How can it be that one of the best items in the world, and one
that is popular throughout the world, is virtually unknown in this
country?
How can it be that one of the best items in the world, and one that is popular throughout the world, is virtually unknown in this country?
While in England, where I lived for 12 years, I learned to appreciate a few foreign ways of doing things. At one point, I worked with an old fellow named Mr. Cheshire. He once proudly proclaimed to me, holding up a cup of tea, “The greatest drink in the world!”
After a lot of thought, I’ve decided I agree with Mr. Cheshire. The greatest (non-alcoholic) drink in the world is English-style tea. This is very different from tea the way it’s served in this country, and unless you’ve experienced it, you don’t know what I’m talking about.
As you probably know, the English put milk in their tea. My mother used to recoil in horror at this suggestion. But they add milk because their tea is too strong to drink without it.
The truth is that it’s been un-American to drink tea since the Boston Tea Party in 1773. This was a protest against a tax on tea led by Samuel Adams (I like his lager), Paul Revere and others. Disguised as indians, they boarded ships and threw the cargo of tea into the harbor.
In 1774, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in part to punish the people of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Port Bill closed the port until the cost of the tea was repaid.
This was a calamity for the city. Other provisions of these acts provided for quartering of troops without provincial consent and gave royal officials the right to trial in England.
The Quebec Act (1774) extended the boundary of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River on the south and the Mississippi River on the west.
All this led to the Continental Congress (1774-1789). So tea was central to the American Revolution, and tea drinking has been out of fashion ever since.
Americans have a stereotype of the English sitting in rose gardens drinking tea at 3 o’clock in the afternoon with their pinky fingers extended.
The truth is that the vast majority of English are working class, not middle class, and they drink tea all day long without pinkies extended. Their stereotypes of us are more outrageous than ours of them, but that’s another story.
A cup of English-style tea is equivalent to a cup of strong coffee in terms of its stimulative effect. Tea has the advantage that it doesn’t jangle the nerves, upset the stomach or send you back and forth to the bathroom.
The trick to making English-style tea is first to warm the cup or pot. Pour a little boiling water in and leave for a few seconds, then pour it out. Then fill it up and add the tea. Teabags are all right, but loose tea is preferable.
Leave the teabag to steep for a minute or two in a cup. If using loose tea, I let it steep for five minutes in the pot. I use three to five heaping teaspoons of tea for a small pot. The resulting brew is dark.
Pour the tea into a warm cup or mug. You will need a strainer if using loose tea. Add a quarter to a third cup of milk. The result should be the color of a walnut. Non-fat milk works fine.
By the way, the Scots put the milk in the cup before the tea when using a teapot. This way the tea mixes nicely with the milk and you don’t need to stir.
If the tea cools down, it doesn’t taste right unlike coffee which can be pleasant cold. I warm tea in the microwave for 22 seconds. I may do this two or three times. If I leave the tea for 44 seconds at one go, it can turn the milk.
I like flavored teas like Earl Grey. Starbucks does a good one called Tazo Chai. This tea is very strong so I use only one (heaping) teaspoon with three of Lipton’s loose tea in my small pot.
