Making tea

Tea

I doubt even at DGSE can a good cup of English tea be found.

So, I felt it my duty to explain how to make it.

Firstly, the teapot needs to have been used and tea stained.

Seek out loose tea containing a blend of Assam, Kenyan, Sri lanker and Rwanda (BOP size) leaves.

Put fresh water into your kettle

When the water is hot (not boiled) pour some into the teapot.

Critical stage.

A couple of seconds before the water boils empty the tea pot of water (the pot will by then be warm)

Add three tablespoons of tea.

As the water boils, with the pot next to the kettle.

Pour in the boiling water from a height of 12 inches.

Place the teapot on a wooden surface and cover with a cosy.

Switch off all external distractions, and preferable with the wife or g/f absent

Take out your fruit cake cut a slice

Select a bone china MUG

Add a small amount of cold fresh milk

Pour yourself a cup of tea eat the fruit cake and relax.

I find tea is best with either egg sausage and bacon, mcvitti biscuit or fruit cake

Donā€™ts

Donā€™t let a woman make tea ā€“ they donā€™t concentrate

Donā€™t add milk after ā€“ thatā€™s rather Southern Irish and could lead to rebellion.

Toad

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Orā€¦
Put Yorkshire tea bag in cup
Pour on boiling water and stir
Leave for 2 or 3 mins, stir again
Remove tea bag
Add splash of milk

Even my OH can do this :joy::joy:

Dunk ginger nut or 2

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tut tut

donā€™t think the French do it this wayā€¦ā€¦.

My husband visited our French neighbours the other day and was given a very acceptable cup of tea.

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Boil the kettle. See if there are any tea bags deep in the cupboard. Put one in a mug. Leave a couple of minutes then stir. Add milk and sugar to taste. Stir again.

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and if no tea bags in the cupboard - unpeg one which is dry from the overhead line - as per a famous comedy duo.

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Scandalous ā€“almost chocked on my chocolate biscuit ā€“ TEA BAGS!

It is said that the need for boiling water dates from WWII and is only because of poor quality tea (so probably applies to many tea bags as well).

Donā€™t drink the stuff myself - strictly coffee only.

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Dear wise Toad, under which stone have you been hiding? Your apercus are a treasure trove of ancient lore.

Please donā€™t delay in coming up with more heart- and pot-warming astuces for those of us who sometimes feel adrift.

For example, I need to be reminded urgently of how to preserve the crispy bite of McVitieā€™s Digestive Biscuits in these humid Norman climes. I managed to buy a supply recently at Coccinelle: they were marked down and sold BOGOF. Incredibly, they were labelled ā€œCe sont anglais, MAIS de bon goĆ»tā€! Can you imagine a slab of french cheese being labelled ā€˜Itā€™s French, BUT it tastes all rightā€™? :scream::zipper_mouth_face:

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In this house it is me that tells Jim how to make the tea.
He really doesnā€™t care.
The reason for putting the milk in first was to stop expensive porcelain cups from cracking from the hot tea.
Rather like ironing cuffs and collars first, as I was taught.
This was because when flat irons were heated you ironed the double layers first.
Iā€™m only 71.

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I was taught collar and cuffs, then yoke, then sleeves, then front side with buttons (row of buttons first on reverse, then front), then button-hole side, then back.

I still iron cotton shirts thus and I am 80. Old habits die hard, and ironing is a meditative practice, worth doing for its ritual ordered simplicity, its multisensory richness, and its mastery of disorderly neurological activity. Like knitting, crocheting and other worthy crafts.
:pensive:ā€¦ :thought_balloon:

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Iā€™d be interested to learn how yā€™all make your coffee? I was in a conversation the other day with two neighbours who lamented the arrival of gadgety domestic coffee-makers that made a cup of coffee at around 30 cents per cup using those cartridge thingies.

I use a basic bog-standard filter coffee-maker that uses paper filter cones and generates its own boiling-ish water in a little generator and a glass jug that collects it, and keeps it warm-ish. If the coffee cools I put it in a little saucepan on the gas ring and boil it up. I find it tastes OK but Iā€™m no coffee connoisseur. I copied this warming up process from my elderly neighbour who hates waste. He always serves coffee from a saucepan.

Coffee aficionados to the rescue pleaseā˜•?

Exactly the same.
I used to iron and fold Jimā€™s shirts when he was working away and some one thought he had new shirts every week.

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In the UK a cafetiere, one of the ā€œpress downā€ kind and hot but not boiling water+freshly ground coffee. Probably (when done right) the best way of making coffee but if you get the water too hot or leave the coffee sitting above the grounds too long you start to get bitter compounds coming through. Also you really need to grind your own as pre-ground coffee is invariably made with filter machines in mind and is too fine for a cafetiere.

In France we have a filter machine which produces an acceptable result. The only quibble I would have is that it is best to re-heat in a microwave (but, obviously, only if you have one).

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No, no noā€¦ we use a cafetiĆØre in the morning, with coffee beans we keep in freezer or fridge and grind ourselves. Warm pot, a drop of cold water onto the ground coffee, and then water thatā€™s off the boil. Wait several minutes, press plunger and drink.

After lunch itā€™s an expresso maker, with proper expresso coffee.

Surely you make tea by placing an teabag in an envelope on a saucer. Then boil the kettle, chat for a while once itā€™s boiled. Carry kettle slowly over to mug and set it down while you faff about getting tea bag out of envelope and into mug. Chat for a bit more then put the now tepid water in the mug. Wait a while and remove tea bag and voila! A perfect cup of teaā€¦

I bought a one mug size plunger cafetiĆØre at a brocante several years ago. It was unused and cost ā‚¬1. I use it every morning. I do use preground coffee because, in France, itā€™s possible to buy coffee coarse enough to work well. I do have a lovely cast iron grinder but I havenā€™t used it for over 20 years.
I could have started by listing the coffee making equipment that I have that I rarely use as I also have a larger plunger suitable for 5 or 6 people, a very basic but lovely little Italian cafetiĆØre that you heat on a hob then turn upside down and an old but good Krups machine that has both a Peterā€™s paper filter type side and a real espresso maker. Despite this choice the little plunger is the one I use. Iā€™m certainly not in the market for an expensive to run multi flavoured capsule type machine.

I have Gt Gt Grandmaā€™s porcelain tea serviceā€¦ which is missing several cupsā€¦:roll_eyes::open_mouth::zipper_mouth_face:

I have a jar of NescafƩ :joy:

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