Reg readers scuffle over the ultimate cuppa

Did the milk first abomination really start with people protecting sub-standard porcelain from tea stains?

tastes change with time

When i was young, milk came in one type and it appeared mysteriously on the doorstep each morning.

Then I graduated to semi-skimmed - mostly because I didn't like the full fat stuff on my cereal (warm nursery school milk is to blame for turning me off the taste of the real thing) I did try going without milk completely but it was no fun

And I used to take two or three teaspoons of sugar in my tea. Then I met the woman who became my partner and she helped me cut back to first half a teaspoon and then none - mainly by not putting any in when she made me a cup.

I'm a heretic

I'm drinking peppermint tea, burn me at the stake! :P

And, like the coffee aficionados out there, I'd like them to explain / determine in a double-blind test quite what things like "warming the cup first" (especially if you have left the tea in the pot to cool slightly after boiling anyway), putting in the milk in first, etc. actually DOES that they think they can detect or makes any difference.

I mean, honestly, we can talk about wines "corking" and providing scientific evidence to back it up (not to mention obvious tastes) and that's pretty much driven most places to use plastic corks which don't react at all. But just quite what is supposed to happen to make differences that, physics says, for the most part won't have any effect at all.

I fail to believe that there are tolerances that are measurable to the human tongue at all in any of this. I hold the same theory on "letting it brew" (which means leaving the tea in some hot water for a while longer - sometimes after you've already stirred it to death). Just what chemical breakdown are you suddenly expecting to happen by being in the water 5 minutes as opposed to 4 and a half minutes?

Or is, as I personally suspect, it all a load of rubbish but people do it through ritual? I don't believe for a second that the contents of any major brand tea you care to mention haven't changed on an almost annual basis in the last 50 years but people still go through the same rigmarole to make their tea "because it tastes better".

And don't get me started on coffee people, especially fancy coffee people who take a thimbleful of bitter coffee and then put so much sugar into it that it can't support it as a solution any more.

Hmm

Not sure what the outcome of this poll will be. Will it be some sort of frankentea, one bearing the hallmarks of being designed by a committea (sorry) or perhaps it'll just reflect tea à la mode (or is it "à la mean"? I can never remember which is which).

Stands the clock at then to three, and is there honey still for tea?

The Rare Tea Company advises not only using water below boiling point, but also using the third brew from tea leaves as the being the best: http://www.rareteacompany.com/

As for the discussion of sugar, what about honey? Earl Grey, no milk, with a (tea) spoonful of honey is excellent treatment for a cold, with or without whiskey.

Richard Feynmann, when asked at an academic function when he was a research student which he would like in his tea, 'milk or lemon?' replied "yes, please", getting the response "Surely you're joking, Mr Feynmann?", but it seems not only did he get both and drink it, but got the title for his book from that too.

The Night Watch

In one of Pterry's novels Commander Vimes is offered a cup of tea '3 sugars, boiled orange in a builders boot' and he confesses that is how he likes it.

These recepies are all pale imitations of that Ur-tea

I can't believe nobody has mentioned

Water, because it is a big factor affecting how your cup of tea turns out. For example here in the Thames Valley hard water zone it's virtually impossible to make a decent cup of tea. Using bottled water or those jug things is an improvement but it's not so easy to make authentic Yorkshire tea outside of Yorkshire.

I'll stick to my belief.

Darjeeling, brewed in a pot with enough water for 4 cups of tea. Don't bother taking the bag out, leave it in there until you're done drinking.

Cup, not a mug. There is a simple reason for this. A cup lasts long enough for me to drink it while talking. A mug on the otherhand often leaves that little bit behind at the end, this cold tea is simply not as nice. Much better to leave it warm in the pot and pour when ready. Additionally a smaller cup the tea cools down a bit quicker so you can drink sooner. Nothing quite as bad as scalding your tongue on that first sip and hardly being able to taste the tea after.

Put one-two teaspoons of sugar in the cup, then pour in the tea. No milk for me, I find it spoils the taste of darjeeling.

I can't comment on the pot being warmed first, but I can understand why, not so much for taste, but in order to maintain the taste and prevent wear. Hot water into cold teapot leads to little cracks that over time could damage the pot and pollute your tea. I'd say fill it with warm tap water first while the kettle boils, then pour out the tap water before you pour in kettle water. Additionally if it's a cold pot, then the water cools quicker as the pot warms up. I'd rather have my tea hotter for longer.

If you can, get one of those britta filter kettles. It's amazing how much difference softer water makes.

And finally most importantly, enjoy your tea. Then again, it all comes down to individual taste. Personally I couldn't stand lapsang souchan.

Zealots

Visionaries such as the cofftea aficionado have been persecuted for time immemorial. Suffice to say that, come the revolution, tea drinkers will get their just deserts, Forced feeding (drinking?) of Tetleys for those that refuse to convert to a civilised beverage.

I live in america

They have that iced stuff usually sweet, or lipton for us ex-pats, both are gross and weak, the import stores charge a fortune, so I am stuck with the British blend Tetley compare to the local offerings ( still dredged up from boston habour I think) it is drinkable. I also live in Florida, all the water here tastes like alligator piss, so a decent RO filter is necessary, a water softener is good too, but they are expensive.

coffee on the other hand is common, and cheaper than the uk (was) instant is only used in emergencies, or in my wifes home made Irish cream.

most auto dispensers seem to be able to mix tea and coffee automatically so it tastes awful, I used to use my own kettle too thanks to some ridiculous fear of being sued for using water that is too hot tepid weak tea is horrible.

I am glad they saw the light out here and actually manage to make electric kettles... though it had a tendency to blow the breaker in our old place, took care of that in our new one, dedicated circuit labeled kettle, I get cranky if I cannot have my tea because of some coffee machine or waffle maker!

I'm gratified that Lester quoted my comment, but it was (understandably) truncated. Don't use teabags if loose tea is available (i.e. at home), but I recognise the utility of taking bags with you on a trip.

Mug colour as a factor?

No matter what the colour/pattern/decoration on the outside it is difficult to get tea right if the inside of the container is anything other than a light colour - preferably white.

Unless you are actually clocking the time to brew or measurin in your milk, you are watching the colour of the contents to gauge when it is "how you like it".

<raises hand>

Timidly, to be sure, since I'm 'merican and probably do not know of what I speak

However, one option I fail to see here is a clear glass mug for tea... and I like to see my tea brewing in the clear, as it were.

I'd like a set of those clear tea mugs with those silver/metal holders (russian?) eventually.

Infusion rocks!

;)

OK, as an LDS tea is against my religion. As a research scientist, tea is the only thing to keep me going throughout the day.

So, in that regard if you're going to sin, make it worth it.

Mug- big one pinter from Wittard's (RIP) whose inside is at least five shades of brown darker than the outside.

Tea- decent twinings bag if offsite, or local tea shops' blend in airtight metal caddy- one teaspoonful into infuser

Milk- always fresh, always blue top. One small pint per five cups.

Sugar- vanilla, homemade, use same spoon as for tea.

milk and one sugar into cup. nuke in microwave while filling kettle.

Once kettle filled and on, retrieve mug carefully.

AS SOON AS kettle "pops" pour in hot water.

Have a moment of silent reflection on the tea before dropping in infuser.

Leave infuser in for at least two reg articles- no more, no less.

Remove infuser, stir, another moment of reflection. sup.

Realise world is not a bad place. Resume hate of humanity once tea is finished.

Someone at work gave me the wrong mug and I had a colleague's tea with sugar in it. It made me want to die. How can people drink that?

another 'murican

Most of what I drink is the free Lipton at work. At home, I am a cheap bastard, so Aldi bags most of the time. The Aldi bags contain a surprise every so often. I have had lapsang or earl grey flavors in a bag before, so I think floor sweepings are correct.

The Aldi crap has run out now, so I am currently drinking a Canadian tea called Red Rose my wife just heard about. I like it a lot, and I do Like PG Tips too.

Being American, I drink it sweet, and sometimes use lemon with the cheap Aldi stuff.

Mug, definitely. But not just any mug! Oh, and infuser

This will sound like heresy to some, but.

The best drinking vessel for my tea BY FAR that I've ever had is a 12oz (350ml) "Easygrip" insulated PLASTIC mug from Aladdin. Bought for me (as a joke, mind you) by my wife one Christmas. Best "joke" ever - with the spill-free lid removed, it is incredible. The lip shape is, in some indefinable way, absolutely perfect to drink from, whilst the tea is still beautifully hot and delicious when the contents of any ceramic container would long be stone cold (a property I can't praise or stress too highly). And whatever the plastic may be, it's as odourless and discrete to the tastebuds as any bone china.

It was so good, in fact, that when my first one finally became a bit awkward to use after several years sterling service (wear, tear and general abuse to the softer plastic covering the handle) I attempted a dozen ceramic alternatives, looking for that indefinable "something", before realising just what a gem I'd lost. Fortunately, after a search on line (and after wondering whether Aladdin really now only made them in garish picnic blue), I found the self-same mug on line in a more discrete colour (and bought two to be on the safe side; one of them is sitting on my desk beside me as I type). I heartily recommend the product to anyone brave enough to throw propriety and convention to the winds and it a try.

Preparation? By preference, loose leaf, in a single-cup stainless-steel permanent infuser (one of the big, open-topped beaker-shaped ones I can spoon the tea directly into, with plenty of space for the water to get at the leaves - not a nasty, cramped ball).

Tea? Well - when the wife's making for both of us, it's PG Tips (because she finds it easier just going to chuck a couple of bags in a pot, whatever I may think about the matter, and I find it still makes a decent cuppa in the incredibly hard water around here). The merest dash of milk (if any), but again I find it tends to arrive by default (ah, well). If I'm making it myself, it's Oolong for its subtle, rounded flavour, or Gen Mai Cha (Japanese brown rice tea - aka "popcorn tea") when I fancy a more in-your-face treat. The basic Gen Mai Cha from "Char" in Winchester is excellent. (Not to be confused with their Gen Mai Cha Supreme, which some people clearly like, but I'm not so keen on. Oh, and their Earl Grey Supreme is pretty good, too.)

(Lapsang Souchong?!? No thanks. A drink for people who only have one working taste bud left. If I wanted a mouth full of the taste of wood smoke, I'd go swig Barbecue Sauce.)

Agitate the pot?

Part of the folklore of tea making for my elders was to agitate the pot to guarantee infusion was doing its magic. This was done by holding the handle and alternating several times between pointing the spout at the ceiling and tilting the pot as if to pour - but obviously stopping before any spillage - and saying the magic incantation of "show it to the pictures". It works equally well with the loose leaf tea of last century and the lazy man's bagged tea.

(I know coffee is barred from this discussion but a similar agitation technique can be applied when lifting the coffee pot from the hotplate to avoid a weak first mug of that other essential IT fuel.)

Naval Tea

A story my old man told me from his WWII naval days...

A rating always managed to bring the tea to the bridge watch full to the brim whatever the weather, even in the roughest sea. No-one could work out he managed it. Then one day he was caught with a mouthfull of tea topping up the mugs just before entering the bridge...

True or not? You decide, but he swore it was true.

Tea Fleas

I like loose leaf tea, but I don't like tea leaves floating in my mug. To my mind, the best single cup infusers / strainer is the design described by Amazon as "Stainless Steel Tea Strainer with Anti Slip Handles - 0.5mm Micro Filter"

I'm not a great lover of tea but occasionally enjoy a cup of twinings english breakfast tea made in my tassimo machine ( the machine worries about time and temperature and does a good job) with a little semi-skimmed milk and sugar.