Tea brewing

[Randi]

OK, here we go... another silly thread! :D

We all know the British are famous for tea brewing, but I notice that they simply leave the tea bag in the pot. That is outrageous! What if someone want a cuppa 10 min. later? It has all gone BITTER! :eek:

And tell me, what is the reason for pouring milk in first? I know there are a few explanations to that one, but I'd like to hear your view!

I like a good strong cup of tea - with milk, but it's not the way we make tea in Denmark. We put the loose tea in the pot (in some little container, or cloth bag) and then take it out after 3-4 min.

How do you make tea??

[king2005]

I add 3 tea bags to a mug. Fill the mug 3/4 full with hot water. Attack the bags with a spoon.. Take them out, add a little brown sugar, top it off with 1% milk...

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Ok, now please don't faint! I just toss a tea bag or two in a covered glass pitcher and set it in the sun for a while! Sun tea is great!!!

You use milk? I like lemon! ;) :D

[Almita]

I have never had tea with milk before, does it make it thicker or what does it do?

We just heat water in a pot and put three or two bags or tea and we also poke it. That's about it we add sugar to it too.

[catnapper]

Fun thread! :D

Hot tea: microwave my cup for 1 min 45 sec (horrors! :eek: )
Place English Bereakfast teabag in mug for like ten seconds... enough to give flavor but not strong. Bitter is not my thing! No milk, no cream, no sugar.

Iced Tea: I don't know what I'd do without Lipton's Cold Brew teabags. I fill pitcher with cold water. Add one Cold Brew teabag, place in 'fridge. Pour wonderful glass of tea an hour or so later. For some reason, I do not remove these tea bags until the pitcher is done. I think its because I don't leave it in the fridge long enough to become bitter! ;) Again, no sugar. I'll occasionally add sugar if its sat in the fridge long enough to become slightly bitter, or I'll add a little more more to dilute it.

PS: NO LEMON! EVER! I stopped using lemon after my mom showed me how using lemon in a styrofoam cup has a chemical reaction with the hot tea and foam.... now it seems like posion no matter what container no matter hot or cold. LOL

[Jessika]

I don't like lemon in my tea to begin with... but that description you gave sounds violent LOL

I love sun tea because its slower brewed... and I've heard of putting milk in your tea but I think that's more of a British thing as nobody does it here. Sweet tea is BIG in the south, and since I'm in southern Missouri its a hit or miss as to whether or not I'll find it out at restaurants and such. I LOVE sweet tea, but it has to be perfectly sweetened, not too much, and not too little.

[Randi]

I add 3 tea bags to a mug. Fill the mug 3/4 full with hot water.
Three tea bags!! Wow, that must be a strong cup of tea!! And hot water? Is has to be boiling when you pour it! ;)

MOFF! I agree, lemon in some tea's can be quite nice.

Almita, what milk does to tea and how and when you pour it in, is the big question. Some think that people started pouring milk in to cool it enough to drink it immediately, and some claim it's for the taste. Now, the biggest question is why do you have to pour the milk in first? Some say that it reacts differently (better) with the tea, when you do that, but I'm sure, there are many explanations for this.

Catnapper!! What ARE you doing? LOL! Do you put a tea bag in cold water, and then in the microwave?? Horrendous!!

Jessica, I'm sure it's a British thing to put milk in your tea, but I must admit, I like it, if it's the right tea - English Breakfast, and strong enough!

You know, some are even heating the pot before they brew tea - and that IS the way to do it. ;)

I'm sure our British members can tell us much more. :D

[jackie]

I drink my black tea with milk and honey, and my herbal teas alone.

I just toss a bag in a cup, add boilung water and let it sit from 2-10 minutes depending on the tea.

[Kfamr]

Funny,
I have a cup of tea 'brewing' on the counter right now. Pomegranate Green Tea.. Yum! Free sample I received from http://www.yogitea.com/

Sometimes I boil the water on the stove or if I'm feeling lazy (like today) I microwave it.

Depends on my mood as to how I drink it. Sometimes with milk/coffee creamer & sugar, sometimes with just the cream, sometimes just tea. Right now I'm in a just tea mood.

At work we have french vanilla creamers.. I LOVE it with 1 or 2 vanillas creamers in it. :)

I used to drink iced tea all the time but haven't recently.

[Randi]

Uhh, I would never put cream in tea, and I don't think any Brit would either. :eek: I would accept cream in my coffee - if there was no milk, though.

Now, I don't have a microwave, but at work, I have put some milk in for, I think 20 sec. to heat it for my coffee - I use half milk/half strong coffee. ;)

[Kfamr]

The reason for creamer being that no one in my house drinks milk, but we usually always have creamer.

Same for work, no milk (other than the cartons we use) so I have to use creamer. Most retaurants here give you coffee creamer for your hot tea when you order it. :)

Tastes the same as milk in tea, IMO.

[critter crazy]

Hot Tea-I use 1-2 tea bags, depending on my mood. I usually add milk and sugar to me tea.

Iced tea-I like lemon in my Iced tea.

[Freedom]

Boil the water in the kettle. Heat the teapot with warm water.

One bag per cup plus one bag for the pot. Pour the water OVER the bags. Let steep 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove bags carefully. Do NOT squeeze the bags out, that just makes the tea bitter.

Warm teacup. Well, we stopped using teacups about . . . 20 years ago. Now we have these huge soup cups, so we can sit and enjoy a cuppa, without getting up for a refill.

Dad:
Pour tea into cup, almost up to rim.

Pour cold milk into cup until it overflows.

Add 3 Sweet N Low's. (He used to put in 4 heaping spoons of sugar until he developed diabetes 8 years ago.)

Me:
Pour tea into cup, about 3/4 full.

Pour cold milk up to rim, or else it is just too hot to drink for 15 minutes!

No sweetner for me.

Oh, and it MUST be Salada tea bags.

[Sevaede]

I don't drink tea. :o Or, at least, I haven't found one that I enjoy the flavour of its drink. Suggestions?

An idea of the milk/tea thing... Maybe the reason folks pour the milk first, then tea, is for tempering (as putting the colds into the hots would curdle or otherwise affect the cold undesirably)? As for why there is milk in tea *period* my guess is to cool the drink down. :D

[ratdogg]

I dont really like tea a whole lot, but its better than drinking diet soda I suppose. Lately i've found myself drinking water or gatorade. I think it'd be fun to make tea straight from the leaves and stuff. I definitely want to try boiling water in a teapot that actually whistles :D

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I put the teabag in the mug (not cup), pour in the water, whizz it around a little with a spoon, hum a little song, take teabag out, add milk and YUM!


If its fussy hubby's tea and its not quite strong enough I just chuck the teabag back in again - shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

(and look where I come from........)

[Anita Cholaine]

I put the teabag in a cup, pour some hot water in it, and just wait a few minutes until it gets strong. Just as simple as that. ;)

I only like green tea, and I drink it plain, no sugar or anything. Black tea I can stand it with some lemon and honey, but I don't really like it much. Tea with milk? Eww,I absolutely hate it!

I have to say that I'm more a coffee person, actually.

[CultureJunky]

I'm the same as the rest of the UK ones, just boil the kettle, put the tea bag in the mug, pour boiling water on it, let it brew for a minute then take it out, add milk. I like my tea quite weak, so I have quite a bit of milk.
I also have fresh tea for one of those one cup teapots but don't use that very often.
I think posh tea making in britain is a thing of the past though you can get posh tea bags with a much better quality of tea such as twinnings.
I'm sure though there are some folks in britain (like the queen) who have it done in a very posh manner, with fresh tea that costs loads.

[lizbud]

I like a good strong cup of tea - with milk, but it's not the way we make tea in Denmark. We put the loose tea in the pot (in some little container, or cloth bag) and then take it out after 3-4 min.

How do you make tea??


My Grandma & Mom made tea as you did. Only we had cream instead of
milk.(We always had tea leaves left over in the cup)

As an adult, I've switched to coffee instead. :)

[Miss Z]

Blurgh, I hate tea. Not very British of me, I know, but long live coffee!

My parents always make tea in the teapot, although, like me, they are mainly coffee drinkers.


Uhh, I would never put cream in tea, and I don't think any Brit would either. :eek: I would accept cream in my coffee - if there was no milk, though.

I've seen cream in tea in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. It's more of a southern thing, in fact, I think tea-drinking in general is. ;)

[ratdogg]

wait wait wait, so for all you people that actually boil water in a kettle i HAVE to know...does it really whistle?!?!? send me a PM or just reply. k, thanx!

[ramanth]

I used to boil water in a kettle (and yes, mine whistles), put the tea bag in a mug, pour the water in, let the bag steep for a minute or two (depending on the type of tea), remove the bag and set it aside in case I wanted a second cup, and then depending on my mood would add milk and/or sugar.

But now, thanks to Jess (k9soul), I'll be making tea with this:
IngenuiTEA (http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html?SID=b5467bf3733410f0147d7df 832724219) :D

I also picked out some of their flavor, roobios, and herbal teas. It'll all arrive tomorrow. :D

[Almita]

Almita, what milk does to tea and how and when you pour it in, is the big question. Some think that people started pouring milk in to cool it enough to drink it immediately, and some claim it's for the taste. Now, the biggest question is why do you have to pour the milk in first? Some say that it reacts differently (better) with the tea, when you do that, but I'm sure, there are many explanations for this.

Ahh, thank you for some reasons they put milk in. I have never heard of it here. I've only heard of people adding lemon for a different taste.

[Freedom]

Many kettles are made so they whistle when the steam passes through the nozzle. Some kettles are not made that way.

I have one of each! :D

For anyone who doesn't remember, my Mum was British.

The teapot, now there is a whole 'nother tale. Metal teapots are NO GOOD (although I do have one or two of those as well.) Porcelain, enamel, china. My Mum had ( we still have) 8 or 9 pots. And Mum used a different one depending on . . . something, I never learned what. I just use whichever one I'm in the mood for.

[zippy-kat]

wait wait wait, so for all you people that actually boil water in a kettle i HAVE to know...does it really whistle?!?!? send me a PM or just reply. k, thanx!

It depends on the kettle. :)
Mine does.



Randi, are you ready for the atrocities of all actrocities? ;)
Open package, pour into water bottle, shake, drink. Peach only, please. (http://www.kraftfoods.com/CrystalLight/Varieties/TeaMain.htm) Actually, that's only if I'm at work.

If I'm at the house, it depends on how lazy I am. :rolleyes:
Most weekday mornings, it's: fill the cup with water, chunk in a tea bag, push "beverage" on the microwave, then stir in 1/2 or whole sweet 'n low. But if I have more time (or if it's the weekend), I'll boil the water, load the diffuser with looseleaf tea, and then seep it.

I LOVE tea but I have weird "rules"...
Hot tea must be sweetened (if not by honey, by sweet 'n low).
Cold tea must be un-sweetened.


Now, as for the milk question:
I don't use milk in my tea (not suppose to have milk period as I'm allergic to it). However, I do use 1/2 and 1/2 in my coffee. I pour the 1/2 and 1/2 in first so that it mixes itself when I pour the coffee in and I don't have to dirty a spoon to stir. Talk about lazy!!!! :eek: :D :o

[RedHedd]

Put teabag in cup - usually Traditional Medicinals Ginger-Aid - pour water OVER the bag, let sit for at least five minutes, leave bag in to make it stronger, drink as needed.

My parents put milk in their tea - it's a Russian tradition.

Thanks for the link for the Yogi Tea's free sample. I always like to try new teas. I'm on a hunt for the ultimate ginger tea, but so far Traditional Medicinals' Ginger Aid is the best.

[RICHARD]

In America we brew it in seawater! ;)


_____________________

On Thursday, December 16, 1773, the evening before the tea was due to be landed, on a signal given by Samuel Adams, the Sons of Liberty thinly disguised as Mohawk Indians, left the massive protest meeting and headed toward Griffin's Wharf, where lay HMS Dartmouth and her newly arrived, tea bearing, sister ships HMS Beaver and HMS Eleanour. Swiftly and efficiently, casks of tea were brought up from the hold to the deck, reasonable proof that some of the "Indians" were, in fact, longshoremen. The casks were opened and the tea dumped overboard; the work, lasting well into the night, was quick, thorough, and efficient. By dawn, 90,000 lbs (45 tons) of tea worth an estimated £10,000 had been consigned to waters of Boston harbor.[1] Nothing else had been damaged or stolen, except a single padlock accidentally broken and anonymously replaced not long thereafter. Tea washed up on the shores around Boston for weeks.

[Giselle]

I'm all about real brewed tea. None of that fruity flavored/sugary artificial stuff for me. When I need a little pick-me-up, I brew Tieh Kuan Yin (I think it translates to "Iron Goddess"). Occasionally, I'll mix some milk into the TKY and add in some freshly boiled tapioca pearls (aka pearl milk tea). Sometimes I'll brew some Oolong or nice, imported Jasmine.

However, our traveling friends sometimes get us this amaaazing, high-quality tea that I think is pronounced something like "pou ni". It is AMAZING. Silky smooth, bitter yet sweet, with no aftertaste. I'm craving it now :p

We brew our teas in porcelain teapots when guests are over and we use a plain ceramic pot for everyday brews.

[joycenalex]

if i'm having hot tea, it can only be tetley british brisk, twinnings english or irish breakfast in bags, but i have used loose tea in the past, and i would again. at home a glass teapot that whistles lets me know when the water is boiling. i dump the warming water from the special tea mug, it has a lid to keep the tea hotter, then steep for 6 minutes, toss the bag in the compost pot, without squeezing it, add one half teaspoon sugar. at work, the bottled water dispenser has a hot tap and i have the twinnings individual packets for an occasional afternoon pick me up, but no cream cakes or jelly breads to go with that-darn!. at home, now that it is warmer i've been making iced teas, luzanne brand , half decaf and half regular, i use a mr coffee tea maker for those pots of tea. today at goodwill i got a brand new suntea bottle (for 25 cents!) to make suntea with, so i'll give that a try tomorrow. i'll try the first bottle with applecinnamon tea. i don't sweeten iced teas at home.
there is a regional difference that i've noticed in my travels, US southern tea is often sweetened with sugar (never found anyone south of cincinnatti that uses fake sweetners, publically at least, in their tea. my current favorite south carolina style bar-be-que place serves me half-half tea, half unsweetened "yankee" tea, half"the right way", as the smiling dixie voiced waitress with a serious beehive hairdo says. :D

[Randi]

LOL! Interesting how many different ways you guys brew tea. However, in my opinion boiling water HAS to be poured over it!

There are SO many kinds of tea, but at the moment, I like an English Breakfast tea - PG tips, Yorkshire etc. (black and strong) in the morning with a little milk in, but normally, I drink a weaker Earl Grey - one that is not perfumed! I hate all these artificial fruit teas as well!

[krazyaboutkatz]

For hot tea I like the caffeine free herbal teas and I heat up a cup of water in the microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds and then I put a tea bag in the hot water with a spoon to weigh it down and I let it steep for a few minutes. If I want another cup then I do the same thing and I reuse the same tea bag. I don't add anything to it.

For cold tea I like Lipton with lemon but no sugar. I've also been buying some premade tea from Trader Joes. It's green tea made with white tea leaves and it has mint added to it too. It comes in a jug and I just put it in the refrigerator. It sure tastes good.

When I lived in S.C. I always thought that the tea was too sweet. People in the south love very sweet tea but I've always preferred it just plain with lemon.

[ChrisH]

Talking of black tea. We didn't have tea bags when I was younger (remember I'm an old person :D ) so always used loose tea in a teapot. Our method was as follows.
Warm the pot - by rinsing with hot water. To the warmed pot add one teaspoon per person plus one for the pot. Pour on freshly drawn boiling water. How long it was steeped for depended both on the tea quality and how strong the tea was preferred. Some teapots didn't have very good strainers so we always poured the tea into the cup - cup not mug - through a small metal strainer. Milk and sugar as required added last.

Nowadays, as a lot of people do, I make my tea with a tea bag in a mug, milk still always added last though. :)



I also picked out some of their flavor, roobios, and herbal teas. It'll all arrive tomorrow. :D

Kimmy, I love roobios (Redbush) tea http://www.redbushtea.com/home.asp let me know what you think of it.

[sirrahbed]

by the pot:
boil the water
add 3 teabags or loose catnip tea in a teaball
steep for about 3-5 minutes
remove bags and drink with a spoonful of sugar or honey :)

same method by the mug - only one teabag

I like constant comment (orange spice) chamomile, peppermint or catnip

[ramanth]

Kimmy, I love roobios (Redbush) tea http://www.redbushtea.com/home.asp let me know what you think of it.
Thanks! :) I plan to have a mug of it tomorrow, so I'll be sure to share. :D