El Reg rocket squad poised to select Ultimate Cuppa teabag Vulture Central's pursuit of the ultimate cuppa is set to enter the final straight as we prepare to decide once and for all what constitutes the pinnacle of cha perfection. Mug with our Vulture logo Followers of our resolutely no-IT-angle-whatsoever path to tea heaven will be aware that we've already established a brewing …
From memory, Peña Negr is pretty high up - can we assume that the brewing and testing will be taking place at a more appropriate altitude than 2000m? ISTR the boiling point of water being only around 93 degrees centigrade at 2000m which, I'm sure you'll all agree, is completely insufficient for this analysis. :)
Tea's up!
For standard tea - that is the way to go. From a pot. When not drinking Earl Grey, this should be the de facto standard.
The main variable here, though, is the hardness of water. Softer water makes, to my mind, a nicer brew by far. So at least use a Brita style filter to help things along.
I was with you right until you revealed that your drink of choice is actually pot porri!
PG Tips, Tetley and the usual all need to go on the list, though I'd also recommend adding Twinings 1706 [I think] strong breakfast to the test. Tesco red label and Co-Op brands are inferior, but also worth a mention in dispatches as worthy unbranded alternatives.
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Furthermore I suggest thet anyone who puts forward any of those fruit / spice flavoured or night-time / relax abominations, earl grey or anything to do with liptons should be banned from commenting for a very long time.
Never had a good cup of Turkish tea (basically, bits of bush swirled around in a cup) or Chai, then.
If I have to use tea bags I go for this one, because the Keemun black tea it contains does not turn bitter when you forget to remove it from the mug.
I tend not to use milk, ever since my student days, when the question "how many lumps" could accurately be used for the amount of milk, from time to time.
tea....
Good, strong, rich in tannin....
Not like the watery dishwater some of the competitors tea tastes like... Even a quick dunking will result in a moderately decent brew. Best tea bags for the "we dont make tea" brigade who deliberately fuck up the seemingly simple act of brewing a cuppa to ensure they are never asked to mash again.
For an office (not home where you can take time etc.), Twinings Everyday won it's place in our office (being honest, it's up to me as the only boss who cares about Tea). We broke the emergency seal on the PG the other week and productivity suffered...
I'd have thought the good folks at Yorkshire Tea would have sent the Hard Water version to the Reg - a scientifically designed variant indeed.
Seconded. (And surely none of the horrible Everyday Blended stuff)
Although, with milk I prefer the stronger Twinings Assam.
Whichever, it really has to be the one sold in the UK. I don't know what the difference is besides the size of the teabags but the shitty little teabags Twinings sells on the continent do in no way compare to the ones I bring over from the UK.
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I'm often called a tea snob by my mum, who thinks the ultimate cup of tea is the filth in a bag known as Sainsbury's Red Label. This devil's juice is about a quid for a landfill's worth of tea bags and the taste is probably something similar to the tea I've been reading about in Metro 2033: tea created by the mushrooms grown on the Moscow subway system 30 years after a nuclear war.
For me the ultimate has to be Twining's English Breakfast Tea. Don't let the name put you off: this is truly an all day affair. Rich, golden in colour and thoroughly satisfying, it's the tea that tea would drink itself. Assuming of course that tea is sentient and not a cannibal.
I'm not fussy about my tea, I'll drink most any brand, and take it anywhere from black with three sugars to white with none, but I Will Not Drink Sainsburies Red box tea, it tastes bloody vile.
Even decaff tea tastes better.
Also, relevant video is relevant (and entirely safe for work)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA
I used to like Yorkshire Gold but found a few years ago that it (and others to be fair) seemed to have reduced in strength. So I've been moving around trying to find what satisfies me.
I settled on "Murroughs Welsh Brew" - consistent and a decent strength.
But there is a serious point, already mentioned : the union of blend and water type is crucial. As Murroughs puts it :
The special blend of African and Indian teas have been specifically chosen to perfectly compliment the waters of Wales (needed a bit of proof-reading there, I think)
So any test that doesn't marry the blend and the water of its devotees will surely mislead?
On mission to London last week, I brought half a suitcase of tea back here to southern Europe; natch lotsof Yorkshire Gold but I did also pickup a packet of Fortnum & Mason Green Earl Grey tea bags (steamed not fermented they claim) This could work well at altitude as the "1867 Oilmen to their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein" suggest to "Brew with water heated to 80°C for a couple of minutes"
The correct colour at drinking point is given in this image http://www.fortnumandmason.com/images/product/large/2002721_3.jpg
Yes, yes, y'all. 27p and cheap at half the price. "Blended and tasted by experts", donchyaknow, and coming with the following instructions:
How to make the perfect cup of tea: 1. To enjoy this tea at its best, always warm the teapot first with boiling water. 2. Use one tea bag per person and one for the teapot. 3. Pour on boiling water and leave the tea to stand for 4-5 minutes to allow the full flavour to brew. 4. Serve with or without milk.
Hard to argue with any of that, except maybe, just possibly, the presumption that using said raw materials will result in the perfect cup of tea.
Bless 'em.
(Source: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=258290317)
Milk ruins a good cuppa, the flavour is lost under the sweet milk.
Tea without milk is a completely different drink, much more delicate and softer.
For those who have not tried it: you need a good tea (not a supermarket own label), don't brew it long.
The only downside is the residue left on the side of the mug, a small price to pay.
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