Tea - the gentleman's drink

MCN wrote:

Shafto wrote:

Charles Manson wrote:
Also, is it just me or do threads like this really bring out the pretentious side of people?

Timers for brewing? Temperature gauges? Anyone would think you were handling a work of art.

It's a bit more like perfecting a science than that - like Alchemy as said above. Besides, just because I happen to enjoy a well made cup of tea doesn't make me pretentious about it. I'm not using and fancy language or taking things too far, I just really enjoy the taste of a perfect pot of tea. I don't see how it's any different than making a meal, or brewing a good beer.

Surely a perfect pot of tea is an entirely subjective matter? Everyone has different tastes, so one person's perfect pot might be plughole-fodder for someone else. For example, I prefer a quickly made PG Tips cuppa, and a cheap ASDA mug, with 2 sugars and a splash of milk. That's just my taste. Doesn't make it wrong.

I'm not saying you're wrong man - I like things one way, you like things another, and I don't have a problem with that.

I love my tetley, could drink it all day (and sometimes do). No sugar, milk. Not just scaring the tea with the milk either, get the milk in!

I drink Tetley tea but the other day I tried some Tesco branded tea, it was 28p for a box of 80 tea bags i think.
Tasted like hot water with some milk. Maybe because I'm use to the strongness of Tetley.

Lots of milk and no sugar please.

Guess what my favourite hot drink is?

Milk.

~Earl Grey~ wrote:Guess what my favourite hot drink is?

Coffee ?

Cripples' jizz.

Tetley is the bomb. I love my tea, but by that i mean the common man's tea - you can keep your pot pourri flavoured nonsense!

Actually, that's a little unfair, some of it is drinkable, and i've never tried any really expensive and exotic stuff, but tea to me is every day tetley type tea.

RamSteelwood wrote:Tetley is the bomb. I love my tea, but by that i mean the common man's tea - you can keep your pot pourri flavoured nonsense!

Actually, that's a little unfair, some of it is drinkable, and i've never tried any really expensive and exotic stuff, but tea to me is every day tetley type tea.

o/

RamSteelwood wrote:Tetley is the bomb. I love my tea, but by that i mean the common man's tea - you can keep your pot pourri flavoured nonsense!

Actually, that's a little unfair, some of it is drinkable, and i've never tried any really expensive and exotic stuff, but tea to me is every day tetley type tea.

Preach it RamJam!

Shafto wrote:

MCN wrote:

Shafto wrote:

Charles Manson wrote:
Also, is it just me or do threads like this really bring out the pretentious side of people?

Timers for brewing? Temperature gauges? Anyone would think you were handling a work of art.

It's a bit more like perfecting a science than that - like Alchemy as said above. Besides, just because I happen to enjoy a well made cup of tea doesn't make me pretentious about it. I'm not using and fancy language or taking things too far, I just really enjoy the taste of a perfect pot of tea. I don't see how it's any different than making a meal, or brewing a good beer.

Surely a perfect pot of tea is an entirely subjective matter? Everyone has different tastes, so one person's perfect pot might be plughole-fodder for someone else. For example, I prefer a quickly made PG Tips cuppa, and a cheap ASDA mug, with 2 sugars and a splash of milk. That's just my taste. Doesn't make it wrong.

I'm not saying you're wrong man - I like things one way, you like things another, and I don't have a problem with that.

I do have to say that the cup or mug used can drastically affect the quality of a good brew. I prefer a mug normally (I use one I nabbed from the Manchester Christmas Market last year), but I always find that sometimes you can taste the cup or mug more than the tea itself if it's a cheap one.

Yorkshire > PG > Tetley.

Fatal Exception wrote:Yorkshire > PG > Tetley.

Perhaps, but it's close run thing.

RamSteelwood wrote:Tetley is the bomb. I love my tea, but by that i mean the common man's tea - you can keep your pot pourri flavoured nonsense!

Actually, that's a little unfair, some of it is drinkable, and i've never tried any really expensive and exotic stuff, but tea to me is every day tetley type tea.

Fair enough that you prefer Tetley's blend, but at the end of the day, it's not that different from the tea I drink. One of my favourite's is Darjeeling, which is just a light black tea and is even in some of the blends you get in typical tea bags. Not trying to put down your tastes, just aware that people seem to have a disconnect between typical tea bags and loose tea. It's pretty much the same thing, except with loose tea you're more able to tell what's in it (i.e., not the dirt and other crap they put in some cheap bags).

Shalashaska wrote:Tea before milk, or milk before tea?

Personally its milk first, don't want to stain my cups.

I always put milk in after because I think the way it mixes looks cool.

emilythestrange wrote:

Shalashaska wrote:Tea before milk, or milk before tea?

Personally its milk first, don't want to stain my cups.

I always put milk in after because I think the way it mixes looks cool.

I can honestly say I have never seen that argument before.

Shafto wrote:
Fair enough that you prefer Tetley's blend, but at the end of the day, it's not that different from the tea I drink. One of my favourite's is Darjeeling, which is just a light black tea and is even in some of the blends you get in typical tea bags. Not trying to put down your tastes, just aware that people seem to have a disconnect between typical tea bags and loose tea. It's pretty much the same thing, except with loose tea you're more able to tell what's in it (i.e., not the dirt and other crap they put in some cheap bags).

What crap is put into Tetley tea bags? I would also be surprised if dirt was put in them and they passed the EU food laws. Only thing I can tell is that it is a delicious blend.

piratebrido wrote:

Shafto wrote:
Fair enough that you prefer Tetley's blend, but at the end of the day, it's not that different from the tea I drink. One of my favourite's is Darjeeling, which is just a light black tea and is even in some of the blends you get in typical tea bags. Not trying to put down your tastes, just aware that people seem to have a disconnect between typical tea bags and loose tea. It's pretty much the same thing, except with loose tea you're more able to tell what's in it (i.e., not the dirt and other crap they put in some cheap bags).

What crap is put into Tetley tea bags? I would also be surprised if dirt was put in them and they passed the EU food laws.

I never said any crap was put into Tetley. There is definitely poor-grade tea and other leftovers from the harvesting process uses to fill out some cheap tea bags though. Maybe not dirt, I'm probably exaggerating on that one from listening to my mum tell me what she had to drink when she was wee, but definitely stuff that isn't going to add to the taste. I think it's called 'fannings', and the lower grade 'dust' (I think these are like official grades of tea quality). Basically, they take away the fully formed leaves and sell it as high grade tea and take the leftovers, stick them in a bag and sell them separately.

Interesting blog post - http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/2005/08/breaking_the_te.html

emilythestrange wrote:

Shalashaska wrote:Tea before milk, or milk before tea?

Personally its milk first, don't want to stain my cups.

I always put milk in after because I think the way it mixes looks cool.

I like the stain on the cups. Gives the tea-making more soul.