BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!

Subject: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: CarolC
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:07 PM

Just had my first two cups of tea prepared Newfoundland style today.
This is what you have to do: get a ceramic tea pot and a tea cozy, unless you have a woodburning stove. (In that case, you can just keep the pot brewing on the coolest part of the stove top.)

Boil the water in a kettle, and then add one teacupfull of the boiling water for each bag of tea to the teapot(I don't know the ratio if your tea is loose). We're using Lifeboat Tea from England which the box describes as "A full flavoured Tea of strength and character". JtS says that Red Rose tea (if you get the Canadian verson) is also good. He says the Red Rose sold in Canada is a lot more robust than in the US.

Let the tea bags steep for 4 or 5 minutes under the tea cozy. Fill the teacups about half to two thirds full of the brewed tea, add sugar and evaporated milk to taste. The tea is quite strong and does benefit from the milk. Other than Chinese restaraunt tea, I'd have to say it's the best tea I've ever tasted. We're having it with Carr's whole wheat crackers which are, I've been told by one of our British friends, the kind of biscuits they use for dipping into tea. It's a wonderful combination.

Got a favorite tea recipe? Any good songs about a proper cup of tea?

Here's a traditional song from Newfoundland about tobacco in the DT mirror site (my limited search didn't turn up any specifically about tea), with a reference to "a good cup of tea":

The Tobacco Song

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:17 PM

I take it that's the parody version, Carol?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: harvey andrews
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:23 PM

Evaporated milk!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:27 PM

Evaporated milk! That was one of the nightmares of being a social worker, tea with evaporated milk.

I've got a feeling your Newfoundland friends might have been pulling your leg... We have Newfoundlanders in Harlow, since St John's University has a campus here for students on placements and research and so forth, and they always seem to like tea the same way it's made in Ireland and England. One spoon of tea for each person and one for the pot (or use a teabag if you'd rather save the mess), and make sure the water is boiling; and add milk or sugar to the cup as you wish.

Mind you there's no agreement between tea-drinkers as to whether the milk should go in the cup before the tea or after. Or rather, there are a lot of people who get it wrong and put the milk in first.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: bradfordian
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:28 PM

ditto, evaporated milk!!!! Don't you guys get FRESH milk (maybe even semi-skimmed(half fat))?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:37 PM

What kind of biscuits are those which one bites off a corner, then bites off a diagonal corner on the opposite end. Then sucks tea through it like a straw until a critical moment, just before the whole thing is ready to collapse from getting tea-logged, when one pops the whole thing into one's mouth? I saw this done on Graham Norton and they sounded delicious. I think they had chocolate on them, too.

Does anyone drink tea without sugar and milk? I don't like either in my tea.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: CarolC
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:40 PM

I don't know, Fionn. It says "The Tobacco Song
(traditional Newfoundland)" in the site I've provided the link to.

My guess is that if it's not a parody, it's one of the many Newfoundland traditional songs that contain some of the elegant and subtle sense of irony that is the hallmark of Newfoundland humor.

Hey harvy! Don't knock it 'till you've tried it!

;-)

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:40 PM

Our good Mudcat friend Bill Sables turned me into a tea snob- Yorkshire tea forever! Fortunately I can get Yorkshire Gold here and there in these parts. I like it with brown sugar, 2 percent milk, in a large handmade stoneware mug.
A song that's been on my mind lately is Right sez Fred (a Cup of Tea) - my good friends Melanie and Alouette sang it when they were guests in my December concert- it was a hit!

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: CarolC
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 04:42 PM

Pulling my leg, McGrath? My dear husband wouldn't do something like that! Tea is serious business in Newfoundland.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 05:16 PM

But surely pulling legs is a serious matter too? By which I mean it requires and deserves care and attention to get the legpull to work.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: gnu
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 05:31 PM

First the fire of spruce twigs and birch sapplings. Then, the old kettle my father carried to hell and back, which would spring leaks if cleaned. Bog water or brook water, whichever is closest... snow if the ice is too thick. Tea, water and then to the fire. When she boils, she's steeped. Canned milk is not only preferred but "convenient" on a January day. Some shockin' cold out there but some some shockin' good to taste that tea and hear good friends sup and remember my old man.... he loved his tea... and I miss him.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 05:32 PM

Sounds like a weak sister to Cape Breton tea. Brew until black and the bowl of the spoon floats in it.

Lapsang Souchong, with a little Demerara sugar, and a jigger of dark rum if you have it. Makes an almost drinkable cup of tea.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: CarolC
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 05:50 PM

Hey gnu! JtS agrees that your way is best if you have the right equipment and location. He says an apple juice tin's preferable to a kettle though.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 06:03 PM

For Irish Tea customs and a guide to all aspects of teatime recipes of the Irish tradition consult:
CONRAD BLADEYS IRISH TEATIME COMPANION

The book discusses tea ritual, all the traditional recipes (you wont find a traditional recipe that is not in our book!) Additionally you will find instruction in how to make jams and marmalades as well as Irish sausages and other savories. There is a complete guide to Irish cheeses.

The recipes are well tested and with each recipe you get a few Irish sayings.
clicket for teatime treasures

The book is available at the link above or via amzaon or your local book store. The ISBN= 0-9702386-2-2

I have been using these recipes for years in my Irish culture classes. The book has been very popular.

A great gift for anyone who enjoys tea.....
(and the small profits if any....sometimes support some of our public service work, research etc...)

Conrad

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Helen
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 07:49 PM

We had a long and fruitful discussion about tea (one of my favourite threads)

Lapsang Souchong
http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=20316

It carried over to a second thread as well.

Helen

P.S. katlaughing, the Oz biscuits you are asking about are called Tim Tams, and they taste better with coffee than tea.

We had a thread about them too, as I recall.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: CarolC
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 08:01 PM

I agree with you Helen. That was a good thread.

This thread had some good discussion about tea also (in between the tongue in cheek playfulness). It also had a "part two".

Seems like tea always makes a good subject for discussion.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 08:04 PM

I'll have to vote for the Yorkshire tea I got in the Mudcat auction.

(a friend told me that tea companies send all the bad stuff to the US because they think nobody notices)

We can buy English Breakfast tea and Earl Grey (yuk) here, but that's about all. (other than 20 million flavored Lipton things)

I just heard that Green Tea supposedly raises the metabolism, thus making it easier to lose weight. Anybody else heard this?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: harvey andrews
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 08:09 PM

I've always had a huge problem with a line by my favourite songwriter Stan Rogers in "Lines"
"Drips 'Carnation' from the can"
Yuck!!!

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Allan C.
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 08:33 PM

Like Animaterra, brother Bill introduced me to Yorkshire tea. It is a world of difference from what I grew up with. By comparison, as Bill so aptly put it, "Lipton tea is s**t!" I will forever be grateful to have learned the difference.

Speaking of such things, someplace I learned that in England the person who serves the tea, (no matter who, unless a servant or waiter,) was once refered to as "mother". I suspect this is not in current usage. Are any of you familiar with this?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 08:34 PM

Good teas available from alltea.com. See their catalog at Allteas
Although in a metropolitan area of one million, teas such as lapsang souchong are either "out of stock" or have been dropped by cost-cutting managers.
There are a number of companies that sell good tea on line. This one isn't bad. If you aren't familiar with area of production or type, it may take a bit of looking, e. g., find lapsang souchong under black China teas, then click on the black tea box including Russian caravan, and you will find that they have four brands of lapsang. Classic Keemun at $17 a pound is a bargain; not as subtle as the best lapsang, but good. Use one of those little perforated tea balls for bulk tea.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Dec 02 - 11:40 PM

Milk? In Tea? Ugg! What a good way to ruin it!

That's my two cents worth.
Last time I did a search I couldn't find a web site for Market Spice Tea, out of Seattle, but they're excellent and do a lot of mail order.
SRS

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 02:46 AM

I have long since lost count of the coffee shop clerks {they are certainly not brewers of any sort} who I have had to dissuade from adding ingredients other than water, then a tea bag, to my take out in the AM.

If you want decent tea, add the water to the tea or tea bag, let it steep for 3 or 4 minutes, remove the tea [leaves in whatever form] from the cup and then add your sugar, etc.

Mickey D's and many others will only add the bag to your tea under protest. By the time you can add the tea bag, the water has lost those few critical degrees of hot water.

Let's boycott those places who conspire against a decent cup of hot tea.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 05:19 AM

One of the true delights of the visit from Sam, Bill, and Ian, was Ian's teaching Karen and Connie the way to make a proper cup of tea....Yorkshire of course! Like Animaterra, they now feel that Bill Sables is the "Tea God" as he had passed on his methods to them under the tutelage of young Ian. There were several magical moments in that short visit and I think of them often, especially when either Karen or Connie prepares a proper cuppa.

Sadly though, I still hate tea......as a typical cretinous American, make mine coffee.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 05:51 AM

Market Spice Tea? That sounds like a China Tea, and of course no one would add milk to that.

Indian Blends are a different matter (and much tastier to my mind). If there's no ordinary milk available tastes pretty good - but never evaporated or condensed, please.

"Shall I be mother" or "You can be mother" is still current use for the person who pours it out when the tea is made in a teapot.But much of the time people use a teabag in a cup these days, which doesn't make such good tea, but tolerable enough, so long as you put the bag in first and don't add the milk until it's had a chance to brew.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: The Walrus
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 06:15 AM

The essential element with all teas, China or Indian, plain or flavoured, blak or white, is that the water must be BOILING and transferred onto the tea (be it a teabag in a cup or "proper" loose tea in a ceramic pot)IMMEDIATELY. Unfortunately, it seems impossible to get the idea into the heads of American reseraunteurs, even with a four pound club hammer (and oh, I have been tempted). I've never found an American eating establishment that didn't try to bring me a tea bag and a cup (or metal pot) of warm water<1>.
Might I add that the finest cup of tea is the one that arrives just at the right moment, be it the finest China tea served with elegance just as the thirst is piqued, a cup of the local Indian brew "drummed up" at work just when you are in need of a break or an inderterminate brew, stewed until it's black, then dyed orange by the addition of evaporated (or worse condensed) milk and a large dollop of rum and served in a tin mug in the middle of a damp field at four in the morning.

Happy New Year.

Walrus


<1> Not an exhaustive survey, but random sampling (oh, and don't get me on the subject of the sex-in-a-punt coffee either).

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 06:23 AM

Ask for tea on the continent, and you are usually offered a cup of warm water with a tea bag in the saucer for you to add when the water is cold enough. Oh dear!

Subject: Lyr Add: BRING US IN HOT TEA (Kipper)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 08:15 AM

A tea song!! from the immortal Kipper family (the following is pasted from an e-mail so I hope it is ok)

.......
The following words are taken from "Since Time Immoral: the Kipper Family Song Book" - published by the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 1986 (ISBN 0 85418 149)
The Kipper Family are allegedly from the Trunch region of Norfolk, England. Norfolk and good!

the material is copyright by R. Nudds and C. Sugden.

This is what Henry says of the song, Bring Us In Hot Tea:

I got this here song off my wife, Mrs. Dot Kipper. Tha’s Sid's mother, we think. Every Wednesday afternoon she go off to the local Women's Bright Hour, at the Village Hall, and all the women in the village sit there drinking tea, pot after pot. One week Dot come home the worse for it - she'd had one pot too many, and she was in a right state. I'm rather ashamed to say I took advantage of her - like I say, I got this here song off her.

BRING US IN HOT TEA

Bring us in no rum, for tha's a drink for sailors,
But bring us in hot tea, for that will never fail us.

CHORUS:
So bring us in hot tea, hot tea, and bring us in hot tea
That's what the blessed ladies make, so bring us in hot tea.

Bring us in no cider, for that will send us reeling,
But bring us in hot tea, Earl Grey, Ceylon or Darjeeling.

Bring us in no white wine for that don't cure no hot thirst,
But bring us in hot tea, and be sure to warm the pot first.

Bring us in no snaps, for they are made with brandy,
But bring us in hot tea, and a strainer would be handy.

Bring us in no gin, for that was mother's ruin,
But bring us in hot tea, and put a lump or two in.

Bring us in no home brew, we're not inclined to risk it,
But bring us in hot tea, oh, and all right, just one biscuit.

We'll drink no beer at Christmas, the good book tells the tale,
So bring us in hot tea, for the angels said, "No ale".

..................
Students of folklore will recognise this song as a relative (parody) of Bring Us In Good Ale where the chorus is:

Bring us in good ale, good ale
Bring us in good ale
For our Blessed Lady's sake,
Bring us in good ale.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: gnu
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 08:55 AM

Yup. We had a number of juice tins with coat hangar handles hung upside down in various remote locations so we didn't have to lug the kettle. However, I was horrified on one trip that I had brought a tin which had a plastic lining... what a mess. So be warned, check the tin for plastic with a knife.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 08:58 AM

Of course you can't expect proper tea in a typical American restaurant. No one in the establishment ever drinks it. For those of us who do like to drink it occasionally, it is an acquired taste, to be indulged in the privacy of the home.
Americans find English habits just as peculiar. Personnel in many restaurants don't seem to understand that many North Americans like their coffee with a meal, not just after it. The restaurant tea is just as bad; much of it, like the American Red Rose, lacks any real taste.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: smallpiper
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 09:07 AM

I'm off to put the kettle on! Anyone or tea?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 09:46 AM

American restaraunts do fail to make good tea.
Water is never hot enough.
If you do find good tea it is generally thought of as a fine wine
-something exotic and is presided over by an artsy elf like person....often also the tea is adulterated with every !##@$#spice known to man. It is like drinking essence of craft store aroma...yuck!

My wife...a tea drinker has been totally turned off of tea and on to coffee.

Now....about milk with tea.
What you put into tea should be determined by the way the tea was prepared, selected, dried and blended. With Irish tea- ceylon and assam mixture- this is designed to provide the best flavour when cream or milk is added.

So to take advantage of all the work in preparation....selecting the leaves, picking them blending them preparing them....try to find out what the intended for taste calls for.

I still like teas without cream or milk but some taste equally well if not better with it.

Again....
the answers to these and many other questions are contained in our Teatime Cookbook. A bargain! And a way to in a small way (profits are really minimal....I did the book for my students....) help us in our free services...web pages, research, endless questions answered on behalf of thousands of students via e.mail each year.
The tea book click here

Conrad

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: SINSULL
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:12 AM

Have always been fascinated by Hyacinth Bucket's insistence on serving coffee. More snobbery?

As to tea: my mother (of Scottish descent) always heated the pot first. A cup of boiling water into the pot to warm it, toss it out and add tea and BOILING water. "Pot to the kettle never kettle to the pot."

For excellent tea in NYC, try the tea room at the Pierre. For affordable tea, try the tea room at the hotel on the corner of Madison and 56th. Damn! Can't think of the name. But Tourneau Corner is right there. They also have impeccably clean public restrooms. But please tip the lady there. She works hard.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:15 AM

The bucket woman serves coffee because it has been the trend now for many a year. When I was up at Durham it was always coffee after meals- generally it was instant as students did not have coffee makers. One friend made coffee as if it were tea. Quite amusing.

Nothing like a good pot of well made tea. Be sure to let it steep properly. None of this american weak stuff. Irish tea requires a full 5 minutes with water kept from getting cold to bring the flavors out. It is a hot water and oils thing.

Conrad

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:28 AM

Cream in tea? Strewth. Not as bad as condensed milk, but not something I'd advise. Milk or black.

Tea shouldn't be a big reverential deal. I know the Japanese have their tea ceremony, but I understand that that ends without you actually drinking the brew. Tea is simple and straightforward and refreshing, and unassuming, and it doesn't do with being high-faluted about it. And Earl Grey Tea is an abomination, even if Commander Picard does go for it. I think it's the Star Trek token way of indicating that he's French - and you can't get a proper cup of tea in France.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:35 AM

Carol, "parody" was intended as a reference to your recipe!

McGrath, those of us who take our tea from the finest bone china understand entirely why the milk goes in first.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:36 AM

My God, KAt - is the US ready for Graham Norton?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:38 AM

Good hot tea in the U.S. isn't quite as hard to come by as it used to be. Starbucks and many of the other establishments for coffee-addicts serve a few flavors of tea in water so hot there must be a secret added ingredient. I find the few times I've had tea from Starbucks I was in danger of burning myself several minutes after the bag had brewed and been removed. Must be something in those cups--they feel skinny, but boy are they heat-savers. Also, for a quick hot cup of Liptons if nothing else is available, most Seven-Eleven convenience stores have those coffee making things with a red lever for HOT water and it really is hot. Alas, the tea usually is Lipton, so you might want to carry a few of your own bags with you. And they often won't charge you as much for the cup and water if you point this out. They understand about people's addiction to caffeine in the morning.

No, Market Spice Tea isn't just a single tea from China, it's a company (used to be called Specialty Spice, down in Pike Street Market in Seattle) that has taken on the name of its most famous blend. Market Spice Tea is a wonderful cinnamon and orange spice tea. It goes either way--with just sugar, the cinnamon is strongest, with milk, the orange is enhanced. They still don't appear to have a website of their own but they do a lot of mail order. I found a place with a selection of Market Spice Teas available here. MST sells loose and bagged teas, but they also sell a lot of wonderful spices in a variety of forms. It's worth a trip to Pike Street Market to visit this place.

SRS (homesick again. . . )

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:48 AM

Finest bone china doesn't really go with a proper cuppa.

The worst thing though is where some eejit puts the milk in the cup, and then puts in a teabag and pours in water which immediately becomes lukewarm even if it's boiling as it's poured. (I see that doing it this way is what this peculiar site recommends - but then it is evidently a humorous site.

When you make it in the pot it doesn't make a lot of difference - I suspect that milk in first originated in canteens as a way of serving tea quickly to a line of thirsty people. But when you add the milk last you can adjust the quantity to match the strength of the tea, instead of taking pot luck.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 11:48 AM

Tea is actually simple we just speak of ceremony for those totally out of it. Actually I picked up the term from archeologists who use it to discuss the tea paraphanalia that turn up on sites.

Starbucks is a strange establishment. I keep going there because I am too poor to afford a proper italian large scale espresso maker. I dont want a small one.

Starbucks has taken something ordinary like a coffee bean and made it a ritual to empty ones pockets for. One of two things that finally caught up from the peasant far from his european roots.
When I arrived back here many moons ago I could not get good capachino nor crusty european bread.
Now finally for the past several years I can get both but like the micro beer industry companies supplying the same have made it as much their business to extract money as to produce a product. As a result I shop with them 1/3 as often as I would ordinarily do and they are forced to throw out expensive product that remain unsold.

You would think it would dawn on them to price their product so I can turn up for a good loaf, coffee, or micro brew every day instead once every month or so.

Conrad

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Frank Maher
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 12:07 PM

Years ago when tea bags first arrived in Newfoundland,
a gentleman was out to the local restaurant having a bit
of supper. When his tea arrived, it was just a cup of hot
water with a bag on the saucer. He asked the waitress what
happened to his tea, and she said, "Just squeeze your bag,
sir." To which he replied, " Kiss me arse!"

CarolC..
I have the Tobacco Song that I Recorded Over 20 Years ago at a Music Session By Anita Best,a Great Newfoundland Singer....

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 12:14 PM

Conrad, you're onto something there.

For those interested in the science of it, a PBS program called Newton's Apple that used to be on for a half hour, then turned itself into little sound-bites for filler (and seems to have now disappeared) did an experiment on adding milk sooner or later. The conclusion was that adding the milk later kept the tea hotter overall longer. I don't remember the explanation of why, but the test confirmed it, so if you want to flavor your tea with milk, it is best to wait until after the bag is out of the cup.

In restaurants I've sent so much tea back with the request that the water be brought to me boiling that I almost don't bother to order it any more. Then there are places that deliver the water in those metal tea teapot shaped things that are dirty--because if someone added stuff to the pitcher instead of their cup it isn't likely to come off in an industrial dishwasher--the lid gets in the way of the water. Nothing like pouring out a cup of tea and seeing little bits of some other diner's coagulated milk washing through.

SRS (who is going to go brew herself a hot cuppa Market Spice Tea)

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: *#1 PEASANT*
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 12:20 PM

The custom of adding the milk or cream first has been explained to me by a few ancient vets. as coming about due to the fact that in the field or perhaps on the job site....soldiers....etc. did not have spoons. Pouring in the milk or cream first allowed the inrushing tea to mix it.

no explanation why similar rule does not exist for sugar...

Conrad

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 12:30 PM

late to the thread, but here is my 2¢ worth:

Milk in tea is somewhat close to abomination. Tea in bags is barely tolerable. (I can TASTE the paper, and the tea is almost powdered to allow it to steep from inside a bag...yuck!

Good tea involves selecting decent teas, having decent, just boiling water, and controlling the steeping time.

So many confusions abound about names of tea and various flavoring and sources. I will 'sometimes' use small amounts of Spiced tea or Earl Grey or Lapsang to flavor a regular tea...but usually just straight Assam, Keemun, Darjeeling, Oolong, etc. (and there are gourmet, high-priced Estate versions of all of those if you care to track them down...just like coffee or fine wines)

Names like Queen Mary's blend and Prince of Wales and Russian Caravan indicate blends which may be quite good, but tell little about the source of the tea.

Tea making takes a bit more care and attention than coffee to do 'right', but not that much once you get used to the routine.

(Did I mention that diluting and overpowering the taste of a 'good' tea with dairy products is an abomination?...Now if you have some cheap tea bags that you can't abide any other way...*grin*)

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 01:39 PM

"Fine wines" - now that's another concept that gets in the way of an enjoyable drink for me.

Horses for courses.

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: CarolC
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 02:26 PM

Carol, "parody" was intended as a reference to your recipe!

Oh. Well in that case, no.

Great song, Sandra in Sydney!

Thanks for that one Frank! Is your recording of the Tobacco Song available commercially?

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Frank Maher
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 02:46 PM

No!!I don't think It was ever Recorded Commercially!!!
If You want It,I will send It to You by email!!!!
Frank

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: jimmyt
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 03:22 PM

I have been drinking tea in the US of A since 1948 when my grandma fed it to me on a teaspoon when I was a few monthe old. She was from Great Yarmouth and always drank her tea with canned milk and sugar. My wife and I enjoy tea not everyday but several times a week. We ALWAYS heat the brown Betty pot with hot water and let it heat thoroughly while the water is heating to boil. We then pour it out, add tea (I hate to admit it, but I use Typhoo bags instead of loose tea for convienence) then boiling water, let it steep for three minutes, add sugar and milk if you desire. I sometimes add milk sometimes not. On a gray winter day like today, it gives us our "England fix" to hold us until we can get back over there where they know how to do a proper tea! My wife collects teapots and teacups and saucers, so we frequently use different ones for tea just so the stuff gets used. We believe that nothing gets memories in your house if it doesn't get used. Think I'll put the kettle on right now!

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 03:57 PM

I drink my tea without milk or sugar. I prefer Earl Grey tea with a slice of lemon!!

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 04:00 PM

Sandra in Sydney, I've got to learn that song!

Subject: RE: BS: A proper cup of tea: nothing like it!
From: Peg
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 04:06 PM

someone earlier in the thread asked about green tea and weight loss. I too read about this. But the study I read did not offer a real reason for it; just observed that, among those losing weight through other means, green tea drinkers showed a greater weight loss. This may have been connected to other eating habits...who knows? I do know this tea has anti-oxidants and so probably has a slight detoxifying effect, and this does aid weight loss.

I gave up coffee a month ago and have been drinking green tea most mornings (unless I have black tea, about 2-3 times a week--loose black tea called "Buckingham Palace Garden Party" which was a gift, with honey and milk). I am also losing some weight. No idea if these are connected. I am also trying to eat better, taking calcium supplements, and doing yoga a bit more than usual (especially those stormy winter days when a long walk, my usual exercise, is too much to contemplate). I gave up coffee because my blood sugar was getting weird (falling too fast and hard) from so much coffee in the mornings and not enough food. rather than try to change my other habits (hard to do on those mornings I was teaching four hours straight), I decided to go cold turkey on the coffee. It was surprisingly easy, even though I love coffee. I expect I will go back to it again, but will start with organic decaf, and add chicory and roasted dandelion root...

peg