Chris Hitchens, you are the man.
It is already virtually impossible in the United States, unless you undertake the job yourself, to get a cup or pot of tea that tastes remotely as it ought to. It’s quite common to be served a cup or a pot of water, well off the boil, with the tea bags lying on an adjacent cold plate. Then comes the ridiculous business of pouring the tepid water, dunking the bag until some change in color occurs, and eventually finding some way of disposing of the resulting and dispiriting tampon surrogate.
Aside from actual directions all Americans should read on how to prepare a cup of tea, delicious writing:
Finally, a decent cylindrical mug will preserve the needful heat and flavor for longer than will a shallow and wide-mouthed—how often those attributes seem to go together—teacup.
Shallow & wide-mouthed, ha! I do love him, despite everything. I would add that chamomile or whatever other fruity business is not tea, per se. Tea is a plant, actually a bush. It is not any damn thing in a bag that you put in water to make the water a different flavor. Those things are infusions, not tea (although tea is a type of infusion).
I hope that helps, my fellow Americans. We’d be hella more civilized if we could make a decent cup of tea in this country. I so miss being in a place where there are people from tea-drinking countries (India, China, England, Scotland) around & in great numbers.
& Don’t get me started on this Tea Party business representing these right wing assholes, either.
Love full-leaf tea. not so much the “tea ceremony.” One pot at a time, with all the straining fuss isn’t for me, although I do have all those accoutrements in case they’re needed for company. For myself, I make it a quart at a time in a french press. Plenty of room for the leaves to bloom, all the tea is strained at once, and I can pour it off in a thermal carafe to take to work. Caveat: you should have a separate french press for making tea than the one you use for making coffee. Coffee oils will adversely affect tea, if you try to use one press to make both beverages.
Also, I’m strictly a black tea drinker. Who has time for boiled water to cool to optimum temps for green or white tea? My favorite is masala chai, turbinado sugar (using the carafe with fresh boiled water is great for making sure all the sugar dissolves), but no milk. Yum.
He’s so right about this. One thing I use to love at an old school Chinese restaurant was waiting for a pot of scalding Oolong or Jasmine to steep to that perfect burst of flavor. Tea is a first cousin of Chrysanthemum, which may explain the fragrance and headiness in some way… I’ve found that scalding hot water and a bag of PG tips(serious kickass caffiene-laden black tea from Blighty) in a thermal mug will lift my spirits on an afternoon mission of teaching the unwilling.