It is slightly fermented I think, which makes slightly caramely. I really like it, and drink it black when I get it.
Or rather semi-oxidised (which is what fermentation amounts to for tea) as all oolong is, the milky taste is down to a particular cultivar rather than a process:
I feel a need to disagree with @RockyRoger . Tea bags are a gift from God. I remember having loose leaf tea when young, and having to strain it and always getting some leaves in the tea anyway. Such a faff. Tea bags are so much easier.
Instant coffee I would concur on - it is coffee flavouring and nothing more. In fact, having seen how it is made, that view has not changed.
But coffee bags can produce a decent coffee. And pre-ground coffee is convenient for many situations. OK, I grind my own at home mostly these days, and it is better, fresher, nicer. But other variants are acceptable too.
I find it interesting that in the UK, the standard used to be instant - in offices definitely, and very much at home too. Visitors from the US were appalled - I worked in one place where they were taken over by a US company, and the first thing they did was install decent coffee facilities.
Except today, we went to the US last year, and the coffee we have in most places in the UK is better than what was readily available there. It is mostly filter coffee there, whereas in the UK there is usually fresh brewed espresso.
Churches. The other holdout of instant coffee. Probably because the average churchgoer hails from an age when instant was standard. Weirdly, when churches do real coffee it's generally rank. I don't know why. I always have the tea; you can only ruin tea so far, whereas coffee can be (and often is) ruined beyond belief.
Here (USA, in my experience) churches at the lowest level use filter coffee made in urns and not instant. Everybody has a setup capable of brewing that—in fact, if you don’t, there are usually thinks of people in the congregation who’d be happy to unload their old coffee brewers on you (though these will be smaller).
Instant coffee in my experience exists to be used for brand new coffee drinkers, people camping (maybe), and to be added to recipes as flavoring.
Since it's Independence Day here in the States, I should mention the arguably greatest crime against tea: Boston harbor, December 16, 1773. I'm told there was no strainer available at that particular time.
For stronger black teas, the neutralisation of tannins is somewhat necessary, but I'm guessing you don't go for those styles.
Well, I drink black teas, of varying strengths, but I find that as tea leaves they have more of a delicate flavour than as regular teabags full of powder from crushed leaves. If tea bags are all that's available, I will drink them without milk, but I generally ensure the teabag is not in the water too long, or it becomes unpleasantly bitter, and I like to add lemon if it's available.
There are plenty of countries where strong black tea without milk is the norm, so I would suggest 'necessary' is subjective, more a personal preference. Lemon is a much nicer thing to add, to my taste.
@fineline Tea from Mariage will also have a milder taste, even for black teas, because they're aimed at the French market. French people rarely add milk to their tea, and strong, tannic black teas are rather difficult to get hold of.
@fineline Tea from Mariage will also have a milder taste, even for black teas, because they're aimed at the French market. French people rarely add milk to their tea, and strong, tannic black teas are rather difficult to get hold of.
How serious an offence is it to clean the tea pot? When quite young I thought I was going my mother a favour when I scoured the metal tea pot until the inside shone. I am not sure that she forgave me before she died. It had looked disgusting, but I was given to understand I had committed a grave sin. Also, I didn't drink tea anyway - I started on coffee at a very early age. If it had been a sherry barrel in a whisky distillery I might have understood.
I am sure you have to clean coffee pots, and I do. Our church was noted for serving the worst coffee in the whole presbytery until we switched from metal to glass coffee pots, and the change was not unlike Paul's day on the road to Damascus. We only use glass coffee pots at home. If I am unwell, then I will drink tea, using a tea bag.
Except today, we went to the US last year, and the coffee we have in most places in the UK is better than what was readily available there. It is mostly filter coffee there, whereas in the UK there is usually fresh brewed espresso.
Espresso isn't better than filter coffee; it's a whole other different thing.
The trouble with glass coffee pots is that they break. At least three glass cafetieres have broken unexpectedly for me. Hypothesis - they were scratched by the plunger causing a potential fracture line. We are now using a metal cafetiere which is working well so far and does not seem to affect the taste too much. Only problem is it is more difficult to see how much water you have put in.
Some friends bought me some when over there. It was very nice.
They also bought me some Japanese sencha tea when there (they travel). It was very delicious. Can't be of any help as it was all in Japanese script.
"The Art of Tea" mails a variety of loose leaf teas here in Oz. I enjoy their products, the "Eastern Grey Kangaroo" (Earl Grey) variety in particular. I'm enjoying a Russian Caravan also.
Except today, we went to the US last year, and the coffee we have in most places in the UK is better than what was readily available there. It is mostly filter coffee there, whereas in the UK there is usually fresh brewed espresso.
Espresso isn't better than filter coffee; it's a whole other different thing.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe not apples and oranges, both being made from coffee beans, but two different drinks.
I feel a need to disagree with @RockyRoger . Tea bags are a gift from God. I remember having loose leaf tea when young, and having to strain it and always getting some leaves in the tea anyway. Such a faff. Tea bags are so much easier.
Instant coffee I would concur on - it is coffee flavouring and nothing more. In fact, having seen how it is made, that view has not changed.
But coffee bags can produce a decent coffee. And pre-ground coffee is convenient for many situations. OK, I grind my own at home mostly these days, and it is better, fresher, nicer. But other variants are acceptable too.
I find it interesting that in the UK, the standard used to be instant - in offices definitely, and very much at home too. Visitors from the US were appalled - I worked in one place where they were taken over by a US company, and the first thing they did was install decent coffee facilities.
Except today, we went to the US last year, and the coffee we have in most places in the UK is better than what was readily available there. It is mostly filter coffee there, whereas in the UK there is usually fresh brewed espresso.
Churches. The other holdout of instant coffee. Probably because the average churchgoer hails from an age when instant was standard. Weirdly, when churches do real coffee it's generally rank. I don't know why. I always have the tea; you can only ruin tea so far, whereas coffee can be (and often is) ruined beyond belief.
Here (USA, in my experience) churches at the lowest level use filter coffee made in urns and not instant. Everybody has a setup capable of brewing that—in fact, if you don’t, there are usually thinks of people in the congregation who’d be happy to unload their old coffee brewers on you (though these will be smaller).
That’s my experience, too. And it’s also my experience that churches are more likely to use good, fair trade coffee, quite possibly locally roasted. (Our church gets its coffee from a local roaster that was established to provide employment for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.)
Except today, we went to the US last year, and the coffee we have in most places in the UK is better than what was readily available there. It is mostly filter coffee there, whereas in the UK there is usually fresh brewed espresso.
Espresso isn't better than filter coffee; it's a whole other different thing.
I used to attend an art class at the Botanic Gardens. There was a kitchenette with a hot water urn and a communal jar of instant coffee. I used to make a mug - until I looked inside the urn. It may have been cleaned at some point since, oh, the end of WW2, but it didn't look it.
I am currently sipping an early morning Nespresso brought to me by Mr F. Later he will grind the beans for the morning's pot of filter.
I feel a need to disagree with @RockyRoger . Tea bags are a gift from God. I remember having loose leaf tea when young, and having to strain it and always getting some leaves in the tea anyway. Such a faff. Tea bags are so much easier.
Instant coffee I would concur on - it is coffee flavouring and nothing more. In fact, having seen how it is made, that view has not changed.
But coffee bags can produce a decent coffee. And pre-ground coffee is convenient for many situations. OK, I grind my own at home mostly these days, and it is better, fresher, nicer. But other variants are acceptable too.
I find it interesting that in the UK, the standard used to be instant - in offices definitely, and very much at home too. Visitors from the US were appalled - I worked in one place where they were taken over by a US company, and the first thing they did was install decent coffee facilities.
Except today, we went to the US last year, and the coffee we have in most places in the UK is better than what was readily available there. It is mostly filter coffee there, whereas in the UK there is usually fresh brewed espresso.
Churches. The other holdout of instant coffee. Probably because the average churchgoer hails from an age when instant was standard. Weirdly, when churches do real coffee it's generally rank. I don't know why. I always have the tea; you can only ruin tea so far, whereas coffee can be (and often is) ruined beyond belief.
Our UCA makes filter coffee. Acceptable for me, where instant isn't .
The large London church where I became a Christian had professional filter coffee machines in the 1990s, as does the large Cambridge church I have been attending for the last 20 years. I suspect whether a UK church has filter or instant coffee has a lot to do with its size and location.
The Antiochian Orthodox parishes I annoyed in Sydney make proper Arabic coffee. Miss that. Need to make a trip back.
The last mass tea-making exercise was a picnic in a park a few weeks ago with Assyrians who had a giant metal urn they were trying to light with 0 success unfortunately. My friend ended up borrowing the kettle from the security/maintenance guy and bringing it over once it boiled!
The trouble with glass coffee pots is that they break. At least three glass cafetieres have broken unexpectedly for me. Hypothesis - they were scratched by the plunger causing a potential fracture line. We are now using a metal cafetiere which is working well so far and does not seem to affect the taste too much. Only problem is it is more difficult to see how much water you have put in.
Me too! Well, mine broke because I'm clumsy and accidentally knocked them on my kitchen floor. After breaking three, I decided to go with a metal one too. But these days I find it simpler just to put coffee grounds at the bottom of the mug, pour on water from the kettle, and let the grounds sink to the bottom, and I find that works fine, still tastes as good, and is a lot less faff.
The large London church where I became a Christian had professional filter coffee machines in the 1990s, as does the large Cambridge church I have been attending for the last 20 years. I suspect whether a UK church has filter or instant coffee has a lot to do with its size and location.
Probably true. Most of the churches I've attended have been small. The large ones around here are generally not my cup of tea, if you'll excuse the turn of phrase.
This may seem like a stupid question but do people in the US have electric kettles? I think it is intrinsically a problematic electrical engineering question due to the lower 110V a.c. supply which leads to massively reduced power to the element.
Electric kettles are pretty much ubiquitous in North America. I don’t think there’s any practical difference between 110 and 220 volts in terms of what the kettle does (having used both in recent memory).
They're more common than they used to be, but I wouldn't say they're ubiquitous, at least not in the US. I only acquired one a year ago, and I know plenty of people who just microwave water. I've seen the explanation that our lower voltage means stovetop kettles are just as fast as electric, but that is not my experience. I love how fast my electric kettle is and that I can specify a temperature.
There are few things worse than being presented with a cup of hot water with a tea bag* next to it. You know the teabag is shite, and it'll never get a chance to brew to what little potential it has as the water is already to cool for a good brew.
* tea bags have their own circle of hell, but they are convenient.
I occasionally order tea in restaurants, and I nearly always regret it. There is one horror you've left out: the second cup that's made with the not hot enough water and a spent teabag. A lot of times now they at least give you a little caddy of teabags; before that became a semi-regular practice, I once got a server to bring me a fresh teabag by pointing out that the coffee drinkers didn't get a second cup made from re-used grounds.
No we don’t. Equally we don’t get a second pot of water as tea drinkers often do to get a second serving out of the tea. If we want another cup of coffee we have to pay for it.
Some of you are reminding me of the time I was with three friends at Perkins Restaurant for appetizers, and we asked for hot tea. The server brought one tea bag (Red Rose? Tetley? Lipton?) for each of us, plus a mug of slightly warm water...probably straight from the tap. We told her that you can't make hot tea with tepid water. She glared at us and went back to the kitchen. She returned with water that she obviously got from the tap, but waited until it was hot. We told her that we needed boiling water. She was not happy with us!!! She did eventually bring water that was almost hot enough for tea. We gave up at that point.
I occasionally order tea in restaurants, and I nearly always regret it. There is one horror you've left out: the second cup that's made with the not hot enough water and a spent teabag. A lot of times now they at least give you a little caddy of teabags; before that became a semi-regular practice, I once got a server to bring me a fresh teabag by pointing out that the coffee drinkers didn't get a second cup made from re-used grounds.
No we don’t. Equally we don’t get a second pot of water as tea drinkers often do to get a second serving out of the tea. If we want another cup of coffee we have to pay for it.
At US restaurants, servers go around with coffee re-filling people's cups at no extra charge, unless it's fine dining after-dinner coffee. If you're drinking hot tea, you might have to remind them of that so they don't pour coffee into it.
I occasionally order tea in restaurants, and I nearly always regret it. There is one horror you've left out: the second cup that's made with the not hot enough water and a spent teabag. A lot of times now they at least give you a little caddy of teabags; before that became a semi-regular practice, I once got a server to bring me a fresh teabag by pointing out that the coffee drinkers didn't get a second cup made from re-used grounds.
No we don’t. Equally we don’t get a second pot of water as tea drinkers often do to get a second serving out of the tea. If we want another cup of coffee we have to pay for it.
At US restaurants, servers go around with coffee re-filling people's cups at no extra charge, unless it's fine dining after-dinner coffee. If you're drinking hot tea, you might have to remind them of that so they don't pour coffee into it.
And at coffee shops, bakeries and the like in the US, it varies. The bakery I went to this morning provides free refills. Another nearby doesn’t, while yet another provides one free refill.
@jedijudy You've reminded me of a coach tour around Germany that my mum went on years ago. When the English ladies ordered tea, they generally got a big pot with one lonely teabag in it. Fortunately, one of the ladies had been before, and had brought her own tea bags, which she added to the pot. So the teapot would go back to the kitchen with 5 or 6 tea bags in it!
Does anyone else like Mariage Frères tea? They are expensive, but it makes drinking tea feel like such a luxurious treat.
Our guilty pleasure tea-wise is their Marco Polo tea. I spent quite a lot of time trying to track it down when we were in Paris a few weeks ago - the St-Germain shop I went to first was (temporarily) closed, so ended up going for a bit of a walk to their location at Bon Marche (a high-end supermarket I never knew existed before). A pleasant enough walk but probably more pleasant if it's not 30 degrees out....
Just stocked up today on half-kilos of our house Assam (breakfast) and Keemun (lunch) teas.
As a child I'd never known there were a variety of teas available, and perhaps at the time I was a child, there were only the usual Bushells, Liptons, Kinkara. My parents were always coffee drinkers as was my Aunt, so I was always a lone tea drinker in my family. Fortunately when I met my husband his family were tea drinkers, so I fitted in!!
Our daughter loves a variety of teas from green (bler), to herbal to flavoured and so we have one drawer devoted just to teas. My early morning instant coffee lives in a tiny jar in the same drawer. The problem is trying to get them used up before the expiry dates.
I only drink Dilmah now and used to drink Nerada at one point, but found it was never strong enough. I will drink black tea if we've run out of milk, and have been surprised that I've enjoyed it, perhaps it's something to do with having a more mature palate. Has anyone else had this experience?
I am not sure what the catalyst was, but about 10 years ago, all the church mugs were replaced with new finer ones all matching. We have Twinings teabags on offer, it seems the breakfast teas are the most popular, and plunged coffee for after service morning tea. In last week's pewsheet was a notice indicating that one of the plungers had gone missing, but I've not heard whether it has subsequently been returned. Oh the mystery....
Did anyone else notice that in 1979 Twinings changed their Earl Grey recipe and the packet then included the phrase "bergamot oil added"?
I didn't like the change in flavour and went round the shops buying up all the old packets I could.
After I finished them I gave up o. Earl Grey, and eventually decided on Russian Caravan, a tea which is now increasingly hard to find in Australia.
Twinings uses flavourings these days. LatchKeyKid is remembering an ingredient change from 1979. That's 46 years ago. They have had further ingredient changes since then.
A tin of Mariage Frères Montagne D'Or was delivered to my home yesterday and this morning I made a mug of this tea. As soon as I opened the tin, a lovely aroma filled my kitchen! The tea has a more delicate flavor than some of my usual teas. It was such a nice start to my morning!
I do not drink tea - my mother said I stopped drinking it when I was two, but I read the word Keemun earlier in this thread and had a sudden flash of recognition.
At some time in my life I drank Keemun. I remember which cupboard I kept it in, and which house. It would probably have been sometime during the late eighties, I think. but I have no memory of why I started dinking it, and why I stopped (possibly price, as money got tight in the early nineties).
I suppose I liked it at the time, but had forgotten about it completely until I read this thread and have no desire to try it again.
Maybe it was just an affectation, I'd had one for smoking panetellas about 20 years previously.
If my mother's experience in Rome c1950, the use of boiling water in a tea pot is a crime. This was the explanation given to her when she returned cracked tea pot to the shop.
If my mother's experience in Rome c1950, the use of boiling water in a tea pot is a crime. This was the explanation given to her when she returned cracked tea pot to the shop.
Hmm. We have used boiling water in china and earthenware teapots since the 60s without breakages.
That makes me think of the chunky square Cadbury's mugs as featured on the front of their drinking chocolate tubs - only to be used for hot chocolate and never tea or coffee!
Comments
Or rather semi-oxidised (which is what fermentation amounts to for tea) as all oolong is, the milky taste is down to a particular cultivar rather than a process:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Xuan_tea
Here (USA, in my experience) churches at the lowest level use filter coffee made in urns and not instant. Everybody has a setup capable of brewing that—in fact, if you don’t, there are usually thinks of people in the congregation who’d be happy to unload their old coffee brewers on you (though these will be smaller).
Instant coffee in my experience exists to be used for brand new coffee drinkers, people camping (maybe), and to be added to recipes as flavoring.
Well, I drink black teas, of varying strengths, but I find that as tea leaves they have more of a delicate flavour than as regular teabags full of powder from crushed leaves. If tea bags are all that's available, I will drink them without milk, but I generally ensure the teabag is not in the water too long, or it becomes unpleasantly bitter, and I like to add lemon if it's available.
There are plenty of countries where strong black tea without milk is the norm, so I would suggest 'necessary' is subjective, more a personal preference. Lemon is a much nicer thing to add, to my taste.
That does sound nice. I don't think I've ever come across it, but I will look for it in Whittards next time I go to London.
Yes, they are milder ones, definitely.
I am sure you have to clean coffee pots, and I do. Our church was noted for serving the worst coffee in the whole presbytery until we switched from metal to glass coffee pots, and the change was not unlike Paul's day on the road to Damascus. We only use glass coffee pots at home. If I am unwell, then I will drink tea, using a tea bag.
Espresso isn't better than filter coffee; it's a whole other different thing.
They also bought me some Japanese sencha tea when there (they travel). It was very delicious. Can't be of any help as it was all in Japanese script.
"The Art of Tea" mails a variety of loose leaf teas here in Oz. I enjoy their products, the "Eastern Grey Kangaroo" (Earl Grey) variety in particular. I'm enjoying a Russian Caravan also.
That’s my experience, too. And it’s also my experience that churches are more likely to use good, fair trade coffee, quite possibly locally roasted. (Our church gets its coffee from a local roaster that was established to provide employment for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.)
Yep.
I am currently sipping an early morning Nespresso brought to me by Mr F. Later he will grind the beans for the morning's pot of filter.
Our UCA makes filter coffee. Acceptable for me, where instant isn't .
The last mass tea-making exercise was a picnic in a park a few weeks ago with Assyrians who had a giant metal urn they were trying to light with 0 success unfortunately. My friend ended up borrowing the kettle from the security/maintenance guy and bringing it over once it boiled!
Me too! Well, mine broke because I'm clumsy and accidentally knocked them on my kitchen floor. After breaking three, I decided to go with a metal one too. But these days I find it simpler just to put coffee grounds at the bottom of the mug, pour on water from the kettle, and let the grounds sink to the bottom, and I find that works fine, still tastes as good, and is a lot less faff.
Probably true. Most of the churches I've attended have been small. The large ones around here are generally not my cup of tea, if you'll excuse the turn of phrase.
No we don’t. Equally we don’t get a second pot of water as tea drinkers often do to get a second serving out of the tea. If we want another cup of coffee we have to pay for it.
I think you’re absolutely right, which is why i mentioned it.
At US restaurants, servers go around with coffee re-filling people's cups at no extra charge, unless it's fine dining after-dinner coffee. If you're drinking hot tea, you might have to remind them of that so they don't pour coffee into it.
Our guilty pleasure tea-wise is their Marco Polo tea. I spent quite a lot of time trying to track it down when we were in Paris a few weeks ago - the St-Germain shop I went to first was (temporarily) closed, so ended up going for a bit of a walk to their location at Bon Marche (a high-end supermarket I never knew existed before). A pleasant enough walk but probably more pleasant if it's not 30 degrees out....
Just stocked up today on half-kilos of our house Assam (breakfast) and Keemun (lunch) teas.
Our daughter loves a variety of teas from green (bler), to herbal to flavoured and so we have one drawer devoted just to teas. My early morning instant coffee lives in a tiny jar in the same drawer. The problem is trying to get them used up before the expiry dates.
I only drink Dilmah now and used to drink Nerada at one point, but found it was never strong enough. I will drink black tea if we've run out of milk, and have been surprised that I've enjoyed it, perhaps it's something to do with having a more mature palate. Has anyone else had this experience?
I am not sure what the catalyst was, but about 10 years ago, all the church mugs were replaced with new finer ones all matching. We have Twinings teabags on offer, it seems the breakfast teas are the most popular, and plunged coffee for after service morning tea. In last week's pewsheet was a notice indicating that one of the plungers had gone missing, but I've not heard whether it has subsequently been returned. Oh the mystery....
I didn't like the change in flavour and went round the shops buying up all the old packets I could.
After I finished them I gave up o. Earl Grey, and eventually decided on Russian Caravan, a tea which is now increasingly hard to find in Australia.
I wondered if originally they used bergamot leaf rather than extracted oil.
A tin of Mariage Frères Montagne D'Or was delivered to my home yesterday and this morning I made a mug of this tea. As soon as I opened the tin, a lovely aroma filled my kitchen! The tea has a more delicate flavor than some of my usual teas. It was such a nice start to my morning!
At some time in my life I drank Keemun. I remember which cupboard I kept it in, and which house. It would probably have been sometime during the late eighties, I think. but I have no memory of why I started dinking it, and why I stopped (possibly price, as money got tight in the early nineties).
I suppose I liked it at the time, but had forgotten about it completely until I read this thread and have no desire to try it again.
Maybe it was just an affectation, I'd had one for smoking panetellas about 20 years previously.
Hmm. We have used boiling water in china and earthenware teapots since the 60s without breakages.
I bought one of those from the Cadbury's shop a few years ago as a gift.
Unfortunately, it was a hot day, and I didn't have a sufficiently cool place to transport it, so it went rather sad and floppy.