need help with tea!

[emmline]

You know...if you're just casually scanning the thread titles, you might think this one is called "need help with teal."
In which case the correct response is: Avoid it at all costs. Looks bad on almost everyone.

[Innocent Bystander]

Teal? Nice ducks!

[pastorkeith]

Some tea thoughts from a Mayflower riding Pilgrim-German-Scotch-Dutch mutt of an American:

I drink English Breakfast Tea - British Airways got me hooked as a teen and I haven't looked back since. I liked mail order "Republic of Tea" English Breakfast bags until we decided to go with Equal Exchange English Breakfast [www.equalexchange.com] - which is a fairtrade certified tea and just fine. We try to go fair trade certified with all our coffee and teas now. I boil water in a kettle and put the tea bag, two teaspoons of sugar and a splash of milk in the cup first, then fill with the boiling water and allow to steep for a couple of minutes.

But what do I know?
My ancestors probably threw all that tea in Boston Harbor

pastorkeith

[Walden]

BTW, it's not pernounced tee, it's cha. Y'know, like chewin' terbacky.

[BillChin]

Earl Grey tea got a huge boost in popularity from the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. On the show, Captain Picard drank Earl Grey tea.

The show also gave a boost to whistle, flute, recorder playing from the episodes where Picard learns to play a flute like object. It was only a prop and not capable of producing sound, but looks like a whistle.

[The Weekenders]

What was the name of that tune Capn Kirk played on the recorder thingie?

[Walden]

What was the name of that tune Capn Kirk played on the recorder thingie?

"My Heart Will Go On."

[izzarina]

You know...if you're just casually scanning the thread titles, you might think this one is called "need help with teal."
In which case the correct response is: Avoid it at all costs. Looks bad on almost everyone.

My kitchen is teal. It really is too dark, and I hate it. But at least I'm not wearing it

[sbfluter]

My boyfriend brought back some tea from China. It's some kind of jade ring tea. Women pick the leaves and then twist each one into a little ring. It smells beautiful like flowers. I have not tasted it and I'm sure I don't know how to prepare it properly.

I like Indian masala tea. I dump a spoonful into a saucepan and pour in a cup of water. I boil it and strain it into a half-full mug of hot milk. I'd add sugar but I don't think it needs it. But in India it would have a ton of sugar.

It just doesn't taste right unless I boil it like that. In the teabags, steeped like regular tea, it just tastes like clove oil.

[SteveShaw]

My boyfriend brought back some tea from China. It's some kind of jade ring tea. Women pick the leaves and then twist each one into a little ring. It smells beautiful like flowers. I have not tasted it and I'm sure I don't know how to prepare it properly.

You see, this is the heart of the matter! You have tea that is so good that you're scared of doing anything with it! Whereas I, with my huge box of cheap teabags, mash them wantonly, wastefully and to my heart's content, and consume strong, coarse, rustic brew all day with gay abandon! Who's happier, I ask meself!

[sbfluter]

Well, it's not MY tea. He drinks it his usual way which is to heat a cup of water in the microwave to something not too far from lukewarm and then put some of the jade rings into a teaball and then steep it for a little while. I'm sure it's a total waste but he's not complaining.

He brought back dragon ball tea once, which smelled the same. They pick the tea and roll each individual leaf into a little ball. It's kind of a silvery green and smells like flower.

I didn't drink any of that either.

But I drank ALL of the tea we brought back from India. That was good!

[SteveShaw]

Ignore me. I'm just jealous.

[chas]

Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread, but as an American tea drinker, maybe I can offer a few pointers.

You might not want to start with Twining's tea. It is generally made from fine leaves or cut leaves, and it's quite strong. It tends to shock an American, and making it weaker isn't the same as starting with a milder tea. If Twining's is the only really good tea you can get, try their Darjeeling or Queen Mary -- those are good mild Indian teas. You might also want to check out Bigelow -- their English Teatime is excellent tea; they do some flavored teas that are good, especially Constant Comment. There are a couple of other American companies; unfortunately my two favorites have gone out of business. I really need to look for some sources of specific teas.

The three broad types of tea are green, oolong, and black. Green tea is not oxidized at all before rolling, oolong is partially oxidized, black tea is heavily oxidized. American-type tea (Red Rose, Lipton mass market, etc.) is black tea. Oolong is a milder tea, green tea has a kind of grassy flavor.

A good black or oolong tea is made as has been described -- boiling water, preheated pot or cup, pour the water on the (preferably loose) tea, steep 3-5 minutes depending on the tea and the strength or acidity you want.

Green tea is an entirely different beast. I hated green tea till I met a guy whose family had a plantation in Taiwan. He would always heat more water than was necessary and rinse the tea before steeping it -- that is, he'd pour boiling water on the tea, drain it, then pour more water on the tea, steep it, and that's what he'd drink. A good robust tea, he'd steep it again and drink that, too. Lord, that was wonderful tea, even the second brew.

Enjoy it -- tea is about the most remarkable beverage on the planet. It's considerably less expensive than coffee, and a small fraction of the cost of most other beverages. And it's good for you. It's becoming increasingly evident that the hydration properties, anti oxidants, etc. well outweigh the small health risks of the modest amount of caffeine in tea.

[mutepointe]

I breezed through this thread as well. I did like that complicated answer near the beginning.

SUGAR CUBES. While the water is boiling, put a sugar cube in your mouth to see if they're still fresh. If they are, then put another sugar cube in your mouth to see how long it takes to dissolve. Try again, you chewed the cube. Make the tea. Don't bother putting a sugar cube in the tea, they rarely dissolve. Put the sugar cube between your teeth and suck in the tea around the sugar cube and you can feel the sugar cube dissolve. After you finish the tea, balance the teaspoon on your nose. Have another sugar cube.

[mamakash]

I haven't cared for any of the Earl Greys out there, except for Bigalow's Earl Grey. They use real Oil of Beramot to flavor the tea, which is derived from the rind of an Italian citrus fruit. Not the same as beramot (bee balm).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergamot_orange

All of Twining's tea taste weak to me. I never liked them.

Tazo makes a good Chai.

I've used a french(coffee)press to brew loose tea. It's much neater than a tea ball. It's proabably a good idea to have one just for tea, as any coffee you brew in it will flavor the tea.

Here's a great link to loose(and bagged) teas.

http://www.stashtea.com/