As long as you avoid the cheaper supermarket varieties I reckon how you make a cuppa has more bearing than the choice of tea. Though FWIW my vote's for Yorkshire Tea.
The ULTIMATE cuppa showdown: And the winner is...
Cue the traditional fanfare of trumpets and thunderous drumroll as we reveal today the winner of our ultimate cuppa showdown. Mug with our Vulture logo This cha-tastic adventure – the aim of which was "not to examine the hundreds of possible tea type/brewing permutations, but rather establish a set of basic rules which can …
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:12 GMT Andy 73
Agreed. Teabags only need a quick swill round or the tannins overwhelm the taste.
At the risk of loosing any tea tasting credentials, I've fond memories of tea served by a rather lovely flatmate who would add a generous slug of brandy to a mix of earl grey and assam. Most evenings would end up with us around the kitchen table setting the world to rights.
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:50 GMT HollyHopDrive
Cripes, no wonder Yorkshire tea faired so badly. 4 minutes in a mug is far too long for that bad boy. It can make the water in the kettle go brown just by being placing the box within 6 inches of it.
Yorkshire tea needs a quick stir plus 20 seconds and a good squeeze. Any longer and it will destroy the spoon. Splash of milk and it's the king of all teas.
Typhoo/pg on the other hand will need the whole 4 mins.
Now, where did I put my flat cap....
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Monday 18th November 2013 18:32 GMT Andrew Norton
I use Tetley English blend (I'm in the US) but before I moved here I was a strong supporter of pyramid bags (and still get them on occasion when I get homesick and go to the British import store)
Anyway, what's it say about me that I use a thermal mug, and have it brew for 6-8 hours? Of course the mug is a little larger than a normal mug (its 64fl oz (1.9l) but that and a splash of 2% (semi-skim) and its a wonderful thing.
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:22 GMT Pete 2
> I'm confused as to how Typhoo took the top spot though
Familiarity. Most people train themselves to "know" what a decent cup of tea should taste like. That comes from comparing any new tea with what they're familiar with. Hence the most popular teas will (almost inevitably) get the highest votes.
The surprise being the Clipper Organic. It would be interesting to know if that is basically the same as the other top choices (just with the word "organic" added) or if it was actually different from the most popular tastes.
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Monday 18th November 2013 13:23 GMT Ragarath
Typhoo! WTF?
How the hell did that win? Are their taste buds broken?
Sorry but I am stuck with that at work everyday and it is awful stuff perhaps the local fountain water makes all the difference?
I have only had a couple of occasions to have Twinings English Breakfast but that would get my vote. Best I have tasted thus far (but too expensive for me to drink all the time). Though I have not tried several on your list.
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Wednesday 20th November 2013 11:53 GMT Uffish
Re: all those Chinese
The French also like to claim that they are lactose intolerant but they also water their orange juice so that it is not so acid and sweet. I consider that they are just intolerant, and their idea of tea is an insult to humanity. Their coffee is strong, caffeinated, black and very good however, even if Italian is better.
By the way, all the Chinese I have met consider that English tea is blended for drinking with milk and happily drink it like that or, if they still don't like the taste, drink Chinese tea - which is not blended for drinking with milk.
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Monday 18th November 2013 13:30 GMT Anonymous Coward
For the Welshies here Cwrw Braf is a good cuppa, nice strong tea but with next to no tanin taste. Cant really stomach PG Tips or the like, leaves that nasty bitter taste on the tongue and back of the throat.
Also always put a bit of cold water into the cup first and pour the boiled water onto the cold water and not the tea bag, it stops the leaves from burning and gives a smoother taste.
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Monday 18th November 2013 13:42 GMT Slef
Tea
If 1/3 of the points come from somebody who prefers earl grey then is this going to be a fair tasting as that tea is definitely on the wishy washy scale lol (no disrespect to our artist intended) that would include ty poo, and the more meaty teas such as yorkshire would be at a disadvantage.
Given that this is the most important event on the net at present some fairness should ensue lol
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:48 GMT Beamerboy
Re: Earl Grey - VOTE NOW
ready to be downvoted and flamed - but I'd go even further as I prefer Lady Grey, that's what I drink at home in the mornings with Lapsang in the afternoon - unless I'm having coffee but that's another discussion completely!
Mine's the one with the girly teabags in the pocket!
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Monday 18th November 2013 19:10 GMT heyrick
Re: Earl Grey - VOTE NOW
Lady Grey is good as a special occasion tea, but my regular brew (guess what, I have the kettle on...) is Tetley. I'll use Typhoo as a temporary substitute, but never got the liking of the taste of PG (it's too "red" for me). My favourite special occasion tea, however, is one called "Sweet Sakura Tea" (black). But, alas, I can't track down a supplier that doesn't expect an arm and a leg for shipping...
I'm with those who think 4 mins for brewing is insanely long. About a minute does it with a teabag if you want to enjoy the tea at its best and not be clobbered by the resultant tannins, which IIRC are released exponentially so the longer the brewing time, the far worse the result will be.
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:01 GMT John 110
Surely (...don't call me...)
4 minutes in a mug is truly excessive (and the tea would be cold by then). Brew tea in a teapot (properly seasoned, of course) for 4 minutes, (retains it's heat and still burns yer tongue when you drink) and adjust the number of bags/1.7 litre to fine tune the strength. That gives enough water to dilute out the taste of the bag... (paper, yeeuch...tiggers don't like paper) and enough tea to store some for later.
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Monday 18th November 2013 17:47 GMT Psyx
Re: Surely (...don't call me...)
"4 minutes in a mug is truly excessive (and the tea would be cold by then). Brew tea in a teapot (properly seasoned, of course) for 4 minutes..."
The point of the exercise was to evaluate the 'work brew', which is why the idea of using a pot was previously discussed and discarded during lengthy debate (Rightly too: Although a few have such things at work, most of us don't!). I don't remember signing off on a 4 minute brew time, though!
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:02 GMT Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse
Hmmm...
Twinings Assam is no better than Tescos or Morrisons Assam - but double the price.
Have tried the Clipper organic recently after being given a box as part of a "new house" hamper from my mortgage company, and have been mildly surprised at how nice it is.
Just to re-iterate my previous warning - stay away from the Morrisons "value" box unless you are a masochist - 27p for 80 bags in a box = eughhh!!!!!
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:04 GMT Spindreams
Pg-tips for me
As an Ex-pat from London living in Sardinia there is very little good tea available locally, Tea here consists of expensive weak twinings or equally weak but cheaper Lipton stuff. So instead I get a bi-annual delivery from one of the many expat delivery websites for a pack of 1000+ pg-tips tea bags in a um bag,as well as all my oriental herbs and spices that I miss. British Corner Shop being my current fav (google it / no affiliation BTW). Now all we need here is a good local Curry and Chinese takeaway and all would be well again in the world. :)
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Monday 18th November 2013 14:14 GMT Pete 2
Taking the tea,
12 mugs is an awful lot of tea. Assuming they weren't filled to the 275ml capacity, that's still about 3 litres of tea per person. You' d hope that in the interests scientific rigour, the testers were't all given the same teas in the same order. You'd also hope that for their own well being, they weren't forced to drink all the tea, in every sample.
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Monday 18th November 2013 15:01 GMT PJI
AaRGHH - how standards have been perverted
I can scarcely credit what my eyes saw. I know that the education system if failing and rampant Americanisation is taking over all aspects of life; but:
SKIMMED milk? What a perverted abomination in any context: all or nothing please - full fat or none.
TEA BAGS? TEA BAGS! I feel like Lady Bracknell and handbags. In an emergency, perhaps: loose tea and not too finely cut either. Failing time to make a pot, use a tea sieve (or is it tea egg? I live abroad now and the local name translates to "tea egg"). You will never, ever get the taste of even a cheap tea to a proper level in a bag and then there is the taste of cheap paper and …. No, must stop before I suffer apoplexy. No doubt these are the same people who think Starbucks makes coffee (oops, excuse the expletives, S* and c*).
MUG? Hmm. Now break down into thick and chunky or fine porcelain …. On some occasions, e.g. a proper afternoon tea, such as one or two Manchester hotels will still provide, it must be good porcelain cups and saucers giving a proper sense of occasion and ceremony.
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Tuesday 19th November 2013 10:15 GMT Psyx
Re: AaRGHH - how standards have been perverted
"I can scarcely credit what my eyes saw."
The entire point of the survey was to find a decent work brew, made under work-brew conditions. Not to take high tea. Now you might drink from fine china and consume the finest loose leaf in the confines of your office, but the vast majority of us make it in bags and drink it by the half-pint.
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Monday 18th November 2013 15:05 GMT lawndart
says
Too busy to make tea? Too BUSY to make tea?
During WWII US tanks sent to Britain had to go into the workshop to get a hot water boiler fitted so that tea could be made; Brit tanks had them as standard fit.
Crews would stop at any opportunity to brew a cuppa, even during battle. Probably affected the rate of fire somewhat though.
None of this "too busy" malarkey. Kids today etc.
"Ere, Jimmy, pass the milk."
"Hang on, got a Jerry in my sights."
"That's sergeant to you, and pass the bloody milk NOW!"
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Monday 18th November 2013 15:19 GMT Anonymous Coward
For really good tea, you have to get it from a country like Kenya or Sri Lanka where they produce it. Otherwise by the time it gets to Britain it's been "blended" (cut down with cheap rubbish) several times.
The best recipe is one teaspoon of Ketepa Safari Blend in a metal teapot, boiling on a low heat for 5 minutes.
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Tuesday 19th November 2013 10:18 GMT Psyx
Likewise the milk. If you'r not pouring it in steaming from the cow's teat, you're drinking nasty peasant-brew. The china needs to have been turned sometime within the prior 72 hours: Older cups are utterly inferior. Only if you do all of these things and sup your chosen brew after washing your mouth out with fresh ice from Antarctica - while sat outside next to at least 50 acres of park - will your tea be served properly. Otherwise you're a stinking peasant who I will look down upon with my superior tea-drinking ways.
Oh: Platinum teaspoon, too. Anything else makes the stuff vile and fit only for the tiny, pathetic minority of serfs who use teabags.
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Monday 18th November 2013 16:44 GMT Alistair
Canuck
Start my day with my Timmie's doubledouble. Sorry - need the 18%cream jolt of fatty goodness.
For Tea however,
Red Rose. Tetley always tastes like the broom that was used to sweep it off the blending room floor.
Boiling water -- at least 45 seconds on full boil off the burner, electric kettles don't run on *boil* long enough to really get the water hot enough. POT dammit. One teabag in a cup? you're making 3 cups worth of tea in one shot.
2% (or partly skimmed) milk is acceptable if one is on a really low calorie diet, otherwise, whole milk. Come on -- ENJOY the tea please.
Sugar - I'm not one for weird stuff normally plain white works for me, but an occasional treat is unbleached granulated sugar. Honey goes in things like chamomile.
I know you folks over the pond can't get Red Rose. Its sad really. I cant drink tea in the states. They just plain don't get it.
Mind you - a nice jasmine green with my sushi is good at lunch.
Oh -- speaking of which - off to lunch I go
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Monday 18th November 2013 17:10 GMT Dom 3
Milk
Lester, please tell us you managed to find some fresh milk for this, not the UHT crud that accounts for 99% of the Spanish market. If not, the whole thing stops being merely absurd and becomes farcical.
Absurd, yes; a Yorkshire Tea bag in a pot is good for two decent sized mugs of tea, four minutes brew-in-mug... urgh.
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Monday 18th November 2013 17:20 GMT Anonymous Cowardess
Any ideas ...
... why Twinings tea is getting so hard to come by here (i. e. Germany, on the border to Belgium and The Netherlands)? All the shops are switching to Lipton, which seems to only have 1 sort of black tea, a few greens and the many, many other kinds that are not proper tea :( Esp. Belgium used to be a good source for cheap Twinings tea.
OTOH maybe it's because my fellow Germans nowadays think, that you are a tea drinker if you "enjoy" in the morning 2 cups of Turkish Apple or Strawberry Vanilla or some such crap, usually based on rooibos. Instead of going for the usual coffee like they used to and now suddenly feel guilty about. I often decline now, when someone offers me tea, because my definition is so totally different from theirs.
Sorry for the rant. If only shipping costs from the UK weren't so expensive ...
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Monday 18th November 2013 17:37 GMT Anonymous Coward
Tsk... no reference to the British Standards?!?
Tut, tut, tut... somebody hasn't been doing their research. There are methods and procedures which should be being followed for the comparative testing of teas that have been enshrined within the library of documents produced by the British Standards Institution for well over 30 years!
The documents in question;
BS 5987:1980 - Methods for sampling tea
BS 6008:1980 - Preparation of a liquor of tea for use in sensory tests
I believe a retest is in order... and while you're at it, maybe compare with some teas / blends from an actual tea shop instead of these common supermarket products? I'd recommend checking out the selections available from Whittards of Chelsea!
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Tuesday 19th November 2013 02:29 GMT Nuffnuff
Baggins
It may seem somewhat unorthodox, but I would venture to suggest that leaving the bag in allows for a greater freedom of expression for the leaf, resulting in a superior, albeit brief experience.
At some part of the process, the temperature and infusion strength will overlap to provide a sip of tea which is as good as it can possibly be. The drink prior and subsequent to that acts as a (fairly large) bookend to illuminate that glorious moment, in its full range of boiling insipidity to brackish swill at room temperature.