[QUOTE=garygnu]
I think Struan needs a new microwave.
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Yeah, I think you are right. But I’ve just got this new one!
weeps
[QUOTE=OpalCat]
Ewww… you made tea with unfiltered water? IN FLORIDA?! :eek:
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Well… I did boil it first.
Must dash- off to buy a kettle with a switch!
[small voice]Anyway your tea sucks![/small voice]
[QUOTE=Struan]
See that’s how I thought microwave ovens worked, and yet mine (either of them 850 or 650 W) will not get water as hot as a kettle will. I wish I could frame a question or two for GQ. I’m sure the fans on the ovens are crucial.
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That’s just bizarre. Really, the fan should have nothing whatsoever to do with it - the fan is not going to stop the molecules from doing their thing.
The strength of the tea is part of it, but not all. I can make American tea that’s just as strong as British tea, by steeping it longer, or using more. This does get more of the tea flavour, which would be good, but it also gets enough tannin to make it nearly undrinkable. I don’t know whether this means that the good tea has less tannin, or more of the other things, but it’s a definite difference.
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright]
Well… I did boil it first.
Must dash- off to buy a kettle with a switch!
[/QUOTE]
Please tell me you at least don’t live in one of those areas where the water smells like rotten eggs…
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]
That’s just bizarre. Really, the fan should have nothing whatsoever to do with it - the fan is not going to stop the molecules from doing their thing.
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The fans are going to be moving heat from the relatively small interior of the box to the much larger rest of universe.
[QUOTE=Struan]
The fans are going to be moving heat from the relatively small interior of the box to the much larger rest of universe.
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But the heating of the water is taking place inside the water - the fans just take away the excess moisture and some of the residual heat. If you put a fan on a pot on the stove do you think it wouldn’t boil?
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster]
But the heating of the water is taking place inside the water - the fans just take away the excess moisture and some of the residual heat. If you put a fan on a pot on the stove do you think it wouldn’t boil?
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That’s the difference between a kettle and a microwave and a billy-can over an open fire. Ventilation, baby! OMG it’s 5:37 am here!
[QUOTE=OpalCat]
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).
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That was how I read it, sorry. Mind you, things seem to have gone off on a tangent since then!
[QUOTE=fishbicycle]
ETA: This link, which is exactly what we’re talking about.
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Could you cut and paste a few relevant paragraphs from your link?
I tried making tea with microwaved water, it just wasn’t the same. When I was just a kid at school, our Home Ec teacher started off by teaching us how to make tea and toast…the key to the perfect cuppa is freshly-drawn fresh boiled water but it has to be done in a kettle. Even water boiled in a pan on the hob isn’t good enough.
In our kitchen at work we have a kettle and a wall-mounted water urn thingie. The kettle-made tea is far nicer than tea made with what comes out of the Heatrae.
[QUOTE=Struan]
See that’s how I thought microwave ovens worked, and yet mine (either of them 850 or 650 W) will not get water as hot as a kettle will. I wish I could frame a question or two for GQ. I’m sure the fans on the ovens are crucial.
[/QUOTE]
Is it possibly the mug you’re heating it in? MAybe there’s metals in the glaze or sumfink?
I like Twinings Earl Grey and English Breakfast, myself. Also, nice cream teas w/proper clotted cream. Although High Tea at the Bathhouse in Bath wasn’t bad, either.
I find PG Tips at most of the local Indian grocery stores. Damned expensive though. Recently I ordered through Amazon and got a couple of 140 count boxes for a decent price. Since I like my tea strong, I always use 2 bags per cup. Water boiled in a (proper) kettle - never microwaved. Since our local water smells & tastes like the lake it originates from, we have an under-counter reverse osmosis system with 5 (count 'em!) filters for pre, post, postpost, charcoal + RO filtering. Stuff comes out so pure it’s almost invisible!
But making ‘real’ tea involves all that boiling, pre-heating the pot, tea cosy, etc… not worth the effort these days.
[QUOTE=Struan]
Microwaved? Oh dear god! Please get an electric kettle. I know the power thing is different, but you need boiling water to pour into your mug. Mug. Teabag. Boiling water from a kettle. Skim milk. Microwave?
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I did say I put it in for 2 minutes 40 seconds. It gets VERY hot. The tea gets VERY strong. What’s the problem with that?
Oh, and I experimented with times for quite some time before settling on 2 minutes 40 seconds. I get no foam, no threat of explosion, no fizziness. It’s a nice calm cup of hot strong tea. If I’m not using tetley but maybe having my new favorite, Twinings Lady Gray, I keep the tag on and there are never sparks. It’s very delicious and you must trust me that I’ve been a tea snob since Middle School.
[QUOTE=Sattua]
Please be careful not to create “exploding water.”
If you haven’t heard about this from Alton Brown or the Mythbusters: water heated in a very smooth vessel in the microwave can be heated past the boiling point without actually boiling. As soon as it’s disturbed, though, it boils all at once, and “explodes” out of its container. I suspect that the foaming Struan observed in his microwaved mug is a small-scale manifestation of this, and if the water was indeed superheated, it could certainly affect the way the tea brews.
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The tea bag in the cup takes away that smooth vessel effect. I put mine in before the cup goes in the microwave.
This is one of my biggest complaints about tea in America. When I order it at restaurants and I ask for orange pekoe tea they end up giving me orange spice herbal tea bags. On airlines it is hit and miss, well actually Air Canada has an open milk container so you can have milk with your tea, so does United. Other airlines will give me coffee cream. Ugh. Now I travel with tea bags (usually Tetley rounds or Red Rose). At hotels during room service they almost always forget something except the lemon which I don’t need.
I found Yorkshire Gold in Whole Foods here but I haven’t tried it yet. But I can get Tetley rounds & Red Rose at any of my local grocery stores, Vons, Ralphs etc.
I’m very picky about tea and I need to drink it in the morning and now I have to travel with my own because mostly I can’t get the tea the way I want.
I’m having a hard time with the concept of people bitching about bad tea, then, in the next breath, talking about their tea bag of preference.
It’s like comparing brands of instant coffee.
[QUOTE=garygnu]
I think Struan needs a new microwave.
[/QUOTE]
No, I think he needs a thermometer so he can quantify his findings.
I’m not a tea drinker, but what is the deal with the milk? Is it added cold, at room temperature, or hot?
One of the Brits that I used to work with would make tea and pour in at least a half cup of milk. It looked like tea-flavored milk. I always abused him when he bitched about our tea.