I’ve been hooked on Tea since for ever. I had my first cup at about aged 4 and haven’t looked back. My family are all big Tea drinkers, my Grandad used to have a big steel tea kettle on the stove all the time, the tea was so strong it would knock all but the strongest coffee out of the park.
Only black Tea counts, Assam, Kenyan, Darjeling etc green and white tea don’t count as there’s no tannin content and that’s what makes Tea, Tea.
I just taken delivery of some specialist Teas, Lapsang Souchong, Russian Caravan Tea and Ghurkha Tea. The Ghurkha’s the strongest it’s like eating a whole tea bush in liquid form, early morning wake up tea. The Russian’s more mellow a great all day tea and the Lapsang is quite delicate and needs time to infuse or it’s like rats piss.
What do you drink and when?
Im not a huge tea drinker but i do have a favorite green tea. Its a loose tea called Gun Powder Green Tea and every time i get it i go thru it almost instantly lol I love the fruity flavored teas also like apple, lemon etc.
As for when i drink tea. I like to drink it in the afternoon when i tend to want to snack alot. Id like to actually learn about tea and get into it more. Im such a beginner when it comes to tea 
I’m primarily a coffee guy, but I like to change things up a bit now and then and enjoy a cup of English tea in the afternoon…Two bags (I like it strong), milk, with a teaspoon of honey. Typhoo tea is my favourite of all. PG Tips is a great second choice.
I recently got a box of loose leaf Ceylon tea that is really delicious and great value at £5.69 for 500g. I also got some Scottish Island blend from a stall at the farmers market. The stall holder said it was nice with whisky so I told him I no longer drink and he told me he quit alcohol three years ago! So we shared some stories. 
The Scottish Island tea blend is black tea, smoked tea, green tea and pine needles and it is so lovely.
I’ve got some Gun Powder in the tea chest, my cupboard just for tea and some coffee. It’s nice but the only problem is it goes right through me if you get my meaning, it’s almost as good as an enema 
&
I need to get some of the Island blend, I’ve got relatives in Glasgow and on Mill so they might be able to get some or know someone who can get some for me. I usually get my tea from the 'Kent & Sussex tea & coffee company, ordered online, they’ve got an amazing selection of both tea and coffee &
Not sure if they have this here in the States, but Ill keep an eye out for it. It sounds good. 
Hey, so I drink 4 teas every day, as well as hot and iced coffees. The teas I drink are the Teapigs Cleanse first thing, Pukka Tulsi Clarity at lunch time, Teapigs Happy late afternoon, and Clipper Detox before bed. I also, just today actually, had delivered, to try, Teapigs Apple and Cinnamon, it’s so nice.
Lapsang is delicate? Are you sure? 
it’s like licking the inside of a fire grate 
I love tea. Flowery earl grey with a twist of lemon is a good afternoon drink. English breakfast with a splash of milk to kick off the day.
Here in Scotland were big tea drinkers i remember growing up in the fifties and sixties we only had tea , Tea and toast , today after my colon problems i drink peppermint tea and im partial to a lot of herbal Pukka
(Especially black) tea can give me nausea. So normally I stick with non-tea herbal infusion stuff. These two among my favourites right now, the one on the right a morning/day blend and the other for the night. Both consisting of local weeds and flowers, grown on the borders of grasslands by farmers and harvested by this small but growing Amsterdam company.
If Lapsang tastes like licking the inside of a fire grate, which I’ve never, done, but, I’ll take your word that it’s nasty, you’re making it wrong.
To make the perfect mug, use a Lapsang tea bag or loose tea in an infuser (1 teaspoon) , fresh boiling water and let it steap for 5 minutes no more, no less; drink with a splash of milk and sugar if you want it.
If you’re making it in a tea pot the the golden rules are: warm the pot with boiling water first then 1 teaspoon per person and 1 for the pot, use only enough fresh boiling water to make 4 cups or 2 mugs.
The water must be fresh as it contains more oxygen which helps in the brewing, water that’s been stood for a while is stale and this greatly detrimental to the final taste.
Earl Grey, (named after the 2nd Earl Charles Grey, an English Prime minister from 1830 to 1834) is a blend not a straight tea, it’s blended black tea base flavored with oil from the rind of bergamot orange.
Twinings do a dark line with Dark Grey which is stronger and more lemony than stand Earl Grey. They also do a Dark Brew which is smokey an fantastic.
&
If you want more information on what’s in black tea along with caffeine, have a read of this web page:
Nice. Thank you! I use loose leaf so maybe I put too much in? Even the canister smells like smoke.
To be fair most of the internet agrees with that
Bog standard tea for me. Now it has had been given a fancy name, English Breakfast, but just a regular cuppa. With a splash of milk, no sugar. Yorkshire Tea is my fave brand.
In the summer cold Buckwheat tea is lovely.
I’ve been drinking tea since I was a kid. Back then, it was black tea with milk and sugar. Left out the sugar in my mid twenties.
My country is big on coffee but there are more tea choices available nowadays. People are used to the idea that a guest might prefer tea instead of coffee. I do enjoy coffee but due to digestion problems, I can only drink 1-2 cups a week.
The way especially older generations drink tea over here sometimes really makes me cringe. They take a tea bag, quickly dip it in hot water in their cup a few times and then add lots of milk. it doesn’t even look like they have any tea in there.
I’m not a fan of white and green teas. It’s mainly black or herbal infusions when I’m sick. I buy loose leaf for myself and tea bags for guests (see above why LOL).
An English friend of mine introduced me to Tetley’s in my early twenties and I fell in love instantly. With the tea, not the friend, LOL. My country doesn’t sell it (bastards), Tetley’s don’t ship overseas (how dare they) and Amazon/eBay/the likes charge RIDICULOUS postage (dirty bastards). If I happen to see Tetley’s sold in a exotic food store I get quite excited haha.
Shame about the coffee situation, I must admit I do like my coffee as well as tea. The way you described the older generation making tea makes my toes curl it’s almost as bad as a friend of mine has hot water, sugar & milk 
. My go to tea for a quick fix is TY. Phoo on cup tea bags, steaped for just a few minutes give a good strong mug, give about 6-7 minutes and you can get a cup you can stand a teaspoon upright in, it’s smooth and no bitterness &
I do not like the “real thing”.
So I usually only drink herbal tea although you may not call it a tea officially 
I do not have a favorite, as you can see I have much to choose from. I work in a store and sell many brands so I buy what I like with a good discount. I prefer Yogi tea ore Pukka tea.
The Pickwick one is for the hubby and guests who prefer black tea.
Im not a huge tea drinker but have recently started enjoying some herbal teas
Tulsi cinnamon rose
Tulsi lemon ginger
Tulsi licorice spice
Not sure the brand as im all out atcthe time but some pumpkin spice