The gentile art of tea drinking in comparison with other beverages??

S

smiley

Senior Member
Location
Australia
I do appreciate that this forum has an American basis for existence and perhaps all things American but also graciously welcomes all overseas cousins and personages! I as a British citizen was brought up drinking tea only. I lived in HK for a while and drank tea differently there without milk or sugar - quite an interesting experience. I quick trip to the USA on my travels brought me back to coffee consumption as did changing beverage fashions in Oz.

My usual daily one or two cups has been a good quality coffee - black with sweetener and a drop of milk! After a bout of flu recently and fits of hallucinations etc I became aware and in need of tea again! Always keep some in the larder but untouched but today I purchased an untried one: Taylors of Harrogate : Yorkshire Tea - Proper Strong Black Tea ?? - I did use sweeteners and a drop of fresh milk. Lovely flavor that reminds me of the old days and now offers a refreshing interlude from coffee all the time. Any other tea drinkers around these parts - there must be surely??
 

smiley said:
Taylors of Harrogate : Yorkshire Tea - Proper Strong Black Tea
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That would be my favorite I think. I like their Gold version ... tastes a bit more malty to me.

I even have some Brown Betty mugs. Handmade at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England ... red clay with Rockingham glaze.

On other forums ... mostly dog forums ... English lads I've run into seem to prefer coffee mostly. I was a bit surprised.

I mostly drink coffee too but the occasional black tea just hits the spot.

In addition to the mugs, I have a couple of different sizes Brown Betty teapots but don't use them.
When I make tea, I use my pour over drip coffee maker and tea comes out really nice with no bitterness.
I used to add honey and cream but usually drink tea straight up these days.

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l've always wanted to like tea just for the sake of getting away from too much coffee. My next blood test will probably
reveal my arteries overflowing with caffeine but l really can't handle the taste of decaf coffee. And l use a coffee creamer with coffee.
l wonder now if l added coffee creamer to strong black tea if l might like it that way.

l also might try using Naturally's way of making tea the drip way.
 

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Olivia said:
l wonder now if l added coffee creamer to strong black tea if l might like it that way.
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My favorite is to use Nestle NIDO Instant Full Cream Milk Powder.
Unlike most powdered milk that are virtually fat free, Nestle NIDO contains butter fats that make the drink taste yummy :)
It's a powdered whole milk. I prefer it over coffee creamer.

More versatile than coffee creamer too. Use a tablespoon of it in coffee or tea or mix up a glass of chocolate milk with honey and cinnamon. Can't do that with coffee creamer ;)
 
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Naturally said:
My favorite is to use Nestle NIDO Instant Full Cream Milk Powder.
Unlike most powdered milk that are virtually fat free, Nestle NIDO contains butter fats that make the drink taste yummy :)
It's a powdered whole milk. I prefer it over coffee creamer.
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Thank you! Sounds good. l'll try it.
 
Olivia said:
l've always wanted to like tea just for the sake of getting away from too much coffee. My next blood test will probably
reveal my arteries overflowing with caffeine but l really can't handle the taste of decaf coffee. And l use a coffee creamer with coffee.
l wonder now if l added coffee creamer to strong black tea if l might like it that way.

l also might try using Naturally's way of making tea the drip way.
Click to expand...
Tea is on a par with coffee when it comes to caffeine. So is chocolate. :cry:

@smiley, adding a sweetener to a good cup of tea is sacrilege.

IMO tea made with tea bags is rubbish even if you use a proper teapot to brew it. The best brew is made by boiling water in or over a campfire in a billy can. Must be leaf tea, not teabags, and you need to swing the can in a circle over your head to settle the leaves. Milk, sugar optional. Bliss when sipped very hot from an enamel mug. :love:
 
lovely posts by all - I think it makes life interesting when we experiment a little and try different styles of foods and fluids. As I mentioned as a young lad i was brought up on tea with no teabags and made in a pot - and that was it - but with some milk and sugar enjoyed it. but then came alcohol later and then coffee occasionally and then in earnest - does us good to change a while and experiment again with life!!
 
lived in HK for a little while and was introduced to the gentile art of chinese tea drinking - they thought that milk and sugar was very strange and a NO NO! It's quite amazing what your palate can get used to? I would have thought that tea drinking was a much older habit than coffee drinking heh?
Olivia said:
l've always wanted to like tea just for the sake of getting away from too much coffee. My next blood test will probably
reveal my arteries overflowing with caffeine but l really can't handle the taste of decaf coffee. And l use a coffee creamer with coffee.
l wonder now if l added coffee creamer to strong black tea if l might like it that way.

l also might try using Naturally's way of making tea the drip way.
Click to expand...
do experiment it is fun!
 
Warrigal said:
Tea is on a par with coffee when it comes to caffeine. So is chocolate. :cry:

@smiley, adding a sweetener to a good cup of tea is sacrilege.

IMO tea made with tea bags is rubbish even if you use a proper teapot to brew it. The best brew is made by boiling water in or over a campfire in a billy can. Must be leaf tea, not teabags, and you need to swing the can in a circle over your head to settle the leaves. Milk, sugar optional. Bliss when sipped very hot from an enamel mug. :love:
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I quite like being a sacrilege!!
 
Earl Grey for me.

Early in my work life, during a switch from manual work in a crew to retail for a while in a book store, I got into coffee during the day. Quiet work can foster a snooze tendency.

I got interested in the history of tea, partly due to traveling in the UK. Tea came to the British via Asia. From what I've learned, many centuries ago Buddhist monks brought tea from India to China... long meditation sessions made for sleepy sitters. Tea woke them up enough.

Tea contains less caffeine than coffee does—and tea contains the amino acid L-theanine. Tea's stimulation or 'clarification' is gentler. Coffee (especially espresso) has a bang to it, and seems to bolster humans in hustle-bustle societies. And hustle & bustle seem to have stepped into the shoes of very many societies.☺️
 
I like Earl Grey and I like chai teas. Both with a bit of sweetener and milk.
I like green tea with sweetener, no milk, but Matcha with sweetener and a splash of milk.
To each their own.
Coffee with organic, unsweetened soy milk only. What can I say?
 
just hazarding a guess and looking at ranges of societal changes etc - I would imagine that UK has become a much less "tea drinking" society than previously - differing cultures and practices etc
 
smiley said:
just hazarding a guess and looking at ranges of societal changes etc - I would imagine that UK has become a much less "tea drinking" society than previously - differing cultures and practices etc
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This is true, I drink about one cup of tea a day but don't really like it that much. Two cups of coffee in the morning (one if I'm going to be in a cafe later in the morning) - my coffee consumption would make me an average Finn, where they get through 12 kg of coffee a year, the highest consumption in the world (the UK figure is around half that). I don't quite get through a 250g bag of beans each week but cafe coffees probably make up the numbers.
 
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I drink green tea, earl grey and chamomile. Earl grey is the only one I put anything in. I like it strong and with sugar. I do use tea bags and now they are talking about microplastics in tea bags so I make sure the brands I get do not have plastics in them.
 
My grandma always drank her tea from a delicate China cup with her little finger stuck out.

Apparently the ladies of her age thought that was the ladylike and genteel way to sip tea. It seemed like most of the ladies at the tearoom agreed, because there were a lot of them drinking that way.

My sisters and I would drink our hot cocoa like that as a joke but not where she'd catch us doing it.
 
When̈ I was 36 I had to learn to make a proper cup of tea. The local Buddhist church taught people a way to practice the ancient ritual of the Chinese Tea Ceremony. Get Chinese tea from the local Korean food store. The tea is very dry, colorful, and full of aroma. First you measure the amount per cup, about a teaspoon. Boil enough water to pour into the steeping pot. Rinse the tea, place in pot. Pour boiling water into pot. Put lid on. Do a little dance in the kitchen then place the cups, saucers, sugar, cream, and the pot of fresh tea on the tablel. All of this done in respectful silence. The training in the Monastery was serious and compassionate. My first year there changed my perspective on life totally. :)
 
I once practiced Theravada Buddhism for a year or two - relaxing ; comforting -friendly crowd but the head concho kept repeating - you have to do it for yourself - I can't do it for you - guess Christianity is the same too - oh dear I've straddled two threads - pardon!
 

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