This is as days pass by, by Stuart Langridge

The one thing people don’t bother with (especially in ‘coffee houses‘) is that you need to boil FRESH WATER. This thrice boiled stuff in an urn is no good. The water needs oxygen in it to brew the tea properly! Gah!

Thanks for the opportunity to rant!

I can almost hear you yelling while reading it.
:-D

You might want to take the tea bag out before you add your milk and sugar…..

Of course, “proper” tea drinkers drink only from leaf without milk and sugar. ;)

Well I think that when making tea in a pot one shouldn’t boil the water. Firstly add boiling water to a pot then allow the boiling to subside. Add a teabag or two. Leave over a warm stove for 5 minutes, to allow the tea to draw but don’t let the little teapot boil stir if necessary. Add milk and sugar to taste.


Just my opinion

As a person who doesn’t drink tea (at least the yucky white stuff with sugar) or coffee I can see where you are coming from.

The only thing worse that white tea is stewed white tea with three sugars ;-)

I drink some quality teas (weak and black, as I presume MrBen does) and lots of fruit teas. I have had nutters add milk to those!

We have a water cooler/hotter at home so we always have fresh hot water on tap. As a househusband I have to make sure I have the office environment on tap ;-) (pun intended)

Generally, I am a coffee drinker, although I have the occasional cup of tea. I’m afraid I normally succumb to the evils of milk and 2 sugars, although I recently stopped putting sugar in coffee, and tea will likely follow. I may even take to drinking it black, which is how my parents have always drunk it (from leaf, using a nifty little metal sphere into which you put the leaf, and then suspend it in the pot.

Suffice to say, tea from leaf from a pot far surpasses that from a bag in a mug, but we are slaves to convenience, are we not?

Also try and give Rooibos tea a go.
You can drink it with/without milk. Also great in summer to brew a pot and leave it in the fridge with the bags still in it. There are no tannins, so it doesn’t get bitter.
Me, I drink coffee, ‘English’ tea and Rooibos, all depends on the time of day. Just a pain for me to have to buy tea at the British Store here in NL.

(BTW, totally nifty comment preview!)

I found myself just screaming “Yes! That’s how to do it! Why don’t people know this?!?” while reading your post …

sil: Mrs Davee doesn’t drink tea and never makes any for anyone else (not a criticism, just a fact really – and I have to say nice things ‘cos she might be reading this later …). However, even she knows that the water has to be boiling, not boiled.

I don’t agree that the tea bag has to stay in while the milk and copious sugar is added. That’s not how I’ve made tea for you in the past anyway. Tea bag tea is so fine that it hardly needs any time to brew at all: 30 seconds, a quick stir and get it out of there.

Whilst I applaud your stance on the boiling water. I do think there needs to be some guidance on Tea bag infusion duration. Although not everyone would agree on a duration a good guideline should be anything from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes (sometimes more). Of course this would depending upon whether a preliminary squeeze and stir was used to kick of the infusion process.

It should also be noted that weak tea is different from milky tea. Weak tea is tea that is not infused for long, whereas milky tea is tea with a lot of milk in. People often make that mistake.

It’s just tea!

How to make a good cup of tea

Tea is a very emotional subject is it not? There have been wars over it for goodness sake. I personally can’t get by w/out my cuppa. I’ll have it anyway, milky, strong, sweet, not and I love all kinds. Green, herbal, roasted and all kinds the Japanese throw at you. Milky and tepid at Grandma’s house, strong billy tea done over the camp fire and , when you’re a new mum, microwaved for the nth time just to get a hot drink. I’ve recently discoverd ‘stick tea‘...I think it’s just a nicer way of doing the teabag in a cafe….but it’s very cute anyway.

An important point about the LENGTH OF THE BREWING is missed out, I think. If the brew is too short the tea is weak, and even with just a little bit of milk will taste like crap. Brewed TOO LONG is almost WORSE. The tea ends up with a really rich, sickly smell, especially when the milk is added, and basically this is an undrinkable cup of tea. You can try to resurrect the tea by pouring some of the overbrewed stuff out and replacing it with fresh boiling water, but BEWARE this technique takes some time to master, so it is best to practise it one yourself for a while. One final point, the quality of a cuppa can be told by the smell of the cuppa after milk and sugar should be added. It should smell neither to thin (weak) or too rich (overbrewed). But I AM PARTICULAR about my TEA.

NEVER put milk in hot anything you will scald it. After you tea steeps pour it high (oxygen) and slow on the milk

I am an American and hated tea because I thought it was shitty, but yesterday was the first time I boiled the water first...it's God-like. I am now a fan of tea. I bought Twinings "Earl Grey" and was wondering if I do decided to add milk how much do I put in?

Does anyone like their tea with lots of milk and allowing the teabag having minimum contact with the cup. Just enought to taste? Am I alone in this? I am at work, they pick on me for my 'apparently bad' tea making skills. They have 3 sugars and tea so strong it looks like coffee. Help me.

No, no one does. You are beyond help.

The perfect way to make tea is of course with leaf tea and freshly drawn and boiling water poured into a pot. You then pour the brewed tea onto the milk in the cup (in my opinion, it doesn't matter if you add the milk first or last - but pouring the tea onto the milk removes the need to stir!).

Nonetheless, a good cuppa can be achieved without a pot as long as you don't do anything stupid. Stupid things I've seen done:

1. Using stale water.

NO NO NO. Why do you leave your kettle with water in it? Do you LIKE limescale? This is why your tea has flakes floating in it (the tannic acid reacts with the salts that precipitate out of stale water)

2. Using reboiled water

NOOOOO! Boiling the water to death removes the oxygen, which is needed in the boiling process. More to the point - why did you boil more than you needed the first time around? Think of the electricity bill and the environment!

3. Putting the milk and teabag in the mug first, then pouring on the water.

OH DEAR GOD, NO! Boiling water scalds the milk, changing it's texture. Don't do it.

4. Putting milk, teabag and cold water in mug, then microwaving the lot.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? I thought only Americans did this, until a non-teadrinking girlfriend did this right before my eyes. I nearly wept.

5. Adding sugar without tasting the tea first

OK, this is a personal thing. But I don't see the point in taking a beautiful cup of tea and then adding so much sugar it makes your teeth rattle. I sometimes add a little sugar to chai tea (which is already quite sweet), but would never add it to, say, a darjeeling or a lady grey.

6. Confusing weak and milky

This isn't a difficult concept. Weak means hardly brewed, milky means, er, lots of milk. The two aren't the same. I personally make heavy, black teas (e.g. assam) very strong, but with quite a lot of milk. With milder teas (darjeeling for instance), I add much less milk, but also brew less fully to avoid bitterness. For really fragrant teas, I think skipping milk altogther is a good idea.

7. Thinking lapsang souchong is horrible

I like it.

Ladies and Chaps,

I am an American completely devoted to the tradition of tea. I brew loose tea in a Brown Betty pot, the best vessel attainable. Adding sugar to tea is abominable. I used to add a touch of milk but abandoned that practice on the basis that it blankets tea's complexity. If I must use tea bags, Yorkshire Gold is my blend of choice. It is incomparably flavourful.

C.M. Jones

Hello American Man what is a Brown Betty Pot? As for your well articulated view of how you like your tea well I myself am coming round the idea of a more tasteful cup of tea although my fellow colleagues choice of teabag is open for debate.

You should visit the Cutty Sark, it's tea clipper! perfect for a tea tantalising time!

Kerry,

The Brown Betty teapot is handcrafted in Stradfordshire, England, and has been the British teapot of choice for centuries. It maintains heat exceptionally well, and its construction allows the tea leaves to swirl as you pour boiling water over them, negating the need for stirring.

In accordance with its name, the Brown Betty teapot is brown. It is difficult to come by in the States. I found mine at a British provisions shop in Dallas, Texas. But they are abundantly available on the Internet. I urge you to procure one.

C.M. Jones

I live in the states and while I've always enjoyed a good cup of tea, I recently gave up coffee for the most part in favor of the health benefits tea has to offer. During a recent trip to Chinatown in San Fran, I picked up some loose Jasmine-scented white tea, named Dragon Pearl Jasmine, from the Red Blossom Tea Company. It was the first time I had tried loose tea and wow - what a difference a tea bag makes - or rather, a lack thereof.

I usually take my tea with a touch of sugar or add nothing at all, unless I'm enjoying a dessert tea, to which I'll add both milk and a fair amount of sugar. My parents drink green tea with lemon and honey, which I cannot stand! Is there anyone else out there who feels that honey is meant to be no where near a cup of tea? It not only creates a sickly aroma, but gives the beverage a taste that is quite uncomplimentary. I understand there are many antioxidants in honey, which I do enjoy in other foods, however, I cannot bring myself to stir it into my cuppa.

I have yet to purchase a quality teapot, as my husband is still quite addicted to java and I am usually only making one serving at a time, so I just use a single infuser ball, to which I add boiling water from the kettle and let the tea steep for about 3 minutes. I've read that the water for white tea should be slightly less than boiling, however, as it is such a light tea, I find that the hotter the water, the stronger and more flavorful the tea - no matter what type it is.

I highly reccomend the loose tea available at Red Blossom's website : redblossomtea.com, and while it is a bit pricey, it is the best white tea I have yet to try and their loose tea leaves can be steeped 2-3 times, according to their site, which is near impossible to do with a tea bag.

I recently read that re-boiling your water is a no-no and have since made sure to refresh the water in the kettle before heating it up again when refilling my cup. I can't say that I've noticed a difference but the explanation as to why it should definitely makes sense.

All I drink is tea, and at home we use a teapot. However, at university my tea tastes terrible. I make it in a cup, and if I add the milk before the water, its disgusting, but if I add the milk afterwards, I always get a weird skin on top.

Also, I have a huge limescale problem here - are kettles that use water filters first any good?

Can anyone tell me where to buy a TRUE Brown Betty teapot these days? It seems the only place they sell them is on BBC America - and only to Americans. In England there are plenty on sale that claim to be the real thing but aren't. The right type of clay with a Rockingham glaze is what makes a Brown Betty. And it has to be made by an English potter - not 'Caledonian ceramics' or such like. I'd be grateful if anyone could help.

I just returned yesterday from a brief business trip to San Francisco during which I stumbled upon the Red Blossom Tea shop at 831 Grant Avenue in Chinatown. It is worth planning a trip to SF just to visit this shop where the quality of the teas is outstanding. Alice and Peter who have taken over the shop from their parents are so gracious with their time, and the depth of their knowledge about tea is astounding for such young people. Although he was running late for an appointment Peter still took the time to sit down and prepare several oolong teas for my tasting - and what teas. With reference to all the discussion about tea pots etc., Peter steeped the tea in the Chinese manner in a small covered bowl which he then strained into a small glass tea pot and poured into the small ceramic cups. After all its the water (if you have a lot of minerals in your local water use bottled water) and the quality of the leaf that produces a great cup of tea. Although they don't retain heat very long I personally like a glass pot so I can study the tea leaves as they unfurl as they steep. Also Peter told me that he thought oolong should be steeped in water at 195 degrees which is lower than boiling and that green teas should be prepared in even cooler water. And of course never cover the taste of a good tea with milk or sugar.

First, all who have written on this sight, save for the last entry by Nicklolas, have presupposed there is only one type of tea, black. Very little subtle flavor remains of the essence of the beautiful bud when processed to death. Try some of the Oolongs and greens out there.

Second, the "Brown Betty" is named so because the popular brown, cilindrical-style teapot found in England in the 18th and 19th centuries was seemingly in every home. It's named "Brown" because of its color and "Betty" because that was the most common name of another item found in so many homes, the housekeeper/maid.

Coffee is by far a superior beverage. Tea, even when of the highest quality, is minimally flavorful. Also, coffee is significantly more stimulating than tea. I predict that Britain will consume more coffee than tea within the next century or so. London already has more Starbucks locations than New York. The entire globe is becoming little more than a corporate campsite.

Mr American Revolution...

Tea rocks! Without tea where would we be?

It contains antioxidant which are very good for the human body.

and it's cheaper than coffee.

Onto the subject of the vast amount of coffee shops there are, we may have that many in London but like most things it doesn't mean they are any good.

Long live tea!

I shall reply to American Revolutions post in a like mind set:

Shut up you arrogant yank pig!

Coffee is not superior, just because thousands of morons want to all be little Alley MqSqueals drinking their "orgasmic" coffee doesn't make it better.

Tea is more varied, you have fruit teas, jasmin teas, lemon teas, strong, weak you name it. All Coffee has is variations that image concious muppets care about, skinny mocha latte??? What the fuck is this? What happened to black or white with or without suger, its the same watered down nasty shit that its always been just these pricks are conned into paying top dollar. If you need the stimulation this liquid ciggarette gives you then your life needs some substance!

So instead of posting here I'd recommend that your time is better spent licking and kissing the corporate ass of starbucks. Enjoy!

My dear Jon, although it is fashionable to denounce Americans, your response need not be so acidic. First, I have nothing against a good cup of tea. I simply prefer coffee. Second, in no manner do I wish to insult my British brethren. Although I was spawned in the United States, my heritage is primarily English, and I adore the UK beyond expression. I apologize if I have inflicted unintended offense.

As a point of clarification, I should like to add that I am not a patron of Starbucks. On the contrary, I mourn its popularity. It is overpriced, and its coffee is exceedingly strong. I prefer to take coffee at home.

mrben--you sound like you know a little bit about making and drinking tea. Personally, I like to use unbandaged (loose) tea in the pot, boiling water (gotta be boiling), and steep it. Half a teaspoon of sugar, bu no milk. Milk ruins the taste of the tea.

Why all the fuss about tea bags? No self respecting Brit would make "tea" with a bunch of bandaged crap called "tea." Use a Brown Betty pot and BOILING water, and let it steep until it's the strength you want. Sweeten it if you must, but for God's sake don't ruin it by putting milke in it.

A blanket statement of "Use boiling water to make tea, not water that has been boiled," is wrong. The optimum temperature of the water at which to brew tea is not the same for all tea types. Black, oolong, green, and white teas all have varying optimum temperatures. Maybe when brewing black tea boiling water is appropriate, but for others it's 'just steaming' and for another it's 'right before boiling'.

use tea bags ONLY when you absolutely have to (ie when you're traveling) and if you do have to use a bag, choose a good brand like PG Tips. Otherwise, explore the wonderful world of loose tea. Tea bags vs. loose tea is like black & white vs. technicolor. Do a word search on "how to make a proper cup of tea" or something similar to learn how to do it up right. The finest tea is a waste of time and money if not prepared properly. Find a knowledgable loose tea vendor online. My favorite is thebeanon41.com. in Punta Gorda Florida. The wife is native Scottish and they truly love tea. They have about 80 teas in stock. Learn to prepare great tea and truly embrace your teatime, and in no time you won't be able to live without it. My day just doesn't feel right if I haven't had tea. Just for the record, alas, I'm American :)

Hello everyone,

As someone, that has just left the beautiful country of "England". Some other gents as well as my self got the pleasure of having some true home made "EARL GREY" tea. And I have to say, there is no place in the US; that can make a cup like true tea drinkers!

This is my little way of preparing a cup!

1. Fresh distilled bottled water brought to a boil

2. Pre warm, your tea pot with boiling water then empty

3. If you use bags the quality is not the same but oh well,

1 bag per cup.

4. Put your bag(s) in the pot then pour the freshly boiled

water (caution not to let it boil to long) over the bags

as fast as possible

5. Let stand for 3-5 mins then serve.

Hopefully every on will enjoy this post,

Thanks for the time,

Earl

"Fair Winds Be To Ye"

i will vomit this tea.

[...] Boiling! Boil the water! How hard can this be? [...]

milk is last u limp wristed tea drinker

who actually cares about this!! you people are seriously crazy...

There's no such thing as one proper way to make tea. It depends on the type of tea, the water, what's added and, most of all, personal preference. There's plenty of advice, of course, for those new to tea-making but everybody eventually hits on their own personal brew and that's it - nobody else's tea will ever come up to scratch. If you're British and have been drinking the stuff all your life then odds on your preference was fixed as a child, though you might experiment a bit in later years. I drink my black tea sometimes with milk, sometimes with fruit juice added (apple is lovely) and I like green tea too, always with fruit juice (otherwise I find it too bitter and I don't like to add sugar).

As for coffee, well, it's ok but has nowhere near the refreshing quality of tea, IMO. Also coffee has a very distinctive taste and smell, but for me that's part of the problem - it's taste tends to overpower anything you might be eating at the same time, where tea is more inclined to complement food. Tea and a salad sandwich - lovely! Coffee and a salad sandwich - nope, not in the same league.

The reason for heating the teapot before making the tea was to prepair the old type of pot years ago to stop it cracking now days this is not necessary. Is this right?

Trev.

Hi!

Great article. I enjoyed reading this since tea making is a big interest of mine.

I grew up in the faroe islands where almost all people drink black typhoo tea or sometimes Tetley. The water is very soft, no calc or lime scale.

In Denmark where I live now we suffer from hard water and get lot of lime scale in the cup.

Furthermore Typhoo tea, pg tips, yorkshire tea, and tetley is not obtainable in Denmark, just in special stores. In stead a dutch brand called Pickwick is dominating the market, and they have hundreds of different tea's that are all awfull and taste terrible.

So I missed my good cup of typhoo for years, but then I found it in a special store, but I was disappointed it did not taste the same. I blamed this on the water. For years I experimented but still could not get it to taste like I remember it.

But I never gave up, somehow Yorkshire tea, and Tetley (has a lot of assam tea, which tastes great in hard water), and Pg tips taste slightly better. Somehow Typhoo is for soft water.

So I thought. Now I have begun to wonder, because if this is the case then why is it so popular in UK where there is alot of hard water???

This is beyond me.

Another mystery is that yorkshire tea which tastes fantastic is available in a hard water version. Why on earth do they sell a hard water version when there are some many areas in the UK with hard water, and only few with soft water?

So they sell soft water tea for hard water regions?

Another mystery is that typhoo tea makes a version of their for wales (granite mountains) for soft water.

The latter prooves to me that typhoo tea was designed for hard water, but in the faroes it it the best sold tea and as explained earlier we only have soft water in the faroes.

I hope someone can see my point.

I am drinking a cup of pg tips now and it tastes fine but there is a lot of lime scale in the cup.

Guess I was wrong about the hard water. Makes more scence to me.

From this website I learned that soft water is more common in the uk:

http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/content.asp?storyid=%7B4F9CC54B%2D9E8B%2D4093%2D8850%2D1435FC3C6E41%7D&from=ourteas

Interesting point by Fridrikur about hard water. I live on the Wirral peninsula now and in our area we have quite hard water, although all around the water is soft. Apparently it is because we get our water from a local bore hole.It makes our tea and coffee taste disgusting. so we filter all water used to make beverages (including cold ones) before we put it in the kettle - problem solved!

Also I like very weak tea, so prefer Orange Pekoe or any other Ceylon tea which is meant to be drunk weak. At work I am known as the five second dunk, because if you leave the teabag in the cup for any longer I can't drink it. I know it looks like dishwater, but that's how I like it!

im new to drinking tea and every time i make it it tastes like water with a weak taste what do i do?

OK. I am going to buy a Brown Betty teapot, but I was wondering about brewing the tea. Do I put the loose leaf in there, pour boiling water in there and that's it. I wait a little while and then start drinking, leaving the leaves in there. Or do I take the leaves out somehow? Someone, please help me out.

OK, now I'm wondering about which strainer/filter to buy. Do I get a Finum Stainess Steel Infuser, or do I pay the extra money and get the Swissgold TF 500. I'm kind of wonderinf about the Finum. I like that it's a lot less money, and bigger than the Swissgold. It'll let the leaves open up more. But, it looks like there is a lot of plastic on it. I want less plastic. Especially because I'm working with boiling water and acidity. Anyone have any suggestions¿ Sil... maybe you.

what the fuck is this the owner is an assholethis is abig shit site so close this!!!