Thanks for the recommendation - that’s one to try next time I pop to Waitrose.
They seem to have several varieties.
One thing with green tea is that it supposedly has more L-theanine than other teas which counterbalances the caffeine - perhaps all teas have as much, but I read once that it was felt that green tea was so popular amongst Buddhist monks as the balance promoted calm and aided mediation. May be complete tosh.
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Yes, I think we’ve had this discussion before. We’ve been using paper teabags for years, but I still find the occasional plastic one in the garden which has come from the compost heap. They appear harmless enough, but I suspect that when they do eventually break up, small particles of polypropylene in the soil might not be good.
Milk first. The stronger the better. Leave to infuse for at least three minutes. Oh and no mushing the bag with spoon, squeeze bag at the very end.
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Bottle of Corona, yuk!
I could murder a Vedette or Duvel…making a curry for 8 guests later…
Tetley
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I’m quite surprised at how many mentions of tea bags there are on this thread. Using leaf tea solves all the problems of plastic in tea bags (and tastes better). A nice Ceylon black tea for me - strength and subtlety perfectly combined.
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Loose leaf is rather a faff for those of us who don’t have the benefit of a valet or maid to clean out the teapot afterwards. Teabags, whilst not quite the apex of civilised tea-drinking, do score in the practicality stakes.
Mark
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Cut open any tea bag and look at the dusty apology for tea it contains. If you want a decent cup of tea, rinsing out a teapot is a small price to pay!
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Taste is actually all that matters, and (with black tea) not whether leaves or ‘dust’ in a bag, nor how it is made, in teapot or cup, milk first or after, or whether milk is added before the boiling water.
What I have found is that to me there is no significant difference between pot or cup making, nor leaf or bag, provided that the water is hot enough - boiling or only just off the boil. But cold milk in the cup with teabag before adding water tastes different I guess due to lower temperature, and I find inferior. Tea brewed too long or too short spoils it.
Also, the type of water makes a difference: some tea blends are nice with soft water but not hard water. And vice versa. i don’t know if it is true, but some years ago I heard that some brands have different blends for different parts of the country.
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Though prior to the teabag, loose leave was standard though often brewed for more people, I really can’t see it as a huge impediment to tea drinking should teabags no longer exist.
I have this romatic notion that loose leag tea, bagged or otherwise is best, though I often think the dusty fine ground stuff ought to give a stronger brew due to increased surface area of the dusty bits - actually if dusty tea bits are stronger it would make sense for the vendors as less tea would be needed for similar potency. Yuck!
I’ve been my own valet for years, but I confess that standards are slipping …
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You and me both!
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What a surprise! A small sample, but people who, in general, have quite fixed ideas in respect of quality when it comes to wine, beer, coffee and hifi, are willing to extoll the virtues of floor sweepings!
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The only virtue I extolled was that of practicality, though I’ve never noticed any significant superiority in the taste of loose leaf, all other things being equal. If that makes me some sort of tea-drinking savage in the eyes of others, you’ll have to wait for me to stop laughing before I’ll be in a position to care.
Mark
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That is a myth., that I first heard in the 1960s (maybe, for all I know, it was true then, but not now). Finer tea fragments can be retained in a bag but not a typical tea strainer, therefore loose tea needs larger fragments, but tea bags give the benefit of finer as they can release flavour quicker. Manufacturers make tea for bags, and whilst finer sieved material from loose tea production will be used for teabags not thrown away, a) they are just smaller pieces of tea leaf and b) With black tea at least, considerably more tea is sold in bags than loose in UK consumer market, so bulk tea is deliberately chopped to a finer particle size.
Of course it all depends on taste: I used to be a loose leaf afficionado, but then realised I can’t tell tge difference in blind tasting so have converted to the convenience of bags.
Some wchoes of vinyl vs streaming there!
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Tried lots of different types of tea, but end up with my classic favourite…
Nothing fancy. I’ll follow this thread to see if there’s anything to try which is basic like this.
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Interesting isn’t it, that while many of us do appreciate paying for quality, I think if we had a poll on tea the majority would go for fairly standard brands with good strength, and hard to underestimate how refreshing that cup of strong ‘builder’s tea’ is.
That Twinings is very nice, though I’ve found it bitter on occasion.
What happened to the 1706 on the box?