bluesea!
i too am a local hawaiian...but we mainly drank PLAIN oriental tea at home;
can't remember what kind--whatever mom had. eating out at local chinese or
japanese resturants we drank the tea (plain) they served with the meal. to
this day, i cannot abide sweetening/milking oriental-type teas. strong
black teas, i've learned to drink with sweetenings and milk, mainly because
i like it that way, as with chai. we had juice at mealtimes at home.
hailing from puunui (upper reaches of liliha street) and i really do like
spam :-)

Bluesea wrote:
> "Dominic T." > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Well, it's Monday morning and I have a stressful day ahead of me...
>> so I figured I'd start a light topic (plus I'm new so I figured it
>> would help me know where people are coming from). How did you get
>> your start in tea?
>
> Growing up in Honolulu with parents who enjoyed eating out at least
> once a week meant that many Chinese, Korean, and Japanese meals were
> consumed - all with tea. It was a natural part of life. In
> American-style restaurants, Dad drank the usual Lipton tea while Mom
> drank coffee and I had soda (I experimented a lot with Lipton, but we
> never did get along and I eventually gave up trying). At home, Mom
> drank coffee, Dad drank buttermilk, milk and water; and I had juice
> or water.
>
> On my own, a friend introduced me to chamomile and catnip teas and
> someone else's mom introduced me to Constant Comment. That got me to
> trying different supermarket teas.
>
> Then, I discovered the joy of the fresher, loose black, green, white
> teas, and blends.
>
> --
> ~~Bluesea~~ a very happy camper
> Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
> Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.