h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sounds interesting. I've not tried them; but First Nations people are supposed to make a tea-like beverage from either White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), or Sassafras.

Since someone mentioned the PH of tea...does anyone have any comments on what type of milk/cream to use? Growing up in England I was used to somehting akin to homogenized...and as health conciousness has creeped in I now use skim. "Acclimatization" being what it is...I find homogenized milk in tea a bit repugnant now...

another herbe widely used
here in israel is na'na.
i'm not sure if it originates
from north africa or from the
middle-east but it gives even
generic tea-bag tea a wonderfull
fresh sweet-bitter flavour.
do you have it in england?

another herbe widely used
here in israel is na'na.
i'm not sure if it originates
from north africa or from the
middle-east but it gives even
generic tea-bag tea a wonderfull
fresh sweet-bitter flavour.
do you have it in england?

That's a new one on me. I sometimes drop a Monarda didyma leaf in my tea, to give it an Earl Grey flavour.

Marks and Bloody Spencer!

Bleedin' Tea Bags!

What next..enjoying a cup of Mellow Birds!

Puh-yuke.

I find Earl Grey to be pretty vile at the best of times, but please, lets not pretend that "a tea bag" is any substitute for "tea leaves".

I suspect that warming the pot, talking to the pot, stroking, caressing and teasing the pot are all equally traditional and nice(cf. practical), but really.

With that, I'll now go and finish my rancid supermarket-teabag (plain Indian here, no Bergamot) cup of tea.

Yum.

Say what you think Q. So it is official; preferred Druid brew - cheepo tea staight from the still. Nice.

try this - instead of having your
tea with a side of scones (or
muffins or biscotti, depending
on which ever nationality and/or
current trend you subscribe to)
have a little plate of bitter
green olives (preferabley syrian
olives) make your tea very sweet
put an olive in your mouth, roll
the bitter juice around in your mouth
and take a sipp of the tea.

i read it in one of my favourite
books ("a russian novel" by meir shalev)
and have been taking my tea like
that ever since.

I find the use of different milk depends on the mood, during the week when I'm rushing to get to work on time I use Semi-skimmed. On a Saturday morning when I'm in a relaxed frame of mind it has to be full cream milk - mix the milk in with the tea bag and leave it for another minute and strain every last drop out of the bag - mmm nice!

Where would these enjoyable discussions be without a nice bit of labelling? Always garanteed to keep the conversation alive. So do yourself a favour: don't take it all too serious....

I completely agree with you Barebum
I just thought I'd tell you that.
Does it matter who you are as long as you have lived and affected somebody!

When you are in the mood for something really rich, try a pinch of Tea Masala in the pot, and Evaporated Milk instead of ordinary. By-the-by, Sister Green, I liked your Olive idea. I shall definately give that a try. Incidently, French labelling gave rise here to the rumour that homogenized milk was in honour of Liberace.

What's so important about how you make tea???

I can't STAND the stuff myself
But I have to make it at work...
ONLY BECAUSE OTHER PEOPLE DRINK IT
And therefore I care not about how you make it.
It's a teabag and hot water in a cup. Tell it like it is.

If that is all tea is to you then that is probably why you don't like it. Tea IS a way of life just accept it. But stay away from Earl Grey, it has a very biter almost sour taste, English Breakfast is much smoother.

Have you tried Jasmine Tea?
I goes very well with a Oriental food.

Pls, pls do not try the hemlock at home as it to my knowledge is rather, well, poisonous if taken in quantities.

And as far the more benign varieties go, i've brewed tea the same heathern way all over the northern hemisphere and it never tasted the same as in London, England. Ergo, it must be the local pollutants that lend it the special flavour....?

Milk is an excellent "buffer", i.e., it will tend to pull the pH to a certain value. If I remember correctly, milk is slightly acidic, so you'll end up with a pH < 7.
Now it makes a difference whether you put in the milk first or last - because the pH of the brewing tea is changed. Anyone with access to a chemistry lab (high school?) could make some interesting measurements and enlighten us theorists.

G'day there. All this talk about tea (or teh) and no one mentions good old billy tea. This is an old traditional Australian recipe used by blokes working outside. First ya lights ya fire. After it gets going ya makes sure that it has a fair selection of green eucalyptus sticks so as to promote smoke which becomes an important flavour additive. Then ya puts ya billy ( which is a can of about 3 to 4 litre capacity) full of water onto the fire and let it boil. When the water is boiling ya put in a good handful of tea leaves and leave it boil away. You can have a cup of this tea now at any time for the rest of the day - just add more water and tea (at least a good handfull though) as required. If it suits you then add sugar (say 5 teaspoons or so - but don't stir as the sugar will get ya) or milk - no probs. A couple of rules though - its a good idea to start a new billy each day - if ya leave it overnight ya might burn the tea leaves, and seconly never, never wash the billy out - gets a nice tannin coating on the inside of about the same colour as the carbon on the outside and mate doesn't that add to the flavour. Thats how me old man always made and so you now know why I only drink coffee!

Another twist on this is to use heather twigs as collected in the Highlands of Scotland, these give an unforgetable aroma or if you are staying in the same place for more than one night to try peat or pine cones throw in the tea and prepare as you described Mmmmm mmmm luverly
Cinders

An extra step in the art of making billy tea is one that can be quite impressive to one's friends or alternatively suddenly disastrous...
This requires the billy to have a handle which is just a piece of wire affixed somehow to two opposite sides of the top of the billy. Once the tea has finished brewing the billy is lifted off the fire with a forked stick throught the wire handle, then the billy picked up by the wire handle (with a piece of cloth or rag used to protect the hand from the heat). Then the billy is swung around in a large arc, taking care to maintain enough speed so that the hot water stays in the billy as opposed to pouring onto your legs and feet (or your suprised companions). The idea is that the tea leaves (and eucalytus leaves etc.) in the billy end up at the bottom of the billy by the centrifuge action, allowing you to decant off the tea ready for drinking free of the leaves. That's the theory anyway.