| Will
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| 906788. Fri May 04, 2012 5:19 pm |
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Tea. How do you make it?
Since this is only my second post, I thought I'd start off with a hopefully light-hearted discussion. I say hopefully, because I know some people who would defend their methods to the death.. Probably. I've never tested it. I should though, it might be quite interesting.
Moving back on-topic, how do you make tea?
Milk first or last, or not at all?
Sugar or no sugar, if sugar, how many (cubes or teaspoons; please specify)?
Those sorts of questions.
Personally, I add a small amount of milk at the bottom of the mug, pour the just boiled water on top (slightly over where I would want the tea level to be, since the teabag absorbs some water) then add the teabag and leave it until sufficiently strong.
No sugar.
If I'm making a pot instead of a single cup, it's just milk + tea from the pot.
I'm pretty sure that on one QI episode there was something about tea, but can't for the life of me remember which series it was, let alone exact episode. So, if you know, please let me know!
Tl;dr - how do you make your tea?
Will.
PS. Sorry if this is in the wrong section, please move it if it is. |
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| sally carr
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| 906816. Fri May 04, 2012 6:54 pm |
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One PG Tips tea bag per mug, two sugars in each mug, add boiling water, brewing time is a personal taste but both of us prefer it not too strong. Dash of milk in his, squirt of Jif lemon in mine. Perfect!
Watching a programme about antiques the other night I found out that putting the milk in first began when porcelain was liable to shatter when the tea was poured in, the upper classes put the milk in first because they had the fancy china, the rest of us had earthenware and that could withstand the heat. I prefer milk in last because it is easier to add more if needed but impossible to remove if the tea is too milky. |
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| Jenny
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| 906834. Fri May 04, 2012 7:56 pm |
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| Will wrote: |
Personally, I add a small amount of milk at the bottom of the mug, pour the just boiled water on top (slightly over where I would want the tea level to be, since the teabag absorbs some water) then add the teabag and leave it until sufficiently strong.
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Nooooo! The water has to be boiling when it hits the tea to get the best flavour out of it, and if you put milk in the bottom of the mug then the water can't possibly be boiling.
I put the teabag in the mug/loose tealeaves in the pot (and if you're really pernickety you warm the pot first by pouring boiling water into it and then pouring it out again) and pour boiling water on. I don't like my tea very strong, so I stir the mug and lift the teabag out after maybe half a minute or so, or if using a pot I pour it after less than a minute. Those who like it stronger would delay these actions for a minute or two. If I'm making it with a teabag in a mug, I put the milk in after I lift the teabag out. If I'm making it in a pot, I put the milk in the cup first and then pour in the tea. |
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| nitwit02
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| 906850. Fri May 04, 2012 8:53 pm |
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| As a matter of interest, does no one in the UK use loose tea and a strainer any more? |
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| Sadurian Mike
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| 906863. Sat May 05, 2012 2:52 am |
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Loose tea is great, but I can happily split a teabag if needs be. It makes great dried leaf terrain scatter for dioramas and figure bases.
That's probably not what you were asking, though, was it? |
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| mckeonj
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| 906879. Sat May 05, 2012 4:08 am |
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As the old Irish lady said:
"When I make tay, I make tay; when I make water, I make water." |
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| CB27
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| 906892. Sat May 05, 2012 5:04 am |
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I don't like tea bags, I find there's a slight difference in the taste, and I have to admit I don't like using straight tap water here in NW London, it has to go through the filter first (doesn't change the heaviness much, but a bit).
I use loose leaf Earl Grey, though I have been known to drink other blends, and as I get lazy I don't use a strainer, I use a cafetiere :) |
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| CB27
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| 906893. Sat May 05, 2012 5:06 am |
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| Oh, and I don't use milk. Depending on the blend (Earl Grey doesn't need anything), I sometimes use lemon or mint, and I like to had mine with 2 sugars, 3 with lemon. |
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| Celebaelin
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| 906898. Sat May 05, 2012 5:43 am |
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One PG teabag will make two approx. half pint mugs of tea - on general principle I don't drink anything you can stand a spoon up in. I've not seen loose tea used anywhere in quite a while I have to say but a teapot is essential, making tea in the cup or mug is for heathens and heretics and not to be tolerated.
Milk goes in first, if I'm having actual sugar I have one spoonful these days as opposed to the 'NATO standard' days of my youth (milk, two sugars) although it's much more likely that I'll have sweeteners for the only reason, barring diabetes, that one ever uses such things, the slightly unpleasant aftertaste is something you just get used to. |
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| sally carr
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| 906901. Sat May 05, 2012 5:47 am |
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| Canderel doesn't seem to have an aftertaste, I can slip it in to OM's tea and he never notices. |
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| djgordy
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| 906902. Sat May 05, 2012 5:51 am |
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| You should change to arsenic. It is much faster acting and the victims tend not to mind whether it has an aftertaste or not. |
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| hassan el kebir
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| 906917. Sat May 05, 2012 6:15 am |
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| Quote: | | making tea in the cup or mug is for heathens and heretics and not to be tolerated |
Eggscuse me, mon brave, I take grave exception to that statement; that's exactly how tea ought to be made, loose leaf is definitely best brewed in the cup.
I never drank tea in UK unless it was something like Earl Grey or Lapsang but here, I get through gallons of chai. |
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| Celebaelin
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| 906919. Sat May 05, 2012 6:27 am |
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I'll just about accept that if you're drinking yer actual Chinese tea, which is pretty much literally loose leaf, ie in the singular, and is in any event properly made in a pot anyway.
I'm fairly certain that wasn't what we were talking about though; milk, sugar etc being characteristic of barbarian tea. |
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| Spud McLaren
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| 906921. Sat May 05, 2012 6:36 am |
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| Jenny wrote: | | Nooooo! The water has to be boiling when it hits the tea to get the best flavour out of it, and if you put milk in the bottom of the mug then the water can't possibly be boiling. |
As to the first part, not all tea should be made with boiling water - white tea, for example, apparently fares better when made with water at about 80-85 deg.C. I can't verify this from personal experience, as the stuff is too expensive for me. For the second part, milk at this stage certainly adds a variable you don't want, and you run the risk of cooking the milk slightly with the boiling water.
Tea made from teabags straight in the cup? Well, I can't honestly say I don't do it, but the result is something hot & liquid that can be used to quench a thirst rather than a taste to be savoured and enjoyed. For that, it's loose leaf Lapsang/Russian Caravan/Orange Pekoe made in a pot or (in extremis) the cup, weak-ish, no milk or sugar. |
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| Spoilt Victorian
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| 906934. Sat May 05, 2012 7:30 am |
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I put a teabag in a mug, add boiling water...and just leave it there while I drink it.
This has the added bonus of not having ti fish it out/find a bin.
Yes, the habit was originally born out of laziness.
~ V |
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