<OT> A perfect pot of tea . . .
Donna deMedicis
My sister is the strange one in the family. She drinks tea that is
hot. I intend to look in antique shops (well, they are really junk
shops) and find her a cunning and authentic tea pot, and a lovely cup
and saucer. And I wish to give her directions on how to make ONE
PERFECT POT OF HOT TEA. I will type it up real pretty, using decorative
fonts, and perhaps I'll frame it. Or maybe I'll laminate it.
To be honest, I occasionally drink a cup of hot tea. Well, to be
honest, I drink a mug of hot tea. I take a Lipton's tea bag and put it
in a mug of cold water and I nuke it for 45 seconds.
I don't think this is authentic.
Could those people who live in places where a cup of tea is equivalent
to a cup of Maxwell House Coffee please tell me how to make a PERFECT
POT OF TEA? I'm not looking for gourmet-tea making. I'm not looking
for the tea equivalent of Starbucks. I'm looking for people who wake up
in the morning and who are nothing . . . NOTHING . . . until they have
their tea. I'm looking for blue collar tea drinkers.
Also, please speak authoritatively to the subject of: Tea -- Loose
Leaves or Tea Bags?
I thank you, and my sister thanks you, too. Even though she doesn't
know. So don't tell her.
Donna
http://www.wowwomen.com/tapestry/ (Check out "View from the South")
Bryna
water. Use boiling water instead. Hot tea in a glass is nice too Never put
cream in your tea though a bit of milk is acceptable. Adding sugar is nice
too. I think the Russians used to sip tea through pieces of sugar. I don't
bother with tea pots. I just put my tea bag in a cup and add boiling water.
After awhile I take the tea bag out. I don't drnk coffee anymore and use
decaf tea which may not be kosher to some purists. but that's the way I do
it.
>
Bryna
----------
In article <3A00DFE0...@groupz.net>, Donna deMedicis
Chris Barwick
Donna deMedicis <adl...@groupz.net> wrote in message
news:3A00DFE0...@groupz.net...
> All right. It's November. Time to think about Christmas shopping.
>
> My sister is the strange one in the family. She drinks tea that is
> hot. I intend to look in antique shops (well, they are really junk
> shops) and find her a cunning and authentic tea pot, and a lovely cup
> and saucer. And I wish to give her directions on how to make ONE
> PERFECT POT OF HOT TEA. I will type it up real pretty, using decorative
> fonts, and perhaps I'll frame it. Or maybe I'll laminate it.
>
> To be honest, I occasionally drink a cup of hot tea. Well, to be
> honest, I drink a mug of hot tea. I take a Lipton's tea bag and put it
> in a mug of cold water and I nuke it for 45 seconds.
<shudder> That doesn't even come close to resembling tea.
> I don't think this is authentic.
>
> Could those people who live in places where a cup of tea is equivalent
> to a cup of Maxwell House Coffee please tell me how to make a PERFECT
> POT OF TEA? I'm not looking for gourmet-tea making. I'm not looking
> for the tea equivalent of Starbucks. I'm looking for people who wake up
> in the morning and who are nothing . . . NOTHING . . . until they have
> their tea. I'm looking for blue collar tea drinkers.
That could be me. A while ago I decided to cut back when I noticed I was
running at about 20 cups a day.
> Also, please speak authoritatively to the subject of: Tea -- Loose
> Leaves or Tea Bags?
As a chain drinker, I use tea bags as a convenience. The cheap no-name
brand. I put two bags in a pot with water that has just boiled (literally,
this is important) and leave it as long as possible. I get three cups out
of it, at about 5 mins, 30 mins, and an hour. (Most tea drinkers are now
cringing.) Anything up to three hours I will still drink it. I also put
the milk in first. (This is an area of contention, btw.) Which is as close
to a proper cup of tea as a mouse is to an elephant. Even so, there is no
way I could drink nuked tea.
However, when family/friends are around, I usually go for loose leaves. In
the pot for about 3 to 5 mins. Milk poured into the cups as required, and
then the tea is added. (For added points, the pot should be warmed with hot
water prior to placing tea in it.)
I hope this helps.
> I thank you, and my sister thanks you, too. Even though she doesn't
> know. So don't tell her.
If you don't introduce me to her, I promise I will never tell her.
Chris Barwick
acdouglas
> [snipped - original post is below]
------------------------------------------------------
I'm afraid I don't qualify as a "blue-collar tea drinker," and I know you
said you're not looking for gourmet tea-making, but there's only one way to
brew a proper pot of tea, and I'll offer it here for what you think it might
be worth.
1: Always use loose tea -- *real* loose tea, not the
chopped-up-into-tiny-pieces loose tea that one sometimes finds offered by
mass-market commercial blenders.
2: Always pre-heat the tea pot with boiling water. That is where the tea
will brew, and, unlike coffee, the temperature of the water must be kept near
the boiling-point high throughout the brewing.
3: Boil the water (filtered, natch) for the tea itself.
4: Place (1) teaspoon of tea for each 5-oz cup (not the usual 6 ozs) into
the pot, plus (1) teaspoon "for the pot."
5: Pour *furiously* boiling water directly and roughly (to make sure the tea
leaves get mixed up and thoroughly soaked) onto the tea leaves
6: Cover pot, and let brew untouched for (5) minutes.
7: Pour finished tea through an ultra-fine tea strainer into the cup.
Voila! A perfect cup of tea.
It's worth the effort (assuming, of course, the tea itself is first-rate).
Trust me.
--
ACD
http://www.monmouth.com/~acdouglas
v---------------------- [original post] ----------------------v
"Donna deMedicis" <adl...@groupz.net> wrote in message
news:3A00DFE0...@groupz.net...
Alex Jay Berman
wrote:
<snip>
>However, when family/friends are around, I usually go for loose leaves.
When you say "loose leaves", Chris, do youmean you use an infuser or
that you just dump tea in (and, presumably, strain it with a
strainer--or with your teeth)?
Alex Jay Berman
Yet another SciFiNow article: <http://www.scifinow.com/content.asp?piece=311>
Chris Barwick
Alex Jay Berman <smeg...@erols.com> wrote in message
news:3a0112e9....@news.erols.com...
> On Thu, 2 Nov 2000 14:58:32 +1000, "Chris Barwick" <chr...@mincom.com>
> wrote:
>
> <snip>
> >However, when family/friends are around, I usually go for loose leaves.
>
> When you say "loose leaves", Chris, do youmean you use an infuser or
> that you just dump tea in (and, presumably, strain it with a
> strainer--or with your teeth)?
No infuser. Just dumped and strained.
Chris Barwick
Deck Deckert
> All right. It's November. Time to think about Christmas shopping.
You're a month early.
Deck
phil
what a romantic! 2 months early
David M. Harris
There is a whole newsgroup devoted to this: rec.food.drink.tea. And you'll
find instructions in the group's FAQ.
dmh
--
Fight Spam! Join CAUCE! == http://www.cauce.org/
Themestream essays:
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/author/view_author_info.gsp?auth_id=98412
Fix the Olympics?
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gsp?c_id=156479
Merle Finch
<adl...@groupz.net> wrote:
>My sister is the strange one in the family. She drinks tea that is
>hot. I intend to look in antique shops (well, they are really junk
>shops) and find her a cunning and authentic tea pot, and a lovely cup
>and saucer. And I wish to give her directions on how to make ONE
>PERFECT POT OF HOT TEA. I will type it up real pretty, using decorative
>fonts, and perhaps I'll frame it. Or maybe I'll laminate it.
There are wonderful little china tea pots that stack with the cup and
a lid that she'd probably like. They only make one or two cups of tea
depending on how tall the tea pot is, but it's great for one person.
>To be honest, I occasionally drink a cup of hot tea. Well, to be
>honest, I drink a mug of hot tea. I take a Lipton's tea bag and put it
>in a mug of cold water and I nuke it for 45 seconds.
You're not drinking tea. You're drinking tea-colored water. If you
really want to release the full flavor of the tea, nuke it for
2mins30secs. You'll get a better-tasting brew. Purists should stick to
heating a tea kettle of water on the stove and pouring the boiling
water over the tea in the cup and letting it steep for 5mins.
>Could those people who live in places where a cup of tea is equivalent
>to a cup of Maxwell House Coffee please tell me how to make a PERFECT
>POT OF TEA? I'm not looking for gourmet-tea making. I'm not looking
>for the tea equivalent of Starbucks. I'm looking for people who wake up
>in the morning and who are nothing . . . NOTHING . . . until they have
>their tea. I'm looking for blue collar tea drinkers.
I fit the above description but can't indulge on a daily basis.
Mon-Fri I pour the hot water from the industrial coffee maker in our
break room over a tea bag. Then I put my mug into the microwave and
nuke it for 1min30secs to cook it by raising the temp of the water to
a point that it'll release the full flavor of the tea in the bag. On
weekends, I do it right.
>
>Also, please speak authoritatively to the subject of: Tea -- Loose
>Leaves or Tea Bags?
Good quality loose tea walks all over tea bags. I buy it from the
specialty groceries in my area where you scoop the actual leaves out
of jars. I put them in a tea ball and let it steep before pouring the
tea. The ball contains the leaves so I don't have to screen the tea or
use a toothpick afterward. ;-)
I've had friends from India and from Britain who claim that the tea
must be steeped for 25 minutes. Their tea was wa-a-a-y stronger than I
like. Put hair on my chest.
---
Merle Finch SAS Institute, Inc. Cary NC USA
Opinions expressed probably never reflect those of SAS Institute.
Blanche Nonken
> It's worth the effort (assuming, of course, the tea itself is first-rate).
What he said.
Alma Hromic
<adl...@groupz.net> wrote:
>Could those people who live in places where a cup of tea is equivalent
>to a cup of Maxwell House Coffee please tell me how to make a PERFECT
>POT OF TEA?
>Also, please speak authoritatively to the subject of: Tea -- Loose
>Leaves or Tea Bags?
tea leaves, for the purist. although these days putting tea bags in
the teapot is probably not unheard of.
you boil the water and then you pour it over the tea (leaves or bag)
inside your teapot, where you leave it to stew for a bit. how long,
depends on how strong you want your tea.
when you pour, if you take milk, the protocol is to pour the milk in
first and then pour in the tea.
HTH
A.
*********************
Here on the level sand
Between the sea and land,
What shall I build or write
Against the fall of night?
--A. E. Housman
acdouglas
> [snipped - original post is below]
> ...steeped for 5 or more minutes
------------------------------------------------------
Interestingly, 5 minutes brew time is the absolute max. After that time all
that's drawn from the leaves is tannin and other nasties. Everything that's
tea has been fully extracted at 5 minutes brew time.
--
ACD
http://www.monmouth.com/~acdouglas
v---------------------- [original post] ----------------------v
"nancy" <na...@gekkografx.com> wrote in message
news:8FE05F60...@136.182.15.25...
it was the best of times; it was the worst of times, when
me...@unx.sas.com (Merle Finch) posted to misc.writing:
>I've had friends from India and from Britain who claim that the
>tea must be steeped for 25 minutes. Their tea was wa-a-a-y
>stronger than I like. Put hair on my chest.
>
the best kind of tea ... chest-hair tea.
yes, loose leaves (real ones, as ACD said), steeped for
5 or more minutes in a pre-warmed pot full of water that
has been brought to a rolling boil.
darjeeling or oolong makes a wonderful, aromatic, full-bodied
beverage.
never cared for earl grey ... too sweety-sicky.
for excitement, sometimes i put a twist of orange peel
or a cinnamon stick in -- usually only when i'm very
chilly or have a rhinovirus infection.
--
n
Maintenance-free: When it breaks, it can't be fixed...
Scott Elyard
<de...@navajo.gate.net> wrote:
Actually, I was hoping to put Christmas off until next year. I'm already
sick of it.
I was sick of it before Halloween.
<doomsayer's mode>
Mark my words! Soon Christmas will consume the entire year! And a plague
worse than all the killer bees in the world migrating to Hawaii will fall
upon the land!
Beware the Ides! Beware!
</doomsayer's mode>
Just... be aware.
--
.oO=-"The picture of a faithful alligator boundin' into-=Oo.
| daddy's lap ain't one the public is ready for." |
| --Walt Kelly (Beauregard) |
| Comic: www.oscarquillandcoyle.org |
`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'
Hugh Watkins
> The cheap no-name
>brand. I put two bags in a pot with water that has just boiled
>(literally,
>this is important) and leave it as long as possible. I get three cups out
>of it, at about 5 mins, 30 mins, and an hour. (Most tea drinkers are now
>cringing.) Anything up to three hours I will still drink it.
transport cafe tea orange in colour very acid so add lots of sugar with
bacon or fried egg sandwiches
when hitch hiking
Chris must be english to like such stewed tea
Hugh W
Joyce Ward
I guess if you use a tea ball or any other constraint you will not get a
perfect pot of tea, providing that you really need to furiously pore the
water over the leaves. Nevertheless, I prefer the tea ball, a ceramic one,
so I don't get the dregs in my cup. Of course then you can't read the tea
leaves and tell the future.
acdouglas <acdo...@monmouth.com> wrote in message
news:8tqtc9$420$1...@news.monmouth.com...
acdouglas
> [snipped - original post is below]
------------------------------------------------------
Rubbish. 3 mins is for wimps, not real tea drinkers.
--
ACD
http://www.monmouth.com/~acdouglas
v---------------------- [original post] ----------------------v
"Hugh Watkins" <Hugh_W...@net.dialog.dk> wrote in message
news:fc.0073fb6b0042c6ae3b...@net.dialog.dk...
acdo...@monmouth.com,Ny-Internet writes:
>
>Interestingly, 5 minutes brew time is the absolute max. After that time
>all
>that's drawn from the leaves is tannin and other nasties. Everything
>that's
>tea has been fully extracted at 5 minutes brew time.
3 mins is better
in Denmark we use clothe tea bags so you can take the leaves out before
the acid is released
tea leaves blended according to hardness of local water
so Danish Copenhagen tea (hard chalky water from underground tastes
frightful if made with Birmingham water (soft Welsh water by pipeline from
the granite mountains)
Hugh W
Hugh Watkins
>
>Interestingly, 5 minutes brew time is the absolute max. After that time
>all
>that's drawn from the leaves is tannin and other nasties. Everything
>that's
>tea has been fully extracted at 5 minutes brew time.
3 mins is better
Hugh Watkins
>
>when you pour, if you take milk, the protocol is to pour the milk in
>first and then pour in the tea.
there are discussions about that !
I notice with milk first all the tea leaves sink
a slice of lemon is good
http://www.google.com/search?q=Russian+tea&hl=en&lr=&safe=off
enjoy
hugh W
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Arielle's Recipe Archives: Russian Tea
... Recipe Archives, Dry Mixes, Russian Tea. Russian Tea
Mix 27 oz. Tang 6 oz. sweetened lemonade ...
recipes.alastra.com/dry-mixes/russian-tea.html
Russian Tea http://recipes.alastra.com/dry-mixes/russian-tea.html
Mix 27 oz.
Tang 6 oz. sweetened lemonade mix
1 cup sugar
1 cup instant tea
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Note: I use whole cloves and stick cinnamon instead of the ground forms
listed in the recipe.
Also the whole spices can be removed from the cup.
Ground spices tend to not dissolve.
Mix and store in an air-tight container.
Use 1 teaspoon of mixture for a small cup of hot tea. Remember to pour hot
water in the cup!
http://www.google.com/search?q=recipe+Turkish+tea&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.webcrawler.com/kids_and_family/food_and_drink/beverages/tea/varieties/
++++++++++++++++++++
green tea
http://www.sni.net/chai/ >>Chai is a wonderful spice milk tea from India
that is being discovered by contemplative beverage drinkers around the
world.
Here you will discover many things about Chai - what it is, recipes to
make it, personal chai experiences, and chai products on the market.
Our little web site exists for you, gentle friend. Enjoy your visit! <<<
http://www.sni.net/chai/recipes.html
(also chai or char English slang for tea)
<<<<<<<< nectar>>>>>>>>
Indian Railway Tea http://www.sni.net/chai/rec/rec103.html
Source: a handwritten sheet of paper from Eleanor Zelliot, professor of
history at Carleton College. Who knows where she got it. :-)
For one quart:
2 cups water
3-4 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
3-4 cardamom pods (cracked open)
Bring these to a boil; let stand as long as possible. Then add to:
1/4 cup loose black tea (or 4 tea bags)
and let steep. Then add:
2 cups milk
to the tea-spice mixture and heat but do not boil. When hot, strain and
add:
4 tablespoons of sugar (or a little less)
Stir and keep hot.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Camellia sinensis
(Black and green tea)
camomille or cammomille a herb tea
http://www.google.com/search?q=+tea+cammomille&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.google.com/search?q=+tea+camomille&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&btnG=Google+Search
nice at bed time and for teething infants
++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.fantes.com/tea_guide.htm
jasmine tea, with fresh jasmine blossoms. You can also get teas flavored
with everything from cinnamon to almonds.
Iced Tea - Use twice as many tea leaves, since the addition of ice cubes
to the hot brew will dilute the taste considerably
cmaj7...@my-deja.com
"acdouglas" <acdo...@monmouth.com> wrote:
>
> Rubbish. 3 mins is for wimps, not real tea drinkers.
>
don't anymore.
I/II
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.