Tea anybody?

[emmline]

If you're ever in Boulder, take the tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory. They let you go breathe the air in the peppermint room.

[izzarina]

If you're ever in Boulder, take the tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory. They let you go breathe the air in the peppermint room.

ooOOOooo....I would love that! Now I have to go.

[Jack]

You can grow peppermint yourself and smell it and make tea with it, too.

[Lambchop]

Here is a recipe for Sweet Tea that I randomly pulled off the internet. Yes, folks, that's 2 cups of sugar. The reason you have to bring the water to a boil is because that much sugar just doesn't dissolve without some help.

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 cups sugar
1/2 gallon water
1 tray ice cubes
3 family sized teabags of orange pekoe tea
3 cups cold water, or as needed

DIRECTIONS
Pour the sugar into a large pitcher. Bring water to a boil in a large pan. When the water begins to boil, remove from the heat, and place the teabags in. Let steep for 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove tea bags, and return tea to the heat. Bring just to a boil, then pour into the pitcher, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Fill the pitcher half way with ice, and stir until most of it melts. Then fill the pitcher the rest of the way with cold water, and stir until blended.

Only wusses stop with 2 cups. I've seen methods that involve loading in sugar while the tea is boiling until it's saturated . . . it's a syrup.

The opposite of "sweet tea," by the way, is "unsweet tea." Not unsweetened . . . unsweet.

"Y'all want thay-at sweet or unsweet, hon?"

A reply of "unsweet" is likely to be met with a stony silence, pursed lips, and a raised eyebrow, as if you've just asked where you could purchase marital aids.

And that's if they're allowing that you might not be from around there. If they're not attuned to the peculiar needs of outsiders, or if they know darn well what you are and just think you need to know how to live, they won't mention options at all. They might not even HAVE options. A lot of places don't even serve unsweet.

You don't want to discover what sweet tea is while trying to accelerate into traffic on an interstate highway after having gone through a drive-thru thinking you were getting something thirst-quenching and refreshing. Not only is it . . . sweet . . . but it has a slightly jasmine-floral note that just can't quite be placed. Mint? Jasmine? Cyanide?

[Celtpastor]

Here in Eastern-Friesland, tea is a great tradition!
When, in the 1700s, Eastern-Friesland (due to lack of heirs) lost it's independence and fell to Prussia, the Prussians sent some people here to check the situation. What they wrote back was, a.o.: "The women in Eastern-Friesland are astoundingly beautifull - though unfortunately, they're all helplessly lost to alcohol...". As a cure, the Prussian King decided (since he wanted to make a bigger harbour of Emden anyway), to introduce tea instead. He half-succeeded: People here booze AND have the highest per capita consumption of black tea anywhere in Europe...
The Eastern-Friesian tea-reciepe is quite simple: You need really soft water (use a filter, if Your's is not!) and some solid "Ceylon-Assam"-Black-tea-blend.

Pre-heat the teapot by filling boiling water into it for a minute or so.
Pour out the water again, put the usual amount of tea (1tsp per person + 1 "for the pot") into the teapot, add boiling water and wait for at least 3mins. It has to be really dark ("as oil", like the people here say).
Next, You need small teacups. At first, You need the real huge sugar-crystals (we call them Kandis or "Kluntje"). Put 1-2 large ones into the small teacup.
Then You pour the hot tea into the cup - and enjoy the crackling sound of the breaking sugar-crystal.
Next, You will need sweet cream (NOT milk! Just the cream!), about half a teaspoon per cup. We do have special "cream-spoons", looking just like miniature-ladles, but teaspoons work just fine. Now You may either, in a turning move of the ankle, put the cream into the teacup drop by drop, or else gently pour it down the inner side of the cup-wall. What happens? The cream at first sinks, but then swims up again to the surface of the tea, a bit like fireworks, drawing a picture like a rose (we call it "flower" or "Wulkje", meaning "cloud").
NEVER stir, so as not to destroy the "cream-rose"! Your teaspoon is only used to put it in the cup, as to indicate You don't want any more!

Enjoy!

Here, tea is typically drunk at least 3 small cups in a row - at least 5 times dayly

But, actually, I personally love a decent, strong but shortly cooked (1,5Mins) Darjeeling to keep me awake just as well...

[pipersgrip]

Nobody should be giving advice on how to soothe anxiety with tea -- that steps into the territory of being medical advice, which is forbidden.

Well how about a nice tea that helps one relax, and soothes the body?

[mutepointe]

Only wusses stop with 2 cups. I've seen methods that involve loading in sugar while the tea is boiling until it's saturated . . . it's a syrup.

I thought 2 cups of sugar sounded kind of stingy too but this was a recipe to be seen by Masses and the amateurs, not by the pros.

[caedmon]

I have become a fan of Irish Breakfast and Earl Gray tea.

[chas]

I like a good dark strong breakfast tea to calm me down, seriously, 3:30-4:00pm on the dot otherwise I get cranky. I buy my wife boxes of chamomile which she drinks in the afternoons.

Is there anyone who doesn't think that Sweet Tea is sweet enough?

What is "Sweet Tea"?

How can you live where you do and not know about sweet tea? I first heard about it from a Georgia native (who makes a saturated solution of sugar and then adds Sweet 'n' Low to make it sweeter), but I've encountered it in Maryland, too, and certainly have found it around Williamsburg and Yorktown.

[Dale]

Nobody should be giving advice on how to soothe anxiety with tea -- that steps into the territory of being medical advice, which is forbidden.

This is true. However, I do recommend espresso for Arctic hysteria and beef broth for dromomania.

[Jack]

I recommend plain water for acute inconsistency.

[Dale]

I recommend plain water for acute inconsistency.

Misdiagnosis. You meant chronic.

[Lambchop]

Next, You will need sweet cream (NOT milk! Just the cream!), about half a teaspoon per cup. We do have special "cream-spoons", looking just like miniature-ladles, but teaspoons work just fine. Now You may either, in a turning move of the ankle, put the cream into the teacup drop by drop, or else gently pour it down the inner side of the cup-wall. What happens? The cream at first sinks, but then swims up again to the surface of the tea, a bit like fireworks, drawing a picture like a rose (we call it "flower" or "Wulkje", meaning "cloud").
NEVER stir, so as not to destroy the "cream-rose"! Your teaspoon is only used to put it in the cup, as to indicate You don't want any more!

Oooooh! That sounds delightful! I will try this at the earliest opportunity!!!

[dwest]

I like a good dark strong breakfast tea to calm me down, seriously, 3:30-4:00pm on the dot otherwise I get cranky. I buy my wife boxes of chamomile which she drinks in the afternoons.

Is there anyone who doesn't think that Sweet Tea is sweet enough?

What is "Sweet Tea"?

How can you live where you do and not know about sweet tea? I first heard about it from a Georgia native (who makes a saturated solution of sugar and then adds Sweet 'n' Low to make it sweeter), but I've encountered it in Maryland, too, and certainly have found it around Williamsburg and Yorktown.

When, on those rare occasions, we actually eat out I always get water or hot tea. But I think this "sugar solution" would work great for our hummers and orioles. I sometimes take my wife to get those flavored teas at Sonics after an afternoon working in the garden, they're pretty gross. Good cold water, that's the ticket. Otherwise a lemonade with Pimms, please.

[Joseph E. Smith]

Lyon's Original.

I like that one too...and Barry's (which I have in the cupboard, YAY me! ).

Barry's will do in a pinch, sure. I must confess I do not drink nearly as much tea as I used to, having been corrupted by the coffee generation. But every now and then, a cuppa Lyon's hits the spot no other caffienated beverage can.