Blinking flip, boys and girls. Boiling water burns the tea? Boiling water is “deoxygenating”? Teabags are full of tea chest sweepings and caramel? Anything else?
Boiling water doesn’t get any hotter whether it’s a rolling boil or not. Waiting for it to stop rolling before you pour results in a miniscule amount of cooling. If temperature’s that important to you, don’t forget to factor in the air pressure!
Boiling water is deoxygenated. Once you’ve boiled it, you’re going to have to let it cool down and sit for a couple of hours to get back to the trivial 8 ppm oxygen it contained at room temperature. And it doesn’t help to stop the heat an instant before it’s boiling - you drive dissolved gases out just with elevation of temperature. The whole oxygenation thing is nonsensical.
Just make the tea however you like it. Bags, infusers, loose leaves, preheated porcelain, organic, shat out by a civet - do what you like. There’s no right way, there’s only a right way for you.
But really, there is such a thing as a proper temperature for green tea, at least. If you use boiling hot water on the highest grade green tea, you get a significantly more bitter brew than if you use water that’s about 70C. Loose leaf tea DOES taste noticably better than tea bags.
Hmmm…I wouldn’t go that far. The tempurature of the water is crucial…and something we poor benighted nontea people do get wrong. But as to brands, I give you the Voice Of Authority:
"With milk teas which can be drunk black include:
Yunnan (that’s the one I use most often)
English Breakfast (pref Twinings - and available in the US)
Traditional Afternoon (pref Twinings - sadly not available in the US
unless it is maskerading as something else on Twining’s site!)
Keemun
Russian Caravan (Keemun, Oolong and Darjeeling tea blend)
Without milk teas include:
Imperial afternoon (“A delightful blend of China, Indian, Formosan
and Ceylon teas, with the subtle flavours of Lapsang, Jasmine, Rose and
Oil of Bergamot. With added Jasmine flower, Rose petal and Cornflower”)
Earl Grey (please please please don’t make this with milk…only
Australians do that and boy does it taste disgusting!)
Genmai Cha Tea (Japanese with added hulled rice kernals!)"
(And yes you do seem to be right about the British and Twinings.)
Forty-one posts so far, and most had a precise recipe. None of the recipes were the same. Apparently, if I serve tea to a tea fanatic, I have zero chance of satisfying him unless I simply take him in the kitchen and have him do it him(or her)self.
If you want a tea cozy, go to the Tar-zhay and look for a quilted toaster cover.
I prefer Ahmad loose teas, or some incredibly cheap Indian tea I have. On the frequent occasions when I’m too lazy to make loose tea, then Earl Grey or some Tetley’s. But Lipton will do in a pinch, especially if you put milk and sugar in it. And it’s perfect for sun tea.
Lipton isn’t completely horrible. It’s just my last choice.
Well, okay… I was being a wee bit hyperbolic. But honestly.
When I first went back home for the holidays, I realised that the “tea” I’ve been drinking is just… yuk. Milk and sugar alone would be preferable. I don’t know exactly WHY, but I can’t manage to drink it any more. So I’ve been using loose leaf English Breakfast from Fortnum and Mason’s (surprisingly enough, available from a little store in Singapore!) in a tea ball. Yeah, I’m lazy in the mornings, sue me.
That sinks it - when I eventually do make my 6 month tour of Yerp, I shall not be able to sleep over in the UK - morning without a decent cup of coffee is hell, I say!
At least I hear you folk know a thing or two about decent ale. (Note: I did not say “beer;” - no sniping at crappy American lager, I’m a PNW’er and we do have decent breweries here.)
Hmmm…one thing that I make sure is fully stocked at the beginning of my week is a tupperware box full of tea bags. Going through a whole load of schools, I kill two birds with one stone - I ensure I don’t breach any unilateral staff-room etiquette regarding apparently-available tea, and I know I’ll get a half-decent cup at the end of it.
Ultra High Temperature processed, that is, treated to be stored at room temperature as long as its container is kept sealed. Parmalat is one common brand name.
I’m not going to wade into the “correct cup of tea” fight, because as should be obvious by now, Matt is right; there is no right way, only the right way for you. Besides, I’m a Yank. I will say:
The water does make a huge difference. Here in Philadelphia the difference between tea made with filtered and unfiltered water is visible, literally. One is clear, the other is murky and has a film on top.
British tea is likely to be stronger than American tea. This is easily deduced from reading the labels on US and British boxes of tea bags; Americans make 100 bags out of 8 oz. of tea, the British more commonly make 80 bags out of 250 grams, which is more than 8 oz.
The one thing NEVER to do is make iced tea with that “instant iced tea” mix sold in canisters. I don’t know what is in that stuff, but it won’t get you tea.
Speaking of iced tea: you can start a similar all-American fight by asking whether iced tea should be heavily sweetened, Southern-style, or not.
I think this should be framed and used as the thread-ending post in all future “British tea” threads, although I would simplify it further - one mug, any decent teabag, boiling water, three or four minutes, milk.
It doesn’t matter what brand you use, it doesn’t matter how boiling the water is, none of the fiddly details matter. Just make sure it’s strong and has milk in it. Add sugar to taste.
Slight tangent - has anyone had any luck finding good decaf tea? I love English Breakfast, but I can’t tolerate caffeine. I’ve used as many as 5 bags of the decaf Twinings, and it still tastes insipid. I’d love to know about a source for ordering loose leaf decaf…
