Tea Question and Misogynists/Bikinis Study

[anogete]

Question for you tea drinkers and/or British folks out there. And if you're from the U.K., and my question is ridiculous, forgive the poor American. I love Earl Grey, and I'm under the impression that is one of the most popular teas. I've always steeped a cup from tea bags from the whole foods store or the market, never loose leaf. I've tried many different brands, and they all taste like Earl Grey to me, with very slight differences. There is a little tea shop I go to now and again for loose leaf tea. They sell their own mixes, and I've rarely been disappointed with the quality. However, I had never purchased any Earl Grey there. Today, I felt the hankering for it, so I dropped in and bought a loose leaf bag of it and some apricot-peach black tea as well. I whipped up a cup of the Earl Grey as soon as I got back to the office and was aghast. I'm very familiar with what I believe is the taste of Earl Grey. It's comforting to sit down with a cup of it. However, this recent purchase was not what I have always known Earl Grey to be. It tasted nothing like every other brand of the tea I've tried. And now I'm wondering if I've been fooled by all the other brands I've had or if the tea shop is completely off base or terribly artistic about their Earl Grey. It had more of a licorice flavor that overwhelmed the bergamot, if the bergamot was even there at all. It even has a bit of an anise taste. Don't get me wrong; I like it. It just isn't what I wanted. Have I been mislead all my life? My tongue is sad. Twinings is a favorite brand of mine, and I like their Earl Grey. They're based out of England, and they're reputable. They couldn't possibly have fudged their formula so much; the fault must lie in the tea shop I went to. Right?

God, that was dull, wasn't it? On to more interesting and/or risque things...

I found this article to be interesting, yet also disturbing and rather frightening. The basic gist is that a group of men were asked to complete a survey that rated their attitudes toward women. Then they were shown pictures of various things, foremost being women in different attires, while their brain patterns were monitored. They found that men who rated as "hostile sexual" (i.e. misogynists) reacted to bikini-clad women as if these women were objects, not people. The portion of a person's brain that interprets another individual's intent did not activate because they did not view the woman as a person, but an object. Yikes. The article did make mention of possibly reproducing the study with women instead of men as the test subjects, and I think that would be fascinating, especially considering my oh-my-god moment with the picture from yesterday. I can honestly say that I was all about that fellow's intent when I was looking at that picture. I didn't see him as just an object, and I'm not sure that I could if I tried, but maybe I'm just fooling myself.

Comments

[bleedtoblue.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, maybe Mara will weigh in on this! I buy lots of loose tea, but have never purchased Earl Grey that way.

I, too, would like to see a similar study done on women! I'd be very interested.

[ivyadrena.livejournal.com]

I'm more of a coffee addict, but I do enjoy tea on occasion (Earl Grey [Twinings is awesome!], Green Tea, etc), and I was wondering if you'd mind recommending some flavors? :3 Thanks!

[witchy-1.livejournal.com]

I'm from the UK (as you know!) and I drink and trust the Twinings brand.

It sounds like you got a weird blend....

[dressagegrrrl.livejournal.com]

I have no idea! Is it possible you actually bought Lady Grey tea? Because that tastes very citrusy.

I've never had that experience with earl grey whether I've bought it bagged or loose!

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

I am not an Earl Grey fan - it always tastes as though the cup hasn't been rinsed properly and still has lemon washing up liquid in it, at least to my taste buds! It sounds like your shop has been creative with the blend, or maybe gone back to the original.

I drink the cheap stuff (Tesco's own tea bags) and I am trying to cut down at the moment - a dozen or so mugs of sugary tea a day is really a bit much, probably. I do have a large selection of flavoured teas that I spend more time looking at than drinking. I found a nice Twinings one a few weeks ago - Spiced Apple and Camomile - which works a lot better than I thought it would, it is rather sweet for the non-sugar lovers though.

Do you see strangers in pictures as people? I don't think I do. I think they have to move and talk before they are 'real' to me. But then I am not a particularly visual person. I think I'd fail that test as well. A picture is an object whatever the content! It takes me some time to move past the 'thing' to interpretting the content and I can't pick up subtle clues to mood or personality from pictured people, unless I already know them. I hate those quiz/test questions that ask you to do stuff like that!