"Tea Time with "von"" Topic

Alright all you tea fans, the Spousal unit and I just got Brit Box for our Smart TV and love it!! But it has raised a number of questions that I know YOU can answer, and since we have a sizable number of members from the UK, Australia, Canada and the other far flung reaches of the old British Empire I know I can get it right from the horses mouth…so to speak.

OK, here goes:
1 – Does the milk go in before or after you pour the tea?
2 – Bags or loose, and if loose, do you prefer using tea balls or strainers?
3 – How long do you steep the tea in the pot before serving?
4 – Do you pre-heat the pot with hot water?

And finally the BIG ONE:
5 – How do you keep your cookies/biscuits from crumbling and leaving a disgusting mush at the bottom of the cup?

OK lads, there's your homework for tonight, good luck and

TALLY-HO!!!!

1 No milk for me
2 tea bags for me
3 do it by the cup myself
4 See above
5 just have tea
Paul in the USA

1. Milk in first, but not everyone agrees. If brewing in a mug using a tea bag the milk goes in after the bag is removed.
2. Preferably loose tea, poured through a strainer.
3. At least two minutes.
4. Yes (unless it is a metal tea pot).
5. Simple, don't dunk the biscuit in the tea. Take a bite of biscuit then drink the tea through it.

Finally, insist on freshly boiled water (this is why tea produced on the continent is never right).

Disclaimer: I'm from New England, but the region was part of the British Empire until that spot of unpleasantness during the Anglo-French War, and I have had tea all over England, so I'm happy to offer my views on these practices:

1 – Does the milk go in before or after you pour the tea?

Milk? Milk has no more place in tea than it does in coffee. Use cream or half-and-half. If you're in California, use oat milk or flax milk instead.

2 – Bags or loose, and if loose, do you prefer using tea balls or strainers?

Loose gives a fuller flavor, so loose. No tea ball or strainer: the tea pot can strain the tea adequately, and if you still have your teeth, they'll catch anything that gets out of your cup.

3 – How long do you steep the tea in the pot before serving?

Usually 5 to 8 minutes

4 – Do you pre-heat the pot with hot water?

Of course. How else would you pre-heat it -- on a stove burner? in the oven?

5 – How do you keep your cookies/biscuits from crumbling and leaving a disgusting mush at the bottom of the cup?

Crumbs make it impossible to read the tea leaves accurately, so just don't dunk. Also, it's disgusting.
Also, the tea and the cookies or cucumber sandwiches or whatever will mix perfectly well in your stomach. Let your stomach do its job.

1. After. That's why you get the question "milk or lemon" followed by "sugar?"

2. Loose into a tea pot. let it swirl around and use a tea strainer when pouring. Bags are for the lazy and uncouth.

3. Steeping is one minute per person. Remember that water in the pot should be enough for two cups (not mugs) per person. And tea is one per person plus one for the pot.

4. Yes of course. Assuming a standard china tea pot. If using a silver or steel pot, this is even more important.

5. Barbarian… That is why the lord created TEA biscuits. They resist the sludge effect effect long enough to get them to your mouth where they dissolve.

Put water into mug and microwave 1.5 to 2 minutes. Toss tea bag in water and swirl around until you think you are done. Pour in milk, add sugar, and stir again.

All I know of tea I learned from Professor Elemental.

YouTube link

1 I do not use milk or sugar. I want to taste the tea.

2 Loose, full leaf prefered. I don't use tea balls or strainers, I steep my tea in a French Press.

3 I steep the tea until it looks/smells right. When I think it's steeped I will sample it first before serving.

4 Perhaps I should fill the French Press with hot water but I usually just give it a hot water rinse.

5 Withdrawing the bisquit at the optimal moment is an art that takes both years of practice and great dexterity. Even the best of us don't always succeed.

Colin in Canada

Did you know you can buy American tea?
link

Ok here we go – and although I live in Canada I learned to make tea from my Ukranian baba

1 Does the milk go in before or after you pour the tea?

Milk in tea? Never!

2 – Bags or loose, and if loose, do you prefer using tea balls or strainers?

Tea strainer with loose tea is great, but mostly I do bags because it is so much easier

3 – How long do you steep the tea in the pot before serving?

3 minutes (Earl Grey – longer and you lose the taste of bergamet

4 – Do you pre-heat the pot with hot water?

But of course! We're not savages

5 – How do you keep your cookies/biscuits from crumbling and leaving a disgusting mush at the bottom of the cup?

If you are going to have a biscuit with your tea, a very quick dip with a good quality biscuit as Colin notes

1 – The milk goes in after.
2 – Loose for best results but I put bags in the pot as it's easier and then I don't need a strainer.
3 – Never timed it, probably about 5-10 minutes, but a quick test pour shows the colour. I like it strong and at a temperature that doesn't burn my mouth – the pot is well-cosied.
4 – Yes but not always because I'm lazy.

No milk in tea … maybe some Baily's Irish Cream …

I don't drink tea myself, but this is how the missus does it along with everyone in a British workplace environment…

1. Put teabag in mug
2. Pour in boiling water ( note the word 'boiling')
3. Leave for fifteen to twenty seconds
4. Using a teaspoon, swirl the teabag around the mug a couple of times, then squish it against the side of the mug and hoick it out.
5. Add splash of milk
6. Add sugar if wanted by drinker

Job done!

When dunking biscuits the skill is to dip them in-and-out a bit sharpish. You need to learn how long each type of biccie can take before dissolving. I find a Ginger Nut in me coffee can take a fair bit of punishment, but Peter Kay recommends Hob Nobs – "the Marines of the biscuit world" (google him!). In case of dunking disaster, keep your teaspoon handy to fish out bits of biscuit.

If anyone tries to tell you anything more poncy than that, they are being a pretentious and will be referred to the blokes at work who will come round and explain the error of their ways…

Peter Kay on dunking…

YouTube link

1 – Does the milk go in before or after you pour the tea?
A: You don't use milk; You use whiskey, almost always before.

2 – Bags or loose, and if loose, do you prefer using tea balls or strainers?
A: Neither. You leave it in the box.

3 – How long do you steep the tea in the pot before serving?
A: I can tell you right now that box of tea ain't gonna fit in that pot.

4 – Do you pre-heat the pot with hot water?
A: For safety, add the water *after* you stuff the tea box into the pot (this is for you persistent types.)

5 – How do you keep your cookies/biscuits from crumbling and leaving a disgusting mush at the bottom of the cup?
A: That won't happen if you drink the whiskey first… ;-)

Should've asked ober if he drinks his from a shoe

In the US I always thought the tea went in the harbor.

Wolfhag

1 – No milk.
2 – Loose in the pot, no straining.
3 – Roughly a minute.
4 – Yes. You also wash the tea leaves with an initial douse of hot water that is poured off.
5 – No biscuits, either.

6 – England, Canada, UK, USA … meh. Japan, Mongolia, China.

7 – If you must add something to it, a dab of yak's milk butter and/or a splash of yak's blood. (Mongolia)

Live in the softie South of England
1 – I don't have milk, but those that do, normally add the milk afterwards. Occasionally add a tot of spiced rum.
2 – I prefer putting my loose tea leaves into bags.
3 – At least 4 minutes.
4 – Yes
5 – no dunking.

Don't re-boil the water, but use fresh each time, for a better tasting cuppa.

In the US I always thought the tea went in the harbor.

Good point Wolf !!!!

We showed them Red Coats !!!! 🤩

I mean them "Indians" did !!!! 😏

I did not think dunking thing in the tea was a British thing?

Hmmm, a coupla rebels in the woodpile!!!