PG English Tips - TEA

[ayjay]

Just had a quick look in the cupboard at my wifes selection.

White tea, Black tea, Green tea, Green tea with lemon, Earl Grey, Lady grey, Chamomile, Fennel, Nettle, Redbush, Peppermint, Twinnings 'Purify' (a nettle tea with extract of cucumber and aloe vera), and an odd one Banana and cinnamon.

I think she must have run out of a couple!

 

John

 

Mine has:- Spiced Apple and Chamomile - Raspberry leaf - Mango & Lychee - Nettle - Fennel - Sericha - Cranberry & Blood Orange - Lemon & Ginger - Mango & Cinnamon - Liquorice - Redbush, there's a fair few others which put in an appearance now and again, but that's the current stock.

 

I just have tea, (and Coffee).

[corydoras]

Just had a quick look in the cupboard at my wifes selection.

White tea, Black tea, Green tea, Green tea with lemon, Earl Grey, Lady grey, Chamomile, Fennel, Nettle, Redbush, Peppermint, Twinnings 'Purify' (a nettle tea with extract of cucumber and aloe vera), and an odd one Banana and cinnamon.

I think she must have run out of a couple!

 

John

I like green tea, I used to drink a lot of that in the Far East. Redbush sounds good, any colour of bush is okay by me

[rob.imk2]

Tetlely extra strong for me plus Punjana when its on offer ,in an emergency Morrissons red label .I drink at least five pints of tea per day but very rarely after 4 pm.

[Phone]

All,

 

Ohh dear ! Just finished coffee. A visiting Canadian chap said the "best" tea was brewed in the mountains. The experience he talked about was in the Rockies in Colorado and Alaska. Water boils at about 180 degrees F. He said the English don't know much about tea brewing - that's what such high quality tea is available.

 

Phone

[chesters1]

What he means was we dont know much about tea making in the rockies ,on real english dirt were ok ,even on scafell pike (a mini mountain) tea tastes like crap if you can get your stove to work at all ,gas stoves have a problem even that high

Tea needs to be made with boiling water not water thats colder looking like its boiling ,thats like boiling a kettle then waiting a minute to pour it ,its just not really boiling just hot or like making it in a teapot but not heating it up first ,there is a difference and you can taste it

My mrs makes tea by leaving the tea bags then poking them and removing them ,i poke continually ,i can tell the difference ,or is it hers has phlegm in it wheres my does not

Edited August 21, 2014 by chesters1

[Phone]

Chesters1,

 

I was thinking more about the temperature of boiling water being 180. You're making tea at 212.

 

I, on the other hand, drink iced tea.

 

Phone

[Steve Burke]

Before anyone jumps down Phone's throat the boiling point of water depends on pressure, and at high altitude there's less pressure. Water in fact boils at a lower pressure at altitude. That said you'd need to at about 17500 feet for water to boil at 180F compared with the 212F at sea level.

 

We all have different taste buds and, as I posted before, I can tell the difference between tea made with boiling water rather than just hot water. How far away from boiling I can tell this difference I don't know. But when I went to California some years back I didn't find any tea made with water that was hot enough for my taste. As a result no cuppa was anywhere as good for me as at home.

[Sportsman]

Apart from water temperature the biggest mistake people make is not waiting long enough for the tea to brew. With a standard British style tea it takes at least 4-5 minutes. Poking and stirring doesn't really change that and a darker colour doesn't mean more taste.

If you want a weaker brew then reduce the amount of tea rather than shortening the brewing time.

Chesters1, if you use 2 tea bags then the manufacturers will love you. Try using 1 and letting it stand for 5 minutes.

[ayjay]

All,

 

Ohh dear ! Just finished coffee. A visiting Canadian chap said the "best" tea was brewed in the mountains. The experience he talked about was in the Rockies in Colorado and Alaska. Water boils at about 180 degrees F. He said the English don't know much about tea brewing - that's what such high quality tea is available.

 

Phone

Just as likely to be down to water quality rather than his tea-making skills..........

 

.................apart from that, he's talking out of his fundament.

[Phone]

ayjay,

 

You pretty much hit it on the head. He was grinning from ear to ear with his critical comments. Mountain stream water tends to be very hard. Is that good for tea brewing?

 

Phone

 

Edit: BTW, minerals probably influence the boiling temp of water as well (?).

Edited August 21, 2014 by Phone