If you’re an unabashed tea-drinker, you’ll eventually end up with a hoard of tea. Some of this tea will be tea that you love, and some of it will be tea that you don’t like as much. Maybe it had a good description, maybe it smelled nice at first, but for whatever reason, you don’t like drinking it straight right now.
Well, I’ve got three suggestions on what you can do about it, that don’t involve giving the teas away (I mean, it’s already opened so it’s not like you can regift this).
Age the Tea (or try it again later)
Best for: unflavoured white teas, sheng puer
If you didn’t like the tea, sometimes just ageing it will do the trick. This is especially so for sheng puer (raw puer), which is meant to be aged! You can also age other teas, such as white teas, so this is an option for teas that you feel are too astringent or ‘young’.
Remember to keep your teas away from strong-smelling items like garlic, and to put them in a dark and cool area of the house, away from humid and hot spots.
Even if your tea is not meant to be aged, sometimes putting it away for a while will help. Your tea tastebuds will change and you may find yourself liking a tea on the second or third round!
Cold-brew it in Milk/Gin/Liquid of Choice
Best for: Strongly flavoured teas
This method works best for flavoured teas that are too strong for you (see: me and many Earl Grey blends). Using something that is not water or mixing it into a cocktail/mocktail may do the trick.
I’ve found that cold brewing tea in milk overnight tends to work very well for interesting milk-teas (especially if the flavouring involves caramel or fruit), and I really enjoy an Earl Grey G&T. Pretty much anything can be a base for your tea, so let your imagination run wild!
Bake with It
Best for: Strongly Flavoured Teas
Much like the suggestion to brew teas that you don’t quite like a different way, using tea to bake is one way to finish up blends that you don’t quite like. Going back to Earl Grey, I actually quite like it in scones (just not on its own).
Things you can bake: Scones are great (and my go-to), Chiffon Cake is also doable, and I’ve heard that cheesecake is another contender. One thing I like to do is to go to recipe sites and type in “earl grey” or “tea” and see what pops up. I can often substitute the tea I want to use into the recipe.
If none of these work, the last thing you could do is to invite your friends over for a tea party! It’s pretty amazing how personal tea preferences are – I remember a tea that almost everyone I knew hated, but a friend had friends who raved about it. So if you’re in a position to meet face to face, round up a few close friends (up to 5 if you’re in Singapore) and have a tea party!
What about you? What do you like to do with teas that you don’t like?
I usually either cold brew them by making a generous amount in a jug or bottle, or use them as base for kombucha.
Oooh, using them as kombucha sounds really good too!! I have to try that some time! Is Kombucha very hard to make?
You will need to have a healthy SCOBY and strong starter tea. I think it’s easier to source for that in SG than here. I was lucky a friend gave me one to start. 😄
I know a few kombucha brands! I think can buy SCOBY from them. Thank you~
Love a G&T, so I’ll have to try adding tea sometime!
It’s a nice addition!!
Use in cooking, as you would any spice. While I don’t like lapsang souchong as tea, it’s terrific in anything that lends itself to a little smoke! You can infuse liquids, add directly to soups/stews, use as dry rub, and so on.
Oooh, that sounds really good! I haven’t cooked with tea so I’ll have to explore this aspect!
This is probably the first I’ve heard about baking with tea. Quite a novel idea for me.
I love tea-infused scones! I’ve made tea-infused panacotta before as well – you just have to steep the tea leaves in the milk beforehand (:
Oh my gosh, I had never considered baking with them or mixing them with alcohol, I love it!
There are some teas I can only take in baked food or alcohol so I definitely recommend trying these for teas you don’t like! Or even teas you like because it’s an new way to experience the tea!!
Wow, I haven’t thought of using tea in baking. I’ve also never heard of cold brewing, but it sounds like a wonderful idea for trying out new flavours, especially for teas that have a heavy taste, like you’ve mentioned! I don’t drink a lot of tea, but this has me wondering of all the possibilities… (I also wondered if anyone made clothes out of tea leaves and found out someone made a dress out of used tea bags. Never mind)
I know that people use teabags to age dresses!
Would definitely recommend using tea in baking and for cold brewing! It’s really great (also for teas you like hehe)
It’s interesting how many natural dyes there are out there that can help achieve so many different colours in fashion!
Thanks for the recommendations! I’ve only ever heard of using coffee in baking, but using tea in these other ways sounds inventive and a fun new thing to try! 😀