Pot-tea

So both on Facebook and Twitter I recently found friends sharing a video of the most basic of tasks, or so it's presumed to be, making the tea.

Now I am fascinated by both the video and the reaction to it. In 2014 I remember sitting in the HD Burgers Burger Bar on the island of Koh Samui, Southern Thailand. The German Ex-pat operating this particular shop started offering me a choice of really posh teas to accompany my Burger and Chips lunch, obviously most people settling for traditional "burger, chips and a Soda/Coke. In the ensuing conversation he stated that he had been taught at school that the British stop at 4 PM for afternoon tea, which they sipped from china cups hovering over matched saucers. I treated him to some PG Tips tea bags, my favourite tea, to help him on the road to enlightenment.

Now I do drink a lot of tea, also I prefer china cups. But for starters, I hate posh teas, once when served a cup of tea I suggested that my friend had possibly not washed the cups up properly only for my friend to point out that the tea was Earl Grey, accounting for the odd taste.

I prefer a mug, my two main home ones being made of China, but neither comes with a saucer. The next statement may get me lynched, but I also drink my tea fairly weak. This is a choice due to drinking a lot of tea but wanting to keep my caffeine levels under control. However the strength of the tea does not change how we make it.

A neighbour drinks her tea strong and black with no sugar. I have a different batch of Yorkshire strong tea for such people, totally the opposite taste to me, but she is from Scotland.

I could here list the array of tea drinking tastes from around the world, as different and diverse as humanity goes. I understand some in Asia drink a strong sweet tea without milk. However for many of us who are not lactose intolerant, a dash of cow juice is a must.

Not long ago we were visited by kids of friends at our home, who are now in their early 20's. When they asked for tea they made a point of asking to make sure I made the tea in the cup before adding the milk. I laughed, that confused them. What could be so wrong with such a simple request?

When I was a kid I was repeatedly told that the stuff they put in Tea bags was the floor sweepings, the best stuff was sold loose. I still remember the tea chests we used to store stuff in. Lined ply built boxes that had been used to ship tea to the UK made very good repurposed storage.

But what is the correct way to make tea? Most people have kettles that boil water. In a way, the microwave method in the video is possibly a better option to get the right temperature. Experts suggest the water should be just short of boiling point, around 90 to 95 degrees centigrade. So, as I typically still do, pouring water straight from a boiled kettle is not recommended. However, the video suggests to place a cup of cold water in a microwave and heat for 1 minute. Well in my microwave that only heats the water to 45 degrees centigrade. That's more like lukewarm than hot.

But what of the current trendy coffee shops? I struggle to deal with paying over the top for a tea bag in a cup of boiled water, two very small cartons of UHT milk and two half teaspoons of sugar do not improve the deal. At least some places allow you to grab a handful of sugar and milk, yet some tend to frown if you dare you ask for more! However the charges levied in some coffee shops for such a process has to be compared to profiteering. I can only assume it is in order to keep it comparable to their over priced coffee's?

When I was young I was taught to make the tea using a pot. There is a ceremony attached to the ritual. First boiling water is used to warm the pot. Tea, via a tea spoon, is added to the pot at usually about one spoonful per person, plus one for the pot (although more governed by pot size). The tea is then left to infuse in the pot, often kept warm by the use of a tea pot "cosy", an insulation jacket added to the pot.

After around the recommended 5 minutes have past then a tea strainer is used to filter the leaves out of the tea as it is poured into the cups. Hence it does not matter if the milk is in the cups first as the tea is made separately.

Something else of note in the video is the use of sugar. Some drink tea without, even my most sweet toothed friends will drink 3 teaspoons of sugar in a standard mug (normally muttering something about starting the diet next week under their breath). The tea then needs to be stirred otherwise all the sugar just settles at the bottom of the mug.

So are you still here? Why? Did the video outrage you? Or are you just interested in my ramblings about tea? I ask as I am fascinated by the response to someones poor tea making abilities. I have had it directed at me in the past for choosing to drink weak tea. "how could I possibly want to drink dishwater!"

While I am far more interested in advanced level stuff, like biscuits. Did you know that chocolate covered digestives should be eaten chocolate side down? I only learned this recently, 40 plus years of eating biscuits upside down! They also recommend that we should not store choccy bikkies in the fridge. Although I would suggest that the dynamics changes if the biscuits are for dunking. While tea should be allowed to cool before dunking, I have yet to measure the accurate temperature x time to achieve desired biscuit sogginess but without dissolving the biscuit, however I would suggest that keeping the biscuits in the fridge assists chocolate to maintain identity while being dunked.