A Nice Cup of Tea!

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

I must admit that to reduce my caffeine intake, I now only drink :shudder: herbal teas. Uncivilized, I know.

I've not tried it, but I've been told that decaffeinated tea is actually pretty good.

[rhadin]

Has anyone purchased tea from Upton Tea? The company advertises in two magazines I subscribe to (Smithsonian and The Atlantic), but I've never bought from them.

[columbus]

I absolutely hate 'Tea bags'.

Am I really the only one here who can taste the 'woodiness' imparted to the flavour of the tea brewed this way?.

For me the only way is the traditional - warmed tea pot, a teaspoon of good quality leaf tea per person plus 'one for the pot', boiling water, brew under tea cosy for 4 mins, milk in cup first. divine!!!

I guess I am just a traditional old fart!.

[astra]

Originally Posted by columbus

I absolutely hate 'Tea bags'.

Am I really the only one here who can taste the 'woodiness' imparted to the flavour of the tea brewed this way?.

For me the only way is the traditional - warmed tea pot, a teaspoon of good quality leaf tea per person plus 'one for the pot', boiling water, brew under tea cosy for 4 mins, milk in cup first. divine!!!

I guess I am just a traditional old fart!.

How can you taste anything of tea at all, woodiness or anything else if you drink tea with a milk?

The drink might be nice and tasty but would it be a tea? No way. Milk overpowers any tea taste.

[Sparrow]

There is a video on brewing the 'perfect' cuppa at:
http://video.about.com/coffeetea/How...Cup-of-Tea.htm

I want the teapot she's got, it looks nifty.

[columbus]

Originally Posted by astra

How can you taste anything of tea at all, woodiness or anything else if you drink tea with a milk?

The drink might be nice and tasty but would it be a tea? No way. Milk overpowers any tea taste.

You might not be making your tea strong enough, generally with tea bags it is also far too weak and the flavour can be masked by whole milk if you use too much, I use only 0% full skim (for health reasons).

If you use lemon all you will taste is the lemon not the tea, (or the woodiness imparted by the bags). Which is in no way traditional tea - like I said I am a traditional old fart and I prefer my tea the traditional way.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by astra

How can you taste anything of tea at all, woodiness or anything else if you drink tea with a milk?

The drink might be nice and tasty but would it be a tea? No way. Milk overpowers any tea taste.

It's a cultural thing, astra. You grew up in Russia, didn't you? Russians drink their tea without milk; British people drink it with milk. It's what you're used to.

[columbus]

Interesting point (amongst others) on Wikipedia

Some tea bags are made using a wet paper strength-reinforcing coating using epichlorohydrin, a known carcinogen.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's a cultural thing, astra. You grew up in Russia, didn't you? Russians drink their tea without milk; British people drink it with milk. It's what you're used to.

I'm a Brit and I don't have milk (or sugar - a Russian habit that also destroys the flavour imho) in tea or coffee. I get the impression more people are eschewing milk these days - but Harry is right to the extent that the vast majority of people in Britain still have milk in tea.

[astra]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's a cultural thing, astra. You grew up in Russia, didn't you? Russians drink their tea without milk; British people drink it with milk. It's what you're used to.

There is a seed of truth in what you are saying but as Sparrow said:

sugar - a Russian habit that also destroys the flavour

Neither I use sugar nor milk nor lemon.

In my family me and mo dad used to drink black tea, no milk, lots of sugar. My mom also added a piece of lemon to her cup...if we had one(lemon)
My brother became a big fun of a real tea when I was 17-18. He told me that what I drink cannot be called tea. It is a warm water with a bit of brown colour and sugar (you know that tea bags have only tea dust(leftovers) in them). I could not imagine drinking tea without sugar, so I didn't change my habit.
However, in my later twenties I realised that sugar is bad for me, so I resolved to give up on sugar and it took me 6 months to give up on it and another 6 month to start feeling the actual taste of what I was drinking. Only then I started to investigate this "tea" issue deeper and found out different types of tea, learned how to drink it etc.
My point is that regardless of your cultural origins you can learn the proper way to drink tea at any age
(something akin to drinking whisky, you can either drink it like vodka or tequila and get drunk quickly or...you can savour it )

[HarryT]

I like tea with milk, and see no reason to "force myself" to learn to like it without .

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I like tea with milk, and see no reason to "force myself" to learn to like it without .

It's better for the environment.

[ahammer]

o I never updated you guys.. I got my lose tea..

over all it is about the same as tea bags
(stash the company that I got the bag from before use mostly the same tea leaves in the bags and the lose tea.)

for an infuser I got(what the rep told me she uses.)
http://shopstashtea.com/700041.html
very easy to use/clean. fits in any us cup. has a top to hold in the flaor for brewing and it doubles as a holder for the infuser while im drinking.

overall not that much for work. for not that much gain.
but ends up costing less per cup.

also got some Honey Sticks. well worth the cost.. nice not to need to have suger around and honey works so much better. one think they need not say thou that they are almost inpossable to open without having scissors.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by astra

you know that tea bags have only tea dust(leftovers) in them).

If you buy cheap rubbish, yes, but not if you buy a decent brand.

[DixieGal]

I like hot tea and iced coffee. Having stated that, I PREFER hot coffee and iced tea.