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How do you have your tea?

A

Andeavor

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 19, 2010
297
1
I just made a cup of tea but since I was out of teabags I made it with some fresh loose one I got as a gift quite recently (including some proper tea mugs). Luckily, I had a tea strainer lying around but it feels like it came out too thin. In fact, I felt like I didn't quite do it right.

I'm used to teabags and then always add some sugar and milk. Usually, I have my tea late at night as some sort of a non-alcoholic nightcap but it's been so cold and freezing in Western Europe lately, I've been having tea any time of day.

For those tea drinkers among us, how do you prefer making/preparing your tea?
 
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Plain.
 
Mostly 'Earl Grey' or 'Gold blend' from Liptons. Sugar two tea spoons.(no milk never milk)I some times put lemon juice in, for the summer evenings.
Iced tea for really hot summer days.
 
When it comes to tea I turn into a stereotypical English posh person. I've got 5 types of loose leaf tea at home! :eek:

Milk is acceptable for some types, most types just black, occassionally lemon. I do keep sugar in supply in case the lower classes stop by... :eek::D:p
 
iStudentUK said:
When it comes to tea I turn into a stereotypical English posh person. I've got 5 types of loose leaf tea at home! :eek:

Milk is acceptable for some types, most types just black, occassionally lemon. I do keep sugar in supply in case the lower classes stop by... :eek::D:p
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Just 5? :p We must have 10 or so ranging from English breakfast to imperial green. :)
 
iStudentUK said:
If they are loose leaf then you sir are a true gentleman! :D
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Yep, no bagged tea in there. The Mrs. and I are huge tea fans and I stopped drinking coffee (regularly) a few years back. The wife is a bigger tea snob than I am though... :p
 
Twinings English Breakfast tea for me, with milk and sweetners.

Only problem with this tea is that it tends to loose its tannin a few weeks after I've opened the box. I usually throw the last few bags away 'cos fresh has more of a kick.

(OK, perhaps I should just stop being lazy and transfer it to an airtight container).

Macaroony said:
I just made a cup of tea but since I was out of teabags I made it with some fresh loose one I got as a gift quite recently (including some proper tea mugs). Luckily, I had a tea strainer lying around but it feels like it came out too thin. In fact, I felt like I didn't quite do it right.
Click to expand...

A lot of generic teabags tend to be 'builder's brew' strength. So maybe this gift tea is a more subtle blend than you're used to.

Incidentally, the last time I had builders in the house I bought some typhoo and got some sugar in on purpose. Turned out they only drank hot water. Most strange.
 
Don't hold with all these perfumed waters (Earl Grey etc) that masquerade as tea. Like to consider myself a worker rather than a gentleman, therefore...

Twinnings Everyday for me. Tea bag in the mug - pour in hot water, add milk. Stir and remove Teabag when tea is the correct colour. (Can be tricky to judge in the winter under energy saving bulbs. It's most annoying when you walk away and have to go back and dump the tea bag back in or add extra milk to amend the brew.)

Repeat at least a dozen times a day...
 
firestarter said:
Incidentally, the last time I had builders in the house I bought some typhoo and got some sugar in on purpose. Turned out they only drank hot water. Most strange.
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Hmmm... If they were British Workers it's possible that they've got way past the drinking it as a liquid stage and had begun to snort loose leaf tea directly when you weren't looking.

Perhaps the boiling water was to help them come down from their tea induced highs when gathered around the paint spattered radio...
 
Macaroony said:
I just made a cup of tea but since I was out of teabags I made it with some fresh loose one I got as a gift quite recently (including some proper tea mugs). Luckily, I had a tea strainer lying around but it feels like it came out too thin. In fact, I felt like I didn't quite do it right.
Click to expand...

Loose leaf takes longer to brew than teabags, to reach the same strength.

It's because teabags have finely powdered tea "dust", so they give up their flavor to the water very quickly. Loose leaf has much larger leaves, many times the size of the dust in a teabag. It takes longer to get the flavor out.

I use loose leaf all the time (Republic of Tea, among others). At the bottom of a tin or 1 lb bag will be maybe a teaspoonful of tea dust. It brews up as fast as teabags (which I almost never use). But the loose leaves that make up the bulk of the tea takes longer.
 
Green tea and a dash of milk. Has to be loose-leafed; bagged green tea lacks that rich flavor.
 
Ir you're looking for the boost that coffee gives, Twinings Russian Caravan with honey or jam. I can't drink it anymore, too much caffeine. Ultimately, the tea flavor depends on how long you steep the tea and how hot the water. You don't want to use boiling water, that's why you move it from the kettle to the tea pot, it cools the water just a bit. Then steep the tea for four or five minutes, rushing it just gives water that's good to dye shirts brown, but not much else. I find tea by itself to be dry out the throat, so adding honey or jam, both adds a flavor and improves the beneficial aspects of the the tea. I don't understand why anyone would put milk in tea, perhaps for the fat in the milk, but that changes the taste more than sugar, honey or jam would. Above all, if you like tea, then experiment with different kinds and different additives, and you will understand why people go to Starbucks for all their coffee concoctions.
 
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