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BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea?
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Subject: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Folkiedave Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:23 AM Following on from the bacon butty discussion the subject of cups of tea came up. I can use tea bags for convenience (Ringtons in my case) but I do like a pot made with loose tea in a morning. We also offer a pot made with tea bags and a spoonful of Earl Grey with our egg beans and chips on a Friday night. Camping at a festival - tea bags. Anywhere outside the UK - coffee. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,PMB Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:41 AM Loose PG. Accept no substitute. Earl Grey is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. It's cruel to put cuddly little bergamots in your tea. Tea butties, anyone? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Folkiedave Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:45 AM I was taught that cuddly or not - the bergamots would be killed painlessly once boiling water was poured over them. Bit like lobsters to whom I understand they may be distantly related. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:53 AM The right sort of bread, buttered - butter! - and dunked into hot white tea! Yummmmmmm! Who cares whether loos or bag... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: kendall Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:02 AM If you know how to do it, Lobsters can be dispatched quite humanely. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Folkiedave Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:05 AM And bergamots? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Rapparee Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:11 AM So...it's basically a discussion between the merits of free-range tea or stuff that's been raised in a factory, huh? Well, we members of PETT (People for the Ethical Treatment of Tea) feel that if you MUST consume tea you should at least insure that it is given every opportunity to live its life as Nature intended and humanely CUT ITS THROAT so that it bleeds to death before you use it to satisfy your perverted appetite. Or whack it in the head with shovel. PETT doesn't care as long as you slaughter it humanely. Of course, we advocate and lobby against the cruel treatment of tea, against the unnatural genetic engineering of "blended teas", and we often have PETTing parties involving young Hollywood starlets to raise money for our cause. FREE THE TEA!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: alanabit Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:15 AM Earl Grey is a delight, but I can't drink the stuff too early in the morning. Those dust bags, which we use in the UK, contain the bitter dust, which I would prefer to throw away. It definitely has to be a high quality Ceylon tea for me. Something like Ceylon Nr.4, which has a nice fruity flavour. The bigger the tea leaves the better. You can always brew up with a tea egg. In England you usually have to drink the stuff with milk and sugar, because it is so bitter! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:33 AM I never buy tea bags. Once I started drinking loose tea regularly I found I couldn't drink the tea-bag tea. Confining tea in bags is a lot like keeping a bird in a cage. Believe it or not, I even take a tea pot and a jar of loose tea when camping and festivaling. I actually blend my own because I love Darjeeling but it's a little too weak so I mix it with Assam. Since I like smoked food I thought I ought to try blending with a bit of Lapsang Souchong, but Tesco doesn't sell that loose. I heard something on the radio the other day about China tea and decided I ought to give green tea another try. The only time I tried it it was too bitter for me but there is a much greater variety around now that it is trendy. Of course....no loose green tea in Tesco. Anyone know anything about white tea? They had that in Tesco....in bags. Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: wysiwyg Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:42 AM Loose and fresh for company or hubby's treat. Varieties accordingly. But usually for me, teabags for convenience. Doesn't matter-- mine's half milk anyway, hot or cold. If I want a REAL treat it's not tea from loose tea, but coffee. ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: George Papavgeris Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:45 AM Earl Grey smells lovely, but tastes like horse manure. Assam, Darjeeling, Lapsang Souchong, to this Turkish-cofee-trained palate taste like so much boiled water. And loose tea has the same effect on me as bits of tobacco between my teeth form when I smoked roll-ups. I can see no attraction in it - it's quaint, but like so many other quaint things you find in England(say, separate hot and cold water taps or old creaking four-poster beds) it's impractical. No - IF I have to have tea (and I only feel like it about a dozen times a year), it has to be a nice strong Yorkshire Tea bag. Given a choice - a cafetiere of strong Columbian for me, please. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Rapparee Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:47 AM You can make tea from coffee? I didn't know that. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Desdemona Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:50 AM I really think of tea bag tea vs loose tea as two separate drinks...I'll use a tea bag for convenience if I'm in a hurry (PG Tips or Harrogate), but the fact of the matter is that nothing starts the day in so fine and luxurious a manner as a whole pot of fresh Ceylon tea, the stronger the better. I had white tea once; it wasn't my (oh, forgive me) er, cup of tea, as it were, but then I'm generally a "black tea with a bit of milk" type. That said, I often like a pot of Lapsang Souchong when I'm working, which I always take plain. I agree that outside the UK it's relatively difficult to find a decent cup of tea unless you make it yourself, which puts me in mind of the great Ginger Baker lament on the subject... Thirstily... ~D |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Greg B Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:51 AM White tea--- the veal of tea. Plucked before its time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: redsnapper Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:51 AM Earl Grey is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. My feeling too. I prefer loose tea but usually drink teabag tea... Scottish Blend for the soft water at home and Barry's (Green Label) for the rest of the world. Yorkshire Tea is OK too and I will take a pot of PG if desperate. RS Life is too short to drink inferior tea |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: SINSULL Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:15 AM Oolong loose is my favorite but I usually go with herbal peppermint in bags. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: wysiwyg Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:18 AM You can make tea from coffee? I didn't know that. Actually you can-- single-serve coffee "bags." Orful taste, but any caff in a pinch, eh? ~S~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:28 AM I prefer to kepp a range of teabags (up to 20 or more types cycling thru various makes and flavours!) so I can have a wide differing sweep of styles to choose from according to my mood and time of day, eg a Breakfast Tea usually has a higher Caffeine content so I prefer them earlier in the day, and something like a Darjeeling at night. I also like 'Chai' - love the spices! Now there are several readily obtainable styles of Chai around too. I quite like White Tea, it's ok in the evening. If I had loose tea, most of it would go off before being drunk, and I would have about 10 times the storage space used... All said though - if someone is making a pot, I'll usually be willing. Prefer most teas with milk, no sugar. Chai must have milk, no sugar. I also like the differing styles of Green Tea including both Chinese and Japanese - no milk or sugar. I do like only occassionally some of the loose teas with other junk added - there is a local mixed 'Christmas Tea' - smells just liek Grandma's Christmas Cake... BTW, apparently now there is a tea that has been blended to taste like Chamopagne - if you like flat Champagen of course... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: EBarnacle Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:17 AM The key is actually freshness, as with all good foods. I believe you have a better chance of getting good fresh ingredients if you buy your tea loose, rather than bagged. As a one cup at a time drinker, I am a great fan of tea infusers, which keep most of the leaves out of my teeth. For those of you who are in it strictly for the taste but not the caffeine, you can dip the infuser for about 10 seconds in hot water and then move it directly to your brewing vessel, be it cup or pot. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Rapparee Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:31 AM Here is an excellent example of what PETT is all about! tea |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:35 AM I tried brick tea once by accident - it smashed the cup and tasted lousy... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Captain Ginger Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:40 AM I keep seeing boxes of Yorkshire tea and I'm puzzled. I've travelled through much of God's own county, but I'm buggered if I've ever seen any tea gardens clinging to the sides of the moors! Maybe they grow the stuff underground in old mine workings... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Rapparee Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:41 AM I can buy Irish Breakfast Tea and English Breakfast Tea, but no lunch or dinner or supper teas. There IS a tea called "Teatime" though. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Megan L Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:42 AM Aye Scottish blend for speed and oolong for a relaxing cuppa. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,282RA Date: 29 Jun 07 - 12:33 PM Bags are easier but I prefer it loose. My favorite is lapsang souchong--a black tea that roasted ina bamboo basket over burning pine where it absorbs the smoke--giving the tea a very distinctive flavor that I am utterly obsessed with. I love Russian Caravan too. I use a pot at work but when I get low, I switch to an infuser or tea ball and make it by the cup. The water has to be boiling though. Tea isn't good that hasn't been steeped in boiling water. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,Shimrod Date: 29 Jun 07 - 12:52 PM An elderly lady of my acquaintance used to buy boxes of tea bags and then cut each tea bag open with scissors and pour the contents into a tea caddy ... I think she was missing the point somehow ... possibly? Earl Grey is the most disgusting stuff ever!! It's like the proper stuff which has been doused in cheap perfume - yuck!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: John J Date: 29 Jun 07 - 12:57 PM No contest, loose leaf tea every time. JJ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 29 Jun 07 - 01:21 PM I only began drinking much coffee in the last 6-7 years. For 40 years I drank tea, and seldom from a tea bag. I used to bet people that they could set up 10 cups of tea, with ONE made from a bag, and that I could detect the paper flavor. Note: I am in the USA, and used to live in Kansas, where it took some looking to find decent tea. I began with "Dutch Garden" brand...(golden tins and many varieties)...and eventually found Twinings and a couple others...like Fortnum & Masons...and one place that sold loose tea from bins. I tried them all, preferring the black teas over the green (Pan Fired, Basket Fired, Young Hyson...etc.)...I do not and WILL not put milk in any tea. Some black teas profit from a bit of sweetner, but some are best left 'pure' (Jasmine, Oolong)... Once I moved to the East coast, I was able to find a wide variety of both tins and stores which sold loose teas in bulk, though, sadly, with Starbucks on every corner, there are far fewer tea outlets now. I enjoy Assam, Darjeeling(several varieties), Keemun, Yunnan, "Russian Caravan"...(a blend, but ok), "Prince of Wales" and "Queen Mary's" from Twinings,"Ching Wó" ...and even some flavored teas in moderation..(usually mixed...not full strength), like "Earl Grey"..which is popular in Turkey as Tomurcuk (I have a tine without the 'Earl Grey' I.D. on it..). I like Jasmine and/or Lichee flavors in moderation (often in an Oolong base)...and even tried Rose Petal...interesting, but not for everyday!...and yes, I will drink Lapsang Souchong at times..though not at the strength I once had a fellow from Magagascar demand when I was working at a Coffee House in Kansas..."make it double strength next time!" About the only time I regularly use tea BAGS is in Summer, to make iced tea, as it is much more convenient, and cold tea doesn't affect the taste buds as strongly..(maybe it numbs them slightly)..but even then I will use the best bags I can find, and often mix in some good loose tea in a tea ball to give the blend some character. In my area are many Asian stores which sell a lot of tea with little or no English labels...some are excellent, and some are...well...once I bought an 'interesting' tin, and discovered it was a medicinal thing that old Chinese grannys would make their kids take...yuck.. Tea is amazing...there is a much wider flavor variety than coffee...though I have gotten fond of good coffee lately....and coffee 'grabs' you....it really is addictive. *sigh*...I can only absorb so much caffeine...and I don't like pure de-caf anything.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Folkiedave Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:06 PM Refresh................lol |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JohnInKansas Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:09 PM The choice between loose and bagged has become pretty much academic in my area, as I've been unable to find any local source that still stocks loose tea, and my rate of use does not support purchasing in quantities appropriate for minimum economical order sizes from the few reasonably convenient web/mail order sources. My observation some years ago when I actually did drink a fair amount of tea was that "I can taste the paper" when bags are used. While this may convey the "effect," I believe it's really the result of poor packaging by the remaining suppliers. The loose tea I once could get easily came in a "sturdy" container that was virtually air-tight when opened and reclosed. The bags may come in a "cello" bag, but often are in a simple cardboard box. The bags are intended to look like they protect the contents, but are seldom "hermetic," so they might as well package the bags in an old sock. My conclusion is that anything available in my area will be SWP - Stale When Purchased, and if it's lain around loose on the floor long enough one might as well boil a piece of paper. It tastes about the same. Small remnants of some loose tea in tins that I purchased "a while back" still make a reasonably decent cup. (I don't have enough of any of it left to make a pot.) I believe these were purchased ca. 1980 and are still "good" although not really fresh. I've tried removing the contents of a few recently purchased bags to see if the brewing made a difference and find nothing to brew that resembles tea. Looks like floor dust. Not identifiable as a vegetable product. Tastes the same as if the bag is soaked (with or without the contents). A sad situation, that hopefully is somewhat a local thing; but as long as the retail market is patronized by those who think a pretty package and an extortionate price means it has to be good and they must have it - there's little hope of change here. A "certain other person in the house" drinks a lot of iced tea, from "instant powder." It is becoming increasingly difficult to find even that, since all available sources stock only the "with lemon flavor" which she detests. (The "lemon flavor" conceals the absence of "tea flavor" and permits a cheaper grade of floor sweepings - and a better profit - in the product, apparently. By pricing the "lemon flavored" $0.10 more - on a $3 jar - the yuppies think it must be better so that's the only thing they buy.) I guess I'll have another cup of coffee. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Rapparee Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:10 PM Know what's really good? Nestea's powdered raspberry ice tea, that's what! It's even got the sugar in it. All you have to do is dissolve it in water and voila! instant non-alcoholic Budweiser, straight from the diabetic Clydesdale. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 29 Jun 07 - 02:46 PM John...a friend who moved to the mountains of W.Va. has resorted to buying loose tea online...from places like this (this may not be her favorite..) I am considering trying a couple of them....you 'can' pay a LOT for some special estate teas, but you can get the regular good stuff also...and tea is not 'heavy' to ship. I can still find loose tea here, though I have to drive further now. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 29 Jun 07 - 03:54 PM Lapsang Souchung served almost black is the only tea we use, and rarely. Usually a good, bold Sumatran or Ethiopian coffee. As someone said above, the usual tea tastes like dishwater; some value for acidifying potted plants. Like cricket, only for Englishmen. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 29 Jun 07 - 03:56 PM ah, Q! You must try some better quality dishwater! ;>) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:01 PM Tesco does sell a very small selection of loose teas, but, of course, you can order it on line from various places such as Whittards and get it through the post. George, your palate has obviously been wrecked by Turkish coffee! There is a world of difference between the taste of loose tea and that of bags. It's not just quaintness. I don't know why everyone is on about ease and convenience in regard to tea bags, I don't find them any easier than loose tea. I have a Whittard's small tea-pot with filter so that I don't need a strainer and to put a spoonful of tea into that is no more difficult or inconvenient than putting a tea bag in a cup and the result is soooooo much nicer. Strangely, I only have the tiniest drop of milk in my tea...less than will cover the bottom of my pint mug, probably less than a teaspoonful. You'd think I could do without, but that tiny little bit of milk makes all the difference to the taste. Don't know why. Don't drink coffee...or only very rarely. Too much gives me a headache. If I do drink it it has to be made with all milk instead of water. (This is instant coffee of course) Instant tea is worse than teabags. It produces 'a liquid almost, but not quite entirely unlike tea'. Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:06 PM My father, bless his departed soul, was addicted to instant iced tea in his later years...I lived too far away to de-program him. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: robomatic Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:10 PM JohinInKansas Costco sells Japanese green tea in bags, nylon bags, so you won't taste the paper (just imbibe the long chain molecules a'seapin' while you're sippin'). I once took Earl Grey tea bags on a camping trip. While sipping it post prandially a Tennessee'n one tent over yelled "I can SMELL someone makin' that gol'durn arful Earl Grey Tea!" A few years later I was at a cultural exchange between Americans and Russians from the Siberian area nearby. The Americans thought they were being as nice as possible to the Russians, but the only tea to drink was Earl Grey which apparently was entirely unknown and for most of the Russians a very unwelcome bit of knowledge to come by. I've taken a liking to lapsang souchong because it's taste is so smoky and strong one tends to make it last. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:36 PM You can find about any sort of tea you want from the Market Spice Tea shop in Seattle's Pike Street Market. I don't find a web site for them but they have an extensive order form for mail order, last time I checked. Micca sent Moonglow a box of Yorkshire Gold a few years back (Secret Santa) and we got hooked. I can find it loose in a good grocery store here. I don't always drink it--when I can get good Yunnan tea that one really gives me a shot in the morning. I drink a lot of herbal teas during the day (too much caffeine load otherwise). Right now I have some Jasmine brewing for iced tea (green tea and jasmine). SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: George Papavgeris Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:48 PM Ok, 282RA, that was for the loose tea. How about the bagged stuff? I'm only trying to keep the thread to its subject, you understand, and some semblance of civilised discussion. Or does that bother you? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,282RA Date: 29 Jun 07 - 04:52 PM 282RA - two of your messages in this thread have been deleted because of their combative tone. I deleted other messages from you a day or two ago. Please be civil. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: George Papavgeris Date: 29 Jun 07 - 05:00 PM Look, my own ancestors have raped and pillaged some in their time too. I am not about to wear hair shirts about it, though I recognise the wrongs committed. "We're here 'cos we're here" as the nonsense rhyme goes. It's what we do that counts. I believe the participants of this thread to be normal people, with normal virtues and failings, but not guilty of their ancestors' sins. And they happen to like folk music and tea or coffee. And they want to talk about that, rather than about whatever came out of some old queen's nether regions, as you so graphically put it. Why does this bother you? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 29 Jun 07 - 05:07 PM Oh dear..an idiot. Time to leave this thread. It WAS an enjoyable conversation until this prat arrived. See you in another thread guys. Bye. Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Folkiedave Date: 29 Jun 07 - 06:44 PM I agree Lynne - here is a prat. Nice friendly discussion about tea - brought to confrontation by some Murkan with a chip (sorry french fry - sorry freedom fry). If you really want abuse we can do abuse. Personally I prefer to discuss tea. Or ice cream - look for the new thread. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Dave Roberts Date: 29 Jun 07 - 07:04 PM Whatever happened to that old Mudcat standby 'beware of the trolls' which has stood us in good stead for so long? 282RA is self evidently an idiot of the first water, but such people will always delight in hiding behind the anonymity that Mudcat makes provision for and their demented drivelling can safely be discounted. My partner Lynne has always insisted that we buy Yorkshire tea. This is understandable as she hails from Huddersfield (and we've heard all those jokes about the 'Yorkshire Tea Plantations' et el. - there is, I notice, now a 'Lancashire Tea' on sale which should, surely, draw forth similar comments) And to get us truly back on topic once again - regrettably, though I consider myself well versed in tea and tea lore, I cannot discern any difference between the loose leaf or teabag variety when brewed. There, I've said it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 29 Jun 07 - 07:36 PM 282ra...that was uncalled for CRAP! The thread was not political, and it is not necessary to MAKE it so... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 29 Jun 07 - 08:55 PM 282ra sounds like a name for an acephalic robotic failure, which he obviously is. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Joe_F Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:20 PM I have never done a blind test of whether I could distinguish tea-bag from loose tea by the taste, but I am sure I would fail. I use loose tea because I think wet tea bags are icky. It is Hu-Kwa tea, which I buy in 1-lb cans from Cardullo's in Cambridge, MA. When I am making a mug for myself, I use a tea ball, which I can empty, invisibly, into the wastebasket under my desk. On the rare occasions when a guest wants tea, I get the teapot down off the top shelf in the kitchen. Never tried opium. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: EBarnacle Date: 29 Jun 07 - 09:33 PM Anyone who does not know that tea should be brewed no longer than 3 to 4 minutes deserves to drink tannic acid and wonder what the fuss is all about. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:08 PM I remember sampling tea in Cape Breton. No good unless the spoon floats in it. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Leadfingers Date: 29 Jun 07 - 10:36 PM Wasn't it Enda Kenny wrote the Earl Grey Tea song ?? 'Is it perfume , is it Pee?' |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,Scoville Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:09 PM Aren't tea bags generally just loose tea . . . in a bag? I sort of prefer teabags since I consider tea a drink and not a hot, damp, salad, but I don't really care as long as it's decent tea and not something stale or flavorless. Green, white, jasmine, or Earl Grey. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 29 Jun 07 - 11:35 PM "Aren't tea bags generally just loose tea . . . in a bag?" Ah - originally, yes, but nowadays they can be a useful way to profitably dispose of all those 'floor sweepings' - the tiny broken bits of teas leaves that would not be acceptable in 'packet tea'. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 30 Jun 07 - 12:14 AM "...that tea should be brewed no longer than 3 to 4 minutes" *smile* I aim for 3½ minutes. (some go so far as to pour a light covering, let it set for 15-20 seconds, then pour it off to remove that 1st extract of supposedly heavier tannin....I have not found it necessary to go THAT far.) Tea is rated partially by size of the bits...the "orange pekoe and pekoe" label you see on things like Liptons refer to the smallest and 2nd smallest pieces...usually broken leaves and, as a matter of fact, sweepings in some cases. Loose tea is 'usually' larger leaves, which often 'roll' naturally when dried, and unroll during steeping, whereas bag tea needs to be tiny to provide the most surface area...giving the most 'flavor' for the cost, and to get thru the paper.((though I bought some 'India Tea' which was pretty fine...and of just average quality..label says, "specially blended for export only"...a warning, if I'd read it properly. (Earl Grey can be quite nice if it is used sparingly, as a ¼ mix with a good black tea...it IS kind of overpowering full strength until you get used to it...) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JohnInKansas Date: 30 Jun 07 - 12:46 AM To all those who kindly suggested that one can buy tea on the internet, please reread my post. I am aware that it can be found, and have a couple of possible sources bookmarked, but do note also that I mentioned that the best tea I have in the house is left over from a purchase ca 1980. Those were not large tins (3-7/8 oz each) If I ordered 4 oz of each of three or four decent teas, my descendents would be fighting over what's left of them four generations from now. (If they didn't try to smoke them.) I do look fairly often to see what's available at places that claim to sell "tea." If I should happen to find something that looks pleasant, I might buy some, but thus far there just hasn't been anything in the local market that's even remotely interesting, much less a wicked temptation. (Truly evil temptations are welcome, but don't seem to come along very often any more.) If I'd order on the web, I'd probably forget what it was - or why I thought I wanted it - by the time it arrived. I've had my cup 'a coffee (or 7 or 8 today) so I think I'll go discuss the matter with my ol' friend Jack (of the Daniels clan). But thanks for being thoughtful. John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 30 Jun 07 - 05:18 AM The difference, for me at least, is only partly to do with the tea they put in the bags. I expect everyone knows now about the fact that some people have many more taste buds than others so can detect flavour differences or minimal flavours better than others. I think my daughter and I probably have as many as you can get while my husband and son have a lot less. When I drink tea bag tea, I can taste the tea bag. Btw, I didn't leave the thread you notice. I checked to see if the idiot was still posting and came back when I found he wasn't. Can't believe anyone can be sad enough to turn a friendly discussion on tea into a platform for abuse and racism, which is what it amounted to Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Walrus Date: 30 Jun 07 - 06:08 AM "...My favorite is lapsang souchong--a black tea that roasted ina bamboo basket over burning pine where it absorbs the smoke--giving the tea a very distinctive flavor that I am utterly obsessed with..." "...I've taken a liking to lapsang souchong because it's taste is so smoky and strong one tends to make it last..." How can people drink that muck - it tastes like someone as been boiling kippers in the water before making the tea. That said, it's as much the circumstances in which the tea is taken as the tea itself which adds to the experience. I must admit the at one of the finest mugs of tea I've ever drunk was made from bog standard black tea (PG Tips, Typhoo or the like) stewed and mixed with evaporated milk until it was as orange as a builder's boot, served in a pint enameled mug and laced with a very large measure of rum, but it was served at five a.m. on an extremely cold November morning when I'd been freezing bits of my anatomy off for a couple of hours (I think anything warm and wet* would have been welcome at the time). W * Within reason |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: George Papavgeris Date: 30 Jun 07 - 06:21 AM Each to his own gout, as they neighbours say (that was about the taste of the Lapsang, Walrus). I am surprised that the divisive element in tea drinking has not been introduced yet. You know, the one that separates the UK from the rest of the world: milk in tea. When I first arrived at these shores, I scoffed as much as any Euro-sceptic at the British insistence of clouding their tea with cowjuice. SLowly, over time, I have come to appreciate it however. And the few times in the year when I would drink tea in preference to coffee, are invariable hot days when a cup of milky tea is much more thirst-quenching than a pint of anything cold. There - I confessed my sin. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,Cheshire Cat Date: 30 Jun 07 - 06:31 AM For a wonderful selection of loose teas and a nice café too, this is one of my favourite places. http://www.northern-tea.com/ not bad for coffee lovers either :) I like a broad range of teas but fell in love with Chinese green tea on a visit there. Oh, and Twinings tea bags for festival camping ! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JohnInKansas Date: 30 Jun 07 - 07:03 AM Walrus - Re the smoke flavoring. Some time back when they took a break from smoking hams and bacon, they'd occasionally rinse down the inside of the smoke house, and someone came up with the idea of catching the runoff and putting it in bottles. The sold the rinse water to a few lunatics who wanted to be able to impart a "smoke flavor" to their chili, barbecue, etc. I have a bottle that was a gift some years back. It's most of a 16 oz jar, and the price is still legibly printed on the label - 39 cents. While I figured that the lunatics must all have died off, I was surprised to see a bottle of the same stuff on a grocery shelf quite recently. The only thing is, they've now convinced the I'd bet the new stuff don't smell a bit different than the .... I've had on the shelf for a couple of decades. I never did find anything I wanted to put it in/on/close to. Maybe if I re-bottled in in 2 oz bottles I could call it "vintage" or "aged" or somethin' like that and sell it for $20 an ounce, do you suppose? I could maybe tell them it's "pre-pollution smoke" and maybe get $100/oz? John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Megan L Date: 30 Jun 07 - 07:06 AM John don't forget if you call it genuine organic you can tripple the price. hey it looks like you are on a winner:) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,Seiri Omaar Date: 30 Jun 07 - 07:37 AM I'm not a heavy tea drinker but I tend to enjoy Green Tea or Chai when I do. There's a lovely Honey Lemon Ginseng Green flavour (bagged... doesn't really matter to me) that I like. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 30 Jun 07 - 08:48 AM As someone who is a tad fussy about my tea, I was amazed when I went to a couple of churchy events years ago with a friend who was a vicar's wife and we were given 'Mother's Union' tea. It was all made up in large kettles with the milk mixed in already and taken round and poured as-is into your cup. It was really lovely stuff...don't honestly know why. It was almost certainly made from bagged tea too. Someone once gave me a cup of tea at a sort of tea party thing, with heaps of sterilized milk in it. I had to pour it down the sink when her back was turned Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 30 Jun 07 - 09:37 AM Ah - George - but are you one of the M.I.F.-ers? :-P |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: George Papavgeris Date: 30 Jun 07 - 10:51 AM No, I confess I'm not, Robin; the reason being that I want to control the colour/strength to my favourite brick-brown. And I don't cock my little finger either, I find it catches on things :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Jun 07 - 10:52 AM I did meet a twit at Market Spice one time who insisted (in the interest of her bottom line, I think) that tea over six months old should be tossed and replaced. I've since spoken to a Chinese tea drinker who tells me that the older the tea the more valuable. He is a wealthy man who described some recent purchases. I regretfully tossed a couple of packets before I met him, but I couldn't make myself get rid of all of it. Good thing. "Aren't tea bags generally just loose tea . . . in a bag?" Ah - originally, yes, but nowadays they can be a useful way to profitably dispose of all those 'floor sweepings' - the tiny broken bits of teas leaves that would not be acceptable in 'packet tea'. Yorkshire and Yorkshire gold is very finely processed tea. How does this fit the formula? I like loose tea that becomes large leaves in my pot. But I don't take the tea out after it steeps, I pour it out of the pot and drink it. My Chinese friend also said to always use ceramic (never metal) pots and to never wash the pot. And he insists that the loose tea can be reused, that I can pour in more hot water and use it again. I wonder if he is using a small pot in which the contents are completely poured out after one cup? I'll have to ask him. The way mine brews I drink two or three cups over the space of an hour or more. And milk will never cloud my tea. Ugg! SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 30 Jun 07 - 11:17 AM Locally, we can now get the 'Tea Flower' - a lump that when put in hot water, expands like a flower and produces a cup of tea - or whatever the size of the pot. It can also be used several times to produce several batches of brew, |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Folkiedave Date: 30 Jun 07 - 11:22 AM I worked in charge of gangs of modern navvys for a while, about twelve to a gang. Tea making was interesting. A large pan of water was brought to the boil and a packet of tea was poured in. Milk and sugar was poured straight into the resultant mix and the men dipped their (enamel) mugs into it. Did it taste foul? No idea I never touched the stuff!! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 30 Jun 07 - 11:25 AM Leadfingers, here is Enda Kenny's song. I must say I have to agree with him. Bergamot is a lovely essential oil - great for aromatherapy, but not in a drink! EARL GREY Is it perfume? Is it tea? Whatever it is, it does nothing for me Should I drink it? Or dab it on? Can I swap it for a coffee or has all the water gone. It is hot, it is wet, It is eau de toilette Is it from the House of Lipton or Chanel? I only want a cup of tea, not this stuff you've given me, If you think I'm going to drink it go to..... Help me Someone call a doctor or a nurse, Call an ambulance I'm poisoned, And I think it's getting worse. I only wanted a cup of tea But I fear that my last mouthful will be the death of me It is hot, it is wet, It is eau de toilette To my mind it is more toilette than eau. If you want to spoil your day Add the oil of Earl Grey, I'm reliably informed it's bergamot. What a mouthful! Is it perfume? Is it wee? Whatever it's supposed to be it doesn't taste like tea. Should I drink it, or dab it on? Can I swap it for a coffee or has all the water gone. It is hot, it is wet, It is eau de toilette Is it Twinings? is it Tetley? let me see. Go ahead and make my day But please don't make me drink Earl Grey. All I want is a proper cup of tea. Enda Kenny (1995) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 30 Jun 07 - 11:56 AM we ARE a different lot, aren't we? John...I did go back and dissect your compound/complex sentence in your first paragraph, and observe that, indeed, you did include reference to your awareness of the availability of tea from merchants who sell through internet/WWW outlets, and that your rate of consumption would likely preclude you from availing yourself of that option; leading me to ask forgiveness for my hurried and inept reading of your explanation. ;>) SRS & MBSLynne...drop by anytime: WE shall have proper tea and compare notes. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 30 Jun 07 - 12:06 PM Thank you Bill...the invitation stands the other way around too. How about Australian billy tea as drunk by the swaggy? I believe they used to put gum leaves in with it. Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 30 Jun 07 - 12:16 PM I suspect that I'd have to BE out in the bush and very thirsty to appreciate that recipe.... and the tea I referred to back up there ^ that was so nasty was Puer tea. It 'may' be good for you, and it seems to go up in value like old wine...but...again, yuck! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 30 Jun 07 - 12:45 PM Not at all, Bill. Billy tea is lovely! One of my fondest memories of a festival I went to a few years ago was some genuine billy tea brewed up for me by Campbell the Swaggie. It was so good, I went without the usual sugar and milk just to get the true taste of the tea. There was very good billy tea and damper being made in the Drover's Camp at the National Folk Festival this year too. Lovely smoky taste (the lamb stew was great too)! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Rapparee Date: 30 Jun 07 - 02:47 PM This morning...oh God!...this morning, I put away my wife's tea things and right there on the shelf was...a box...with Yorkshire Gold printed on it! I thought, like Panama Gold, it wasn't allowed in the US, but there it was. I knew about her Barry's Gold and that habit, but I never suspected.... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 30 Jun 07 - 04:42 PM Oh damper cooked on a campfire!! With a billy of tea and the smell that hot sun brings out from the eucalyptus trees! The squawking of galahs and the continual warbling of the cicadas......home! (Sorry, ex-pats get like that occasionally) Ok tea drinkers...what do you think of this rooibosh or red bush tea that is the fashion at the moment? Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Megan L Date: 30 Jun 07 - 04:47 PM My uncles were miners the tea used to be brewed first thing and left on a trivet by the fire all day being topped with water as needed. the stuff was like pitch. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: John MacKenzie Date: 30 Jun 07 - 05:21 PM It's a bit sweet, and bland Lynne, it helps if you don't think of it as tea, merely a different beverage. G. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Dave Roberts Date: 30 Jun 07 - 06:33 PM The Walrus' posting reminded me (sort of) of the tea drunk by loco crews on Britain's steam railways. They would put a spoonful of loose tea, a spoonful of sugar and some condensed milk (which is, as you will all know, very thick and glutinous) into a twist of greaseproof paper and take the whole concoction to work with them. The paper and its contents would be put into their enamelled tea cans (which were also, by coincidence, known as 'billy cans') and water, drawn from the locomotive's boiler added. Like all right thinking people I have, since childhood, been an avid steam railway fan and I have always yearned to try this delicious-sounding manifestation of the tea drinking habit. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 30 Jun 07 - 09:20 PM Rooibos is NOT Tea! It can be interesting, but I just found it too sickly in the long term. "Condensed Milk" usually has sugar added as manufactured. It's been available in tubes as well as cans - now you can also get it with coffee added - makes it very convenient when travelling, but its' 'not a cheap way' for a cup of coffee, and you have no idea what grade of coffee it it. In the days when I added sugar to tea, I used the plain version, but now that I prefer tea without sugar, I find that it is too sweet. One very old trick with Condensed Milk was to put it in a pan of water and boil it - Caramel!!!! It used to be done with the tins, then you just shoveled it into an empty shortcrust pastry pie blank or littlw tart blanks! I also used to do it with the tubes, but now they are plastic, not aluminum. Btw, you can now buy cans of the premade Caramel! You can thus make 'Caramel Coffee' - but it makes for a pretty foul tasting tea! Although some of those bags of 'tea flavours' that have all sorts of soy and wheat extract flavours were around for a while - they were 'interesting' for the first cup or two, but tasted pretty foul and artifical after a while. "Evaporated Milk" is interesting but the taste is too strong for most teas - it can be OK in a strong coffee - usually it did not have sugar added when made. It too can be 'caramelised', but it has less sugar, so it results in a different style. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Joe_F Date: 30 Jun 07 - 09:23 PM Reagan enjoyed meeting the "most likable" Prince Charles in 1981, but tea proved a disaster because the royal visitor refused to drink it: "Horror of horrors they served it our way with a tea bag in the cup.... I didn't know what to do." -- Review of his diaries in the Washington Post Weekly |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 30 Jun 07 - 11:39 PM Thinking of the different milks - back in the Dark Ages when I was married, we went on a camping holiday for a couple of weeks, and took a tube of condensed milk with us for our tea. We liked our tea pretty sweet, so it was okay. I only have a little sugar now, so I'd probably find it too sweet. It certainly is convenient though. What they did on the steam railways sounds good to me. Evaporated milk is the wrong taste, and I can't understand people who put soy milk in tea - I like soy milk in certain contexts - actually prefer it on porridge, but in tea? Yuk! Longlife milk has a taste that spoils it for me, and skim milk in tea is pretty horrible too. Really it's gotta be plain cow - only a dash though. I like my tea fairly strong, and it has to be hot. I like Dilmah, an Aussie brand called Billy Tea, Twinings Russian Caravan tea and Prince of Wales tea. I've tried white tea and quite liked it too - not much colour though - to be expected with something called white tea I suppose. I know someone who drinks Rooibos tea. Never tried it, and I don't feel like trying it really. With herbal teas and those kind of drinks, I think you have to not think of them as tea at all as Giok said. For a completely different experience, I'm rather fond of chai - not thinking of it as a cup of tea, but just a lovely drink. If I'm out at a Chinese restaurant, a pot of jasmine tea is nice too. I've noticed it can get bitter towards the end if you leave it too long though. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Jul 07 - 12:58 AM When I first moved to Texas I learned in a hurry that in restaurants if you don't clearly state how you want your tea, what you'll usually get is iced tea. Even at breakfast with your French toast and sausage. When I lived in New York City I had to negotiate with the guy at the coffee stand under the Staten Island Ferry terminal. "What do I have to say to you to get my tea the way I want it?" His answer was what I parroted every morning after that "Plain tea no sugar." Otherwise he scooped in the sugar, hit it with the milk, dropped in the bag and filled it with hot water. What a rude surprise that could be when I got down to the dock to wait for the boat to Ellis Island and opened the lid to find that sweet milky mess. Once you were out on the water and the island there was no way to get any prepared food. You took your lunch (they had a fridge, that was all. Microwaves weren't in common use in the late 70s). My morning tea was a nice luxury on the way to work. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,JTT Date: 01 Jul 07 - 03:44 AM I had a friend - now gone on to a communist heaven - who would practically foam at the mouth at the idea of tea bags. He went into his local shop once and bought his favourite blend, brought it home and made a cuppa, and it didn't taste right. So he wrote to the blender and asked if they'd changed the mix. He got back a letter, practically weeping with gratitude - "Someone noticed! Someone cares!" - accompanied by a bunch of sample teas, and several packets of the old, more expensive and tasty blend. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Walrus Date: 01 Jul 07 - 07:00 AM "...I had a friend - now gone on to a communist heaven - who would practically foam at the mouth at the idea of tea bags..." A communist who liked decent tea....I can't help wondering just how often he had to put up with the "All proper tea is theft" joke. The sujestion has been made that evaporated milk in tea is foul, but I must point out that, in the example I cited the taste of the milk was masked by the dark rum. W |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 01 Jul 07 - 09:34 AM Well there's your explanation then. If I'd had a good serving of dark rum in mine, I'd have been happy with just about anything (within reason ;-)) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 01 Jul 07 - 11:14 AM We used to keep a tube of condensed milk in the fridge when I was a kid in Oz. You just used to go and have a suck. Lovely stuff! But not in tea! Haven't seen the tubes for years but I did notice the cans of caramel on the same shelf a few months ago. I wondered if it would make good 'gypsy tart' which was my favourite pudding for school dinners in England. Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Flash Company Date: 01 Jul 07 - 11:35 AM Loose tea when S & I are in residence alone, tea bags when we have guests. The pot gets emptied on the hydrangeas every morning, yje seem to thrive on loose tea. I realised one morning recently that the paper deliverer had left the gate open, and, teapot in hand, went to close it, and found myself almost face to face with a lady dog-walker. I could not resist 'Oh my name is John Wellington Wells. I'm a dealer in potions and spells.....' Now someone is puttin' it around that I'm barmy! FC |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 02 Jul 07 - 12:36 AM MBSLynne Old Aussie 'Lazy Bastard' Tart Recipie. Take one bought pastry flan, one can of Caramel Condensed milk. Open and spoon contents of 2nd item into first, chill. Consume, then expire of sugar overload... Gilding the Lily! You can mix in such stuff as vanilla essence - don't waste real vanilla on this cheap decadent crap! - or nutmeg or cinammon can be sprinkled on top... sprinkles, or cream, or mix some Bumdaberg Rum in the caramel stuff before placing in tart... |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 02 Jul 07 - 02:09 AM Bundy Rum! Now you're talking Robin! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 02 Jul 07 - 02:59 AM Great for my diabetes Robin! Sounds lovely though...perhaps served with Cats' clooted cream ice cream from the other thread? Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 02 Jul 07 - 04:15 AM Bumdaberg Rum? Clooted cream? Has everybody been on the rum? Shame on you - go back to drinking tea! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 02 Jul 07 - 06:17 AM But it tastes so good with a strong cup of Billy Tea, no sugar, of course... :-) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: MBSLynne Date: 02 Jul 07 - 06:37 AM You mean you haven't heard of clooted cream???? Where have you been living? Love Lynne |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JennyO Date: 02 Jul 07 - 06:55 AM Same place you used to, Lynne - the land of Oz. Sydney to be exact - and there isn't much we don't hear about in Sydney. Jenny - off to get a bootle of Coppers Dark Ale |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,Ed Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:18 PM Tea bags, But gauze, never paper. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 03 Jul 07 - 06:55 PM Proper tea is theft. Valmai Lewes Arms Folk Club, Mount Place, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1YH www.members.aol.com/lewesarmsfolk Residents: Bryan Creer, Dave Earl, Sandra Goddard, Valmai Goodyear, Suzanne Higgins, Steve & Diane Nevill, George Oakley, Robert O'Mahony, Derek Seed LEWES ARMS FOLK CLUB WORKSHOPS 2007 Workshops last a full Saturday and the tutor performs at the club in the evening. Booking forms are available from the club and can be printed from the website about three months before the event. 17th Feb - Cockersdale - Vocal harmony 10th March - Judy Cook - Ballad forum 17th March - Ed Rennie - English dance music for any melody instrument 24th March - Tom McConville - Fiddle 24th March - Aaron Jones - Bouzouki/Guitar 24th March - Claire Mann - Flute & whistle 2nd June - Jon Boden - Vocal harmony (sold out) 2nd June - John Spiers - Melodeon (now booking) 9th June - Tommy Peoples - Fiddle (sold out) 30th June - Matt Seattle - Arrangement & harmony for any instrument Sun 1st July - Matt Seattle - Pipe tunes for pipes & other instruments 21st July - Bonnie Shaljean - O'Carolan's music for any instrument (postponed until 2008 for health reasons) 10th Nov - Craig Morgan Robson - Vocal harmony Sun 11th Nov - Craig Morgan Robson - Ballad forum 24th Nov - Robert Harbron - English concertina 24th Nov - Emma Reid - Fiddle |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Valmai Goodyear Date: 04 Jul 07 - 04:20 AM Sorry, hadn't seen The Walrus's post earlier. Valmai |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Joe Offer Date: 08 Aug 12 - 08:03 PM OK, so here's a question I've wondered about for a long time: How do the Irish make tea? In May, I went on a Sisters of Mercy tour of Ireland (I'm a Mercy Associate). We were served tea (and sandwiches and cookies and a veritable feast) at every convent we visited, because a cup of tea is the symbol of the hospitality of the Sisters of Mercy. On her deathbed, Mercy Sisters foundress Catherine McAuley asked that the visiting sisters be given a comfortable cup of tea after she died. So, we had all this tea, and it was terrific - and although I'm sure they used loose tea, I never found a leaf bit in my cup of tea. So, how do they make it, and how do they keep the leaves out of the cup? And what kinds of tea are most popular in Ireland. And then there's the milk. I didn't dare taking mild with my tea in Ireland, although I gather that is what one is expected to do. I worked at an anniversary celebration for my Cork-born pastor a couple weeks ago, and he sent me out for mild for tea for the Irish priests who were in attendance. I bought full-fat homogenized, not half-and-half or two-percent or any of that exotic stuff. Did I buy the right milk. How much milk do Irish priests put in their tea? Do they stir it in, drizzle it in, or what? An ancillary question: do the Irish drink Irish coffee, or is that an Irish-American confection? -Joe- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 08 Aug 12 - 11:14 PM "..how do they keep the leaves out of the cup?" I have no idea how most Irish do it, but there are many devices to use loose tea... even very fine tea. I have several 'tea balls',,,including a couple of 2-part plastic things with a fine mesh on the inside. Tea steeps until YOU are satisfied, and no leaves. I have no idea why people put milk in tea,,, except possibly because they got stated using cheap tea, and that was the only way to make it palatable. Now it has become a cultural thing, even when top-notch loose tea is available. (I knew a couple in college many years ago who were VERY frugal getting thru college. They made VERY cheap tea VERY strong, re-used the tea bags, and put lots of milk in it. I suppose that made it healthier, also) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: JohnInKansas Date: 09 Aug 12 - 12:56 AM Bill D - and Joe Made properly in a sutiable tea pot, you should never find leaves in the cup. I've used the procedure recommended by a "vaguely oriental" friend decades ago. You start by pouring boiling water into a china/ceramic pot (at least half fill the pot). Let it sit until the outside is thoroughly warm. Pour out the first water, and immediately add the loose tea leaves and fill with fresh boiling water. The leaves will sink to the bottom of the pot by the time a proper infusion results, so that if you pour gently into the cup the only one who might find a leaf in the cup obviously drank the last cup and must make the next pot. If making in the cup (even if using an infuser?) it also seems to me that a better flavor is obtained if the cup is pre-heated before adding the fresh water and the tea. Properly infused loose tea should lie quietly at the bottom of the cup and won't get in your teeth if you "have another cup" instead of gulping the "bottoms." On the subject of "the other beverage," recent tests have reported that "filtered coffee" is better for you than the fancy stuff, because the filter paper preferentially absorbs most of the small amount of some known carcinogens from the brew, while the "steam" brewed stuff contains all of them. (Almost everything you ingest contains some "known carcinogens" but there are few reports of the extent of any ill effects from any of them - including those from coffee.) John |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Richard Bridge Date: 09 Aug 12 - 04:41 AM 100 |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 09 Aug 12 - 11:36 AM John...your method is, of course, the classic way to brew tea. Warming a good ceramic pot (I have 5-6) and then tea & 'just' boiling water....not water that has boiled for several minutes, as this removes oxygen and tends to make the tea 'flat'. The only thing I do is add the fine mesh infuser, as I often make a large pot and drink several cups. Leaving the leaves in, even at the bottom, can make later cups too strong or bitter.... and I forget and pour that last cup and get leaves in my cup. I do have one pot with a ceramic 'filter' that sits just below the lid, but this requires making a full pot to bring the water level up to it, and it has rather large holes, allowing leaves to escape....unless they are very large leaves- way beyond the pekoe size. I currently have some Royal Golden Yunnan that works well in the ceramic infuser. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Bill D Date: 09 Aug 12 - 11:53 AM I suppose I ought to note that tea is rated by a more complex system than just size. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_pekoe |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 09 Aug 12 - 02:05 PM I have a couple of 19th C. perforated silver 'spoons' that were used when the tea (made the classic UK-Irish way, see John's post, above) was poured into the cup from the pot. Any stray bits of leaf stirred up if the pot was handled carelessly would be filtered out by this device. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST,Stan Date: 09 Aug 12 - 02:13 PM Boiling water on the tea is for black tea only. If you use that method on green or white tea you get a very bitter drink. Allow the water to cool a little first for green and white. Loose tea before bags every time. With regard to the milk first or tea first controversy; Tea drinking was encouraged for UK mill workers as a non intoxicating beverage. The cheap cups used would crack if the water was too hot so milk was put in first. The aristocracy could afford porcelain which could withstand the higher temperatures. Therefor they put the tea in first. Your preference reveals your class! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: meself Date: 09 Aug 12 - 02:49 PM I remember reading about the Prince Charles's chagrin at the White House in Time Magazine shortly after the incident (see above: Date: 30 Jun 07 - 09:23 PM). Apparently he mentioned that he didn't know what he was supposed to do with the 'baggy thing'. Time Magazine made a sneering comment about how out of touch Charles was with the real world or real people, or something to that effect. I was surprised, because I had been struck by how out of touch the White House was with international tea etiquette. And I recalled as a young lad asking my mother what a person should do with the tea-bag, if served tea with the bag in the cup. My mother's response was that if someone was crude enough to serve you tea that way, it didn't much matter what you did with the bag - throwing it against the wall being one option. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 09 Aug 12 - 03:04 PM I think that milk-tea business with cheap cups is urban (or British?) legend. English crockery and stoneware cups had no problem with hot water. We use cheap crockery for everyday use, and reserve our expensive porcelain (and bone china) for more formal or guest events, both are equally resistant. We have silver, porcelain and stoneware pots (longtime collectors of stuff). We prefer the brown betty stoneware pot for everyday use. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: Penny S. Date: 09 Aug 12 - 04:20 PM Lynne, gypsy tart is made with evaporated milk and soft brown sugar, whisked together until thick before being baked in a pastry case, not condensed, which would have a different flavour. The thing about why milk is or is not first is more likely to be part of the Victorian obsession with setting up irrational table "etiquette" purely in order for people of one class to make those of another feel excluded, than for any sensible reason like scalding the milk in hot regions (the Raj), or not scalding it by adding it first, so the taste did not change. Tea strainers, the hemispherical punched metal "spoons" (most of the images on the net of old ones have two small handles and bowls to rest in, but ours always had a flat handle and a projection the other side so it could rest on the cup) used to be ubiquitous. I remember reading a book about Jutish grave goods, in which women might be buried with something which looked for all the world like a tea strainer. The male author put forward the idea that the Jutes did not understand the purpose of spoons, and so made them useless by adding patterns of holes. Obviously he never took tea with his mother or aunts. What the Jutes were drinking cannot, of course have been proper tea. Penny |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: SPB-Cooperator Date: 10 Aug 12 - 06:24 AM Loose tea - brewed properly, and drunk from bone china cups or mugs. Not just at home, but in all tea-serving establishment. Bring back the tea strainer! Spokesperson CamPot - Campaign for real tea. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Tea Bags or Loose Tea? From: GUEST Date: 10 Aug 12 - 10:19 AM I buy loose Gunpowder Green tea from an Indian deli. A comfortable handlful of tea into a stainless steel coffee pot. 20 seconds after boiled water has gone silent it is added to the tea. 3 to 5 mins to brew and I pour it through a sieve into a glass cafetiere. I drink it out of a glass cup. Certainly no milk but perhaps a little sugar. Modern pyrex type glass is so much better than ceramic because you get to see how good it looks. You might like to try this. Half a cupful of the above tea, add a teaspoonful of sugar or sweetener of choice, a drop or two of lemon essence (real lemon if you wish) then top up with carbonated water. Lovely. I think I'll go and make a brew. |
