Tea, Tea, aaahhhhhhhh....Tea.

BuddyBoy

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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
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.

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.
 

BuddyBoy

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I love tea and 'erva matte'...and for sure make mine in my cup and dont like it dark.
I lived in Buenos Aires for a while and everyone had thier Mate gourds and Yerba Mate amd Bombillias. I tried, I really truly tried to like the stuff, but it always ended up tasting like hay. I don't think I ever made it all the way through a cup, unlike all my workmates who would keep pouring fresh hot water on theirs.

The Uraguayans were addicted to the stuff - they would walk around with a mate gourd and a thermos of hot water wherever the went. It was worse than Starbucks cups in Seattle.
 

eddyabs

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I'm not a big tea fan, I'm more of a coffee person myself. Eddy, haven't you forgotten that tea drinkers have an image of being affected and compulsory in their habits? It's okay, it doesn't exactly reflect my thoughts. I used to drink a lot of tea during night flights because coffee used to make me nervous, so tea was the perfect alternative. However, I just noticed I did numerous mistakes about it. And now that I don't do night flights so often anymore, I slipped out of the tea drinking completely... maybe I should start it again.

Actually Claire, you are quite close....thinking about it I believe that I am rather compulsory in my habits....but I would say more stubborn. And affected? Possibly lol....there is an affectation that comes with the territory of being a Tea drinker..though what that encompasses, I am not quite sure. I believe the affectation may stem from the quintessentially English Victoriana stereotype of High Tea, high society, Ladies and Gentlemen in their finery, stiff upper lips and cucumber sandwiches (crust removed of course) supping by the croquet lawn on a fine English Summers day...although you will find that in modern day England, you are just as likely to find a foul mouthed builder knocking back a mug of 'brew'.

Tea is a healthier alternative to Coffee, especially if you try Green Tea, or mixing Green Tea with a more usual black blend...I also find Coffee makes me rather tense...I feel like I have grinders sawing in my head after I drink it...although Coffee roasting is a fabulous smell, and sometimes it can take my fancy and taste delicious.

And now that you no longer do night flights, it may be healthier for you, less aggressive than coffee and also now proven to actually lower stress levels...and here's a few Tea Health facts:
  • Approximately 40% of the nation's (UK) fluid intake today will be tea
  • Tea without milk has no calories. Using semi-skimmed milk adds around 13 calories per cup, but you also benefit from valuable minerals and calcium
  • Tea with milk provides 16% of daily calcium requirement in 4 cups
  • Tea contains some zinc and folic acid
  • Tea with milk contains Vitamin B6, Riboflavin B2 and Thiamin B1
  • Tea is a source of the minerals manganese, essential for bone growth and body development, and potassium, vital for maintaining body fluid levels
  • The average cup of tea contains less than half the level of caffeine than coffee. One cup contains only 50mg per 190ml cup
  • Tea is a natural source of fluoride and drinking four cups makes a significant contribution to your daily intake
  • Only 11% of UK water supply has fluoride added
  • Green and black teas are from the same plant, Camelia sinensis, and contain similar amounts of antioxidants and caffeine
 

eddyabs

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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.

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.

Man, that chemistry lab episode sounds gruesome..no wonder it put you off....I had a similar experience with bananas but let's not got there lol....

Twinings actually make reasonably good tea...in fact some of it excellent, although I like to but fairtrade and I don't think Twinings do a fairtrade Tea yet??

And this Tassimo....sounds interesting...I'll have to check it out on the net.
 

Gisella

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I lived in Buenos Aires for a while and everyone had thier Mate gourds and Yerba Mate amd Bombillias. I tried, I really truly tried to like the stuff, but it always ended up tasting like hay. I don't think I ever made it all the way through a cup, unlike all my workmates who would keep pouring fresh hot water on theirs.

The Uraguayans were addicted to the stuff - they would walk around with a mate gourd and a thermos of hot water wherever the went. It was worse than Starbucks cups in Seattle.

I'm sorry about your deslike of it, BuddyBoy...:confused: :eek: :tongue: just joking just joking...

In the south of Brasil is very popular too..but the taste much depends on the quality of the erva mate...here in the US we find the ones being imported from Brasil of low quality...is just like good quality coffee or regular and bad ones...

Yeh, is a ritual kind of thing and many share their cuias e bombas passing to everybody around to drink of the same one..not for me thanks..I have my own...and when gets cold is when I crave it..like now...:rolleyes: :biggrin1:
 

BuddyBoy

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In the south of Brasil is very popular too..but the taste much depends on the quality of the erva mate...here in the US we find the ones being imported from Brasil of low quality...is just like good quality coffee or regular and bad ones...

Yeh, is a ritual kind of thing and many share their cuias e bombas passing to everybody around to drink of the same one..not for me thanks..I have my own...and when gets cold is when I crave it..like now...:rolleyes: :biggrin1:
Yeah, a couple of years ago I bought a Mate and some fair trade Yerba Mate that they were selling here in Vancouver. It was practically powder as opposed to leaves, and tasted even worse than the Argentinian variety. Of course, one serving had as much caffiene as about four cups of coffee.... BzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZ
 

Spoogesicle

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When I visited England, the hotel served a wonderful English Breakfast Tea. It was far better-tasting than any I had tasted in the States. I asked the concierge if I could get the address of the company that made it to see if they might be willing to ship to my home in the US. The concierge went to the kitchen and came back with the box. The company that produced it was located in New Jersey. Go figure!
 

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I was never a fan of black(red) teas something about them always seemed wrong to me. Anyway my favorite for sure is Bai Hao Yinzhen it is the finest quality of white tea availabe. Something just seems so much more refined about drinking the unopened buds of the tea plant as compared to aged mature lower quality teas.

If I must have another type of tea then jasmine pearls will suffice as well Matcha which is essentially green tea powder that can be dissolved and drank without straining.

Herbal teas that I enjoy would include wild peppermint, Hudson's Bay Tea, wild cammomile and this herbal that my mom's people pick in New Mexico. Oh yes and roobios as well.

P.S Am I the only one that thinks the Brits are overrated when it comes to tea? China and Japan are where it's at.
 

stetree

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P.S Am I the only one that thinks the Brits are overrated when it comes to tea? China and Japan are where it's at.[/quote]

That is probably because they have been drinking it for hundreds if not thousands of years before us, but we are probably one of the oldest tea drinking countries in the 'western world' lol
 

BuddyBoy

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And this Tassimo....sounds interesting...I'll have to check it out on the net.
Yup, they sell it in the UK too - it's a joint venture between Braun and Kraft, and each country has it's own selection of coffees, teas, hot chocolate, lattes and cappa... cappa... you know - lattes with foam. ;)

I like the Italian market Crema, the Gevalia espresso, and the Twining teas - both Earl Grey and English Breakfast. The swiss Suchard chocolate I find too sweet for my taste, but it makes an OK mocha with an espresso.
 

hypolimnas

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When I visited England, the hotel served a wonderful English Breakfast Tea.... The company that produced it was located in New Jersey. Go figure!

It is claimed by some that the English Breakfast Tea blend was (first?) developed in the US! They may well be right, I think a competing version of the history of EBT suggests Scottish origins. I haven't time to do any research though.

Oh, and yes I love oolong, and Darjeeling very very much! I have some great Chinese and Japanese tea in my tea drawer too.
 

eddyabs

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P.S Am I the only one that thinks the Brits are overrated when it comes to tea? China and Japan are where it's at.


Of course Tsimshan.....without a doubt we all know where Tea culture originated..this is not the point....this is a thread about the wonder of Tea (lol)...and how the west...(England in particular)..have adopted and adapted Tea and made it a huge part of our culture over the past 400+ years. (Englands Millenial 'symbol' was a cup of tea!....).
 

eddyabs

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P.S Am I the only one that thinks the Brits are overrated when it comes to tea? China and Japan are where it's at.

Forgot to add...I plan to visit Japan and China one day, it is a dream of mine and you can be sure I will be partaking very heavily in the local Tea culture....:wink: Kind of like visiting the 'Motherland'....for Tea of course :biggrin1:
 

DC_DEEP

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When my other half came back from China last fall, he brought back a selection of several different teas. And when my friend from Scotland came to visit last September, he brought 3 different teas, including one Earl Gray that is delicious (he brought a couple of different shortbreads, too, plus a tin of Hawick Balls!)

So, my tea cupboard is well-stocked with lots of Camellia sinensis, in addition to about 5 boxes of herbals, and 3 varieties of coffee.

Caffeine, anyone?
 

ClaireTalon

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You are right, it is the stereotype of Victorian times Englishmen, even more than women, that implies the compulsiveness and affectation of tea making. One of the reasons for me preferring black tea for flights is that it held enough caffeine to keep me awake, but didn't cause or aggravate my thirst. If it's hot in the cockpit and you are already thirsty, coffee won't make you feel better. However, now I'm back to more coffee, being able to leave my desk at all times to have a swig of water.