Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pugwall]

[idonojacs]

A question for fibergirl:

I got some Rooibos Redbush tea during my pilgrimage to Costco. I don't get it. What exactly is it made of? It says it is not caffeinated. It looks like a black tea. But it taste kinda weird, but it also says it is healthy, so I guess that's OK, then.

Do you just drink this stuff straight, or do you put something in it, like Tobasco sauce?

Just kidding.

I was kinda kidding about green tea. It's not all that bad, but the stuff here in the tea bags doesn't have much flavor. There was a greater variety of tea back in the States, much greater, including herbal teas.

I got a bottle of that honey citron tea (actually two, they were taped together). Made a cup or two and wasn't impressed. Found the glop wasn't bad mixed in with soju, though. Could that be what people are really using it for? (Yes, I have had it served to me at school, and I still can't figure it out. So we are supposed to drink it, then eat it, right?)

Do you think this started out as marmalade, which the Koreans mistakenly used for tea, then refused to admit their error for fear of losing face, and kept using it as tea?

I put some of the citron tea on a slice of fresh baked bread tonight and it sure tasted like marmalade. Actually, a little better, thanks to the honey.

[SuperHero]

The only thing green tea has going for it is that it has as much caffeine as coffee.

[visitorq]

Rubbish. Green tea is *excellent*, the very opposite of boring, and as has already been said here, there are many kinds - you could try dozens of different varietals from thousands of different places and never get bored (it can be pricey though, for everyday I usually drink loose leaf Taiwanese `long qing` tea, it`s nice).

Basically you sound like one of those people who uses Lipton teabags (=RUBBISH) and knows f-ck all about what good tea is actually supposed be... Go do some research.

[pugwall]

[Gatsby]

While there are no doubt some highly drinkable teas in Korea, others are anything but.

Some among the later bring to mind a quote from Abraham Lincoln:

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.

[Draz]

I love green tea. I buy the loose kind in several different varieties (can you get loose tea in Korea?) but I like the lower quality pre-bagged tea too.

Black tea (what people in the thread are calling red tea ) is okay but I prefer green.

Red tea (rooibos) is only good if you buy it loose. I've tried half a dozen bagged brands and the only one that was kind of okay was mixed with black tea.

Only tried bagged white, not impressed so far.

Coffee requires large amounts of unhealthy sugar (or cream liquor) to make it taste good so I rarely drink it.

[idonojacs]

Finding good coffee in Korea is a whole 'nother thread. One that's been done before, natch. I used to roast my own green beans and grind it fresh. I gather you can get good fresh roasted coffee in the Seoul area, but I am not moving just for that. If coffee is high quality, it is drinkable black, but not the cheapo robusta stuff. However, there's always New Sugar, aka saccharine. And a little cream isn't so unhealthy.

Not having seen a reply on my rooibos questions, I googled, myself. It turns out it is not a form of tea tea, but some sort of medicinal herbal tea from a bush. There are claims it has near miraculous healing powers due to its high level of antioxidants. But then green tea is suppposed to have near miraculous healting powers due to its high level of antioxidants, at least in Korea.

Me, I prefer to get my antioxidants in a pill of alpha lipoic acid. Now, that's antioxidants!

Apparently, you are supposed to steep the rooibos a lont time for better flavor. Now that I am not expecting it to taste like black tea, I suppose it's not so bad. I can use a decent non-caffeinated tea. Anyone add anything for flavor?

The stuff from Costco cam in four boxes, each with two sealed bags inside, so it is fresh.

Here's some rooibos links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A12644020

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooibos

http://www.antiaginglifeextension.com/rooibos_redbush_tea/default.asp?a=1517&c=&p=

http://www.redbushtea.com/

[Troll_Bait]

[mistermasan]

the chinese word for green is "lu". green tea is "lu cha".

bu yong xie.

[the_beaver]

[stillnotking]

[mistermasan]

red tea is black tea. same same. never heard the term "black tea" (hei cha) in china/taiwan. the teas that are dark(er) in color there are refered to as red tea (hong cha).

what we in the US call black tea the chinese call red tea.

[Draz]

So disappointed... I was expecting green tea to be cheap and readily available. It is... but most of the time they cut it with rice of all things and it tastes disgusting. Real green tea costs twice as much as the rice mix shit.

[pugwall]