Intro Post
Apr. 29th, 2012 01:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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tea_musingsGreetings all!
My name is Liz, and I'm another Earl Grey fan (gotta be Twinings), although I'll drink tea in almost any flavour or format. My Mum was from Hertfordshire, England (I live in Canada), and I was practically raised on the stuff from birth. Before I was school-age, I drank what amounted to milk & sugar with a bit of Orange Pekoe in it, and as I got older the balance was tipped the other way. LOL I even had tea in my thermos in the lower grades at school! When you've got English blood in you, tea is known as the drink that cures everything. No matter what's wrong in your life, it's "Have a cup of tea, luv." Problem solved!
I'm not a purist, in that for everyday use I'm fine with using tea bags. But now and then, a nice loose leaf tea hits the spot. I normally use a rather ordinary ceramic tea pot, and I have two giant-sized mugs which are designated as my "tea-mugs". A cup just isn't big enough! LOL I have two rules: (1) the water must be boiling when it hits the leaves, and (2) when using tea bags, they must be removed from the pot after 3 minutes.
I firmly believe there is no such thing as tea in restaurants or other public places - at least, not in North America. What they call "tea" here is little better than lukewarm coloured water, and it's an offense to tea drinkers everywhere. The one possible exception to this is the "tea-rooms" that have been springing up of late; I'll reserve judgement on that one since I've never tried them out. Sadly, I have Celiac Disease, so I can't partake of any of the biscuits, sandwiches and other delights that normally accompany High Tea. It simply would be a waste of money for me to patronize those places, so I'll have to let others weigh in on whether they're any good.
I'm looking forward to some interesting discussions with fellow "tea-grannies" (and whatever the equivalent male term is?)
My name is Liz, and I'm another Earl Grey fan (gotta be Twinings), although I'll drink tea in almost any flavour or format. My Mum was from Hertfordshire, England (I live in Canada), and I was practically raised on the stuff from birth. Before I was school-age, I drank what amounted to milk & sugar with a bit of Orange Pekoe in it, and as I got older the balance was tipped the other way. LOL I even had tea in my thermos in the lower grades at school! When you've got English blood in you, tea is known as the drink that cures everything. No matter what's wrong in your life, it's "Have a cup of tea, luv." Problem solved!
I'm not a purist, in that for everyday use I'm fine with using tea bags. But now and then, a nice loose leaf tea hits the spot. I normally use a rather ordinary ceramic tea pot, and I have two giant-sized mugs which are designated as my "tea-mugs". A cup just isn't big enough! LOL I have two rules: (1) the water must be boiling when it hits the leaves, and (2) when using tea bags, they must be removed from the pot after 3 minutes.
I firmly believe there is no such thing as tea in restaurants or other public places - at least, not in North America. What they call "tea" here is little better than lukewarm coloured water, and it's an offense to tea drinkers everywhere. The one possible exception to this is the "tea-rooms" that have been springing up of late; I'll reserve judgement on that one since I've never tried them out. Sadly, I have Celiac Disease, so I can't partake of any of the biscuits, sandwiches and other delights that normally accompany High Tea. It simply would be a waste of money for me to patronize those places, so I'll have to let others weigh in on whether they're any good.
I'm looking forward to some interesting discussions with fellow "tea-grannies" (and whatever the equivalent male term is?)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-29 12:33 pm (UTC)The other thing is that most public places only serve Lipton's, which is kind of heresy IMO. (Apologies if anyone here likes Lipton's).
I can say that I've been to a couple of good tea houses (one run by a British Ex-Pat) and the tea itself was quite good. I think they, at least, have figured out that the water has to be boiling when you add it to the tea. My American friends were surprised how good the tea was. They just don't know the secrets of making it right...