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Author Topic:   The Three Minute SOAPBOX:
IrishRockhound
Member (Idle past 4435 days)
Posts: 569
From: Ireland
Joined: 05-19-2003


Message 26 of 73 (287345)
02-16-2006 2:03 PM


Tea
As we all know, the Irish drink a lot of tea. As it happens, I drink enough of it in one day to drown a small mammal, and I've tried a lot of different kinds of teas too.
And yet, still it annoys me that people just don't know how to make a good cup of tea! There is an art involved - the Japanese had the right idea, except you don't really need the funny outfits to make a perfect cuppa.
So here's how it's done - take note dammit!
1: Boil the kettle. While you're doing that, get out your favourite mug. Tea should not be drunk out of some fiddly little cup, or out of some gigantic stein better suited to beer. The best size is actually just a little bit smaller than your average mug - too little tea, and it just doesn't last long enough; too much and you don't enjoy it all because it goes cold.
2: DO NOT PUT MILK IN THE MUG FIRST! Heathens who don't know any better do this. It ruins the flavour of the tea and makes it altogether too milky, no matter how little you put in. The first thing to go into the mug is a little boiling water, to warm it up - you swish it around the mug then throw it out.
3: Once the water has cooled a tiny bit (so it isn't boiling anymore, just really really hot), you pop the tea bag in and pour the water on top of it. Now, there's a school of thought that says you put the water in then the tea bag, but my own preference is to put the bag in first because the action of the water helps to brew the tea.
4: While you let the tea brew for about 20 seconds (stir it gently), put in the sugar if you want sugar. Be careful to keep stirring gently because you want all the sugar to dissolve properly - at this point the water should still be hot enough to dissolve it all in about 10 seconds.
5: Take out the tea bag, and squash it against the side of the cup to squeeze out the water. Don't press too hard - you just want to stop it dripping while you take it over and dump it in the bin.
6: Stir the tea, make sure all the sugar is dissolved - and take the spoon out of the cup! Now take the milk and add it in a thin stream - it'll be mixed in by the little whirlpool you made by stirring. After you've put in enough milk, stir the tea once to help the milk along and then leave it alone.
7: Sit down someplace comfy and hold the mug in both hands. Drink.
For best results, try a flavourful tea like Assam - or Barry's Gold Blend if you can get it . Avoid any kind of herbal tea, they taste rotten and you can't put milk in them - if you really want the taste of blackberries or whatever, go buy some! Green tea is good and makes your head feel fuzzy (well mine anyway), but needs to be drunk slowly over the course of about 45 mins.
Never, ever drink camomile tea. It's a bit like drinking the contents of a very dodgy greenhouse that's been boiled in an old sock.
Earl Grey is kinda lemony, and I suppose it's nice if you're into that kind of thing, but a lot of people find it's too watery.
Enjoy

  
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