The British Cup of Tea

[PrettyCandles]

I'm British, of foreign extraction, and partake of the very occasional cup of tea. Dh, OTOH, is true blue Englishman, with a serious tea habit.

Naturally my tea-making skills are not up to scratch, according to dh.

Now I've managed to get my head around certain basic rules: that the water must be freshly boiled, and as hot as possible, and never to re-use a teabag. To those I would add my own 'discoveries': never squeeze the teabag, and use as little milk as possible.

But dh still maintains that I do it wrong.

Please tell me, is he having me on, or does leaving the spoon in the cup really make the tea taste bad?
Also, why can't you top up the cup with hot water, if you've not made quite enough?
Similarly, if you want to drink the tea immediately but it's too hot, why can't you add a little cold water to cool it down?

I feel this thread my kick off
Personally I'm a tea heathen, I chuck the milk in with the tea bag (oh yes! I use those horrible things) so I'm probably not the best person to ask on these matters. Several friends swear it must always be freshly boiled tea, not that from a kettle that has been off the boil for all of 2 minutes hot water is hot water is it not?

There is science behind it. IIRC Which magazine tested cups of tea made with water at different temperatures. They used pressure cookers to get water at above 100C. There was a clear result: that the hotter the water the better the tea tasted.

So water 2mins off the boil would be cooler than it could be, and so the tea wouldn't taste as good. But if you're already cooling the teabag down by adding cold milk, maybe it wouldn't make a difference to you.

Anyway, taste is entirely subjective!

Come now, please educate me!

You need a teapot. Freshly boiled water, 3 minutes to brew and then pour. If you make it in the cup, there's too much tea for the quantity of water so it gets bitter and too strong. Also, the tea changes colour before the taste is developed so if you use the one-cup bags then you get the opposite problem and have orange tea that tastes of nothing. Teapots work every time.

I can't be bothered to warm the pot though.

And it probably depends on your spoon, as to whether it affects the taste. But you might burn your nose on a hot spoon. I have occasionally done this with herbal tea, but then, occasionally I am a clumsy idiot...

Tea bag in bottom of cup. Pour on just boiled water. Leave alone for 2 minutes, add required milk. Gently squish teabag to get required flavour. Add sugar to taste.

DO NOT ADD
Hot water - you WILL taste it.
cold water - (someone did this to me when I was 4 to stop me burning myself, and even then I knew it was Wrong)
sweetener other than sugar , or honey
Another teabag if you take the original out - it is Too Late and the tea must be remade.

Yes, a teapot will help. Preferably not a stainless steel one. Nothing to do with the taste, but they look really ucky after a couple of brews.
Warm the pot with an inch of water, re-boil the kettle, put in the bags, add water, teacosy (wooly), then wait a few minutes. Milk into cups, test the strength of tea, then pour. Alternatively, put the pot on the tray and let the lazy oiks pour it themselves when they are ready.
I have quite a collection of teacosies. My MIL buys them regularly for them and I never use them. They come in handy when I can't find the kids hats and it's time to go.

what people who don't 'do' tea just don't get, is that you have to leave it to brew for a while.

I guess that along with your cardinal sins of topping up with hot/cold water and leaving the spoon in the cup you are not leaving it long enough to brew. You have to leave it for at least a couple of minutes before you squish the tea bag and remove it.

And I bet you wash the cup in between brews, don't you?

My mother is a coffee bore, you're dh sounds like a tea bore. Take no notice. You're doing nowt wrong as far as I can see. If he doesn't like it he should make it himself.

I would say that if you are making tea in a cup with a teabag do NOT leave it to brew, far better to squidge it and remove. If left to brew all the nasty dusty bits will come out and sit on top of your brew like an icky film.
A teapot is necessary so this doesn't happen.
Must get on now, Petunia and Hyacinth are coming for tea, I've still the petit-fours to set out, and it mustn't be served a souciant(?) later than 4.

Very good tips so far

Can I also add that no it is not alright EVER to put your cup into the microwave if your tea has gone cold. This is never ok!

what I did discover though, is that you can put black tea in the microwave without it affecting the tea too much. You just need to add the milk afterwards

nothing wrong with liking a nice cuppa..the way youlike it..its taken dh years but now he knows!

fresh boiled water
tea bag or pot i use both, depends
like it strong
stir and let brew

i do squish tea bag

pil like it weak so always do quick pot for them
i like it with lemon too sometimes

its nice to make a nice cuppatea

no spoons or cold water thats an insult

george orwell insisted on milk after tea, but am not so adamant on that one

how do you like yours, prettycandles?

Firm supporter of the great BCT but not into anything too refined, like Lapsang Souchong (bleuh!).

I use filtered water, rinse teapot out with boiling water - v. important to warm the pot first - use 3 bags per pot, time for 5 mins, all of which gives us that great ahhh! factor. Otherwise tastes like dishwater.

Heaven with a choc digestive biscuit at tea time.

Does anyone remember Muriel's mum's infamous tea-making practices? Tea bag in cup of water in microwave. Worse than the French!

So dh is not exaggerating. Fairly unanimous on not leaving the spoon in the cup, and not adding water - hot or cold - after the tea is made. But why?

I don't tbink he's a tea bore. I'm probably more of one than he is as I like to try different varieties, but he's definitely fussier than I am about how it's made.

DrF - dh refuses to wash the cup between brews! Fair enough, but why not have a fresh mug each time, now that we have a dishwasher? And I do know not to wash the inside of a teapot with soap, only to rinse. I am not a total tea-philistine .