Any other tea fanciers?

[cfc1016]

I'm always looking for interesting pairing beverages. As a non-drinker, the traditional scotch and rum are off the menu.

My go-to all time favorite, believe it or not, is canada dry diet cranberry ginger ale. Unfortunately, this white whale beverage appears to be unavailable in the great state of Alaska. I've not given up the hunt, but I'm not holding my breath either.

I generally drink coffee or diet coke (or both) with my cigars, as compliment and cleanser. @awkwardPause recommended red rooibos tea to me, though, as a good pairing with QDOCs. I followed the advice and was quite pleased! I can also enjoy a jasmine green tea with some of my lighter flavored cigars, and I find I rather enjoy earl grey and milk with a bolivar.

I tend to lean much more toward herbal/fruity teas with honey added, though, and I find I don't like them with a cigar.

Any of the rest of you tea enthusiasts have any recommendations on particular varieties of tea you enjoy with your cigars? Maybe which ones you particularly enjoy with a *specific* cigar, even?

[akpreacher]

I actually just started drinking loose leaf teas, a friend of mine sent me some great teas from a shop there in anchorage called Summit Spice and Tea.




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[cfc1016]

1 minute ago, akpreacher said:

I actually just started drinking loose leaf teas, a friend of mine sent me some great teas from a shop there in anchorage called Summit Spice and Tea.




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Nice! I'll check them out.

DO you pair this with your cigars?

[akpreacher]

Nice! I'll check them out.
DO you pair this with your cigars?

I have not tried it yet


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[nKostyan]

Most Cuban cigars do not require drinks, CC - self-contained cigars, this is one of their advantages. I don't drink alcohol either, because I drive all the time. But as a drink, I usually drink black tea whole leaves - tripa larga if the cigar is strong add sugar. I also like Chinese Jasmine green tea without sugar.

 

 

 

[Akela3rd]

Lapsang souchong works really well with a cigar. It's smokey and floral flavours compliment a good cigar really well.

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[garbandz]

Puerh tea is a big favorite.

cooked Puerh is fuller and deeply flavored,pair with Bolivar or Partagas.

raw Puerh has freshness and light flavors, El Rey or Cohiba, Hoyo.

Da Hong Pao (big red robe ) is a dark Oolong,goes well with spice,like RASS.

Jin Jun Mei is almost meaty, I think of Punch to pair this with.

Long Jing (dragon well ) is nutty,I think of Upmann to pair this,or Cuaba.

There are many good teas,they have beneficial properties and taste good.

I am glad I started to experiment a few years ago,it has been educational and enjoyable.

Puershop .com . or Yunnan Sourcing .com are excellent sources.

.....A friend bought some "aged " Puerh tea from Teavana.

stay away from this source.

[CaptainQuintero]

  I've gotten into Russian Caravan Tea blends, they're very cigar-esque, dark, rich and smokey with a nice tannic bite. I'm usually into sweet and creamy stuff and stumbled onto these by chance but they're certainly worth a try if you like cigars.

[MD Puffer]

Milo’s Sweet Tea. Brewed in Bessemer, Alabama. Thick as syrup. Usually served with a shot of insulin- boiler maker style. 

[BrightonCorgi]

37 minutes ago, CaptainQuintero said:

  I've gotten into Russian Caravan Tea blends, they're very cigar-esque, dark, rich and smokey with a nice tannic bite. I'm usually into sweet and creamy stuff and stumbled onto these by chance but they're certainly worth a try if you like cigars.

Russian Caravan is my wife and I go to blend.  Tastes just like you say.  I like my tea with a spot of heavy cream.

[BrightonCorgi]

Well, not a tea in the sense of high tea, but is worth the OP looking for is Pomegranate tea.  I picked it up in Israel.  It's dried shredded Pomegranate shells with small pieces of crystallized Pomegranate.  It's cooked in boiling water for 5-10 minutes and served chilled.  I do not believe there is caffeine in it (or none I have noticed).  I brew at quart at a time. 

[Derboesekoenig]

2 hours ago, Akela3rd said:

Lapsang souchong works really well with a cigar. It's smokey and floral flavours compliment a good cigar really well.

Sent from my ActionMan walkie-talkie
 

One of my work associates turned me onto the smoked tea. At first, it was very odd, but it grows on you quick. And with a cigar, it is a great pairing.

Someone also mentioned rooibos and QDs, which I have tried, and it makes for a perfect union if there ever was one. Really great pairing, in my opinion.

Honestly, I prefer loose leaf tea to coffee with *most* cigar pairing.

This is if you are a non-drinker, of course. 

[CaptainQuintero]

4 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Russian Caravan is my wife and I go to blend.  Tastes just like you say.  I like my tea with a spot of heavy cream.

I came across it on Anglesey just by chance and tried a few different types when I got home but they never matched up to the one from Anglesey so eventually rang the cafe up and found the blend makers, turns out it was a little Welsh company churning out dozens of their own takes on blends, great little operation. Their take on it was called Smokey Dragon, really worth a taster

 

https://www.chantlerteas.co.uk/shop.php?~~id=14226228&~~mode=product#!/Smoky-Dragon-Russian-Caravan/p/23306427/category=5523546

[HDGSN]

Cold teas would be good, imo. Good sweet tea or green tea. I bet a HDM with a morning cold matcha would be tasty.

[BrightonCorgi]

1 hour ago, CaptainQuintero said:

I came across it on Anglesey just by chance and tried a few different types when I got home but they never matched up to the one from Anglesey so eventually rang the cafe up and found the blend makers, turns out it was a little Welsh company churning out dozens of their own takes on blends, great little operation. Their take on it was called Smokey Dragon, really worth a taster

https://www.chantlerteas.co.uk/shop.php?~~id=14226228&~~mode=product#!/Smoky-Dragon-Russian-Caravan/p/23306427/category=5523546

Another one I am fond of is Fortnum & Mason Assam Superb Tea = https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/fortnum-and-mason-assam-superb-tea/

 

[barry12321]

I haven't been smoking cigars very long, but have had great experiences paring mild-medium cigars with quality loose leaf black tea.  

[guideright]

Great thread! I’m a big tea drinker but stick to one or two. Custom blend from a local restaurant - Persian earl grey. Appreciate the information on other teas and the on line shops to purchase from. Look forward to trying some new tea.

[helix]

Drinks tons of Yorkshire teas . 

[Fugu]

Love tea, but not pairing it often with cigars (which is a shame actually... practicality and laziness mostly).

Assam or Assam-based blends with their pronounced malty breadiness do pair really nice with a(ny) cigar. With or without milk/cream and sugar. Pu-erh works great for me also (with @garbandz on that). The floral-herbal freshness of 1st-fl. Darjeeling and its slight astringency goes well together with certain, not too "dark-flavoured" cigars (in particular Cohiba and QdO coming to mind here with their hay-ish herbal hints. Also Trini and perhaps aged LGC). Chinese Yin Long / Yin Zhen working well there, too, lacking that nuttiness of Darjeeling. Although this may sometimes mean a rather sacrilegious disposal of these fine (and expensive) tippy first-flush garden teas...

While fancying different Chinese green and whites, most of these non-fermented teas don't go that well with a cigar for me. Actually the teas do, as they cleanse and refresh the palate nicely and act in supporting the cigar. But the tea in return isn't supported likewise, and so is often somehow, well, I wouldn't say wasted, but underappreciated. Still, a stronger steeping of a hearty Ding Gu Da Fang or Longjing with its sometimes nutty, even meaty quality (esp. when steeped at slightly higher temperature), I may pair even with full-bodied cigars. Best are then the second or third steepings there.

Ideal for pairing with a cigar - due to its vast variation in stiles, easy preparation whilst smoking (as compared to green teas, i.e. for temperature) and its versatility - I find Oolongs: A sweeter, fruiter Formosa Oolong e.g. (non-roasted varieties) goes nicely with RyJ and SLR. Oolong may go from delicate floral over fruity, dried fruits, to nutty, malt, cocoa, woody flavours - from low to higher-oxidized and roasted stiles. The latter varieties complementing Montecristo quite well.

The really nice thing about these teas, as e.g. holding for Pu-erh, is that you usually steep small volumes only briefly but re-steep several times. That allows for an enduring supply of freshly prepared tea during the smoke. And with the cigar changing, so does the tea over the course of the smoke. Oolongs and Pu-erhs are usually more forgiving than Green tea with regard to temp, and so they are ideal for smoking as you don't want to fiddle much with the accurate water temperature while enjoying your cigar.

In tea I never look for contrasting notes but instead try to find similar aromatic qualities being in tune with the cigar.

General advice: With higher-end teas the same holds as for cigars - trust your sources. And, in particular for Chinese teas, also take the occasional glimpse at pesticide residues (good suppliers provide analysis data sheets) for teas consumed regularly and in larger quantities.

All that being said, more often than not I find myself quickly pouring a Nescafe Gold Decaf to go with my smoke...

[cfc1016]

43 minutes ago, Fugu said:

All that being said, more often than not I find myself quickly pouring a Nescafe Gold Decaf to go with my smoke...

HA! You remind me of myself here. I like to understand and appreciate the fine nuances of interreactivity of flavors. I also like to keep things simple.

I drink a lot of safeway brand hazelnut coffee. It's artificially flavored. It comes in grounds not beans. It's cheap. Ya know what, though? It's good. ?

[Derboesekoenig]

16 hours ago, cfc1016 said:

HA! You remind me of myself here. I like to understand and appreciate the fine nuances of interreactivity of flavors. I also like to keep things simple.

I drink a lot of safeway brand hazelnut coffee. It's artificially flavored. It comes in grounds not beans. It's cheap. Ya know what, though? It's good. ?

I'm sorry, but I have to deduct points. Artificial, flavor, fine nuances, and nescafe + grounds, can't belong together. Nice try. A- for effort 

[Boxer1]

I’m not sure I’m the one you want suggesting particular pairings but I can absolutely recommend Smith teas. Their jasmine pearls and jasmine silver tip are both amazing. For an earl grey I love lord bergamot. Meadow is off the charts if you like a really floral herbal blend and I go through the iced tea like crazy in the summer.  They’re out of Portland Or. and many of the more upscale restaurants, hotels, and grocery stores around here (Oregon) carry at least a small selection of their stuff. You might be able to find some up where you’re at. If not they have a great website. I’ve tried about everything they offer and it is all top notch in its respective category.