Julie Bove > wrote:
>
> "jinx the minx" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Julie Bove > wrote:
>>> Does anyone know what is meant by this? I recently read a series of books
>>> by
>>> a British author. The books were her life story. She lived in a variety
>>> of
>>> places and often referred to the quality of tea as either being cheap,
>>> poor
>>> quality, better quality, superb quality, etc.
>>>
>>> Here, most places do not serve good tea because they will bring you a
>>> little
>>> pot of hot but not boiling hot water and a tea bag. I'm sure the tea in
>>> the
>>> bag is fine but the water is not hot enough to get much tea out of the
>>> bag.
>>> Now exceptions would be green or white tea but... To make it properly,
>>> you
>>> still need to bring the water to a boil then let it cool off. I've been
>>> told
>>> that bringing it to a boil for one minute and no longer will get the
>>> correct
>>> amount of oxygen into the water. Boil it for too long and the end result
>>> will suffer. I think the same applies to red tea. I don't buy that. I did
>>> try a sample once and didn't care for it too much. Wasn't bad. I just
>>> like
>>> other teas a lot better.
>>>
>>> There are places here where you can get a proper pot or cup of tea but in
>>> most cases they are advertised as tea shops. Most restaurants do not
>>> offer
>>> big pots of tea. I know of one that used to, in the U District but it is
>>> long gone.
>>>
>>> At home, I usually buy tea bags. But I do have tea strainers and can use
>>> regular tea if I have to. I just can't think of any I've ever bought that
>>> I
>>> would call poor quality or cheap although I have purchased inexpensive
>>> tea.
>>>
>>> Could it be that the author meant that the tea she was getting was not
>>> made
>>> properly? Or is there some really crappy tea out there for sale?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Hard to know what she meant without reading the entire context of her
>> comment. My guess is she probably means both. Yes, there is crappy tea
>> out there, especially in the U.S. By crappy, I mean nearly all common
>> mass
>> market bagged teas you find in most grocery stores (Bigelow or Celestial
>> Seasonings, for example). Once you have really great tea, you will
>> understand my reference point. It's like people who think Applebee's is
>> great dining when they've never been anywhere better. Not to mention, most
>> people and restaurants in the U.S. don't really know how to make tea
>> properly. Dump a bag in any cup of hot water and call it done. I think
>> not.
>
> Not sure that I've had Bigelow. The only Celestial Seasonings I've had were
> the herbal and I guess they were fine for that but that kind doesn't really
> appeal to me.
>
>

Constant Comment is made by Bigelow.

--
jinx the minx