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The English way of drinking tea?
On 22 Jan 2004 04:00:31 -0800, (Dieter Folz) wrote:
>Are there such traditional blends today?
Yes. You'd better ask those in the tea trade around here what's in
them, but the British are much more likely to buy a regular brand of
tea on the basis of a brand name, or shop's name.
At least one of these brands (Taylor's) makes a virtue of selling
different blends in different regions, to account for water
differences - yet the box barely mentions which one you have, or
what's in it. Nice tea though - it's my regular.
If you go to a traditional tea and coffee seller, like Pumphrey's
(Grainger market, Newcastle) then you'll see a range of teas
identified by location and type. In a grocer's though, the most you're
likely to see is either "breakfast blend" or "red label" and "blue
label" (you'd have to taste both to establish your preference).
The tea market is being shaken up a little by the TradeFair movement.
In parallel with this, we're also starting to see some single estate
teas. They're worth trying <www.clipper-teas.com>
>I saw photos of such spoons on the web (seems to be nice collector's
>stuff today). But I suppose, it brings the same amount of tea in the
>pot as a normal modern tea spoon, doesn't it?
They're much bigger - usually the diameter is a little bigger than the
length of a teaspoon bowl, but they're shallow and not heaped highly.
The amount is about one heaped teaspoon.
>must be about 17,5 gr. to 20 gr. tea per litre water?!
I've no idea what "grams" of tea look like, or how they relate to my
own eyeball measures. But we certainly make our tea quite strong.
>So, it is true that the tea leafes were in the pot all the time.
Yes, very much so. Careful pouring keeps them in the pot. Careful
drinking keeps them out of your mouth (it's polite to not drain a cup
of tea)
>(or we even use permanent tea
>infusers which are removed from the pot when the tea is ready).
I have a glass Bodum pot with one of those. I never use it.
>I Don't understand that? sipping from the sauer? Does this mean, you
>put tea out of your cup onto the saucer and drink it from it then?
In Georgian times, I believe that "saucer" meant something larger and
used without a cup. It was like a Scottish tassie, or the French
morning coffee bowl.
I think the coarse use of saucers gets a mention in Dickens somewhere.
They're the English equivalent of Mason jars in Kentucky 8-)
>> After drinking the first cup, the pot is frequently topped up. However
>> an empty pot is _never_ refilled, once emptied.
A pot is usually sized to serve two cups to everyone around the table.
After serving the first one (pot half full) it's left for a while,
then later the kettle is reboiled and the pot topped up. Shortly
afterwards a second cup is poured. Some time later, there's a third
cup for thoe who want it.
It would be unusual to pour the second cup before refilling. The tea
is over-strong at this point and needs dilution, but it's not so
stewed or over-brewed that it's not drinkable.
The tea certainly doesn't taste like leaves that are brewed, drained,
then brewed again. I think the key is that leaves only brew
effectively when they're swirling freely in plenty of water. A pot
that's half-drained and left to sit has the leaves settle out and they
stop brewing.
>After an infusion of 7.5 minutes, the tea is stewed?
I'm joking a little here. The question of whether the tea is stewed
or not is a traditional way of chivvying along those who are slow when
called to the table.
--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods
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