Can anyone make a nice cuppa tea anymore?

[malumbu]

OK quite easy rules, fresh water boiled, warmed pot, decent leaf tea, and allowed to brew according to taste.

You can argue about milk into the cup first or visa versa.

So I use unfresh water, reboiled and straight into the mug, and tea bags. Well at least most of the time. And it comes out OK.

So why can't our cafes, pubs, restaurants and fast food chains manage to do something half reasonable? I don't want to spend up to ?2 on luke warm water, tea that hasn't brewed and UHT milk. Simple answer is not to buy tea but occasionally I get caught out.

We've had a coffee revolution over the last twenty years, what is the the problem with tea?

(thought this was a nice departure from the anti social behaviour thread, but I always think that stirring it with your dick has benefits both in the quality of the tea and of course an extra thrill).

[MrsMcC]

Last line nearly made me spit out with laughter my English Breakfast made with fresh boiled water, a good spoon stir then left for a few secs, no squeezing and to finish a bit of milk.

[MrsMcC]

And the Bluebelle Cafe on Maple Rd Penge does a nice, large cuppa.

[KidKruger]

If you stir your hot tea with your tool you won't be using it for much else afterwards. Refrain, please.

[red devil]

The French reckon they can... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26962095

[PokerTime]

Quite KK, I'm squirming at the thought of it :D

For me, Tea is bag in first. Allow boiled water to cool slightly before pouring in. And then when I put the milk in, I pour it until it comes back to the top. That for me is the perfect amount of milk.

And then.....to squeeze or not to squeeze - the teabag that is! I'm a bit of a squeezer.

[Nigello]

Blue Brick Cafe gives you a dinky little pot with an organic (and good=tasting) tea bag in it and will give you extra hot water, but you have to ask. Likewise, the Duck Egg Cafe's cuppa is decent and will give you more hot water if you ask for it. Tea made in a cup/mug in a caff is a big no-no.

[MrsMcC]

Nigello is that for real or are you taking the piss? You haven't lived if you haven't had a good cuppa in a cafe, granted some not so great but always drinkable, you need to get out more.

[PeckhamRose]

Definitely teabag in the mug first, but the water has to be boiling and it has to brew/mash for a good time. Then milk and two sugars. Preferably the same type of sugar as I use in coffee: Demerara.

Pokertime forgets to add, leave tea till mostly cold then drink half of it.......(!!)

[PokerTime]

LOL. There is a really good reason for that. I can only drink the tea when it's at a particular temperature. But what often happens is that by the time I get halfway down the cup, it it no longer at the right temperature! Ok, just me?

[ruffers]

Where it often goes wrong in a caff is when the bag is the mug with milk already introduced. Tea is made by steeping the leaves in water, not milk, the taste is fundamentally different.

[Robert Poste's Child]

I take my tea in the continental way, weak enough to see the pattern on the (bone china) cup through it, no adulteration. I'm inclined to use a teapot but, as it's a bit of a faff, what I'm doing right now is putting loose tea in a strainer that sits on top of the cup and pouring freshly boiled water through slowly. I like to watch the ever-changing patterns that appear on the surface of the tea when it's really hot. Very soothing.

And then I spoil it slightly by reusing the same tea twice more. Not so good third time, but overall a better cup of tea and much more economical than bags.

[Otta]

I'm defo in the squeezing camp, I want every last bit of strength out of the bag. Just a dadh of milk, and absolutely no sugar undet any circumstances!

[uncleglen]

It's got to be- P.G. for me

[Otta]

Yeah I'm a PG Pyramid man.

[maxxi]

Perfectly happy with PG, Typhoo, Tetleys et al on a day to day basis but, just as there are more expensive and tastier coffees so there are, of course, teas and then Birchalls (nee Imporient) is my tea of choice (as mentioned before somewhere in the bowels of the forum).

Recently, however, I was gifted some English tea (Tregothnan, Cornwall grown) and if you get a chance to try it you really should - it's bloody lovely.

[ruffers]

A few years ago I went to a tea tasting masterclass in Spitalfields - http://www.teasmith.co.uk/masterclass.php - if you're into it it's an evening well spent (although I was quite tea'd out by the end of the evening).

[NewWave]

I'm a Yorkshire tea (Kenyan blend pref;) with soya milk, brewed in cup,

no sugar....delicious.

I can't drink tea with milk however it just smells and tastes ghastly

the best tea ever is made by my boyfriend...impressive as he doesn't drink tea.

[El Pibe]

a smidgeon sugar is acceptable on builders, i tend to find most brands just a bit too bitter, but on anything subtler you're basically masking the flavour.

We always have a jar of Barry's available for visitors as it's punishable by death not to do so.

Ah go on you'll have a cup of tea sure, you will you will etc

[Mustard]

maxxi Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Perfectly happy with PG, Typhoo, Tetleys et al on

> a day to day basis but, just as there are more

> expensive and tastier coffees so there are, of

> course, teas and then Birchalls (nee Imporient) is

> my tea of choice (as mentioned before somewhere in

> the bowels of the forum).

>

> Recently, however, I was gifted some English tea

> (Tregothnan, Cornwall grown) and if you get a

> chance to try it you really should - it's bloody

> lovely.

The Dish and Spoon cafe in Cheltenham Road sells that. Never tried it as I always have coffee when I go there.

[Huggers]

I'm liking the Dorset Tea from Sainsbury's, or their Kenyan tea. Both are nice and strong, yet mellow and a good dark golden colour.

I was luck to visit Darjeeling recently and went tea tasting, but I think British tea has ruined my palate as all those 'new tip/first blush' teas tasted like weak yet pungent Badger wee to me.