American here. Granted, the tea stands on its own merit. But if not for TNG I probably would still be drinking standard Lipton like my parents did.
I did. And also got into lapsang souchong because of an interview with Patrick Stewart where he mentioned it’s his favorite type. He asked to use that on the show, but the producers thought it would be too obscure or hard to remember and changed it to Earl Grey.
No, I drink Earl grey daily, but I didn’t even knew (until a couple of moments ago) that it was Picard’s drink. I first had one on a train in Russia, and fell in love with it. The ones I have today are not the same as that one but still very good.
There’s no cup like that first cup.
It definitely made me want to like Earl Grey. It’s just not my jam though. It even made me start trying all the different teas I could find because I wanted to be cultured enough to have a preferred tea. I even tried Lapsang Souchong which is basically barbecue tea.
Turns out tea is pretty easy to drink and I’m pretty basic. Oolong, black, or green are great.
In Russia, this is basically a default option alongside straight black tea with lemon.
It goes so far that even some name brands made international series based on Russian Earl Grey (btw, none I’ve tried capture the correct taste, but the general direction is right):
So, in my case this was just growing up on those great teas
British, Earl Grey is my go to, not sure why but probably started while working at a coffee shop.
I’m more of a bloodwine guy.
Not a huge fan, but I do get Yorkshire Gold when I can find it, because it’s Patrick Stewart’s preferred tea IRL.
How different is it from regular Yorkshire?
Earl Grey with double Bergamot. It hits so hard
Its more… Soothing? than regular black tea? More smooth or something.
Unfortunately I developed a Romulan Ale addiction when I was only 12. To this day I’m very adversarial and distrustful of the Federation and its principles.
I even would say “tea, Earl Grey, hot” as I was nuking the water in the microwave.
nuking the water in the microwave
throws scandalized face and clutches pearls
It’s actually more efficient if you put the tea in the water first before microwaving! Tea steeps while you’re waiting for the ding hehue :>
I still do. At one job my manager said, “Don’t forget your coffee,” that I had left on his desk, and I proudly said, That’s not coffee, it’s Tea, Earl Grey, Hot." He took a closer look and said, “It doesn’t look like tea, Earl Grey, hot.” I replied, “It has milk, two percent, cold.” Sigh, you don’t see days like that anymore.
I drank Earl Grey even before I was aware of TNG. For me, the smell of loose dry Earl Grey is by far the most appealing smell ever. The brewed tea loses some of that aroma, but not that much.
Nah, I prefer a well brewed Raktajino.
I mean, I tried it because of Picard, but I didn’t like it. I’ll stick to oolong and fruit teas.
Yeah Oolong’s my jam. I just wish I knew an admirable character that liked Oolong.
Uncle Iroh?
Well no. But once I’ve tried a decent tea, I never drank Lipton again.
Lipton is really only for iced tea, not hot.
Now and then I enjoy a cup of Lipton with a lot of milk in it, because the flavor reminds me of childhood. My mom called it “Cambridge tea”.
