Being of a somewhat
sensitive nature, I die a little inside each time I see someone
destroying tea: the workmate adding milk to their cup before adding
the not-quite-boiliing-for-OHS-reasons water and the ubiquitous
yellow enveloped teabag that is defeated before it starts; the
inner-city cafes that import Italian barristas to work vast espresso
machines like demented church organs, they offer coffee beans
excreted by mongooses, but serve their tea in a bag undunked next to
a pot of unsuitably cooling water; and the fast-food “restaurants”,
well don't get me started.
Therefore it gives me
the utmost pleasure to advise on the correct preparation of tea:
Ingredients:
A good loose black
tea*
(*you don't need to go
overboard, but the cheap stuff is generally of dubious providence and
it's taste will betray it, on the otherhand, some things at the top
end from fancy stores seem designed to extract many dollars for
middle class vanity. I find Dilmah a suitable compromise, though
doubtless there are many others.
It must be black tea.
Green tea, not to my taste, is still tea I grant you, but it is not
the subject of this treatise. I shudder to hear of herbal concotions
and fruit infusions described as tea, these serve only to pollute
decent water, even if their dubious medical benefits were proven I'd
rather suffer the malady they might cure)
You will need a kettle,
a tea pot, cup(s), a strainer, potable water.
Preparation:
Add sufficient water to
fill as many cups or mugs as required plus a little more to the
kettle and apply a source of heat.
As the water approaches
boiling take a little to the pot to rinse it out and provide some
pre-warming. Empty the pot.
Add tea. The classic
one teaspoon per person and one for the pot is about spot on. With a
decent tea, the spoons can be low rounded rather than heaped and if
you don't wish for hairs on your chest you may forgo the one for the
pot.
Pour boiling water into
the pot over the leaves. Yes, boiling. Pour it whilst bubbling, in
the one movement whilst you turn off the heat. No delay, no
dilly-dally, get it on right away. If the water is not boiling, you
are not making tea, merely an unfortunate infusion.
Leave to stand,
weaker—shorter, stronger—longer. About five minutes will surfice
for most.
Serve into the cups.
Though purists will
argue otherwise, I believe it acceptable to add sugar and even a
little milk, to taste. Some might even add lemon.
Enjoy.
