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(I'm writing about tea? That's right, my life has been pretty quiet lately!)
I think I've mentioned already that living in the USA makes you feel more English. Well, drinking lots of tea contributes to this a little because Americans rarely drink hot tea. (However they do drink iced tea, which really is an abomination -- about as appetising as a hot glass of Coke!) In fact, I drink far more tea here than I did in Australia because the coffee here is weak and/or bitter. The best I can do for my morning coffee is buy an expensive Italian brand (Lavazza usually) and put it in my American dripolator. The rest of the day I drink tea.
At first it was just Twinings English Breakfast (or sometimes Irish, for a change). But when I was up in Montréal I just had to pick up some of Leonard Cohen's favourite tea, Constant Comment. And, even though I'm not so fond of green tea, a meal at Chinatown convinced me that Jasmine tea is not too bad occasionally.
I never took the whole brewing process too seriously, apart from making sure that the water is always very hot, but recently I was helping a friend move when she kindly gave me one of her spare teapots. Now I'm using it all the time. It lets me get two cups from each teabag and also allows me to try some other Chinese teas I'm starting to investigate, like Pu-erh.
Although I am becoming a little more adventurous (I couldn't even read the label on the imported Pu-erh tea) I still wouldn't be caught dead drinking chamomile "tea" or any other tisane. If it doesn't contain leaves of Camellia sinensis, it's not tea!
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5 comments:
That's strange, because all the sites Google brings up insist that Mugicha is naturally caffeine free, which is what I would have expected from a beverage made from barley and containing no tea leaves.
The reason I don't drink chamomile "tea" is because it is crap. But I will admit that my insistance on scare-quotes is somewhat pedantic.
Tea, Earl Grey, hot is ok occasionally if you're eating something sickly sweet. But no more than once a month, it's too floral for everyday.
My word, Nick - you seem to have set out to upset me with your comment on Earl Grey. The thought of my daily wind down routine in the evening with my new friend Grey is what gets me up in the morning, you know.
Floral indeed.
Oh, I finally tried constant comment! Its fantastic stuff. 9/10 on the first use, but it does not fare too well when reusing the bag as it infuses a lot of flavour. Thats 3/5 in the reuse category.
As an aside, in the reuse category, Madura Green tea wins hands down, faring quite well when used twice in the one day. I cannot stress that point enough - it must be in the one day.
Fellow tea lovers, working in an office where about half the people are Chinese has brought me to a love of loose leaf green (or white, but it’s expensive) tea. Leaves in the bottom of a mug – no filter required. Of course sugar and milk are outlawed! And Budski, if you want re-use, this is the stuff: 3+ mugs per ‘clump’. I think Miao does 5+.
Jasmine green/white tea is also really tasty. But I have to admit to a soft spot for a couple of other non-strict ‘teas’. Chamomile is great! Tops just before bed. And I’m pretty keen on Chai, though I don’t have it too often because it requires milk and a sweetener. So much effort!
I too have gotten a little adventurous lately. I hit up the local Chinese supermarket recently and I couldn’t read any of the labels, so I ended up coming back with two things I didn’t really want. I’ll take along one of my colleagues to translate next time.
Barley tea? I had some horrible free tea in a Vietnamese restaurant in Melbourne last week. Miao reckoned it was barley tea. Never got confirmation. Hmmm, maybe it’s better cold.
(And btw Nick, I noticed you mentioned really hot water there…I think tea purists recommend tepid water when brewing the most delicate teas, along with teapot pre-warming and all sorts of other over-the-top stuff. I’m with you: boil, pour – simple! And while I’m at it, that Constant Comment stuff was pretty cool. I think the name is my favourite part – classic!)
Tepid? No! Maybe you're thinking of green teas, apparently they prefer water around 80˙C (one of my Chinese friends makes it in a coffee dripolator). But black tea demands water at boiling point. George Orwell even goes so far as to say that you must take the pot to the kettle and leave the kettle on the heat while pouring.
Yeah, I was talking about green/white tea. Proper tea!
PS - Sorry Nick, I just can't think of anything more provocative to say to get your comment count up to 25. I mean, if my admission of a love of chamomile wasn't enough, then what the hell is?
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