I was wondering about this. Does the typical American kitchen (if such a thing exists) have a kettle? Or is it more likely just to have a coffee maker?
No, I would say that the vast majority of American kitchens don’t have an electric kettle. Some people might have a stovetop kettle, but even that isn’t all that common. Coffee makers are very common, though.
There’s nothing wrong nor right about my method. It was just that my friend made me a cuppa about 10 years ago and it was delish, so I asked him how he made it, and that was the response, ever-so slightly revised over the years.
Out of interest, if anyone’s tried this method, did they notice an improvement in taste, or was it a big fat “wtf meh”?
For all those out there in no-kettle land, I do recommend that you cook water in a pan to a rolling boil on the stovetop, rather than faff around with microwaves or coffee makers. It’s more effective in doing precisely what you want. Though it’s good to see that Target are selling a 110V kettle - I had always thought that the lack of kettles in the US was due to the voltage not being high enough.
I boil water, add a teabag, add a spoonful of sugar or honey, and stir just enough to dissolve the sugar. Then, I let it steep until I can’t see the bowl of the spoon any more, which also lets it cool down to just about perfect drinking temperature. When I remove the bag, I wrap the string around it once or twice to squeeze out the bulk of the remaining liquid, so I don’t splatter all over the floor, and throw the bag out.
For what kind, my favorites are just plain black tea, with no orange rind, bergamon, cinnamon, or any other flavors. The best I’ve found in the States is Stash English Breakfast. There’s really no point in getting low-quality tea: Even the good stuff is still very cheap on a per-serving basis.
There are recommended temperatures for different types of teas. For Green tea the water should never boil, you don’t even want a simmer, you want to turn it off when you just see bubbles forming on the bottom. For Chai tea, I think you may actually boil the tea and spices a little. I have noticed a difference if I make green tea at too high a temp (nasty and bitter) or Chai at too low a temp (weak, weak, weak).
I thought Brit’s liked milk in their tea?
I’m an American married to a Brummie, living in California. I drink tea when we’re in England in an effort to “blend in.” He drinks tea constantly. A friend brings PG Tips from the UK or we buy Tetley “English Blend” from our local grocery store, both in individual bags. I’ve watched him make a cup (with our T-Fal Vitesse electric kettle, BTW) and he always squeezes the bag before fishing it out of the mug with a spoon. I, too, thought that he was getting those last few drops of “strong tea” out of the bag. I’ll have to try jjimm’s no-squeeze method and report back here.
Does anyone know if it matters if the tea bag floats atop the water or is submerged? Again, my DH “sinks it” with the spoon to keep it submerged, before giving it a spoon-against-the-side-of-the-mug squeeze and fishing it out. (and dripping across the floor to the trash bin, of course!):rolleyes:
Also, I had always heard that the water must boil, and when the DH leaves the room while the kettle is on, I’ll get up to pour water into his mug right after the kettle “clicks off,” but he tells me that he prefers to let the water settle just a bit, claiming that boiling water results in more of the paper “tea bag” flavor in the resulting tea. Does anyone else feel this way?
Here’s my own mostly self taught way (my parents only drank coffee…I was the freak who decided tea was my drink)…
- Fill stove top kettle with cold water from tap.
- Turn burner on high.
- On whistle, remove kettle from heat.
- Count to 7.
- Open spout, count to 3.
- Pour water into cup.
- Place tea bag (standard Lipton bags) into cup.
- Steep for 3.5 minutes or so.
- Enjoy!
- After breakfast, empty kettle.
The waiting to pour bit came from a Food Channel Alton Brown show that I encountered by accident…he said the optimal tea water preparation temperature was 190 F, using 212 F water washes out yucky stuff in the tea bag paper. He used a fancy temperature that beeped when the desired temperature was reached…I just let the kettle come off boiling for a bit. I’m probably not getting the water close to 190 by just waiting 10 seconds.
Works well enough for me. I’m sure I’m doing 40 things wrong though. 
I’ve repurposed an old Braun Aeromaster coffee maker to being my teamaker. The original glass carafe has been replaced with a stainless steel one.
I load up the hopper with 4-5 teabags(depending on the blend) and brew up a full carafe, then transfer it into a prewarmed thermal seving pitcher to keep it hot and fresh - and a big supply to refresh my tea mug without constantly brewing a new cup
The tea brews nicely, steeping as the water passes through the basket without getting bitter.
It’s great to brew up a couple extra pots to have additional tea for ice tea…mmmmm.
Time for another batch of Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast…
To people worried about “doing it wrong”, the only thing I can say is this: Try a good-quality tea some time. Most Americans have never tasted good tea, and don’t know what they’re missing.
Electric tea kettles are rare here in the US, because it’s (mostly) a nation of coffee drinkers. But I thought I read somewhere here that one reason they’re more widely used in the UK is because the higher voltage means that they can bring water to a boil more quickly than in the US.
I like many different kinds of teas. In general, black tea needs boiling water, but greens and whites do not.
We do have an electric kettle (Wal-Mart sells them), which is fine for black tea. It’s too hot for green, so I let it cool down a little while before making the tea.
Favorites include
PG Tips black tea
Republic of Tea pink grapefruit green
Lipton white tea with mango peach (Lipton’s black tea is vile, but this is great stuff).
Celestial Seasoning’s Perfectly Pear white tea.
Twinings Prince of Wales Tea
Twinings Irish Breakfast loose tea
As the sages above point out it’s all about temperature management.
FWLIW when I’m making tea with due care:
- boil the jug
- half fill china cup with boiled water
- leave to stand until the cup has heated
- empty the cup, add tea (bag or looseleaf)
- reboil the jug
- pour boiling water over tea
- leave to brew as desired
- I squeeze the bag on removing mainly to limit mess, and I prefer the stronger tannic flavour.
The big question not answered above is adding the milk. Ideally you don’t want to take milk straight from the fridge (at say 4C) to the brewed tea cup (at 75-80C). It drops the temperature of the tea sharply and scalds the milk.
It’s best if you can use the milk at room temperature, though this takes a lot more planning and wastes milk.
American here, born and raised in the deep south but with an English granny and mother. I drink a lot of tea, iced and hot. Iced tea would be an entire other post. For hot tea with a tea bag I do what pretty much everyone else does, as my grandmother taught me:
water just off the boil, poured directly on top of the tea bag
leave alone for 4 minutes
dunk tea bag up and down fifteen times
remove bag, add sugar (2 lumps)
add milk
To chai and breakfast teas I stir in cinnamon at this point. For herbal teas I skip the milk and add honey, or lemon, or yadda yadda.
Mostly I drink Twinings Earl Grey in the bag or loose with a tea ball.
So true. Just last week we visited my boyfriend’s uncle in the country, and he made us a pot of tea that was divine. Best tea I’ve ever had. Even my boyfriend had two cups, and he NEVER drinks tea. First time I’ve ever tasted such a marked difference, but I guess I’ve never had really nice looseleaf tea before.
Since we;ve got all the tea experts in, can I add a long-standing query? While in Ireland I once had what can only be described as “buttery” tea. No, I don’t mean there was a dollop of fat added, just tea and water. No, this was a strong yet smooth tea with no hint of astringency. It was short on citrus notes (which is strange because I usually drink/love strong bergamot “Earl Grey”.) But this one was lovely. There was no flavoring or herbal ingredients, just a bag of really wonderful smooth and gentle tea. I don’t think it would have been a particularly high brand, either, as this B&B owner was a bit of a tightwad.
Any suggestions on brands/types which might fit this description?
The standard Irish tea is Barry’s.
There’s also Nambarrie and a couple of other brands available, including British ones, but Barry’s is the tea of choice of regular Irish people - unless Paddy O’Tightwad bought floor sweeping bags from Lidl or Aldi.
Perhaps, though, the smoothness was due to the quality of the water - or maybe the richness of the milk (IIRC, Irish dairy cows are fed on grass not grain, and this makes the milk creamier).
True a colleague of mine drinks green tea and always lets the kettle sit for a minute or two after boiling before making his drink.
Chai tea is wonderful and can be made like a traditional cup of tea, but traditionally is boiled with the milk already in. Strangely this is the only form of spiced tea that I like, can’t stand Earl Grey and the rest.
Most Brits, myself included, take milk in tea. Unless it’s Earl Grey or a fruit tea (which I don’t drink, see above).
Lyons is the most popular tea here (how quickly they forget once they leave the Island 
)
I make tea the way jjimm does as he trained me in years ago. Every now and then I go through a big tea drinking phase. I’m in one now actually. The kettle goes on as soon as I get home and will make 3-4 cups over a day. This is nothing compared to a lot in Ireland were tea drinking is a national pastime.
The social power of tea in Ireland and the UK is huge. I remember listening to an American Military commander talk about how the moral lifting power for Brit soldiers that tea has is something to see. Everytime they stop the first thing to do is get a brew up. The Americans do the same with coffee but they don’t seem to have the depth of feelings associated with tea and so don’t get the lift that the Brits get. It’s generally the first thing you are offered when walking into any Irish or British household.
You teabag drinkers sicken me. It’s like watching people intently discuss the optimum way to experience and savour the full flavour of a McDonalds cheeseburger. It’s a teabag! 
Ok, I’m a loose leaf snob. I can admit it, no shame. I grew up in a loose leaf household and to this day I can taste the difference between teabag tea and real tea (the distinction my father always draws between them). There’s no contest; real tea is better. I admit teabag tea is not undrinkable - I’ll use a teabag for convenience from time to time. It’s sufficient, but it’s not as good.
My method? Well, the snobbiness ends at loose leaf tea. From there on out, I’ll buy whichever one of a few brands is on special at the supermarket that week. Black, no special variety. I don’t do the one-scoop-per-cup-and-one-for-the-pot thing, I just know how much tea to use in my teapots and how much water to add. I guess it’s trial and error. I rinse the pot under hot tap water to warm it slightly (not a big deal though - I skip this step about half the time), then add the loose leaf tea. I pour the water in pretty much as soon as it has boiled, and I allow it to steep for about 5 minutes. I put the milk in the cup first, against tradition, because I can better judge by sight how much milk I’m adding. I don’t add sugar any more, but I used to have one sugar until it started tasting too sweet. If I’m planning to make a second cup from the same pot sometime soon (even though the second cup never tastes as good), I might put a tea towel over the pot to keep the heat in (thereby stewing the tea, hence the poorer quality of the second cup - STILL better than teabag tea!) and adding fresh boiling water just before pouring (and/or another scoop of tea).
People say I make a good cup of tea. That might just be so I keep volunteering for tea duty, but I like to think it’s sincere.
Well I stand corrected and apologise for spreading misinformation.
It must be the most popular for culchies or something - and it’s certainly what all the Irish expatriates I have known ordered boxes of (together with the greasy monstrosities that are Tayto Cheese & Onion, the horror).