Proppa British Brew-up

[Tango Yankee]

Despite spending 25 years in the US military I never did get to where I could stand the taste of coffee. I would drink tea from time to time, but it wasn't until I was stationed in England and introduced to the concept of milk in my tea that I found what I was looking for! :eusa_clap

I recall an English friend of mine visiting saying yes to a cuppa... and the look on his face when I brought out his tea in an American-sized coffee cup! lol

It took me a while when I first came back to the states to find an electric kettle but I finally did. They're a bit easier to come by these days. I typically use Red Rose tea these days.

I'll admit to not bothering to ask for tea in US establishments as a cup of water with a tea bag in it just doesn't do it for me most of the time. Once when I asked for tea with milk the server poured the milk in with the tea bag and hot water!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[MPicciotto]

For us unfortunate Yanks such as myself is there a website detailing the instructions on how to brew up a proper cuppa? I love tea, but I'd love even more to do it properly.

Matt

 

[/|\]

For us unfortunate Yanks such as myself is there a website detailing the instructions on how to brew up a proper cuppa? I love tea, but I'd love even more to do it properly.

Matt

A Nice Cup Of Tea, by George Orwell.

A Nice Cup of Tea

By George Orwell

Evening Standard, 12 January 1946.​

If you look up 'tea' in the first cookery book that comes to hand you will probably find that it is unmentioned; or at most you will find a few lines of sketchy instructions which give no ruling on several of the most important points.

This is curious, not only because tea is one of the main stays of civilization in this country, as well as in Eire, Australia and New Zealand, but because the best manner of making it is the subject of violent disputes.

When I look through my own recipe for the perfect cup of tea, I find no fewer than eleven outstanding points. On perhaps two of them there would be pretty general agreement, but at least four others are acutely controversial. Here are my own eleven rules, every one of which I regard as golden:

• First of all, one should use Indian or Ceylonese tea. China tea has virtues which are not to be despised nowadays — it is economical, and one can drink it without milk — but there is not much stimulation in it. One does not feel wiser, braver or more optimistic after drinking it. Anyone who has used that comforting phrase 'a nice cup of tea' invariably means Indian tea.
• Secondly, tea should be made in small quantities — that is, in a teapot. Tea out of an urn is always tasteless, while army tea, made in a cauldron, tastes of grease and whitewash. The teapot should be made of china or earthenware. Silver or Britanniaware teapots produce inferior tea and enamel pots are worse; though curiously enough a pewter teapot (a rarity nowadays) is not so bad.
• Thirdly, the pot should be warmed beforehand. This is better done by placing it on the hob than by the usual method of swilling it out with hot water.
• Fourthly, the tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right. In a time of rationing, this is not an idea that can be realized on every day of the week, but I maintain that one strong cup of tea is better than twenty weak ones. All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes — a fact which is recognized in the extra ration issued to old-age pensioners.
• Fifthly, the tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers, muslin bags or other devices to imprison the tea. In some countries teapots are fitted with little dangling baskets under the spout to catch the stray leaves, which are supposed to be harmful. Actually one can swallow tea-leaves in considerable quantities without ill effect, and if the tea is not loose in the pot it never infuses properly.
• Sixthly, one should take the teapot to the kettle and not the other way about. The water should be actually boiling at the moment of impact, which means that one should keep it on the flame while one pours. Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference.
• Seventhly, after making the tea, one should stir it, or better, give the pot a good shake, afterwards allowing the leaves to settle.
• Eighthly, one should drink out of a good breakfast cup — that is, the cylindrical type of cup, not the flat, shallow type. The breakfast cup holds more, and with the other kind one's tea is always half cold before one has well started on it.
• Ninthly, one should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea. Milk that is too creamy always gives tea a sickly taste.
• Tenthly, one should pour tea into the cup first. This is one of the most controversial points of all; indeed in every family in Britain there are probably two schools of thought on the subject. The milk-first school can bring forward some fairly strong arguments, but I maintain that my own argument is unanswerable. This is that, by putting the tea in first and stirring as one pours, one can exactly regulate the amount of milk whereas one is liable to put in too much milk if one does it the other way round.
• Lastly, tea — unless one is drinking it in the Russian style — should be drunk without sugar. I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tealover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put in pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.

Some people would answer that they don't like tea in itself, that they only drink it in order to be warmed and stimulated, and they need sugar to take the taste away. To those misguided people I would say: Try drinking tea without sugar for, say, a fortnight and it is very unlikely that you will ever want to ruin your tea by sweetening it again.

These are not the only controversial points to arise in connexion with tea drinking, but they are sufficient to show how subtilized the whole business has become. There is also the mysterious social etiquette surrounding the teapot (why is it considered vulgar to drink out of your saucer, for instance?) and much might be written about the subsidiary uses of tealeaves, such as telling fortunes, predicting the arrival of visitors, feeding rabbits, healing burns and sweeping the carpet. It is worth paying attention to such details as warming the pot and using water that is really boiling, so as to make quite sure of wringing out of one's ration the twenty good, strong cups of that two ounces, properly handled, ought to represent.

(taken from The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 3, 1943-45, Penguin ISBN, 0-14-00-3153-7)

 

[Smithy]

Smithy, that shows the unusual shape of the YMCA mugs very well. Quite rare to find an original now.

Kindest Regards

BEn

Thanks Ben, didn't know those were YMCA mugs.

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Having read Tango Yankee's post - I had to smile.

No milk in my tea - ever.

And I've used anything from raw sugar, to agave, to honey, to stevia to sweeten it (my preferences - raw sugar and honey).

Since I love my teas (herbal, green, white, red/Rooibos) - they have to be made in a 'coffee mug' - no 'shot glass' puny tea cups for me!lol

 

[Smithy]

No milk in my tea - ever.

If you're drinking black (and depending on the tea) then you should take milk or lemon at the very least.

I think the reason why American tea is quite often terrible (sorry to my American friends here but the worst cups I've had in my life were in the States) is the tea itself. Lipton Yellow Label seems to be everywhere and to be honest it's bloody terrible tea, widdly and drawn it tastes like ditch water. It's possibly even the reason why tea isn't terribly popular in the USA - because the tea used is making a rubbish brew. When I lived in Norway at work they had that Lipton muck and I got rid of it and got Dilmah (care of family back home) in. It was interesting to see how my co-workers started to enjoy tea after that.

And for goodness sake don't put cream in tea! When in the US I ordered a cuppa and they put cream in it. Absolutely gag worthy.

 

[/|\]

Yeah, Lipton is the default here. The only thing it's good for is sun tea, which of course is drunk cold. Some places will get fancy and have Twinings and herbal teas. Even at that, as someone said upthread, good luck getting boiling water.

I went to a tiny Indian store today and got a bag of really cheap CTC Assam. It's not great tea, but it's 'robust'. And cheap. And certainly better than Lipton. They also had a large tin of Ahmad Tea's Ceylon Special, which I like; so I bought that too.

I'm fortunate in that Spice Hut is in town. (Well, on a global message board 'in town' is close enough.) It's run by a very nice lady from India, and the variety is wonderful. My ex-fiancée was living in Tennessee, and she started ordering her tea there after I gave her some one Christmas. She's on the Left Coast now, and we go to the shop so she can stock up whenever she comes to visit. A local coffee chain gets their teas there. But I don't get it. I prefer boiling my own water, heating my own pot, and putting in my own (loose!) tea.

I'd say most cities have a tea shop or several, so decent teas are available. But most people prefer coffee. It's easier to make than tea, and there's a 'coffee culture' here. Too bad. A nice cuppa tea is more fulfilling than even a well-made cuppa joe.

 

[Smithy]

Some places will get fancy and have Twinings

That's another one which isn't all it's cracked up to be in my opinion. Maybe it's just my imagination but I don't think it's a patch on what it was 20 odd years ago.

The problem with a lot of tea brokers' tea is the fact it sits around in warehouses for quite often months before being blended, packaged and sold. I think single origin stuff that's been packaged by the actual grower is infinitely better. That's one reason I like Dilmah.

Saying that we always have a box of PG Tips bags in the cupboard for quick cups.

 

[/|\]

That's another one which isn't all it's cracked up to be in my opinion. Maybe it's just my imagination but I don't think it's a patch on what it was 20 odd years ago.

That was my point.

I liked it 20 years ago, but once I started with loose tea there was no going back. (Although I too, have a box of PG Tips on-hand. )

 

[PADDY]

I'm NOT a tea drinker...

"I'm PADDY, and I'm a coffee-holic!" (Just love my cuppa Java!).

*(ON TOPIC)...BUTTTT....the times that I 'did' enjoy tea and found it warming and lifted my spirits 'no end..' was when I was dog-tired, physically and mentally exhausted, often cold and soaking, but still needed to dig deep to assess and decision make, was on Exercise (military) or Ops. A hot, steamy, wet cuppa with double doses of sugar, out on the ground, was just H-E-A-V-E-N.
Plus in other climates where the sun was beating down and the sweat rolling off my forehead like Angel Falls, ironically...it was a HOT cuppa that made it 'all' feel alright [huh]

So maybe, just MAYBE, the Boston Tea Party in December 16, 1773 was (with hindsight) a good strategic military strike by the (then) Brit-American Paramilitaries/Colonists, to undermine the British ("If you strike at his Tea Reserves boys then you strike at the heart of the Englishman!!")

It's IMPORTANT STUFF..!!

 

[Prof Branestawm]

For us unfortunate Yanks such as myself is there a website detailing the instructions on how to brew up a proper cuppa? I love tea, but I'd love even more to do it properly.

Matt

I think you might enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnvYymrCn4g, a guide to making tea from 1941 (courtesy of the BFI).

"Remember, a dirty tap means dirty tea".

 

[BinkieBaumont]

[YOUTUBE]ajC4Az4wscc[/YOUTUBE]

Reminds me of this

 

[kampkatz]

Thanks for the amusement , Binkie. True confessions, interesting characters.

 

[cco23i]

I have a friend that has me addicted to this dang Red Rose tea! It's the best tea I have had since leaving England.

Scott

 

[shortbow]

My favorite everyday tea is Bee Brand xxx flowery Pekoe loose tea from Ceylon. Come is a little bag not even sealed, $3 for 227g.

 

[Doc Average]

At work I use this vintage 1952 issue British Army mug. I prefer it to the ubiquitous white and blue one which you can buy in any camping shop.

Preferred beverages are:

NAAFI tea
Yorkshire Tea
Lancashire Tea (for balance - and I do live in Manchester after all!)
Russian Caravan
Kenyan
Assam Tippy Orthodox

These last 3 are available by mail order from this fine establishment:

http://www.northern-tea.com/

I haven't made "Sergeant Major's Tea" with condensed milk yet, but I plan to give it a go over the winter. Maybe with a spot of Lamb's Navy Rum.

 

[1961MJS]

...
Russian Caravan...

Hi, not to rain on a personal favorite, but I bought a package of Russian Caravan from Twinnings about 20 years ago. In my highly esteemed opinion, it took it's name from it's dusty taste. Bleck. My introduction to tea with cream was Earl Gray, heavy cream, and Sugar. That I liked. Heck, I even drink Lipton's every once in a while.

Later

 

[Doc Average]

I don't know about the Twinings version, which I imagine is more "mass produced". The place I get it from is a small independant tea-merchants. I know what you mean though, it does have a dryness to it, but that's what I like. I always think "dry paper", or "old rope". It's actually very, very lightly smoked, like lapsang-souchong (which I can't stand!). The only other supplier I've had is a place in Glasgow called Chai Ovna, which is a Czech-style tea-room.

Earl Gray is ok, but it's a bit light for me. I like my tea really strong.

Anyway, I love tea me! I could ramble about it for hours, and I don't want to go fftopic:

Anyone fancy a brew? It's about that time again...

 

[Goodman.MJ]

Cup of Tea song

This thread reminded me of a song from when I was growing up. I have not been able to find the actual tune, but here are the lyrics. Apologies for the length, but its quite funny. Found it - on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5XX9LX2es4

RIGHT SAID FRED (CUP OF TEA)
(Myles Rudge, lyrics & Ted Dicks, music)

"Right," said Fred, "Both of us together
One on each end and steady as we go."
Tried to shift it, couldn't even lift it
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and

"Right," said Fred, "Give a shout for Charlie."
Up comes Charlie from the floor below.
After strainin', heavin' and complainin'
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.

And Charlie had a think, and he thought we ought to take off all the handles
And the things wot held the candles.
But it did no good, well I never thought it would
"All right," said Fred, "Have to take the feet off
To get them feet off wouldn't take a mo."

Took its feet off, even took the seat off
Should have got us somewhere but no!
So Fred said, "Let's have a cuppa tea."
And we said, "right-o."

"Right," said Fred, "Have to take the door off
Need more space to shift the so-and-so."
Had bad twinges taking off the hinges
And it got us nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and

"Right," said Fred, " Have to take the wall down,
That there wall is gonna have to go."
Took the wall down, even with it all down
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.

And Charlie had a think, and he said, "Look, Fred,
I get a sort of feelin'
If we remove the ceilin'
With a rope or two we could drop the blighter through."

"All right," said Fred, climbing up a ladder
With his crowbar gave a mighty blow.
Was he in trouble, half a ton of rubble landed on the top of his dome.
So Charlie and me had another cuppa tea
And then we went home.

(I said to Charlie, "We'll just have to leave it
Standing on the landing, that's all
Trouble with Fred is, he's too hasty
Never get nowhere if you're too hasty.")

(c)1962, by Myles Rudge (lyrics) & Ted Dicks (music)


Recorded by Gordon Bok & Cindy Kallet
and by Cindy Mangsen and Steve Gillette
early recording by Bernard Cribbins

 

[Miss sofia]

Yes please, one sugar and strong enough to stand the spoon up in it please!

Actually i like a good strong cuppa and i swear by the Yorkshire Tea for everyday. Although i do like Lapsang and Earl Grey although i have to drink the Earl Grey black as it's too piddly with milk. (A heinous crime weak tea).

I have just taught my son to make tea properly with leaves and a pot. He has even remembered to warm the pot too, (a future lounger in the making perhaps), or certainly a future tea afficionado, as he doesn't show as much gusto for any of his other chores!!