Some stove porn for Doc, Shag, Fyl, and Evil.

Tea brewing question - why don't you just brew it in the kettle versus heating water in a kettle, transferring to a tea pot and then brewing? I've never understood this part, likely due to being descended from a long line of non-tea drinkers.

Off to buy a candy bar.

 

See what you get for throwing all that tea into Boston Harbour !!

You heat the tea pot first, so that when you add the leaves and then the 'freshly boiled' water, the heat from the water is not 'robbed' by a cold tea pot, but instead is used immediately by the leaves to produce a superior brew !!

Got that ?

edit Don't forget, these a delicate little leaves of flavour, not like your hardy coffee beans that can withstand the abuse of continued boiling. Tea, should never be boiled, just infused!
The making of a decent brew of tea is an Art Form .... 'like paintin' an' such !' (thank you Frank Bruno)

Tea & Biscuist time !!
Toodle pip !

Spudz

 

Couldn't have said it better myself, Spudz.

Also, if infused in the kettle, the kettle would get very stained.

 

You're a bloody philistine man
No wonder you Yanks tossed all that tea in the tide

 

It's TRADITION!
One never questions TRADITION
As we "Old salts" used to say,
Shiver me timbers!!!
No,Thats not right..
Aaaarrrrrggggghhh!
No.....
Two hundred years of Tradition,unmarred by Progress!
aye,thats it
A teabag does it for me

 

Right you bloody Yankee philistines, listen up.

Go out and buy some good quality tea, you must have 'special' shops over there.
I suggest Assam, it looks dark and strong when it's brewed but it's not, just very tasty.

Boil some freshly drawn water, not what's already in the kettle and topped up.
As it is coming up to the boil remove from the heat and pour a little into the teapot to 'warm' it.
Replace on the heat, swirl the water around the teapot and empty out.
Put in 1 tea spoon per cup and one for the pot of your newly purchased good quality tea.
When the water comes to a rolling boil take the teapot to the kettle, not the kettle to the pot and pour the boiling water quickly onto the leaves.
Place a tea cosy over the tea pot, if you dont have one use a towel. It's importanrt to keep the heat in.
Let it steep for 3 or 4 minutes, meanwhile pour a little milk into a cup or mug. I suggest low fat milk because most Yank are over weight
Pour the tea through a strainer into the cup.
Enjoy
Just try it the difference is about the same as the difference between instant and freshly brewed coffee.
And next time we send you a boatload of tea, don't throw it in the tide

 

Henry's method is OK but.....

The other school of thought says that the tea is poured from the pot into the cup and only then may the milk be added.

Three hundred heretics were drowned at Hebden Bridge in 1922 over this point.

edited to fix the spelling

 

Hebden Bridge hasn't changed much.

 

Doug
The milk is poured in first because tea is supposed to be drunk from posh china cups, back in the old days, when Doc Mark was a boy , the cups would crack if one poured very hot liquids into them. The cold milk was used as a heat sink.

 

Hey, Henry,

I represent that remark!!!!! (Very good point, too, Lad! Been there, done that....) Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark

 

And remember:
No slurping, and pinkie up!

 

This artful tea topic is amusing. Anyone up for some good ol' cowboy coffee? That will shiver your timbers. Drink it all the time on the trail.

Evil

 

Hey, Evil,

Of course you drink cowby coffee with your teeth tightly clenched, to strain out the bits, right??!! Some of my best friends do the same. I'm a "tea man", myself, and have no use for the coffinated beverage. I MAKE a good cup of coffee, when Sweet Bride desires it. But, I wouldn't drink that vile stuff, on a bet!!! The guys in our Living History hobby, that like coffee, roast the green beans, out in the bush; wrap the then roasted beans in a bit of thick linen, and use the back of their belt axe to crush the beans. Then, they make colonial coffee, which is cowboy coffee, in it's original colonial form!! 8) Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark (who, as a very civillized doctor of medicine, and drinks only the finest teas, and also good chocolate, and not the vile-tasting devil's brew that is...... yeeeeccccchhhh, COFFEE!!)

 

Hey Doc,

Considering the first consumption of chocolate was as a drink it would be acceptable for your Living History group. But was chocolate as a solid within your time frame?

Iain

Chocolate Bar or Biscuits, the Spirits want some NOW!

 

Lets see,no coffee,no hard booze,no BEER ! Doc,whut in tarnation ails ya,man? gotta have SOME vices to look foward to

 

Hey, hey, HEY!!! BB, let's not get carried away, Lad!! You're right, no coffee; and yes, most of the time, no hard liquor. In my thirty odd years as a professional musician, I never was even TEMPTED by the drug scene, and have never tried any of that crap. Never smoked, either.

But, you hold your tongue, right there, Mister!! I "discovered" beer when I was 50 years old, in Ireland, oddly enough, and have developed a taste for a nice, cold pint, or two, of the darker beers, like Guinness Draught, New Castle Brown Ale, Fat Tire Ale, Alaskan Amber Ale, what I'm enjoying right now, Killian's Red, plus quite a few interesting microbrews of similar ilk. And, as far as other vices go, I developed a liking for young ladies at an early age, though not much came of it until I was in college!! Hey, and I cuss a lot, now and then, and know more of the most smutty jokes than anyone you've ever met!! Take a lot of pleasure in aping the different dialects and voices, too, as I tell 'em!!! So, is that vice enough for you??!! 8) Other than those things, I'm an veritable angel!!!!!! Take care and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark (who finished his kit quota, just now, and is rewarding himself with TWO pints of Killian's Red!!) 8)

 

Evening, Iain,

Great question. A while back, one of the heirs to the Hershey Chocolate fortune found our Living History group, the American Long Rifle Association. She was so impressed by the quality of the demonstrations that she heard, that she asked if she could present one, as part of our group, on the history of chocolate in the Colonies! Though we were not there to hear her talk, everyone that attended said she did a bang-up job, and they even dressed her for the part, too!! 8) If you remind me, I can send a note to some of our members who were fortunate enough to hear her talk, and see what they remember about that. I want to say, yes, that chocolate was available, but I cannot, honestly, remember, for sure. Actually, that's not right. Now that I think about it a little, solid form chocolate HAD to be available. That's how we made our chocolate drink back then. We shaved a little chocolate from a hard bit of it, and sprinkled it into either hot water or milk, with a little cinnamon, and some nutmeg, and there you go!! Whether chocolate was available in bar form, and consumed like that, I am not certain. Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc Mark