How do you make a cuppa tea?

[everso]

On another thread (Nanas or Grans) they are talking about what's U and non-U. Housey mentioned her mum serving tea at 4 o clock. This led me to thinking about making a cuppa. How do you all make your tea?

I have a mug nowadays, rather than a cup, and I put in the tea bag and one spoonful of sugar, pour on the boiling water, wait a minute or so, then mash the bag with the spoon until the desired strength (builders, usually) is attained. The semi-skimmed milk then goes in and the whole thing is stirred briskly.

Either that, or I wait for Mr. E. to make it.

[Weyland]

Jan 20, 2010 19:37:33 GMT everso said:

This led me to thinking about making a cuppa. How do you all make your tea?

I have a mug nowadays, rather than a cup, and I put in the tea bag and one spoonful of sugar, pour on the boiling water, wait a minute or so, then mash the bag with the spoon until the desired strength (builders, usually) is attained. The semi-skimmed milk then goes in and the whole thing is stirred briskly.

Either that, or I wait for Mr. E. to make it.

Nononononononoetc!

Never in the cup/mug. British Standard Large Teapot. Two teabags (that's allowed, but not what the hoipolloi buys). Heat the pot. Freshly boiling water, four fifths full. At least 4 minutes to mast.

S-s milk in mug/cup first, then tea. Sugar!? Of course not.

I use a pint mug in the mornings. Have to have at least two.

Don't argue.

[swl]

I have absolutely no idea.

[Deleted]

put 20p in the slot and press number 71

[Deleted]

oops sorry i got that wrong.. thats actually how you make weak limeade.

[Alpha Hooligan]

1: Add teabag & sugar to warm cup

2: Add boiling water

3: Allow to brew for a minute or so, stir well

4: Add milk while tea bag is still in cup to insure you have attained perfect tea-colour, if not, make final adjustments with extra stiring

5: Remove teabag, lash into bin

6: Slurp tea in a happy, contented fashion


AH

[everso]

See, now this is where the arguing starts.

Weyland. I can't drink such large amounts of tea in one go, so the tea has to be made in the cup (also it saves on washing up). I've never been able to tell the difference anyway. Also, milk in last.

Alpha. The milk must NOT go anywhere near the cup or mug while the tea bag is in it!

Now, anyone else?

[Deleted]

i actually make it exactly the same as Everso.

[everso]

Good boy, Costal. You know it makes sense.

[trubble]

I actually make it exactly the same as Alph. I wouldn't serve it to anyone else that way; for other people, I make it more like Everso's version, but for myself it's the Alpha Method. Shush. That's a secret.

[housesparrow]

I make it Alph's way as well, apart from the bit about the "warm cup"

Life really is too short for that ....there are message boards waiting.

[Weyland]

Jan 20, 2010 23:10:20 GMT everso said:

I've never been able to tell the difference anyway.

And therein lies the key. It's what makes it quite impossible for epicures like me to communicate with the likes of you. I don't know why I bother, I really don't. (*)

Milk in last, indeed! Next you'll be telling me you make it in the microwave.

* Having said that, I cannot in conscience leave the afflicted without any hope of salvation. I'm on the case, but I need to sort out some details of an international nature. PM later.

[aubrey]

Teabag in cup. Add milk. Run hot tap for a few seconds, fill cup. Add sugar if you want it.

Or, failing that:

If you look up 'tea' in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several of the most important points.
This is curious, not only because tea is one of the main stays of civilization in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand, but because the best manner of making it is the subject of violent disputes.

When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I find no fewer than eleven outstanding points. On perhaps two of them there would be pretty general agreement, but at least four others are acutely controversial. Here are my own eleven rules, every one of which I regard as golden:


First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea.

Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities — that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of china or earthenware. Silver or Britanniaware teapots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad.

Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it out with hot water.

Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea that can be realized on every day of the week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than twenty weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes — a fact which is recognized in the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.

Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly.

Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference.

Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle.

Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup — that is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one's tea is always half cold before one has well started on it.

Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste.

Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.

Lastly, tea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style — should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tealover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.

Some people would answer that they don't like tea in itself, that they only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again.
These are not the only controversial points to arise in connexion with tea drinking, but they are sufficient to show how subtilized the whole business has become. There is also the mysterious social etiquette surrounding the teapot (why is it considered vulgar to drink out of your saucer, for instance?) and much might be written about the subsidiary uses of tealeaves, such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of visitors, feeding rabbits, healing burns and sweeping the carpet. It is worth paying attention to such details as warming the pot and using water that is really boiling, so as to make quite sure of wringing out of one's ration the twenty good, strong cups of that two ounces, properly handled, ought to represent.

(taken from The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 3, 1943-45, Penguin ISBN, 0-14-00-3153-7)

[aubrey]

I should maybe add that I'd go nearer to George than the first thing I put. And that I don't like weak tea, whatever that thing says under Aubrey.

It was this essay that persuaded me to stop having sugar in tea. I couldn't have it now - I have ocassionally had a mouthful with sugar, and had to spit it out.

(Because I'm not allowed much tea, or any fluid, I look upon the essay as a kind of tea porn.)

[Weyland]

Jan 21, 2010 10:04:31 GMT aubrey said:

Or, failing that:
...
(taken from The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 3, 1943-45, Penguin ISBN, 0-14-00-3153-7)

Of course. I have the very same book, but I'd forgotten about the tea bit.

I think the only part I don't agree with -- though I used to -- is about the strength. I used to drink it very strong, but not any more.

After reading that sublime document once more, I am definitely going to order a supply of my very favourite leaf tea on the Web. Can't get it anywhere near here. Ringtons. The deliver on Tyneside and a few other places, but not here. Free delivery over £20, I see.

Worked within sight of the factory for 13 years. It's in Byker.

[riotgrrl]

I don't drink tea, and I feel excluded from this thread. I may have to protest.

But to make a perfect cup of coffee . . .

1 - Put Gold Blend at bottom of mug.
2 - Boil kettle AND THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT wait until it stops bubbling and the water is calm.
3 - Pour the water in the mug.

End of.

But some idiots at work haven't got it yet, and keep pouring my coffee when the water is still boiling. You can tell by the taste that they've done it.

[trubble]

My mother - the only really dedicated tea drinker that I know - says you're supposed to pour the water just before it boils.

I don't innately like tea or coffee. They're just things you learn to drink because of their social aspects. That's why I make my tea in such a wibbly fashion and lace it with milk and that's why I stick to espresso and lace it with sugar.

The only cup of tea I remember loving was the one the hospital provides after you have just given birth. To be honest, it could have been made by squeezing a floorcloth into a mug and microwaving it and I would have loved it.

The tea I mean, not the baby! Although you could apply the same concept to the baby. She was the prettiest baby ever born and the best baby and the cleverest baby. I don't know what happened since then, I think it might just be that the epidural wore off.

[aubrey]

Jan 21, 2010 11:28:15 GMT @riotgrrl said:

I don't drink tea, and I feel excluded from this thread. I may have to protest.

But to make a perfect cup of coffee . . .

1 - Put Gold Blend at bottom of mug.
2 - Boil kettle AND THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT wait until it stops bubbling and the water is calm.
3 - Pour the water in the mug.

End of.

But some idiots at work haven't got it yet, and keep pouring my coffee when the water is still boiling. You can tell by the taste that they've done it.

No milk or sugar?

A lesbian in DL Sayers' Srong Poison likes Lors Peter because he doesn't make his coffee into syrupy cream, like most men (he has it straight - I wish I could, but I haven't got that far yet).

You're right, though: boiling water for tea, hot water for coffee, powdered or ground.

[riotgrrl]

Jan 21, 2010 13:01:31 GMT aubrey said:

Jan 21, 2010 11:28:15 GMT @riotgrrl said:

I don't drink tea, and I feel excluded from this thread. I may have to protest.

But to make a perfect cup of coffee . . .

1 - Put Gold Blend at bottom of mug.
2 - Boil kettle AND THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT wait until it stops bubbling and the water is calm.
3 - Pour the water in the mug.

End of.

But some idiots at work haven't got it yet, and keep pouring my coffee when the water is still boiling. You can tell by the taste that they've done it.

No milk or sugar?

A lesbian in DL Sayers' Srong Poison likes Lors Peter because he doesn't make his coffee into syrupy cream, like most men (he has it straight - I wish I could, but I haven't got that far yet).

You're right, though: boiling water for tea, hot water for coffee, powdered or ground.

I don't take sugar or milk in my coffee.

I remember reading George Orwell as a youngster, and his comments about creating flavoured milk drinks stuck with me.

Coffee should be drunk hot, black and strong.

[aubrey]

I will try, one day. (Coffee is something else I'm not meant to have; but I do sneak a coffee flavoured hot milk drink in the mornings. Normal strong coffee would be too dry.)

What I'd really like is vanilla ice cream with a shot of hot espresso poured over it.