need help with tea!

[fearfaoin]

It's 'tea', not tea. It's a plant in the legume (beans & peanuts) family, ie, a completely different species and family than tea.

Roiboos 'tea' is technically an infusion.

Interesting. Legumes, eh? That helps explain the espresso brewing technique...

[djm]

You'll find rooibos added to all sorts of herbal teas, as it is non-caffeinated. The Dutch picked it up from the locals in S Africa. I have read it didn't taste either particularly good or strong, but had noticeable health benefits in preventing illness. I have not been able to find any brand of it being sold straight by itself locally - always blended.

djm

[Innocent Bystander]

I've been drinking
Redbush tea for a while. It's been available in the UK unblended, as far as I can see, for some time. 11 o'clock is another Redbush tea, advertised as "without caffeine" and therefore safe for children. Well, you don't want them bouncing off the walls, do you?
Alexander McColl Smith and his writings have had a bit to do with the increased popularity. But the BBC can tell you about that.

[Nanohedron]

Roiboos 'tea' is technically an infusion.

What s1m0n said. Properly, you only get tea from.......tea. Anything else, it's a tisane or an infusion, if you want to be unassailably correct. Still and all, if you saunter up to the barrista and say, "I'd like a tisane of your best chamomile," smart money says you'll be met with a blank stare. "Infusion", probably somewhat less so.

O tempora. O mores.

[Bloomfield]

Hmm... The scalding of tea...

Simon notes that black teas need to be scalded. I would say it is equally important NOT to scald green tea.

As for the scalding of black tea:

In England, to the normal consumer, tea is just tea unless it's something weird like green tea, herbal, Earl Grey etc. In other words, "tea" without further qualification is assumed to refer to black tea.

I am talking about black tea, too. And Green tea and white tea are different, as is even oolong (although I'd scald that, too, personally).

Tea made in a mug inferior? I beg your pardon, sir. Again, this is a difference in preference, not in quality. It is also a class thing.

Traditionally, the working man would (and does) drink strong - even stewed - tea from a mug. A decent sized drink. It is a healthy, refreshing and satisfying beverage.

The middle and upper classes with time on their hands for gratuitous delicacy and fussiness would formulate rules about the 'correct' way to do things.

The belief that a mug is somehow inferior is very much a class/snobbery thing.

I still have relatives who wouldn't allow a mug in the house.

It's a class thing in England. I have no horse in that race, and I am not shy about trampling on both the English working class and the English middle class. I am very even-handed (footed) that way. I brew tea in a pot but drink it from a mug. I even have no issue with brewing tea in a mug, if the mug is sufficiently large, preheated, and looseleaf tea is used. What I consider inferior is a Lipton teabag in a cold mug with barely boiling water poured over it. Give me coffee instead. And I don't care if that means that I'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes; men who worry about what other people think about the way they drink their tea never will stage a revolution anyway.

[s1m0n]

I brew tea in a pot but drink it from a mug. I even have no issue with brewing tea in a mug, if the mug is sufficiently large, preheated, and looseleaf tea is used.

That's the way it is at my house, too. Chinese or japanese mugs with a ceramic lid are an excellent way to get the thermal qualities of a teapot with a mug, although I usually use a pot.

[SteveShaw]

I even have no issue with brewing tea in a mug, if the mug is sufficiently large, preheated, and looseleaf tea is used.

Luddite. The use of loose tea in a mug is just impractical unless you resort to the use of twee devices the likes of which even my prim and proper granny would have disdainfully eschewed. There is nothing wrong with a good, hearty teabag as long as the tea inside is sufficient in quantity and basic quality to produce a proper brew.

What I consider inferior is a Lipton teabag in a cold mug with barely boiling water poured over it.

Then invest in proper teabags. I recommend Taylor's Yorkshire Tea or PG Tips pyramids. We do have a choice. Liptons bags are for sissies.

Give me coffee instead. And I don't care if that means that I'll be the first against the wall

Give me coffee and I'll be the first against the wall all right, having a pee against it. That's what coffee does to one. Pointless, nasty, bitter stuff.

[emmline]

Give me coffee and I'll be the first against the wall all right, having a pee against it. That's what coffee does to one. Pointless, nasty, bitter stuff.

Clearly you have not tried my coffee.

[chas]

You'll find rooibos added to all sorts of herbal teas, as it is non-caffeinated. The Dutch picked it up from the locals in S Africa. I have read it didn't taste either particularly good or strong, but had noticeable health benefits in preventing illness. I have not been able to find any brand of it being sold straight by itself locally - always blended.

Twining sells straight rooibos; at least the box claims it's straight. Silly me, I saw "red tea" and thought it really was red tea (Chinese black tea). It has a flavor reminiscent of real tea, but grassier and really weak. I don't find it unpleasant, but don't find it worth drinking either.

This place sells straight rooibos:

http://www.tripleaspectherbs.com/Teas/rooibos.htm

[Lambchop]

Kalahari roiboos tea is carried in the tea section of many groceries. The plain isn't bad. A little grassy, as has been mentioned, but it's not bad. Loaded with bioflavonoids.

Speaking of which, you should not put milk into your tea. It seems that it destroys the bioflavonoids. The milk negates the benefits.

Yes, you will need at least two US Twinings per cup. Four if you expect to taste anything.

Taylors Yorkshire Tea is excellent! A manly, solid brew--the spoon'll stand up in it. In the US, check TJ Maxx and related types of stores for smallish boxes of 40 large teabags (a pot's worth) for $3.99. They often have a few bone china mugs, tea balls and strainers, and the occasional ceramic teapot.

PGTips is nice and strong. Definitely not bitter. Barry's can be either mellow or bitter, depending. Typhoo can be found in many areas here, but is somewhat bitter.

My all time favorite was Sainsbury's "floor sweepings," as it was described by the Chiffer who sent it to me. I have fond memories of that tea. (Thanks!)

A few years ago, I stayed at the Homewood Suites Hotel in Orlando. (You may remember it--Room 303? The one that was, err, already occupied by . . . something.) They serve a breakfast buffet. Due to the large number of UK tourists, they provided tea bags. It was fascinating to watch those poor souls fixing their breakfasts. The first child to discover the tea bags would alert the others. They would surround the box of tea, staring in horrified fascination. One of them would then call to a parent, whispering "Look, Mummy! It's what they have for tea!" If the child reached for a bag, Mummy would say "Well, we won't touch it" in that "you don't know where it's been" tone.

The occasional adult brave enough to try a cup of it would sit, staring at it forlornly, picking up the bag by its string now and then in the hopes that it might have turned into tea. By some miracle. But, of course, it hadn't, so they'd give up and have coffee.

You'd hear them in the halls asking others if they'd found any tea yet. The answer was always a sad "no."

I'm staying there again in a couple of weeks. I can probably pay for the entire trip selling PG Tips under the table at breakfast.

[Cork]

Oh, I meant to ask. This morning at the local (small) coffee house, there was
promotional material for a new kind of tea they're serving. It's called red tea,
and is indiginous to South Africa.
http://redtea.com/ ...

Just to mention it, the tea known in the West as "black" tea is known in China as "red" tea. EDIT: Oops, I now see that chas has already mentioned this.

Also in China, there is "white" tea, which basically is "green" tea, but has the distinction of being the very first such tea harvested in the spring, after which the next crop from the same plants is known as green tea. White tea is very good, but relatively rare, and expensive, if available.

[emmline]

This has been an inspirational thread.
Actually, I'm always inspired by talk of tea. I like the word: tea

I love how it steeps, gradually transforming plain old water into something rich and new.

I like tea equipment. (Yes Steve, I may be into the twee. Perhaps I even prefer twee to tea. )

Antioxidants are a fine thing.

All in all, preparing tea can be a wonderful sensory experience.

But then I make a cup. And I drink about half before my mouth starts feeling kind of dried out, and I think you know, I don't like this as much as I'd hoped...

Maybe there are tea mouths and there are coffee mouths and I just happen to have the latter.

[taity]

and after adding milk etc if its not to your taste return the tbag to the mug and give it a right good thrashing in the mug till the req color and taste are achieved . ps and if u get fed up with the taste add whisky mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[SteveShaw]

and after adding milk etc if its not to your taste return the tbag to the mug and give it a right good thrashing in the mug till the req color and taste are achieved . ps and if u get fed up with the taste add whiskey mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Or even whisky.

[taity]

aye that as well