What do YOU call unflavored tea (other than, 'unflavored', that is)?

Thank you for your reply.

On just calling it simply, ‘tea’, I think it begs (or screams, or trumpets, or whatever) the question: What kind?

Proper. hmmm For me that brings up appropriateness and manners regarding how the tea is brewed and/or drunk.

Plain. For me that word, in the context of tea, conjures up ‘no additives’ to the tea liquor, rather than a reference to the dry tea leaves.

I agree, a related question is how to define the difference between of flavored and scented, but on the surface at least that seems pretty cut and dry (or, not?). I believe scented teas are ‘scented’ by using flower petals during processing of the tea, and flavored tea is ‘flavored’ by adding things like fruit, herbs, or oils (and I’m sure a few other possibilities) that will enhance, or otherwise compliment, the base flavor of the tea. And in my understanding blended means that the tea is made up of more than one ‘base’ tea. Of course, I’m sure others who have created their own blends—like Frank@52Teas, KeenTeaThyme, or LiberTEAS—could provide more accurate definitions here.

On that last comment, this topic is related, but only incidentally, to the topic of which one is best to drink. I’m hoping to be able to steer clear of that hot potato (or pass it to someone else whom wants it)!

Thank you for your reply.

I am glad you told us of your experience using ‘straight tea’ in tea shops. I can certainly believe it.

I think coffee comes up for me in reference to the question, “How do you take your coffee?” Those who take it w/o cream or sugar commonly answer, “Straight” to that question (at least in my experience). Or, I have heard it used as in, ‘straight up’, in reference to how someone prefers to drink alcohol—like vodka, gin, or any liqueurs. It’s funny, as this reminds me that my sense of the ‘right’ name to use for a thing is largely influenced by my own past experiences with the usage of the word (or phrase).

I take no offense to the statement of your feelings around coffee (I still drink it occasionally), but I am honestly curious as to why you hate coffee?

Oh, interesting, I thought people just called that “black.”

I hate coffee with a childish passion! Partially because I really dislike the taste (unbearably bitter unless it’s absolutely loaded with some sort of flavouring). Partially because my mother (who I am living with while attending school, as she is in a good location relative to my uni) loves it, which results in any number of small irritations I nevertheless can’t complain much about (her house, after all): her heavy bags of beans tossed on top of things in the cupboard (including my tea) and squashing them (even when I barely had any tea, this pre-dates my mega stash), her loudly grinding her beans for an early-morning cup at ungodly hours, and the nauseating scent of it in the mornings on an empty stomach. And finally, I hate coffee a little because tea is second-rate at best in North America and continually neglected in favour of tar sludge. Bleh! Coffee can vanish from existence, to my mind. :D

You made me laugh so much with your empathy against coffee,
cheers mate!

Daniel Scott: Thank you for replying.

You know, when I read your reply, initially, it made me doubt whether or not I actually do use (or hear others using) the word ‘straight’ to describe taking coffee without cream or sugar (when I do drink coffee, I am usually the one ‘serving’ it after being given my cup—as I would at a coffee shop—rather than someone else serving it to me at a sit-down restaurant, when this would actually come up). I think ‘black’ is probably more common, but I still think ‘straight’ is used on occasion, too. I’m glad you brought that up, though.

Thank you for sharing your story with us. You certainly painted a clear picture of why you feel the way you do. It reminds me of a similar story when I was younger and living with my parents. There was one record that my mom used to listen to, and for some reason it really annoyed me. I remember once actually leaving the house to go for a walk just to get away from hearing it; so I think­ I have an idea of where you’re coming from. It would be interesting to see how I would react now if I heard the album again.

Thanks for replying.

Interesting point and good related story about using the word, ‘plain’ to describe unflavored tea. For me, ‘plain’ really comes up short as a way to describe a plant—and a beverage—that can produce SO many different flavors.

Although it seems to me too that ‘straight’ is the best word I can think of, for now, I admit I still don’t like it. I think it’s because, as you allude to in your story, a word conveys so much. I mean, think of the context ‘straight’ is typically used in (like, straight and narrow), and then think of tea, and how much its appearance can vary, and the myriad of flavors and aromas it can bring to the senses. oooh , all-right, I am going to go look up the definition … (I just Googled “straight tea” and got lots of hits. hmmmm ). Here it is http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/straight And, no, not a one of those definitions conjures anything in my mind that even closely resembles what I think of as, Tea.

Oh, well. At least I am enjoying the struggle!

Thanks for replying.

Original, huh?

Yeah, I didn’t think of, ‘orthodox’. But, as you said, when that word is used in relation to tea it seems to be connected with its method of manufacture more than anything. Thinking of what orthodox means, makes me think of another word: ‘standard’. That says even less about tea than, ‘straight’, though. I think I’d use ‘traditional’ before ‘standard’. Although, historically, tea was oftentimes mixed with all kinds of things (especially in Mongolia, if memory serves me), so traditional doesn’t work so well, either, does it?

I just looked at tons of different synonyms starting with straight, and nothing seems to fit. One word that comes to mind, but which would sound awkward, is ‘natural’. I think if I walked into a store and said, “Do you have any natural tea?” I would get a quizzical look. < I imagine a narrowing of the eyes, and that slight turning of the head, when we are sometimes confused >.

It’s funny, because almost all of the words that come easily to me are in relation to what Tea is not: unflavored, untainted, unmixed, unadulterated, unmarred, unblemished, undiluted, unfettered—which are all things that are devoid of other things. Then I think of the opposites of the root words: free, pure, clean, chaste, whole, integrated, complete, … oh well. dead end, again. Funny, but I am wondering if this struggle of mine mirrors my own personal journey?

I am glad you appreciate the conversation. I know it’s helping me to shine a little light in a few dark corners.

Thanks for your reply.

I am glad you brought up the ‘one size fits all’ concept; I agree that it doesn’t seem to work in the real world (or when conversing with the general population). I don’t think that’s primarily what I’m looking for, but admittedly, I do tend to like things in their own little place.Over the years, I have called this tendency of mine by many different names: wanting structure, rigid, organized, wanting my ducks to be in a row, detail-oriented, perfectionistic, or even a black-and-white polarized kind of thinking. I guess it’s situation dependent, just as is trying to describe unflavored tea. Still, I strive to think of the more positive words to describe for this tendency of mine. : – )

I want to mention here that I go into a pretty heavy topic below (all focused on me)

Lately, I have found the morning often-times to be when I do my best—or at least deepest—thinking. For example, just this morning while practicing Yoga, a few things occurred to me about my struggle with how to best name Tea. The struggle is related to an identity crisis that I have been going through for the past few years (or I guess you could call it a mid-life crisis). I think the deeper issue for me is this: calling the kind of tea that has things ADDED to it, ‘flavored’, implies that tea WITHOUT ADDED flavoring has little or NO flavor, which seems fundamentally wrong. Then, as this applies to me, I realized deep down I have felt I am not good enough for the world, unless I ADD something outside me, something that is missing; in other words, as I am right now, in this moment I am not able to provide enough value to the world (or flavor, as it applies to Tea), and thus, I am incomplete, not-whole, or dis-integrated. This was a very interesting revelation. As soon as I thought of it I realized I had discovered a belief about myself that was true (The best way I can describe it is that it feels right, or ‘resonates’ with me), and that I wanted to change the way I see myself in relation to the world (i.e. that I am good enough as I am: which amounts to my complete and total acceptance of who I am).

I won’t go into any more than that, here (I would, but I am not certain anyone would want to read it), but I will write about what I have decided to do about this dilemma around tea. I am going to try calling unflavored tea, simply, ‘tea’, and tea that has anything ADDED to it, a ‘blend’, or blended tea. This moves me closer to my goal of at least attempting to keep my own concept of Tea as simple as possible (different than the ‘one size fits all’ concept, btw). Now, this may cause difficulty when speaking about it to others in this way (as you mentioned with your Lipton Tea example, which I agree with), but, it’s how I view tea that matters most to me, not how others view it. I can’t change their thinking anyway.

Ah, it’s all good, isn’t it? : – )

In my parents’ place, unflavored tea is called “tea”. Jasmine tea is called “flower tea” (mainly because we rarely have other flower tea, although there are many others out there). And other flavored/scented tea by their specific names (there are very few of them in the household anyway). I guess each household would eventually have their own terminology, and the simplest names are given to the most abundant and most frequently used. It’s like, “milk” is always “plain milk” but not chocolate milk. But yogurt is supposed to contain sugar unless it’s called “plain/unsweetened yogurt” (or unless plain yogurt is the household’s “default” yogurt) :-D

Thank you for sharing your own experiences and perspectives with us.

I hope you don’t mind me asking: in what country do your parents live?

I like your thinking as you stated here: “… and the simplest names are given to the most abundant and most frequently used.” This is another reason for me to call unflavored tea, Tea, as I mostly drink pure tea.

They are in China. But they are in northern China. In some places of southern China, when people say they are going to drink tea, that means they are going to have breakfast (dim sum style) :-p

Thank you for replying, and for answering my question. It is always good to hear the perspective of those who live in China.

Wow, I guess tea is such a part of the culture in southern China that it is strongly tied-to/associated-with other common daily activities, like eating breakfast. I usually think of drinking tea as a singular activity. It’s interesting to learn about the differences in the usages of words (Tea in this case) from place to place, and country to country, as it gives me a glimpse into a different culture.

I agree with you! Now that I think of it, you and KS are right that this is the only place that distinction comes up in my life (and it kind of seems to be from those that don’t drink flavored tea.)

I do my tea shopping online, and only have a few friends that are tea drinkers, one that drinks it all, and another that drinks predominantly Earl Greys. I look at it all as tea whether it be Keemun, Dragonwell, Black Currant, or Earl Grey. I do kind of make a distinction with tisanes, but really mostly by the time of day I drink them. Sometimes I call my evening cuppa ‘tea’ and sometimes a tisane, even thought it is almost always a tisane. The tea police have not arrested me, yet. ;) For me, tea is about the preparation, the full sensory experience, and the call to slow down for a few minutes to gather my toughts, just as much as it is about what I am actually drinking.

And yes, plain or straight to me is without additions…..like milk and something sweet.

Thank you Dinosara and SimplyJenW for your replies.

Dinosara: I like that you used the word, "dichotomy’. That challenged how was looking at the whole question, as I wasn’t originally thinking of it as an either/or kind of situation (at least not consciously). This was helpful in getting me to where I needed to go with all of this, which I will describe later.

SimplyJenW: I really liked your reference to the tea police!

For me tea is also a full sensory experience.

Thanks for your response.

I like that you throw out a few ideas, and then tell us what you think of them; that’s one thing I was hoping this thread would be: a place to toss around ideas about how we look at, and refer to, that wonderful thing called, Tea.

For now, as I mentioned in my reply to K.S., I plan to call unflavored tea, simply, Tea, and to call tea with ANYTHING else in it AT ALL, a blend, or ‘blended tea’ (I am not sure where scented fits in, though). That certainly is one way to look at it. How I look out at the world (in this case, specifically how I look at Tea) has a dramatic impact on shaping the reality of my world, and possibly even, the world of others (which is a slightly different way of looking at starting a trend); at the risk of getting too philosophical here, my world, and the world of others, can be either separate or they can be the same; I believe they are, in a way, both.

If you have any more thoughts, musings, etc., please, toss them out here!

I can tell you are a teacher, your comments are always so supportive and uplifting! I’ll bet you’re a fave of many’a student :)
Your concept is sound in regards to calling anything except straight tea, a blend… but when talking to newbies and esp those who don’t want to know, I moderate the lingo to sound more user friendly. I suppose in those cases, most of the time, flavoured or not is a moot point since they likely haven’t even considered that aspect of tea just yet.
heh. Your musings remind me of the paradigm shift concept…. shaping, or changing the reality of one’s world!

Thank you for your kind comments. Yes, I love finding opportunities to affirm my students (or anyone, for that matter); it gives me great joy, and is really why I teach.

I hear you on trying to be user friendly. Still, sometimes being more vague, or oblique, or even direct, gives rise to interesting conversation. Only time will tell how my new choice will play out with others. I love experimenting with different ways to engage people!

Yes, I am definitely nurturing a paradigm shift. But, it ain’t easy! You are certainly one who I feel supports me in my more esoteric musings. Thank you! : – )

Yes, I agree that calling tea ‘a gift from the gods’ is both fitting and appropriate.

Can you tell me what, ‘чай’ is? Is it Cha in another language?

Russian, pronounced “chai”

I think my wife brought up the word, ‘classic’ just the other day as a word to describe what tea is rather than what it is not. Yet, "classic’ brings up all kinds of other things for me (like cars, or classic rock) rather then simply, tea; but still, I appreciate the suggestion.

Yeah, you’re right. “Classic” in the sense of “original” or “old-style” applies to pretty much all tea. (Isn’t scenting tea a technique that arose just as long ago as tea itself?) Anyway, as I said, it made me giggle. :)