Being British we know that the best tea is made using very tip of the tea leafs plucked by virgins in a small holding at the foot of the Himalayas in March using 24ct golden leaf-tongs and brewed at exactly 99.7 C in morning dew collected in a Ming Dynasty bone-china bowl and stirred with the thigh bone of a sparrow.
Luckily, Tesco sell them in their 'Value' tea bag collection but to the rest of the World drinking tea is quite a rarity.
Try to get a cup of tea elsewhere outside the UK and you get a cup of hot water and a tea-bag, no milk or sugar so heaven knows what Starbucks will do to the great British cuppa now that they are opening Tea Bars in America to go with the Coffee establishments they are famous for.
Making the perfect cup of coffee is an art and unfortunately, like paying tax, Starbucks just don't do it and as America is a coffee drinking nation so i can't really see it taking off apart from with the trendy types and those who don't associate tea with Boston, King George and the dastardly 18th Century English shooting at them.
Just remember that it's milk first, then sugar (if taken), then the hot water (tea-bag or strained tea leaves) and to stir it 15 times clockwise and then 16 anti-clockwise otherwise it will just taste wrong.
6 comments:
Even close-by (in parts of Western Europe) sometimes the only tea you can get is that god-awful Lipton Yellow Label stuff... So I trust the States will get some decent stuff (e.g. good old Yorkshire Tea) instead of that tasteless muck.
I have drank the Lipton stuff abroad and i agree, it isn't nice. It's the lack of milk that comes with it that gets me, tea without milk just isn't right. I have wondered what a tea made with milk would taste like but i haven't been brave enough to try it.
most coffee here was simply percolated until drip coffee makers circa 1980. we had one grind, one roast, one bean a couple of brands (folgers, maxwell house, etc). it was typically rich, mild, smooth.
now we have drip coffee makers and lots of flavored coffee but most is too strong and with a bitter after taste.
starbucks is probably only 5% of what is consumed in america.
the asians discovered tea, the brits stole it at gun point, the american south perfected it...
it should be thin (weak), chilled with crushed ice, lightly sweetened, with mint and a thin slice of lemon.
q
Cold tea? Sicko.
You mean wicked awesome!
Q
I don't know what that is you are drinking over there q but it certainly isn't tea.
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