The perfect cuppa

I'm not a tea drinker really - maybe one in a day, but for starters, if you are serious about this Davie, why the hell are you using tea bags instead of leaf tea? It's a non-starter.

We also missed a good cuppa when we lived in Southern California as the water there wasn't very nice. Unfortunately at that time (mid to late eighties) there wasn't a lot of bottled water on the market (or perhaps being used to the beautiful clear water available from Loch Katrine I just objected to paying for it!).

Anyway the water was so foul it unfortunately wasn't possible to make a decent cup of tea.

I agree that your instructions should normally produce a good cuppa, and definitely agree that a pot is required even for a single cup. And what about folk who use a teabag in a cup, then take the bag out and leave it festering on the worktop? What's wrong with the fekkin bin?

Ahh.....the teabag on the worktop syndrome. Yes, I do that. It drips, I used my fingers to get it out and it's hot. So just leave it there.

Mr Bhoyo

We have settled on the same brand of T bags, Tetley Pyramids being so outrageously expensive here.

As to your methodology, it is perfect according to British Standard 6008 (ISO 3103) so reward yourself with a really good 'cuppa' and a couple of 'diggi biccies' if you can keep them crisp long enough in all that humidity.

Cheers

Andy

BTW I think this is a little unfair BSI 6008 gets Ig Nobel Award

I'm soley a milk coffee man mesen !


Fritz Von Strainer

A water filter helps a lot IMO.

Steve B

I use Tea Direct (I'm so PC .

A water filter is uneccessary - if you put the tea bag in with the milk you won't get film. If you're making in a pot, you neeed 1 bag/spoonful per person, plus one for the pot, and don't leave it too long, otherwise it'll get stewed and full of tannins.

The best cuppa I ever had was in 2002, at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. Lovely sarnies too

Kevin (Sean Rowley on BBC Radio London)

quote:

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Originally posted by Rasher:
I'm not a tea drinker really - maybe one in a day, but for starters, if you are serious about this Davie, why the hell are you using tea bags instead of leaf tea? It's a non-starter.

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That's the way me mam makes it on the rare occasions I visit the ancestral home in Norfolk. But I've got lazy. Do the other tea drinkers here feel leaf tea is that much better?

Davie

quote:

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Originally posted by AndyK:
BTW I think this is a little unfair http://www.improb.com/airchives/press/1999/Press-association-100199.html

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Andy

I'm most alarmed by the reference at the end of that link to the infidelity-detection spray! I need another nice cuppa and a lie down. Unfortunately, I'm at work, so - in best Blue Peter tradition - I'll have to reheat a brew I prepared earlier.

Davie

Hi Davie

I missed that bit about the 'Infidelity Spray' - 'Ooooo Errrr Mrs' is all I can say.....

However, when it comes to loose tea, Mrs Andy is a very keen devotee with little packs of the stuff squirreled away all around the kitchen. For my part I cannot stand the stuff and am shamefully devoted to PG Pyramids as I hinted at in my original reply. Real tea?, not for me, too many reminders of afternoons at my Aunt Mary's house, coincidentally also in Norfolk, where the tea was always stewed and the strainer so ineffective you had to back it up with judicious use of your front teeth. Ugh!

Single most important ingredient for decent tea? A kettle at sea level

Cheers

Andy

I heard about a geezer once who got twelve decent cups from one NAAFI teabag ?


Fritz Von Monkey's

Agree basically with Boy Howdy. You have to watch out in the US...if you ask for tea in a restaurant, they'll bring a cup of luke-warm water and a Lipton bag, perhaps accompanied by a lemon slice(!). Tea at boutique cafes (Starbucks, etc.) is little better, using bizarre politically correct Third World teas. Best done at home, I use Tetleys British Blend, just-boiled water into cup with bag, steeped about 4 mins., poured in to 2nd cup containing about 1/2 inch depth whole milk and 3 packets of Splenda (I have a very sweet tooth).

On Masters of Realitys' album Sunrise On The Sufferbus Ginger Baker does a rap ("T.U.S.A.") on the futility of getting proper tea on the road here.

You're not wrong. Liptons is yeuch.

When I stay stateside thy always have a stack of Whittards tea on hand which IIRC my aunt orders online. Shipping & admin looks pricey at the Whittard site. I'll mail her for her source because I know I never bring any.

I think that it has to be leaves no milk from a preheated pot and inexplicably a china cup makes all the difference.

And defintiely no dunking.

I've never seen tea growing in Yorkshire or Windsor ?


Fritz von Wasn'tharveyasixfoottallrabbit ?

Bhoyo

You have no doubt heard of "Mr. Coffee" but have you also heard of "Mrs Tea". I know it sounds horrendous but it CAN make a decent british cup of tea with patience.I have one which I still use.Unfortunately it is no longer manufactured new, but here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4313467222&category=20685

Basically it is a modified coffee percolator. As you can see by the description you can easily use tea leaves in the so called "infuser" and obviously adjusted the strenght of the tea by the amount used.
The other thing is you can keep the tea hot for quite a while without suffering from over stewing by popping the lid on the pot.

regards
GEOFF

Listening every day planning to "not fade away"

A dare of the hog is required.

Fritz von Teasmade

We also missed a good cuppa when we lived in Southern California as the water there wasn't very nice.

A water filter is absolutely essential. Not only can it remove nasty tastes, I find heavily chlorinated water particularly revolting, it can also signifcantly reduce problems with limescale. It is also vastly cheaper than drinking bottled water, I keep one jug of filtered water in the fridge and another one by the kettle.
John

Fritz von Whateveryersayinnow - You're the king of the Zen non sequitur!

To all the rest - When in the US, drink coffee; it's a safer bet, and will eventually put you in the same overstimulated, in-yer-face, harried zone as the rest of us poor wageslave monkeys trying to keep up with Jones* and avoid whatever fear scheme the gov't and media is selling us...

*Jones, of course, has a 500-series, CDS3, DBL system

http://www.whittard.com/home.html?SID=82d904ea1d1d7418a3ae7afdb82d7b5e

Tea for all you exiles, tea jennies and Yanks with taste for the good stuff

Davie,

I pretty much follow your procedure, using round Tetley tea bags and the classic brown betty tea pot. I've a box of Yorkshire tea bags which I'll crack open when the Tetley's gone -- a gift from a friend who swears by them. What I really need is an inexpensive source of dark choc. digestives, Branston pickle, and Crunchies and Flakes. I'm not sure I approve of these new variants on Branston.

cheers,

Dan

I like the Tetley round bags, these work a lot better than the Pyramids IMO as these just get squashed, You must add BOILING water directly onto the tea bag nearly boiling just doesn't do the job. However with tea bags not so long a brew is required as the tea is much finer than leaf tea so 1-2 mins rather than 5 mins (requiring tea cosy!) for leaf tea.

Leaf tea is still much better, but for convenience I find myself using bags more often than not.

Don't know how this would serve those of the true tea faith, but here goes:
Yorkshire Gold (can buy in specialty stores here)
Boiling Water (Reverse-Osmosis filtered)
1 pack Splenda
5 minutes
Remove bag (to the bin!)
Half-and-half
Works for me!
David

quote:

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Originally posted by greeny:
You must add BOILING water directly onto the tea bag

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No don't do this. First pour the boiling water in to the cup or pot then add the tea bag.
You will need to allow more time, in fact it looks like nothing is happening at first but wait, it will taste better.

I've followed this thread with considerable interest. I'm a Pyramid man myself and, although I know that a tea pot would be better, laziness has turned me into a 'bag in the cup, pour on boiling water' man.

Two points:

1. I admit that occasionally I'll dunk with a ginger biscuit, withdrawing the biscuit just before the dreaded drop-off. Sacrilege or ok for the odd occasion?

2. I've heard that you shouldn't re-boil the water once it's boiled. Something to do with oxygen. However, this means that you've got to be hovering over the kettle to pour at the precise moment of clicking. Has anyone noticed any ill effects of re-boiling?

Steve Margolis
defy convention - make music

Steve:

1. Dunking ginger biscuits is not only OK, it's mandatory.

2. Hover over the kettle - tea needs boiling water. And it's definitely better not to re-boil (although I do usually nuke my second cup to get it back to flesh-melting temperature).

Davie