British Tea Time

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Egg Shen

Lifer
Nov 26, 2021
1,187
3,960
Pennsylvania
The Brits seem to very particular about the quality of tea they consume but why do they insist on adding cream and large amounts of sugar that adulterate the taste of fine tea? Early fine China cups were sensitive to to this very hot brew as a possible reason. This bloody yanks only reference is watching Brit Box.
Darn good question. Aldulterate is the correct term.
 

Egg Shen

Lifer
Nov 26, 2021
1,187
3,960
Pennsylvania
I'm not sure if Brits are 'very particular about the quality of the tea, generally they(and the undersigned too)seem to enjoy strongest possible black teas(tehe mix of Assman&Kenian)which originally were created to be consumed with a dash of milk and some sugar added to soften out this(builders) brew' ,also as of today ,I have come to know that consumption of loose leaf teas is in decline even in the UK
And coffee consumption rising
 
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Egg Shen

Lifer
Nov 26, 2021
1,187
3,960
Pennsylvania
Assman, it seems to me, would be a very strong and highly unpleasant type of tea.
I agree the tannins and astringency can be over the top. My approach, being a purist, is not to dilute it with cream and mask it with sugar but to adjust the water temperature and extraction time downward. You must under-extract it then you have a pleasant enough cup of tea. As an added bonus you can re-use this teabag a few times because the leaf in the core don’t get fully extracted the first time unless you excessively agitate the bag. When the tea bag no longer gives dark tea it’s spent. Not just for Assam but Kenya and even some greens. I almost always slightly under-extract.
 

clynch

Can't Leave
Feb 3, 2013
368
882
Pensacola Florida
I commonly like it dark, artificial sweetner and half and half. Sometimes honey and lemon. Sounds like tea drinkers can be as persnikity as pipe smokers. I roast my own coffee beans. Starbucks and the rest take a back seat to home roasted coffees.
Whatever people get into, I like the intensity and enjoyment. We want the Best tobacco, the Best coffee, the Best tea. Satisfaction comes from pursuit and enjoyment!
 

Egg Shen

Lifer
Nov 26, 2021
1,187
3,960
Pennsylvania
And I won't generalize about the lousy state of British dentistry.
Lol
I'm sure I read somewhere that if the Queen eats a banana she uses a knife and fork??‍♂️?
somebody probably peels it for her too
I add milk to cool the tea. Adding milk gives sort of that fishy thing to the taste and sweetener kills that thing. When I used to work in office, drank without milk or sweetener. Long time ago, I tried cream instead of milk. Cream curdles in hot tea.
This reminds me of an IT guy at my last employer whose breath was rancidass every single day. He was constantly drinking Chai with cream lol
 

Franco Pipenbeans

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 7, 2021
648
1,699
Yorkshire, England
I'm sure I read somewhere that chicken tikka Marsala has replaced fish&chips as the most ordered dish in Britain.
Apparently this is true but I’m not sure how this conclusion was reached? How exactly do you quantify such an assertion?

I suspect that there could be some influence from the Curry Marketing Board however! ?
 
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Franco Pipenbeans

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 7, 2021
648
1,699
Yorkshire, England
This might be the key point that has become buried. What tobaccos will pair with a good tea?
Personally: something with bergamot (Earl Grey or Lady Grey) with a piece of lemon, goes well with a slice of Bosun’s Plug, Coniston or Ennerdale; a “proper brew” goes very well with a St Bruno, Cabbie’s Mix or Three Nuns style blendand then a Lapsang Souchon or Gunpowder tea goes well with anything in the Squadron Leader, Presbyterian Mixture, Early Morning Pipe bracket.

A Darjeeling or Ceylon pairs nicely with those middle of the road, Capstan Blue, Elizabethan Mixture blends…not to sound too much like a pompous prat.

Also, I do think that the cup the tea is drunk out of plays a part in how it tastes, in the same way that pipes can influence the tobacco and how it tastes.

I don’t need to get into anything else to blow my money on, I was hoping that pipes and tobacco would be enough! ??
 
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