charliesmum | Question for my British friends

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Question for my British friends

Okay. I can't make a really good cup of tea, and I don't know why.

I have actual British tea - not Tetley English Breakfast or some American brand calling itself British tea, I have PG Tips, so it isn't the brand, I don't think.

Is it because I'm using tea bags instead of loose tea? Perhaps I'm not boiling the water long enough, or not letting the tea bag seep long enough. Is there an actual time one should be doing these things?

Or is it inherent? years ago I worked with this woman called Wendy who hailed from Manchester, England* and she would sometimes have PG Tips at work, and she would make me a cuppa, and it was always really, really good. Maybe I'm just too American to make a really decent cup of tea.

Help?

*England, across the Atlantic Sea.

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I don't use PG Tips, but this is how I make tea.

Put the milk and teabag in the cup (obviously, the amount will depend on how milky you want it to be. Either way, don't incude too much or it'll be cold. Obviously).
Boil the kettle. Pour the water in, leave it for 30 seconds-5 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. Then take a spoon and bash the teabag against the side of the cup until you've got all the flavour out.

That should be 'include', not 'incude'. I can spell, I promise...

I worked with a British woman who said that what Americans don't understand is that the water has to be boiling when it hits the teabag or it doesn't work right.
Don't know if that helps.

It could be worse. After all, at least you don't have to rely on a Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser for your tea needs....

How did you get the Hitchhikers thingy?

I can't speak for the British, but my grandfather was Irish and his tea was always better than anyone else's. He always used loose tea in a tea ball and boiling hot water. Of course, he served me my tea with a side of M&Ms, so maybe that's why I remember it being so good. :)

http://www.distinctlytea.com/

This website has good instructions.

Without knowing more about your current technique, I can only echo what others have said: use really boiling water, steep for a few minutes (I usually do it about 5 for a cup, more for a teapot) stir, and then squeeze the teabag against the side of the cup with your spoon (or squish it between two spoons) before removing it. That is the technique that I learned at the ripe old age of 9 when I was first tasked with making the evening tea for my mum and aunt.

Have you tried PG Tips somewhere else and liked it? Maybe it's just the tea you don't like. I thought I hated tea for years (such a traitor to my roots!) until I had it outside of my own home--I just don't like the brand my mum likes.

My talents(as you are no doubt aware by now!) are relatively few. However, my super speshul tea making powerz(TM) are beyond compare!

The water has to be boiling, yes. But the worst thing people do to their tea is drown it with milk(but milk is evil incarnate, imo!). Just a smidge should be enough. If you can't see at a glance what beverage your cup contains DO NOT drink it! Coffee should look like coffee, and tea should look like tea. If the appearance is off the taste will be just wank!

My Mum makes hideously milky tea. *gip* My stomach turns just thinking about it :(

If you ask me it's the water. I notice quite a difference in the taste of my tea depending on where I am though it's made exactly the same way using my preferred brand. In the South of England for e.g. I never had a decent cup because of the hard water, whereas the West of Scotland where our water is soft is excellent. My hubby though never uses teabags only loose because he says it's far superior...they use the scrapings off the floor for teabags he claims. :)

I have been commended for my tea. Not that that's something to be proud of.

I generally put the teabag and sugar in, then fill it about 4/5 of the way with boiling water. Then I let it brew for about 2 minutes or so (5 seems a little extravagant!) and add the milk. Sometimes only a touch of milk.

Oh, and when stirring, always make sure the spoon touches the bottom of the cup. And squeeze the teabag out with the spoon, take it out and then give it another stir.

Do all this = tea!

And give it a good stir before and after you leave it to brew.

I just made a cup of tea and realised I forgot to mention this!

For the longest time, I couldn't figure out how I could sometimes like tea -- and usually hate it. Then I found it it's because most of the time what Americans call "tea" isn't even tea; it's that herbal crap that has no tea in it.

My husband makes fun of me for it and calls me a tea snob. And most people don't understand. They'll say, "We have herbal tea." Herbal tea isn't tea. How can you tell? If you look at the ingredients, that herbal junk will say all kinds of spices, dried orange peel, etc. but not actually include tea as an ingredient. Real tea is has its ingredients listed as tea (or tea leaves) and whatever flavoring might be in there.

Okay, rant over. I'm sure you already know the difference between real tea and herbal "tea," but I just felt the need to rant.

Anyhow, I'm not British but ...

I notice a distinct difference between using loose tea and tea bags. If you're just brewing tea at home, why not try loose tea? It's a tiny bit more work and a little more cleanup, but I think it's so much better.

Temperature of the water is also really important. I don't order tea in restaurants unless I'm really desperate for tea because they bring you a tea bag and a little pot of water that's slightly hot. It needs to be boiling or almost boiling. (That's why I use a kettle instead of microwaving the water.)

As for steep time, that's a matter of personal preference. Loose tea should take longer to steep than tea bags. And, apparently, green tea needs less steep time than black tea. But really, just steep it to your liking. Play around with it until you find a steep time you prefer.

Herbal tea isn't tea.

Indeed not. It more closely resembles the liquid produced by the above-mentioned Nutrimatic Drinks Dispenser, in that it is "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

Play around with it until you find a steep time you prefer.

Would that involve a steep learning curve? ;-)

make sure the water is boiled, put the teabag in the cup , pour the water over the teabag, let sit for a couple of minutes,
squeeze the teabag with the spoon and string,
add a little milk, add sugar and stir

drink with some biscuits(cookies) and you should be all set,

right now, I have been using Starbucks Awake Tea, its pretty good,

and some Chocolate Chip cookies I think by Oreo

have a great weekend

take care
Ossie

by the way, I was born in England and have been drinking tea all my life

Whenever I make tea it always turns out differently. I'm a bit slapdash in that I just put some milk in a mug (the amount varies!) boil the kettle and then pour the boiled water into the teapot with a teabag in it. Then it gets left for somewhere around two minutes, but it really depends on if I go somewhere else and get distracted, and then I pour it in the mug and try not to burn my tongue whilst sipping.

Et voila, tea! :-) So as you can see I don't follow particular recipe. It seems to taste fine though, although a couple of times I've got distracted half way through and ended up with tea that could stir itself...

a-ha! from the answers above I see the milk is added before the water. I'll have to remember that if I ever try to do it.
Not English, as you know, but I'm a tea-psycho (I would estimate at least 6 different tea flavours in my house now. More if you count the London Fruits & Herbal ones - but they aren't tea) so I'll say what I do.

First, as was stated above : try different kinds. Different companies tea tastes very different, even if both are called Earl Grey.

Second, the water indeed is important. I wouldn't recommend using mineral water as it would be bad for your kettle (or whatever you use). In my house we have water filtering system because the water here is very hard.

Now, the boiling itself: In my house, we have a pot. From what I've read, clay or china are best. We have some cheap metal - but it's not a major problem with the heatloss here... You poor *boiling hot* water over it and let it steep closed (in fact, in Russia they (used to) have a special cover (made like the baking glove) to keep the pot hot). Poor as much as you want, add hold and cold water to you liking. We usually keep the remaints for the next day (which is a complete nono for any real connoisseur)
That's for black tea, at least.
I drink my tea with no milk or sugar (and if I'm good no other sweets as well) so I'm picky about firms. Didn't try BG yet, I will if I see it. Get Twinnings Lady Grey, if you ever see it.

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