What the fuck happened to this topic?  While this is some good conversation, I was promised pictures of shitty food, and it has not delivered.  I think Psyburn has finally realized how good he's really got it.  That canned cheese a la mode really takes the cake.

I can't really follow it. It's like a J-RPG plot. Post yo' nasty ass foods -> Post your kitchen -> Recommend me a tea i'm not very regal, sorry.

Tea discussion is way more interesting than psyburn not telling his parents how it is and cooking for himself

 Point taken. This thread is now about teas. I recommend Oolong #40.

Fuck yes, it's tea time.

I google my tea names, I'm not even entirely sure if there is an Oolong #40 or if that was just an index number.

You need to keep in mind that if you live in the Western world you're probably used to very strong flavors (like Earl Grey, for example, or even the bagged versions of green tea). That means it's going to be difficult at first to discern between green teas before you're used to the subtlety. So for that reason I wouldn't necessarily suggest getting very expensive or fancy tea right from the get-go. (Rule of thumb is that the flavor gets more subtle as the price increases.)

Sencha is a good green tea which comes in several different price ranges. This is the "normal" Japanese tea, and you can probably get this in any self-respecting Asian market. You might want to try first flush Darjeeling, which is the same tea as on my photo. It's a black tea but has a very light flavor. Definitely something you should try at some point. Also, Ching Wo is excellent black tea. It's about as strong as Earl Grey but has a much fuller flavor.

Any of these are good starting points. There are hundreds if not thousands of different teas to try, and I only mentioned green and black teas here. There's also oolong tea, white tea, yellow tea, post-fermented tea, and numerous different kinds of pu-erh.

Make sure you get a teapot that allows you to brew loose leaf tea.

Do you ever put anything in your tea or do you feel that subtracts from the subtelty of the flavour? I recently went to a restaurant where they included nutmeg and some other herbs/spices(?) in the handmade teabag and i've been putting nutmeg in my green tea ever since.

Wow, really? I'll have to try that sometime. As long as you don't inundate your tea with it, it sounds as though you can make really interesting combinations.

I'm no tea enthusiast but one of my major goals for the summer (I had a big list) was to find some decent brand of tea. Finally, some recommendations. I'm really sick of the cardboard taste of the generic brands here (lipton, etc)...and I suppose it's not as much as a taste as a...texture? And a slight aftertaste. Anywho, it's boring. I had some Earl Grey from Starbucks the other day and it tasted awful! It tasted cardboardy. Should it or should it not have milk? I don't know how to drink Earl Grey.

that actually looks delicious.

Only tea we drink around here is sweet iced tea.  We prepare generic brand tea in bulk, add a shitload of sugar, and refrigerate it.  It's not so much savored as it is chugged from a frosty glass.  Think I'm gonna go quaff a flagon right now.