I see those herbal things solely as a choice for middle-aged (going on elderly) women. I’ve also always assumed it’s because it’s a more gentle option for those with middle-age-to-elderly female issues, which a big mug of Yorkshire Tea might exacerbate.
Twinings blackcurrant isn’t herbal tea, if I remember correctly. It’s black tea flavored with blackcurrant.
Is Twinings not considered a good brand? Because here it is usually sold as top of the line in grocery stores and used to be one of the only options if you wanted loose tea rather than bags.
ETA: “Here” being the US.
Twinings is a decent enough brand, I think, but if you are interested in green tea or the various bergamot flavoured ones then there are far better. As I said upthread I like Twinings Assam teabags. Their chai too, but it ain’t anything like the chai my relatives make.
Thing is, most Brits and Irish like strong tea, in mugs, and the most popular brands reflect this, using black tea from India and Africa, mostly.
Dammit! I want a cup of tea.
It’s too late though.
Twinings Assam is good, isn’t it - nice and dark. Their Darjeeling Breakfast is tasty as well - good and fresh-tasting. But their speciality teas aren’t really what we’re talking about.
BTW, unlike all other teas mentioned so far, Earl Grey’s tea (with bergamot) is meant to be drunk weak with scant milk.
I also love Indian chai. But it’s not really tea as we know it in the British Isles.
My cousin Saroj makes chai that is definitely tea based with shedloads of ginger and cinnamon in it. I’ll have to get her recipe next time I’m through.
Heh, I just remembered the first time I ever had tea with that branch of the family. Me and my wee brother stayed with them in Glasgow for a week or so, and we both had colds. I remember my Uncle R brewing up, and the wonderful decongestant effect thereof. I wonder how much of his tea-technique came from his family in India and how much came from his being a medic in the Army during WWII.
Um… my microwave gets the water in the mug to a nice rolling boil, thanks.
As for me, I prefer half and half in my tea. I think skim milk is vile and watery already, before watering it down further in tea. I think I’d barf.
None whatsoever. What difference does it make if I boil the water on the stove or in a kettle or in the microwave? It’s a cup of boiling water no matter what. I’m not talking about boiling it with the TEA IN IT or anything (nor do I think anyone else is).
I’ve read on the subject of microwaving vs. boiling water that microwaving superheats the water, whereas bringing it to a rolling boil in a kettle doesn’t, and preserves the levels of oxygen in the water. This is why it’s recommended by the tea manufacturers on the box that you boil the water, and that you use fresh water each time you boil it. Boiled water that has been left to sit, then reheated, loses oxygen and tastes flat.
There is a distinct (and unpleasant) difference in the taste of water that has been microwaved for tea, and it seems to take longer to cool down to a drinkable temperature. If you need further specifics on it, please feel free to start a GQ thread. I can’t give you a cite, nor tell you what thread I read it in, and I didn’t take physics!
If you see bubbles and a rolling boil, it isn’t superheated. At least that’s my understanding from watching Mythbusters 
When I microwave a cup of water, it bubbles away merrily just like if I did it on the stove.
I drink various things made with microwaved water (including tea), and I’ve used a kettle to boil water, and I’ve had tea both made at home (restaurant tea is nasty) and in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Never noticed anything weird about microwaved water.
Here is a Snopes article that isn’t specifically on the difference between heating and microwaving water, but it explains what happens to water when you microwave it, which is different from what happens when you boil it over heat.
ETA: This link, which is exactly what we’re talking about.
Man, I have my tea-brewing technique down!
Tetley’s British Blend (in the round tea bags) - check!
Mug - check!
Electric kettle - check!
Skim milk, two sugars - check!
Can I have my British citizenship now? 
In the spirit of fighting ignorance I’ve just done a wee experiment -
I have two really large identical mugs - each of an imperial pint capacity;
Both are filled with really excellent tap water;
One goes in the 850 Watt micro, and the water from the other goes into a bog standard UK electric kettle;
Now let’s see what happened!
(I admit my intention to time them went somewhat awry).
Anyhoo, the kettle boiled first, poured into mug containing Tetley teabag. Let it sit for the length of “Safety Net” by The Shop Assistants, then remove bag.
Contemporanous to this I had to check the mug in the microwave. It was certainly hot. I gave it another thirty seconds. Gingerly removed mug from microwave and dropped in Tetley teabag. The fucking thing is fizzing all over the place. Teabag remains in until “Somewhere in China” by The Shop Assistants finishes, then it is removed.
Pour splash of semi-skimmed milk into each cup, and give a little stir.
The taste test:
Kettle cup = nice cuppa I would be quite happy to give to Prince or pauper
Microwave cup = shit
Conclusion: People who think that you can make a decent mug of tea in a microwave are totally, utterly wrong.
I may publish…
“in my opinion, microwaved water doesn’t hold heat long enough to make decent tea.”
Um. Water at 212F is water at 212F. How long it holds heat depends on the vessel holding it and the environment, not on the method used to heat it. I’m calling baloney on the whole article.
You don’t have to believe anything you don’t want to believe. You can make tea any old way you want if it pleases you. I didn’t come here to argue with you (this is being hit on the head lessons).
Obviously boiling water is boiling water. But I’m not convinced that a microwave oven can get water to boiling point in the safe and routine way that a kettle can.
Right, but once it’s at the boiling point is there any scientific reason why it would cool off faster? Plus someone in this thread said they thought it took LONGER to cool off. Seems like some iffy science to me.
fishbicycle um, I didn’t realize we were arguing. Am I missing something? Should I be getting upset?
Damn it. I didn’t really need another pot of tea today.
::wanders off to put the kettle on::
You and your “um…” condescension are making it obvious that what you think is the only possible outcome, and everybody else must be crazy if they can tell the difference between one kind of boiled water and another. It’s not a contest. Go forth and have a cup of tea.
In fact I’m pretty convinced it can’t do it safely. A kettle is designed to take water to 100C, and they have various cutoff devices to ensure that no harm results. I’m about to have another microwave shot and just let it go for half an hour. Let’s see if a microwave can really boil a pint of water (I’m going to use my old 650W one ).