just decaf?

Just a heads up, there is an app called Olio that is like Freecycle but for food. As long as it is in date, there is no problem adding opened stuff on there, someone took a cheese cake from me last week, that I had had a piece of but decided I really wasn't keen on.

Rooibos might work for you? Also called red bush I think - they sell it at Tesco. It's a pretty light tea and you can add a splash of milk to it as well.

Lots of ideas here.

I've never really clicked with green tea or rooibos, but I may revisit, if only to try getting away from the cola, and I'll be checking all the links.

Thank you! I really appreciate the suggestions!