Of course, if one it too rushed to make a proper tea, or one wishes it made on a cup by cup basis, there is alway the Tassimo and it's wonderful Earl Grey pods. The tea may be Twinings, but it's not bad at all. If only I had lemons at my desk.There are certain rules with Tea....I would never accept Tea that has been made in a cup...absolutely not....if you are going to make something, as with anything, take good care with it...
1. Boil Kettle...
2. When kettle is boiled add a couple of inches of boiled water to teapot to warm it.
3. Allow teapot to warm for a minute or two.
4. Reboil Kettle and empty warmed teapot....add appropriate amount of Tea of choice (teabags or loose, one teabag per person or one heaped teaspoon of loose Tea per person) to Teapot...add the boiled water.
5. Allow Tea to 'brew' in teapot, 3 to 6 minutes according to taste (the longer, obviously the stronger).
6. If loose Tea, pour into cup from teapot with strainer..if bags, then pour Tea straight from teapot into cup.
7. Add milk or lemon and sugar according to taste.
8. Enjoy....
Aaaahhhh.......
http://www.voiceoverladies.net/images/cup of tea.jpg
I always loved tea, but ended up taking a multi-year sabbatical from it after a particularly grisley experience in college. First year chemistry lab, the experiment: extraction of caffeine from tea. An entire room of people boiling tea leaves vigorously, then using formaldahyde to titrate out the caffeine. I ended up getting a bad blast of formaldahyde under the vent hood and was disasterously sick. For years, I associated the smell of tea with that incident and couldn't touch it.
I like my tea firm with lemon, and my coffee suitable to standing spoon upright, black, hot and unsweetened, rather like my soul.