"Where there's tea, there's hope"

[BinkieBaumont]

"Everything Stops for Tea

"It has been fearfully quiet at work so I took the opportunity to leave early and arrived home in time to take afternoon tea, which i don't usually get to do mid week, a chance to use my two Christmas gifts a three piece tea Service and a Strainer with stand.

"I made up some "ribbon" sandwiches with shaved turkey and avocado, and added a few cup cakes and a fruit mince pie, tea was a "Christmas blend", its amazing no matter how hot the weather is, a cup of tea truly refreshes one"

EVERYTHING STOPS FOR TEA

Featured in Buchanan's 1935 comedy film, "Come Out Of The Pantry"
(Goodhart / Hoffman / Sigler)
Jack Buchanan


Every nation in creation has its favourite drink
France is famous for its wine, it's beer in Germany
Turkey has its coffee and they serve it blacker than ink
Russians go for vodka and England loves its tea

Oh, the factories may be roaring
With a boom-a-lacka, zoom-a-lacka, wee
But there isn't any roar when the clock strikes four
Everything stops for tea

Oh, a lawyer in the courtroom
In the middle of an alimony plea
Has to stop and help 'em pour when the clock strikes four
Everything stops for tea

It's a very good English custom
Though the weather be cold or hot
When you need a little pick-up, you'll find a little tea cup
Will always hit the spot

You remember Cleopatra
Had a date to meet Mark Anthony at three
When he came an hour late she said "You'll have to wait"
For everything stops for tea

Oh, they may be playing football
And the crowd is yelling "Kill the referee!"
But no matter what the score, when the clock strikes four
Everything stops for tea

Oh, the golfer may be golfing
And is just about to make a hole-in-three
But it always gets them sore when the clock yells "four!"
Everything stops for tea

It's a very good English custom
And a stimulant for the brain
When you feel a little weary, a cup'll make you cheery
And it's cheaper than champagne

Now I know just why Franz Schubert
Didn't finish his unfinished symphony
He might have written more but the clock struck four
And everything stops for tea

WATCH IT HERE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8C4TCdd6E0&feature=related

 

[Chinaski]

I feel that tea is a sorely misunderstood beverage. As one who has tried literally hundreds of teas, I can speak to the benefits of developing a palette for the beverage.

A typical cup of tea in America fails at every step. Importers purchase cheap, poorly processed leaves. They put the leaves in bags, the bags in boxes, and store them like they were rocks - as if time, temperature, humidity, light, and oxygen won't affect the product. Then, we proceed to boil some water, throw a bag of green tea in our stainless travel mug, close the lid, and carry around our bitter, health-neutral fashion statement with the leaves immersed in scalding water for x number of minutes or hours.

To enjoy tea in its proper capacity, one should do the following.

1. Purchase loose-leaf tea from a reputable, tea-focused merchant. They must be sold in an opaque, airtight container! Beware the glass jars. They make for easy observation of the leaves, but the product will be stale. Nothing warms my heart like walking into a tea shop that sells from vacuum-sealed bags or stainless cylinders.

2. Pay close attention to the tea's brewing instructions. Correct steeping time, leaf-to-water ratio, and temperature must be observed religiously. NEVER boil water to make green, oolong, or white teas! Only black teas or tisanes (infusions like "herbals," yerba mate, or rooibos that don't come from the camellia sinensis plant) can tolerate this.

3. Never sweeten oolong, green, white, or puerh teas. The beautiful thing about these teas are their subtleties. Additions will make it nearly impossible to appreciate these. High-end, unflavored black teas should not be sweetened or experience milk either, but I'm not about to say there is only one correct way to drink Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast.

There are other principles I abide, but these fundamental steps are enough for a thoroughly enjoyable tea experience!

Sir Dobbs, I am behind you nearly 100%!! I believe it is mandatory to have a variable temperature kettle so one can more readily get the right temp for whites/greens/oolongs vs. congou/black teas.

As you pointed out, brewing time is important - it's easy to produce a bitter cup of green tea by oversteeping.

I will say, however, I always add milk to black teas, as I learned to enjoy this beverage in Britain and it seems to be the preferred way there.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Graham Dalby's rendition of Everything Stops for Tea as quoted in Binkie's post above.

And Jack Buchanan's 1930s version:

 

[grundie]

I love Lapsang Souchong, unfortunately my wife doesn't. So I am forced to move to other side of the room if I wish to partake of a cup (or pot) or two.

She on the other hand loves Barry's tea. A mainstream Irish blend that has enough caffeine to power a rocket.

We can agree that Lady Grey tea is rather nice though.

 

[Fedoration]

I am very fond of Silver Needles. It's a white tea produced in the Fuding and Zhenhe districts in the province of Fujian. I really like the subtle flavours a lot. In terms of caffeine it doesn't have much to offer but if I want caffeine I'll just grab a cup of coffee.
My other favourite would be a Darjeeling First Flush although the quality of that tends to have gone downhill over the last years as it became more known by "mainstream" teadrinkers.
For a bit of sweetness I sometimes reach for Budha Amacha although this technically isn't a tea. Some like it very much others grow queesy just from the smell of it. So it really is a love or hate tea much like Lapsang Souchong is.

I also wanted to share this rather amusing quote from Astrid Alauda which is actually is the very thing that first kindled my interest for tea:

"Tea is instant wisdom, just add water " - Astrid Alauda

 

[miserabelle]

I'm having a brew now, nice bit of Twinings

xx

 

[John in Covina]

I love Lapsang Souchong, unfortunately my wife doesn't. So I am forced to move to other side of the room if I wish to partake of a cup (or pot) or two.

Isn't that the smokey tea that resembles Scotch Whisky?

 

[grundie]

Isn't that the smokey tea that resembles Scotch Whisky?

That's the one. The leave are smoked over a fire and it smells and tastes delicious, in my opinion anyway.

It's a bit like Marmite in that most people either love it or hate it.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

That's the one. The leave are smoked over a fire and it smells and tastes delicious, in my opinion anyway.

It's a bit like Marmite in that most people either love it or hate it.

I agree it's quite delicious.......other then 'plain tea'...its my favorite for treating myself.

 

[Spitfire]

Nice strong Irish Breakfast - drop of milk, no sugar.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Since I have already had enough tea today that I might well be awake well past bedtime....I had to switch to a herbal tisane for calm inducing sleep.

(the weather here has been rather rough of late, so I managed to work from home and thus drink tea all day while I watched it hail down my chimney off and on.....very sporting)

 

[dnjan]

... I managed to work from home and thus drink tea all day ...

Yes, my tea intake on days I stay home is often at least double what it is on days I am at work.
I have gotten so that I automatically switch to green tea with the second pot (on the assumption that the caffien is a bit lower).

 

[Edw8ri]

I have been drinking Lifeboat Tea for years. It is made by Williamson. This is a pretty strong English brew. It can be hard to find. I buy at least two boxes whenever I see it. Some milk and sweetener. Nothing touches it.

 

[cptjeff]

Yes, my tea intake on days I stay home is often at least double what it is on days I am at work.
I have gotten so that I automatically switch to green tea with the second pot (on the assumption that the caffien is a bit lower).

Hmm, my consumption of tea when working is rather high. Tea bags may not be perfect, but they go quite well with the hot water spigot on the water cooler.

I love Lapsang Souchong, unfortunately my wife doesn't. So I am forced to move to other side of the room if I wish to partake of a cup (or pot) or two.

She on the other hand loves Barry's tea. A mainstream Irish blend that has enough caffeine to power a rocket.

We can agree that Lady Grey tea is rather nice though.

Your wife is wrong. Also, for a treat try blending it with earl grey. I bought a canister of Fortnum and mason earl grey that had Lapsang Souchong mixed in, and it was a wonderful beverage.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

"love Earl Radox and Lapsang Souchong so will have to try that melange"

 

[Foofoogal]

yesterday it was 70 degrees and sunny. Today it is 39, rainy and we are under a storm warning of snow mix and yuck..
Definitely calls for several cups of lovely tea in a lovely teacup and saucer.

 

[Miss Sis]

I had to send our lovely Lauren packets of Fortnum and Mason loose leaf Earl Grey in a 'care parcel' recently. She tasted it here in England and now she can't be doing with anything else!

Binkie, I love the tea service! Fabulous shape and as much a treat for the eyes as the tea is for the palette.

 

[rumblefish]

I'm having the second steeping of Stash Teas- Formosa oolong fancy grade. What a treat! I usually get three great tasting steepings out of a two teaspoonful ball.

 

[Chainsaw]

Jasmine's nice, I prefer Orange Pekoe with lemon and sugar

Orange Pekoe with raspberry syrup is nice

The teahouse at the Buddhist temple is quite good, special flower tea with minature roses,
"forget your troubles tea" with mandarines, very sweet.
Drink oolong if you want to loose weight, (I hate the taste).

Milk tea or Twinnings (and only twinnings) Earl grey

Almost forgot, Duralex is a company that makes unbreakable glass, perfect for tea as apossed to tea cups

 

[Preacher]

My favorites are Williamson's Irish Breakfast, Typhoo, PG Tips. In a pinch, Lipton loose, or some English Breakfast teabags. Nothing better no matter the time of day or night than a good strong cup. Grab the SonaWare engraved aluminum teapot, dump it in loose, and let it steep almost till a spoon will stand up in it, add a taste of milk and sugar, if God made anything better than Tea, He kept it for Himself.

I also have recently found something called "Cafix" a "coffee substitute." Has no coffee in it, tastes and smells like the Sanka I remember my Dad drinking 50 years ago when his ulcer would kick up. No caffeine tho, so not my favorite morning drink.