The great tea controversy
David Bradley pointed out that my assertion that tea should be made with freshly boiled water was, scientifically, untenable. I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to. For me, perhaps, tea is a faith-based beverage.
I went looking for support. Invoking literature over science, I turned to George Orwell only to be badly let down.
“Some people add that one should only use water that has been freshly brought to the boil, but I have never noticed that it makes any difference.”
I should have known. He disapproves of sugar in tea but I like it. Heretic. (And the Royal Society of Chemistry disagrees with him on a few points too. They recommend milk in first.)
I interviewed Edward Bramah a few years ago (he of the very visitable Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee) and I’m pretty he sure he said to use freshly boiled water. I can’t find my notes so I can’t be certain.
This week I am mostly drinking Lapsang Souchong from Mariage Frères.
adrian wrote:
I understood that fresh boiled water contains more air than re-boiled. Also, milk in first is a no-no as it is then scalded by the hot tea.
This came to me from The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams - and who else would know more about the tea-making process than the creator of Arthur Dent?
Posted on 07-May-08 at 5:23 pm | Permalink
Oxygenated wrote:
Key is water used - tap water’s best as it’s fully oxygenated and when brought to a full roiling boil and poured on the raw leaf, it provides the tea drinker with the most lively tasting liquor. About milk in and when, I would never pour milk in first - it overwhelms the raw leaf and disallows the boiling water to give a proper flavor to the tea once the water’s poured on. If one likes putting “stuff” (milk, sugar, whiskey etc etc) in tea, one should put the “stuff” in after the boiling water’s been put on the tea - during the steeping process. There is no finer retail/wholesale all-round specialty tea importer in Europe than Mariage Freres, full stop - enjoy! If it’s Ceylon teas one’s looking for in Europe, Rob’t Wilson Ceylon Teas in UK is probably the best.
Posted on 07-May-08 at 5:57 pm | Permalink
Matthew Stibbe wrote:
Yup, Mariage Freres totally rocks. Plus you’ve got to love the little tins they sell. I’m also very partial to Mighty Leaf tea with those little silk-like teabags.
Posted on 07-May-08 at 6:00 pm | Permalink
Ian Griffiths wrote:
From what I remember, the Douglas Adams rant on the use of freshly boiled water was regarding water boiled “just now”, vs water that was boiled at some point in the last 5 minutes and left to cool on the side until a waiter gets around to bringing it to you.
He claimed that this seemed to be normal practice in US hotels and cafes. So he was arguing for water that was close to boiling temperature, vs tepid water. So the underlying reason is the same as that for heating the pot - it’s to avoid trying to make tea with insufficient heat.
It all tastes grim to me though, so I can’t verify this through experiment.
Posted on 07-May-08 at 6:28 pm | Permalink
David Bradley wrote:
Hey! You turned my comment into a whole blog post. Neat. Thought I’d better qualify. And, will do so on Friday over on sciencebase.com. Just to say that there are issues of organochlorine (possibly organofluorine) compounds and humic acid to consider in the flavour debate.
db
Posted on 07-May-08 at 7:11 pm | Permalink
Cheryl wrote:
Tea experts who have spoken up about it say you should get to the kettle just before it begins to whistle–just before the water boils because the water is hottest then.
Posted on 07-May-08 at 11:31 pm | Permalink
Elaine Swift wrote:
Tea should absolutely be made with boiling water and always in a pot. I really hate being presented with a cup of hot water with a tea bag floating in it. And definitely milk first - it just doesn’t taste right the other way around. Or maybe that’s just me …
Posted on 08-May-08 at 7:13 am | Permalink
Matthew Stibbe wrote:
I think teapots are not always necessary. I use Teeli Flip DIY tea bags with leaf tea and MightyLeaf tea pouches which let the tea steep just as well as in a pot but in a cup or mug. It’s much more convenient than making a pot for one person. HOWEVER, the key thing is to let it stand for a few minutes. A whooshed around bag of Tetleys is not the best cup of tea you can have.
Posted on 08-May-08 at 7:16 am | Permalink
Elaine Swift wrote:
But teapots are SO civilised! The worst thing is when someone serves you with tea bag in the cup tea and puts milk in at the same time - truly horrible.
Posted on 09-May-08 at 2:20 pm | Permalink
Steve Wetherill wrote:
As a point of persepective, I was once in a “restuarant” in Utah where one of our party asked for a “hot tea”. This can be a problem in the US, but in this case hot tea was duly delivered.
The server brought over a steaming glass of microwaved iced tea.
Posted on 11-May-08 at 8:03 pm | Permalink