[alligator]

I've always been interested in tea, specifically as something to become an expert in and enjoy in the morning or afternoon at work. What I don't know, is if there is a specific type of tea that is common to England, specifically the Cornwall region (since that's where my ancestors are from). What types of tea do people drink on a daily basis, or what do you recommend?

[imitchellg5]

If you want tea from Cornwall, try Tregothan. It's grown in Cornwall. Runs about £7 for 25 bags. You can order online. A bit of background, Tregothan was the first tea estate founded in England, and it's quite popular in China, especially Hong Kong.

[King Bob On The Cob]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

If you want tea from Cornwall, try Tregothan. It's grown in Cornwall. Runs about £7 for 25 bags. You can order online. A bit of background, Tregothan was the first tea estate founded in England, and it's quite popular in China, especially Hong Kong.

How the heck do they grow tea in England? Proper tea needs 100+ degree days to thrive. My personal recommendation would be thusly:

American Classic First Flush Loose Tea

Really great tea.

[dav]

i primarily drink green and white teas. gyokuro is excellent, as well as silver needle. i've had good luck ordering loose teas from adagio

for ease of use, costco sells a decent green tea (in bags) - kirkland signature green tea matcha blend.

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by alligator 

I've always been interested in tea, specifically as something to become an expert in and enjoy in the morning or afternoon at work. What I don't know, is if there is a specific type of tea that is common to England, specifically the Cornwall region (since that's where my ancestors are from). What types of tea do people drink on a daily basis, or what do you recommend?

PG Tips or Typhoo is a pretty good bet.

[kylef]

I hate to go all mainstream on you, but Punjana tea is worth a shot. Good, rich flavour at medium strength (read: orange, not black).

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by King Bob On The Cob 

How the heck do they grow tea in England? Proper tea needs 100+ degree days to thrive. My personal recommendation would be thusly:

American Classic First Flush Loose Tea

Really great tea.

There is electricity in England too, you know.

[amazing]

Whole Foods used to carry Yorkshire Gold, but I had trouble finding it last time I looked--or maybe it was the price. Good thing that Amazon carries it...albeit in large quantities, which means you can share with friends:

Taylors of Harrogate, Yorkshire Gold Tea, 160-Count Tea Bags: Amazon.com: Grocery & Gourmet Food

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by King Bob On The Cob 

How the heck do they grow tea in England? Proper tea needs 100+ degree days to thrive.

100 degrees is to brew it, not grow it silly.

[amazing]

darn it! now I've started thinking about things that go with tea--like lemon curd on toast!

munchies coming on...

[Phileas]

The tea that's consumed in the UK is 99.9% crap. don't go there if you really want to learn about tea.

[moonmonkey]

What a strange thing to say, where you once beaten up by a British Person?

[amazing]

I've always assumed the Brits get the best teas because they've got better long term contacts in India, to the point that they get the best first cuttings. I do know that a lot of the very best green teas never make it out of Japan--a friend once brought some first cutting green tea with blossoms back from Japan and that really put me off what passes for green tea in the US.

The US has that lovely brown liquid called "iced tea." Lipton in a bottle with loads of sugar? When that's what you know and love, persuading someone that real tea is what it's all about is a losing battle.

[macaddict0001]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

100 degrees is to brew it, not grow it silly.

I find that 100 degrees Celcius is too hot to steep tea, you can't drink it and it seems to taste burnt when it cools anyway.

[brassplayersrock²]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey 

What a strange thing to say, where you once beaten up by a British Person?

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey;

What a strange thing to say, where you once beaten up by a British Person?

Nope. I just know a fair bit about tea and I lived in the UK for years. Some years ago I took the tea sommelier course at George Brown College here in TO.

You're mistaken to think that the Brits have much of a tea culture, despite their high consumption. Most tea sold in the UK is in tea bags and of the 'dust' grade, at the very bottom of the classification ladder. PG Tips is the best selling brand in England and PG Tips is utter rubbish, designed to be palatable only with the addition of copious amounts of milk and sugar.

[Phileas]

Originally Posted by macaddict0001 

I find that 100 degrees Celcius is too hot to steep tea, you can't drink it and it seems to taste burnt when it cools anyway.

That depends entirely on the tea. While 100C is indeed too high for all white, green and Oolong teas (75, 80 and 85 is a rough guideline for these), very hot water can be appropriate for both red teas (what we in the West incorrectly call black tea) and real black teas, the wet fermented Pu-erh teas.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

Nope. I just know a fair bit about tea and I lived in the UK for years. Some years ago I took the tea sommelier course at George Brown College here in TO.

You're mistaken to think that the Brits have much of a tea culture, despite their high consumption. Most tea sold in the UK is in tea bags and of the 'dust' grade, at the very bottom of the classification ladder. PG Tips is the best selling brand in England and PG Tips is utter rubbish, designed to be palatable only with the addition of copious amounts of milk and sugar.

That's crap, most French drink crap table wine everyday, it doesn't mean they have no knowledge or culture surrounding wine, it just means they mostly drink cheap crap and don't lecture people about it's culture.

I have lived in the US, UK, China and Hong Kong an on the International Space Station.
The Brits have a very strong tea culture it's just not that accessible to foreigners, in Hong Kong the younger generation of Chinese drink British style tea with milk, this was never done by their parents.

If you buy green tea from a Chinese shop in Hong Kong, it's a very Chinese experience and product, but the antique brass tea spoons they measure the tea with are British and have been for hundreds of years, you can't buy that kind of ingrained culture and knowledge by doing a course.

So you is wrong.

[Phileas]

To compare French wine culture with British tea drinking habits is comparing apples with oranges. The average Brit drinks PG Tips and doen't know any better, the Frenchies drink plonk and know full well what makes a great wine and what doesn't. A spoon of British origin used in Asia does not mean that a country half way around the world, magically, has a culture based around it.

You seem to have a foreigner's romanticized view of Britain, as somebody who was actually part of that culture I can tell you that you're 100% wrong. As far as courses is concerned, I studied tea with some serious tea masters and geeks, to such a degree that if I wanted, I could start working for an importer.

[misc]

Originally Posted by dav 

i primarily drink green and white teas. gyokuro is excellent, as well as silver needle. i've had good luck ordering loose teas from adagio

for ease of use, costco sells a decent green tea (in bags) - kirkland signature green tea matcha blend.

I'll second Adagio. I order all of my loose tea from them.

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

You seem to have a foreigner's romanticized view of Britain, as somebody who was actually part of that culture I can tell you that you're 100% wrong. As far as courses is concerned, I studied tea with some serious tea masters and geeks, to such a degree that if I wanted, I could start working for an importer.

Many Americans forget that King George is gone, along with his era.

Britain is a nation of clamydia, and traffic.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by amazing 

I've always assumed the Brits get the best teas because they've got better long term contacts in India, to the point that they get the best first cuttings. I do know that a lot of the very best green teas never make it out of Japan--a friend once brought some first cutting green tea with blossoms back from Japan and that really put me off what passes for green tea in the US.

I dunno about the US, but over here, green tea is often Chinese Gunpowder kind, which I can't stand.

It's not "worse" than Sencha per se, any more than an Assam is worse than a Darjeeling, but it has a heavy grittiness to it that I just don't like (I don't like Assam, either).

FWIW, the Queen supposedly drinks Castleton Darjeeling, which is quite a fine tea - though one hopes she doesn't ruin it with sugar and milk.

[moonmonkey]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

You seem to have a foreigner's romanticized view of Britain, as somebody who was actually part of that culture I can tell you that you're 100% wrong. As far as courses is concerned, I studied tea with some serious tea masters and geeks, to such a degree that if I wanted, I could start working for an importer.

You have a funny idea of what constitutes romance, perhaps this is the root of the issue.

[reader50]

What brand did they toss into Boston Harbor? It must have been the good stuff, or the Redcoats wouldn't have gotten so upset.

I've got nothing here on tea.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Phileas 

The tea that's consumed in the UK is 99.9% crap. don't go there if you really want to learn about tea.

LOL, yeah, it's like saying Budweiser must be the best beer in the world, since it sells the most beer.

-t

[amazing]

Taste is in the taste buds of the beholder, which is why so many people drink Lipton, Bud, or plonk--namely that's the kind of taste buds they have. It also reminds them of where they came from, it gives them a sense of "home", a sense of belonging. Ain't no way you're gonna get them to change...

If, on the other hand, you're a super-taster, with a higher "density" of taste buds (or whatever it is that makes someone a super-taster,) you'll be very unhappy with Lipton, Bud, or plonk. If you hang out with the Lipton, Bud or plonk crowd, you're gonna be very tortured, split into conflicting fragments.

If you're perceptive enough to notice the cognitive dissonance, you're gonna change the company you keep.

Ever tried introducing a good tea to a Lipton crowd?

[Spheric Harlot]

It's like high-end audio.

I've never met anybody who couldn't immediately tell the difference.

It's merely a question of wanting to put in the effort - and that's a matter of priorities.

[amazing]

This thread deserves to live on, surely?

So how about a lemon curd recipe for tea time!--once you've tasted it, you can't do without!


Lemon curd

3 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (approx 2 lemons)
1 T grated lemon rind (zest only, not the bitter white under-rind)
1/2 cup softened or melted butter (one stick)
1 cup sugar (to taste)

In cuisinart or blender, beat eggs till frothy, then beat in the remaining ingredients. Place in double boiler over boiling water, cook, stirring constantly with whisk until mixture forms thick coating on spoon, dropping off in larger thick “gobs”. Maybe 15-20 minutes, depending on heat and amount of liquid in the lemons.

For double-boiler: Use a large stainless mixing bowl on top of large pot of boiling water (eg use a large stainless mixing bowl on top of 5-gallon stock pot.) The advantage is in the curved mixing bowl, which makes it very easy to stir the mixture with a whisk.

[brassplayersrock²]

That sounds very good, amazing.

I’m thinking of throwing a little surprise for my g/f. Are there are good flowering teas that anyone could recommend?

[amazing]

Don't know about flowering teas...

but here's the very best tea infuser. Notice the long pigtail? Well now you can't lose the silly hook on the teaball down in your travel mug!

Amazon.com: Cuisipro Tea Infuser: Home & Garden