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Ahh, but can Carl whip up a fine cup of tea?

I know how to use a kettle and tea-bags...

That's like saying "I know how to mix together flour, butter an so on ...." There's making tea and .... there's making tea." Don't get the tea police go on about milk first ( or second ), temperature ....

If it's any consolation I can't really make tea because I've never really been a fan and hence not a drinker. I do drink some herbal teas.

I am a tea drinker and I know how to make a nice pot of tea without tea bags.

Bring a kettle of water to a full rolling boil, let cool to about 190 degrees F.
Take your favorite type of tea leaves and put in a pre-warmed tea pot, Pour the water into the pot and let steep for about three minutes.
Pour into pre warmed cups through a fine strainer to capture the leaves and then sip slowly of the beverage.

If you need to sweeten the tea use a light dribble of honey.

And that is how to make a fine cup of tea.

Fred in Skirts wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:22 pm I am a tea drinker and I know how to make a nice pot of tea without tea bags.

Bring a kettle of water to a full rolling boil, let cool to about 190 degrees F.
Take your favorite type of tea leaves and put in a pre-warmed tea pot, Pour the water into the pot and let steep for about three minutes.
Pour into pre warmed cups through a fine strainer to capture the leaves and then sip slowly of the beverage.

If you need to sweeten the tea use a light dribble of honey.

And that is how to make a fine cup of tea.

Meh! I'm too lazy to go through all that. I just heat water in an electric kettle, put in a bag of Lipton's (decaf), add some sugar then I'm done.

In an earlier incarnation our Tudor cottage in Hampshire was about 25 yards long with Sun terrace at one end and kitchen at t'other. MOH produced tea & trimmings on the terrace but always left the sugar behind. Muggins here solemnly marched back to the kitchen to fetch it, but one day I said 'Sod it' and drank with no sugar. Now I can't bear tea with sugar.
Not so easy with coffee. My receptionist brought me coffee made to my liking in my operatory at 11am each morning. I asked her to progressively reduce the sugar content. Some months later she casually enquired whether I had liked my morning coffee....'Of course I did, why do you ask?'.....'Well today was the day I put NO sugar in'... and from that day on I cannot abide sugar in coffee either!

Tom

When I was a child we had an aunt who made better tea than our mother. I transferred to coffee when I was a teenager and the number of cups of tea I have had since does not achieve double figures. I also stopped taking sugar when I was a teenager. I can't recall the reason but now I hate sugar in coffee. I love coffee so much that I have invested a humungous amount of money in a very fine coffee machine that takes whole beans in one end and delivers outstanding coffee (using expensive beans) out the other. Excuse me .... I feel in need of a cup right now.

None of this bringing to a boil wait for sufficient cool down dispense a measured amount of tea leaves (whatever) then wait some more then filter strain - - -

Oh crap none of this - - -

I use the nuclear accelerator method --- ta da - the microwave oven - nuc to boiling - add an ice cube and tea bag - mash the tea bag with a spoon stir a few turns - and drink

Time all told about a minute and a half.

So OK I have bruised my tea and sent it into shock mode ! LOL !

I am not too terribly fussy about my tea or coffee - but I am about my biscuits (cookies) those Girl Scouts have my number reminds me to restock reorder.

Can't stand tea. Full. Stop. Coffee I have either black ( no milk or sugar ) or white with both.

Sinned wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:06 pm Can't stand tea. Full. Stop. Coffee I have either black ( no milk or sugar ) or white with both.

OMG an Englishman who does not like TEA!!!!
Now I know the world is coming to an end.

Earl Grey for me... with a dash of sugar and a dash of whole milk...

Blasphemy, I know!

But I likes what I Iikes...

I take my Earl Grey straight.
Only 'creme' would be Bailey's

Uncle Al

Early Grey (without milk or sugar) is good, but my favourite is a BIG mug of hot green tea just before going to bed especially on a cooler, maybe 50F (because even in winter it doesn't get THAT cold here) night..

It's only coffee that I like to add a generous dash of whiskey to.

I find Bailey's far too sweet....a ladies' drink. Likewise Irish Coffee. In order to get the cream to float on the surface off the spoon they first need to increase the specific gravity of the coffee/whiskey solution by saturating it with sugar. The resultant drink is far too sweet for my taste.

If I want to enjoy a whiskey (and I do!), I'll drop a couple of fingers of it into a decent flat-bottomed cut glass straight out of the bottle and have done with it. Nothing mixed in. I'll then raise it to whatever friend I have with me and we then set about solving all the major problems on the planet. In the event that some Global problems remain unsolved when our glasses are empty we keep the bottle handy for a refill.

Visiting Prague in 1990 with elder daughter less than a year after the 'fall-of-the-wall', they had no places to eat in Town that didn't have a long waiting queue, so we headed out uphill across the river to a large modern exhibition place built for Comecon gatherings and dined at their facility there with a view over the entire old city (stunning). They served schnapps with each course and to our surprise the menu had Irish Coffee on it. We opted for that and were further surprised when it arrived.....in constituent parts, a DIY version. There was a little whiskey in each goblet glass, a pot of coffee, sugar and a little pot of cream with teaspoons.
We did our best, but as they say, Practice makes perfect!

Tom

The recipe for Irish Coffee has many variations - - -

The one I like is brown sugar 1-2 teaspoons in the bottom of the cup
add the coffee without mixing
add the Irish (or a blended Scotch for a different taste) layering on top of the coffee
and the finale the cream (heavy sweet or whipped but not out of a can or tub {Cool Whip})

Now without disturbance to this concoction tilt and savor the layers together
Think along the lines of the reverse of the James Bond martini layered but NOT shaken or stirred.

May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows you are dead !


Other applications other than Bailey's - Kahalua - Brandy - a blended Canadian or American whiskey
Caution one could become a wide-awake drunk with over indulgence ! LOL !