Correct me if I got anything wrong, TA!
You sir, are a bounder.
I’d personally would appreciate all the effort even if it wasn’t right. I’d drink it to be polite, I don’t usually drink tea.
Ok honest question. Do Brits only let the tea soak for like 2-5 minutes? I always let it soak for longer, like 15 minutes otherwise I think it just doesn’t taste as good.
Edit: I probably should have clarified that, when I say 15 minutes, I was thinking about teabags. I only use teabags for stuff like lavender tea etc. Also I would never let black tea soak for 15 minutes, I’ve accidentally been there. Can’t recommend it.
I’m from the US so maybe not what you’re looking for, but for black tea you need a few things:
- 212° water (freedom units) - must be boiling, not boiled-then-left-to-cool. I use an electric kettle. If your water isn’t hot enough your tea won’t steep effectively.
- Decent tea. If you’re steeping 15 minutes you might be drinking cheap tea made with fannings (essentially the tea dust that’s left over after the better quality products have been packaged). I drink Yorkshire Gold but this is a matter of preference.
- Milk and sugar to taste, but these should complement the tea. Tea should be the predominant flavor, it shouldn’t just taste like milk or sugar.
Here’s what you do:
- Heat the water to a rolling boil.
- While the water is still boiling, pour over the teabag. Pour slowly enough that you don’t rupture the bag.
- Steep for 5 minutes.
- Remove the teabag. Don’t squeeze it out - this releases more tannins and your brew will be more bitter.
- (CONTROVERSIAL!) Add milk and sugar. Some people will tell you milk goes in first. These people are wrong.
Some people will talk at you about teapots and patinas but honestly if you’re an infrequent tea drinker it’s not worth bothering with.
Signed - an American anxiously awaiting all the UKians who will tell me I’m doing it wrong.
tea bags, which are casual, 3 minutes.
if you’re steeping tea leaves and you care about it, teas have different steeping times
same as going for a jog vs being an ultramarathon runner
or painting a wall vs building a houses for a living
it’s about whether you care about the process or want a quick solution
American here. 15 minutes is a wild amount of time to have your tea steeping before drinking, not least of which because it’s probably too cold by then! If anyone finds all tea too bitter, or has to add a ton of sugar and milk, it’s because it’s a quick beverage, not a potion or a science experiment…
This all sounds about right, except maybe wiping your unwashed genitals around the rim of the cup before you start. Other than that, spot on.
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I’m ngl I have tea semi regularly, and I put the teabag in with the water to the microwave. The method works, I don’t see the problem.
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I don’t think I’ve ever had this issue. Here’s the full method.
Put teabag and spoonful of sugar into mug, pour maybe 2cm of water into mug. Nuke for about a minute. Let sit for a bit. Agitate the teabag a bit to get more of the delicious leaf juice out. Chuck out the tea bag. Pour in milk. Nuke for 20 secs. Done.
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I have not, I’ll give this method a try when I get a chance.
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It’s been 3 weeks, haha, but yeah I got around to giving it a try. The verdict is… It’s basically the same. I will be continuing to do it the way that I did before since it’s easier, but I have enjoyed this experience of having my horizons broadened :D
Fucking hell, mate. Always put the water in the mug before the tea bag.
Wait, I’ve always put the teabag in first.
Teabag in, set cups aura, teabag out, water in, teabag in
I’m Canadian and we have a long heritage with English things … especially tea. But our brothers and sisters are American so we have a lot of overlap in our culture.
I grew up in northern Ontario in an indigenous community. Mom and dad were traditional people who were born and raised in the bush. They lived on your old English black tea. We treated it like a survival food and basically cooked it like it was coffee. All my life tea was made by boiling water in a large metal 4 litre tea pot and once there was a rolling boil, you dropped in eight tea bags and let it bubble for a minute until it all turned into a deep reddish liquid. The best tea was always in the first half an hour, after that it was like drinking a really strong coffee.
I drank that from the time I was a baby … really! I remember seeing mom fill a baby bottle with warm tea, canned milk and a bit of sugar and feed it to my baby brothers. I assume she did the same to me.
Once I started living away from home, I drank less tea and more coffee. But I always love my black tea.
Never order it in a restaurant in Canada. Half the time a cheap little restaurant will just use hot tap water and drop the shittiest tea bag thats been sitting on the shelf for years to make your brew.
The only public place to get good tea is at Tim Hortons, the Canadian coffee chain. They actually make the kind of tea I grew up with, really strong brewed tea that is kept fresh regularly. Their coffee is shit but their tea is excellent … at least to me.
Similar fond memories of growing up straddling English and American traditions on the wet Westcoast with English and Swedish grandparents.
My grandfather always had coffee brewing on the wood cookstove in his cabin. It was a metal 2 piece drip system. Always adding more hot water to the top as the day progressed. Like your example the first cups are the strongest. They had those white rogers sugar cubes and canned condensed milk from Pacific as creamer. Us grandkids would be bouncing off the walls from the caffeine and massive amounts of sugar most of the day.
Then at night with dinner it was Orange Pekoe tea with milk to finish the day. I’m surprised we got any sleep to be honest looking back on it.
Now living close to the US border I sometimes forget when I’m south tea is not such a normal thing in a restaurant and I get odd looks from those when ordering it. Usually they are the kind of place that serves Coke with breakfast though so I’m already in the wrong place for tea as it is.
For me Tea is the only thing I get from Tim’s too in the way of a London Fog. When it comes to Coffee Canadian McDonalds is my way to go. US McDonald’s coffee is something else terribly not enjoyable.
It’s a bit wet without a biscuit served. I suggest a rich tea or custard cream. If you can’t get those in the US, any of your weird ass deviant cookies will do.
We put our biscuits in gravy, hee-yuk!
we get our tea from beans, we get our cookies from beans, and GODDAMIT some of us get our milk and sugar from beans too.
It’s the American way.
