Does anybody know about tea?

[RWS]

Though late to the party, I'll add that I prefer bringing the water not quite to a boil before pouring it over the loose tea. To my taste, at least, the resultant drink is fuller-flavored, less austere (or burnt!).

Another good tea merchant is O. H. Clapp & Co., in Westport, Connecticut. Clapp's selection is small but very good, and at very reasonable prices. (Too, I like the sale of loose tea in miniature wooden boxes. Reminds one of '73.)

[couch]

That would be 1773, I take it.

[RWS]

But of course.

[storeynicholas]

But you chaps applied the tea to the water on that occasion and it was no where near boiling.
NJS

[RWS]

Considering that it was nearly at Christmastide, perhaps Yankees, rather than Southerners, should be given the dubious credit of having first devised iced tea. No wonder, though, that Southerners later substituted sugar for salt.

[rjman]

I am partial to Russian tea (Kusmi) when I make a whole pot, otherwise bags of Twinings are fine.

Well, since the Czar fell they've been located on Avenue Niel in Paris... I've found that Mariage Freres pwns Kousmichoff...

[Costi]

After so much English tea, how about the Russian way of making it? A good old pine cone burning samovar keeping the water hot, the extra-strong tea essence sitting on top in its small teapot, a leather boot working as bellows to stir the fire and bring the water to boil for a fresh cup of tea.

An entirely different philosophy of making tea. Unlike the empty Enlgish pot after the tea has been poured, the reserve of hot water in the samovar and the permanently available essence invite you to enjoy cup after cup... Instead of sugar or milk - a piece of good chocolate in your mouth that slowly melts and blends with the hot tea.

[lxlloyd]

The people at teapigs really care about tea. It is also delicious. And their "teatemples"| have the convenience of a teabag (In that they're basically advanced biodegradeable mesh teabags except with the space for whole leaf premium teas rather than ground up normal teabag tea) without being full of sawdust. I believe they left a large parent company like Tetley, who they convinced to put up the money for an artisinal (and probably money-losing) enterprise. I can only assume that the company that set them up is either being indulgent, or using their results as a bit of research and development. Either way, it's a nine person outfit with a lot of expertise between them focused on producing quality product and campaigning for better teas to be served.

http://www.teapigs.co.uk/customer/pages/about/about-us

[Rowly]

The phenomenon which the eximious Frog describes, concerning placement of the milk, results in the description 'MIF' ie Milk in First - 'They are MIF', meaning something like 'We don't want their boy in the family' ......

My understanding is that in days gone by, fine bone china cups would occasionally crack when very hot tea was poured. This was considered a natural occurrence and dealt with by having a plentiful supply of replacement cups. Putting the milk in first would absorb some of the heat and afford more protection. This was considered to be a tacky practice and offensive to guests as it suggested that the host was more concerned with his or her precious cups than the desire to put their guests at ease.

There is nothing worse than weak tea stewed to make it strong. There is nothing nicer than a full bodied English Breakfast tea which is strong and not stewed.

Another thing with tea bags is that you taste the paper as well as the poor quality tea.
I would add that the ritual of making proper tea is very enjoyable.....I would love a cup of Costi's tea to boot!

[Simon A]

If making tea in a Samovar, you should use Georgian tea, as the peoples of the Russian Empire did from 1900 onwards. Tea was introduced into subtropical regions of Georgia by Chinese entrepreneurs in the 1890's, and Georgian tea was winning international awards by 1902. Georgian black tea of quality is made from the first three leaves and is hand-picked.

A merchant in Sweden sells black tea from Nagobilevi village in the Black Sea region of Guria, which is well regarded http://www.tecentralen.se/nagobilevi-village.html, as does a British merchant http://www.nbtea.co.uk/shop/section.php ... 19&xPage=1

A review is provided here http://www.projectfoodie.com/from-the-. ... e-tea.html

[cathach]

There is nothing worse than weak tea stewed to make it strong. There is nothing nicer than a full bodied English Breakfast tea which is strong and not stewed.

Another thing with tea bags is that you taste the paper as well as the poor quality tea.
I would add that the ritual of making proper tea is very enjoyable.....I would love a cup of Costi's tea to boot!

Amen to weak tea being stewed, as Rowly says there is little worse than the flat taste of boiled paper. But I'm surprised to hear you plump for English Breakfast tea with its Darjeeling content! The classic Irish Breakfast teas with their malty Assam content give the bolder flavour, I find that for everyday use loose tea from Campbells, Rob Roberts or Barrys are hard to beat.

For Paris based readers there's a place called Mariage Freres which prides itself on being a tea emporium, its handy to get 3oz bags of tea for you to try out: http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/UK/welcome.html

[Rowly]

It is the full bodied Assam that I like
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Breakfast_tea

I thought that like a fry...The Full Irish, Englisgh, Scottish etc are all the same thing.
But a tea leaf by any other name would taste as sweet

[rogiercreemers]

There's a rather wonderful book by Sarah Rose about how the East India Company sent a Scotsman, Robert Fortune, to China in order to steal Chinese tea. At that time, apparently, Assam tea was considered to be inferior by far to the more refined Chinese product, but the Chinese charged significant amounts of money. In the end, Fortune spent a few years traveling around, disguised as a Mandarin, and managed to send thousands of seeds and seedlings to a small town in north India, called Darjeeling, as well as the industrial knowledge of how to process the tea. Perhaps the biggest intellectual property theft in history?

[Miles Messervy]

Dilmah, from Sri Lanka, also provides wonderfully tasting teas, according to my experience. Also, it might be a personal bias, but I find the scent of the Earl Grey provided by the French firm Dammann Frères to be very alluring.

[NJS]

There's a rather wonderful book by Sarah Rose about how the East India Company sent a Scotsman, Robert Fortune, to China in order to steal Chinese tea. At that time, apparently, Assam tea was considered to be inferior by far to the more refined Chinese product, but the Chinese charged significant amounts of money. In the end, Fortune spent a few years traveling around, disguised as a Mandarin, and managed to send thousands of seeds and seedlings to a small town in north India, called Darjeeling, as well as the industrial knowledge of how to process the tea. Perhaps the biggest intellectual property theft in history?

There are similar histories on the bringing of coffee to Brazil (by a Brazilian diplomat charming the wife of the governor of French Guiana) and the taking of rubber tree seeds from Brazil to Asia (by theft and smuggling)...