How Do "you" Make Tea

[ivor4781]

i've always used water on the boil to make mine, (we go for a good individual indian tea) but a tea specialist said on a tv doc that should not be boiling but off the boil around 90'c as it spoils the flavour
what you you do ?

[AB Editor]

"Also you should never add the milk to the tea bag first...a hanging offence in my house."

I'm told that adding the milk after the tea is a sign of being "posh" because rubbish cups would crack with hot tea poured straight in. So milk was added first to ensure they didn't crack.

But then, people seem to just make this stuff up sometimes :)

[andy-hughes]

Sipowicz - referring to the present Mrs Hughes in such terms would only result in pain - sustained and prolonged pain ....

[AB Editor]

We assume she's the "present Mrs. Hughes" because she's a gift, right?

[mikey4444]

I am going to have to disagree with you Ed ! The reason that you pour boiling water over the tea bag before adding milk is that the tea starts to brew with boiling water, not cold milk.

But some of my American friends make tea by putting a tea bag in a mug, pouring cold water into the mug and then putting it into a microwave oven for 2-3 minutes. Peasants, every one of them.

[viv38]

How do I make tea? I put a teaspoon of QT instant tea into my mug and pour on boiling water - simples !

[Old_Geezer]

Black tea can cope with boiling, and I suspeck most tea drinking in the UK prefer the result. Green tea etc, may not stand up to the heat so well.

[Old_Geezer]

SUSPECT !
>>>:-(

[AB Editor]

"The reason that you pour boiling water over the tea bag before adding milk is that the tea starts to brew with boiling water, not cold milk."

Ah, you're making in a cup, not a teapot are you? I'm certain what Andrew Michell would have to say about that :)

I'm only passing on what is reported to me about tea-habits of the Victorians really - I think Tea is one of those things where people want to be sophisticated about it, but actually just latch on to whatever they have to hand which can associate it with class or complexity.

Not that I'm any different mind. There has to be a reason that I looked up that steeping article! :)

"But some of my American friends make tea by putting a tea bag in a mug, pouring cold water into the mug and then putting it into a microwave oven for 2-3 minutes. Peasants, every one of them."

Absolutely, they Queen wouldn't have those colonial commoners back if they begged!

In India (if I remember correct) my friend was served his tea with condensed milk. He said it was the best thing that ever happened to him - if not his waistline!

[AB Editor]

O_G - There's a Marcus Brigstock line which goes something like:

"It's all about what the kids call respec' - which is what old people would call it, but with a tea, because old people do like tea with everything."

:)

[Baldric]

I don't, I haven't touched Tea in 25 + years, foul stuff.

[237SJ]

In India they use either condensed or more usually, hot milk so it doesn`t make any difference as far as cracking the cup is concerned. I use Kenyan or Assam, in a pot (3 teaspoons for 2 mugs) and pour the milk in afterwards. If you pour the milk in first, you can`t tell how strong it is going to be. I doubt it matters - it`s just tea snobbery.

[baza]

6 am boil kettle, place 4 teaspoons of loose tea into enamel teapot, when kettle boils pour water into teapot, stir and place onto Baby Belling hotplate to keep warm. During the day add tea or water as required. Keep condensed milk tin by the cooker. At 5 am empty the teapot and rinse ready for the early turn.
That is how to make railway tea.