I’m born in Poland during the communist regimes reign. Back then there was only one tea available: Black Tea.
We mostly drank it with a slice of lemon and some sugar. To this day this is my favourite way of drinking tea.
But I also enjoy what I started calling “Queen Elisabeth Tea” when my daughter asked what it is, same black tea but with milk and sugar. She likes it a lot too.
Last but not least, I really enjoyed Japanese tea, we went to a special tea house and they showed us how to brew it and drink it. It was some special green tea, very delicious!
Being of conventional English extraction, I drink vast quantities of tea in the usual style: black tea and milk. These days it’s usually oat milk, and sugar is occasionally involved (but not usually). I like an Assam-heavy malty blend of black tea (and the Twinings pure Assam is particularly good too). Clipper is probably my favourite of the mainstream brands for a standard black blend (although I’m not above a cup of cheap Typhoo).
I do drink reasonable quantities of Earl Grey too. Twinings brand for that, usually. I also drink this with milk, which (contrary to the deep insistence of internet blog spam everywhere) is actually very common. I’ve had it the other way (black with lemon) many times, but it’s no improvement in my opinion.
I’m quite partial to a rooibos too, which I appreciate isn’t actually tea, but you know. I’m not fussy on rooibos brand though; so far I’ve found that every brand I’ve tried had been perfectly decent, so I’m usually just led by price (or by pretty packaging…).
Japanese matcha green tea is proper green tea. The secret is not to use water that’s too hot - boiling water will scald the tea and ruin the taste. With Japanese tea ceremonies, they actually have to grind the tea leaves very carefully, as if they go too fast the friction will cause the same effect.
With black tea, I only take certain blends black. Twinings earl grey works for me, but other earl greys and even basic black teas are often too bitter. However, I usually just add only a tiny splash of milk and no sugar - the sugar tends to make me drowsy an hour or so later.
The gulf between bad Earl Grey and really good Earl Grey is huge, but a really good Earl Grey can’t be beat. The Crema Earl Grey from Rare Tea Cellar is right up there.
If you’re interested in trying out the full breadth of flavors you can get out of teas, I’d like to suggest buying an electric kettle where you can set the water temperature (they’re like $20-$25 online now) and a website I really like that sells tea and tea blends blends called august.la (I think the company’s full name is August Uncommon Teas).
Regarding the kettle, it’s because black tea only requires boiling water (212°F, same temperature needed for making coffee), but green and white teas require 170°F and 190°F, respectively. Making green tea using boiling water causes a really bitter flavor, and not the kind it’s supposed to have. Green tea and tea in general will always have a bitterness, but it’s still a massive difference to the point that I’ve spaced out and put boiling water into a cup of green tea, realize it a few moments too late, and dump it out because it’s as good as ruined to me.
The website has a few pure teas, and there are many kinds of black tea varieties, green tea varieties, and white tea varieties in the world in general, but I go there for the blends. Low Country is my favorite black tea blend, and Know by Heart is my favorite white tea blend. They got my partner into tea too! They’ve also got recipes for some of their tea blends to make cocktails and mocktails, lattes, etc.
Jasmine green tea (occasionally with oat milk) or oolong is usually my favourite. In terms of English breakfast tea: definitely Yorkshire Gold!
Cardamom black tea with sugar is quite delicious. I also quite enjoy Jasmine green tea.
Jasmine green tea is lovely. If you like complexity in simplicity, try some oolong teas.