Not at all off topic...
Here's what I like.
There are a lot of fussy little places about selling tea by the ounce at greatly inflated prices and throwing all sorts of flavorings in. I cannot abide chemical flavorings and that's what most of the flavored products out there use. The only "flavored" tea I will drink is flavored with flowers or other natural botanicals. That said, here is what I drink:
I don't buy tea by the ounce. I buy it by the pound and pay about $20/lb. for it. When you multiply the per ounce price that most of these shops are charging to see what they're selling a pound for, you're in for real sticker shock.
Ost Friesen Tea and Porzellan Shop
http://markstea.homestead.com/Bunting-Tee.html
My breakfast tea is East Frisian which is the ultimate black breakfast tea blend of Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon and a half dozen or so others. A wonderful, dark, full-bodied, and rich breakfast tea. This is my cream tea. There is an entire ceremony the East Frisians perform with this if you’re interested, but this one defies you not to add cream and sugar. You can buy this in several places, but the only one among all the ones I've tried that is truly special is, Bünting Tee from Germany. You can buy it by mail order here at just about the same price one buy’s it for in Germany which is a great deal for an import.
Very nice man who is great with customer service running his mail order business from his “Ost Friesen Tea and Porzellan” shop in Wisconsin.
For light afternoon tea, I like a Darjeeling (and I also prefer Bünting Tee for this which you can buy at the shop above).
Harney Teas
https://www.harney.com/
I also buy a lot of tea from Harney in upstate NY. I’ve been a customer of theirs for years and they have a very high quality, and extremely extensive, product line. I’ve sampled a number of their flavored teas over the years and I’m not overly fond of them, but their black and green teas are amazing. My tried and true favorites:
Pu-erh—classic Chinese black tea.
Eight at the Fort—a black blend, suitable for breakfast, that was blended for the G-8 summit in Williamsburg a while back.
Palm Court—official tea of you know where, blended for them by Harney.
Ceylon and India—Your basic Orange Pekoe, but a really nice version of it.
For flavored teas, these are the ones I will drink:
Rose Scented—Black tea, rose buds, and rose oil. This is divine. Very good with cream and sugar. Makes a great dessert tea.
Peaches and Ginger—Black tea with chunks of candied ginger and dried peaches. Very nice.
Midsummer’s Peach—A decaffeinated tea that I use for iced tea in the summer, contains bits of dried peaches.
I’ve tried many of Harney’s flavored teas, if there is one in particular you're interested in, ask me, I’ve probably tried it and can give you my two cents worth.
You also mentioned herbals. Harney sells many herbals. They also sell really old-fashioned European-style fruit teas—basically a bag full of chunks of dried fruit—no twigs, leaves, and the other filler that a lot of herbal teas have. My two favorites at Harney are the Mango Fruit Tea and the Peach Fruit Tea. These are also great for adding a spoonful or two to the pot when you’re brewing to make iced tea.
You didn’t say anything about green teas and I’ve tried several of Harney’s and can tell you what I know. I don’t drink much green, mostly black tea for me.
Have fun!
