Tea or Coffee?

[tim_n]

btw, same volume in harrolds was reported to be £14.95, but does that suprise anyone? No.

[Taz]

Tim N - fascinating posts.

Anyway, as you are obviously an expert on this subject, please could you answer the following question: when making tea do you put the milk in the cup before pouring the boiling water or after? Also, my stock tea is PG Tips. Is there anything else I should try that can be purchased from Sainsburys or Tescos? I don't want to go too upmarket

[tim_n]

ah,

The best way imho is to:

1) boil kettle
2) add boiling water to clean teapot (aka warming the pot)
3) empty teapot, add teabags or loose tea
4) reboil kettle, pour boiling water onto tea.
5) leave for 5-7 minutes covered by a tea cozy.
6) add milk into a cup, pour tea into mug.

To do it in a cup:
1) Warm cup as you would pot above
2) add teabags
3) pour on boiling water
4) stir cup until tea has infused properly & to taste (Between 30secs-1min with PG tips!)
5) remove teabag and add milk

oh, and in both cases, don't forget to drink.

The adding of milk _after_ adding tea is only appropriate in cups. Doesn't matter too much with pots of tea, but means you'll never overfill unless you're stupid.

Adding milk first to a cup of tea means the bag will not infuse properly or at the right temperature. Might as well use lukewarm water.

As for the chinese:

1) You take a small teapot akin to dolls teapot made of terracotta :- )
2) You take your kettle of boiling water, pour it over the tea set (ie cleaning it)
3) add a small amount of tea - around a small spoon worth and place it in the pot
4) fill the teapot with water, pouring extra over the lid and pot.
5) throw away the first pour
6) repeat 4) miss 5)
7) Pour the tea into the sniffing bowl, and take huge manly sniffs of tea, savouring the aroma
8) pour the tea from the sniffing bowl into the drinking bowl. Drink whilst hot :- )
9) repeat 6-9 7-14 times, depending on size of pot.

The idea of the chinese tea ceremony is to relax and clear the mind. Believe me, you're exhausted after pouring (in my case, 28) cups of tea. Don't forget it's only slighly over 1 actual cup to 7 of their cups. It's good fun to do, especially with 3-4 of you as you relax and chat, listen to music and eat good healthy chinese snacks...

[tim_n]

btw, personally I go for cheap tea with the word 'gold' in it somewhere... That's bags

loose tea I'm more picky

[Fatboy]

I was going to post, but after reading all the above (my eyes have been opened to coffee/tea more than I thought possible!) I don't know I'll bother.


Oh, go on then.

Coffee (black - proper stuff, none of this Nescafe rubbish) first thing till midmorning.
Tea from there on in - unless its after a good meal, in which case bring on the "proper" coffee!

[Taz]

Tim N: Any idea where I can buy Lipton Yellow Label tea bags in the UK?

[tim_n]

Unfortunately Lipton tea is made in the uk and exported to other countries. It's not for sale unless it has been imported back :- ) (sainsburies used to do it many moons ago)

Personally, I can't stand lipton :- )

[Grey M@a]

ROFL, it reminds me of a Denis Leary skit where he's going on about the difficulty of getting a cup of coffee flavoured coffee in New York...classic...

Its true though, what the hell is up with this world. Who the hell wants a cherry and banana flavoured coffee, what the hell is Berry Merry Tea when its at home

What happened to good old Coffee and Tea, like yesterday I go to a "Tea House" in town and ask for a cuppa guess what, THEY DON'T SELL TEA aaaaarrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh h

Jesus, all it is, is molka this and molka that, latte please and pommigrantit tea. Jesus, its all your fault, those of you out there demanding fruity coffee's. Thats a bit harsh, its Starbucks fault but you lot are encouraging them, stop it, drink everyday coffee flavoured coffee, normal Yorkshire tea, whats up with the culture of "hey lets have summer fruit coffee today, only 6 orchids are in this coffee....."

That's it I am gonna go into town now for my lunch break and I am going to demand a cup of tea or a coffee flavoured coffee from any venue I walk into.

[tim_n]

lol - hence why I only like cinamon flavoured coffee. Generally flavoured with cinamon sticks that I add to the roasted beans in my grinder.

Some people add milk and sugar, I add cinamon.


mmmmmmmmm, caffeine.

[theuncharmed]

Tea - so long as the milks added last !!

Man that gets to me when whoevers making adds the milk at the same time as the water, I mean what was going through their mind? merciless pigs

[Taz]

Unfortunately Lipton tea is made in the uk and exported to other countries. It's not for sale unless it has been imported back :- ) (sainsburies used to do it many moons ago)

Personally, I can't stand lipton :- )

Thanks for that. What about Dilmah tea? This is supposed to be very highly rated but, again, I cannot find it on sale here in the UK!

[Jeanne d'Arc]

Tea is way better than coffee.

[pion]

don't like coffee, perfer tea.

[The Hand]

Tea.. no contest... I feel like i'm going to have a heart attack when i have coffee.

[tim_n]

Dilmah is a ceylon afaik - you can get ceylon from pretty much anywhere (ie it sounds like clever marketing to me). Between the two 'good' types of tea, it's a matter of taste. I prefer Darjeeling to Ceylon tea anyway. If you like ceylon then Dilmah will probably be similar but perhaps with minor variations in taste. If not, let me know and send me some ;- )

[rolph]

Tea. Pretty much any variety - Tetleys, Quickbrew, Brooke Bond D and PG Tips. The only one i've found too strong for me is the Welsh one that starts with a G (i've gone blank).

After a lifetime of drinking milk, just started (3 months) of drinking soya milk. Mostly to see if it would help with any of my health problems (asthmatic and dermatological). Cant say i've noticed any difference in taste (unless you get the unsweetened version) but so far has made no difference in health.

I think what this thread is missing is a discussion on the most important aspect of drinking tea or coffee. What biscuit do you prefer with your brew.