Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2001 To: StBedes@list.via-caritas.org From: "Diana Smith" Subject: I love coffee, I love tea.... We actually discusssed the sorry state of St Alban's coffee at vestry last month. We use prepackaged filter coffee brewed in urns and the problem seems to be the sexton staff varies the number of filter packages. We are thinking of alternatives. We agreed that Starbucks is too strong, but that Price Club sells really good coffee at a ridiculously low price. Coffee is too important a ritual to let slip! Now, getting a proper cup of tea in an American parish, that's something to wish for. Diana ------------------------------ From: "Christy Brothers" Diana, do tell. How does one fix a proper cup of tea? And how does one do it for a multitude? I think I do it right, but ...there's always more to learn. Christy Brothers Intern St. Paul's Episcopal Church Oakland, California ------------------------------ From: "Charles T. Smith, Jr." > We actually discusssed the sorry state of St Alban's coffee at vestry last month. For me, Coffee is a means of injecting caffine into the bloodstream on a cold day (normally, colder forms of caffine are preferred). SEE RECIPE: High Octane Coffee ------------------------------ From: gardener On 5 Mar 2001, at 23:11, Charles T. Smith, Jr. wrote: > Throw out those two bags, throw in two more, . . . . Hey, does anybody remember reading about a new product -- caffeinated water? I think I did. If I can find the name, Charles, I'll send it on to you so you can refine still further your caffeination process. (Hey, what about skin implants? Programmable ones.) --Nancy ------------------------------ From: "Charles T. Smith, Jr." > Hey, does anybody remember reading about a new product -- caffeinated water? Yes, I've bought it. Water Joe, or something like that. > . . . .I'll send it on to you so you can refine still further your > caffeination process. (Hey, what about skin implants? Programmable ones.) That'd work. Though amphetimines might be a better choice :) ------------------------------ From: "Jon A. Egger" > Use caution in paper or styrofoam cups :) This has nothing to do with coffee, but brought back a memory. Maybe sistah Jay can remember giving a drug called paraldehyde. We gave it to folks going through alcohol withdrawal. I haven't given this drug since around 1983. It came in glass ampoules, and, IIRC, smelled like acetone...or worse. The first time I gave this drug I opened an ampoule and poured it into a styrofoam cup, turned around to say something to someone, reached back, picked up the cup and walked over to the bedside to give it to the patient. There was no bottom in the cup when I handed it over! The medication had eaten the bottom of the cup! brudder jon who'd much rather intubate someone and put 'em on a propofol drip to withdraw them from alcohol WestMo ------------------------------ From: Patti May >Use caution in paper or styrofoam cups :) Not to mention the average person's stomach... and I thought I was a caffeine addict. Patti ------------------------------ From: MaryRobin >The medication had eaten the bottom of the cup! OOPS! ;>) Keep the faith, Sistah Mary Puddle City, OR ------------------------------ From: "J. Weigel" > Maybe sistah Jay can remember giving a drug called paraldehyde. > We gave it to folks going through alcohol withdrawal. Nope, can't remember anything before Librium and ethanol drips (which I wish more docs would use, because I'm like you!) ------------------------------ From: "Diana Smith" > Diana, do tell. How does one fix a proper cup of tea? And how does one do > it for a multitude? I think I do it right, but ...there's always more to learn. SEE RECIPE: Proper cuppa tea Diana, daring to describe this process knowing there are British folks on the list who have it ingrained in their psyche. ------------------------------ From: "Christy Brothers" Diana, many thanks! I'm lusting for a cup of tea this moment, but my anti-biotic warns -- no caffeine. Sigh .Only a week more of this, I hope. Then I shall follow your directions to the tea. Christy Brothers St. Paul's Episcopal Church Oakland, California ------------------------------ From: "roger.stokes2" Diana's instructions were excellent. Although conventional tea does contain caffeine there are also herbal teas which AFAIK do not. They can be extremely refreshing, drunk as it comes from the pot without adding milk, sugar or anything else. Health food stores usually have a selection. Peace, Roger, Bedford, UK ------------------------------ From: "Joan McDonough" Actually, quite a few herbal teas do contain a certain amount of caffeine, so it would be best, IMO, to check. I'd never heard that caffeine shouldn't be taken with antibiotics, but it's use is banned from some sporting competitions. ------------------------------ From: "Joan McDonough" Dear Diana, Regional variant - in Ireland the loose leaf tea is used but not strained. The issue of whether to add milk first or after pouring, or to substitute lemon remains unresolved, but it is always best to buy locally, since different waters have different effects. Personally, I prefer China tea, jasmine or gunpowder, but it's all a matter of personal preference. Tony's Yorkshire tea would probably taste foul down south, and teas blended for the south ditto in Yorkshire! Historical note; tea parties were to affluent English ladies what the coffee houses were to the gentlemen, tea was stored in a locked lead-lined caddy, and old used leaves were rebrewed for the servants, before finally being used to help sweep up dust. Don't know when tea slid down the social scale, but you don't purchase elegant silver teapots simply to conceal them under knitted cosies! (National Trust make some attractive fabric ones). Love, Joan. ------------------------------ From: "Jeffry P. Barnes" In the newsletter from a tea shop in the Boston area (sorry, I forgot the name), there were directions for decaffinating tea. Simply pour the water over the leaves, let it steep 30 seconds, pour water out and refill the pot. The article said that over 90% of the caffeine is thereby removed. My daughter and son-in-law, self-confessed tea snobs, use this technique all the time. SEE RECIPE: Decaffinating Tea. ------------------------------ From: Simon Kershaw Diana Smith wrote: > When kettle starts making noise, pour a bit of the hot water into the pot > and swish it around to warm the pot. Toss water. Noting that a china pot will require a lot more warming than a metal pot. A china pot should be throughly warmed until almost too hot to hold. > As water continues to heat in kettle, put tea iinto pot. General rule is > "one teaspoon per person and one for the pot". In my experience, this means > an English teaspoon because using American teaspoons would make the tea > strong enough to trot a mouse on (YMMV). Not familiar with American measures, but I would agree that the traditional one spoon per person plus one for the pot is too much, even for those who like their tea quite strong, as the Kershaw family does. > Loose tea is preferable to tea bags. Definitely. Tea bags are an abomination only to be tolerated in extremis (and at work!) Also very important that the water is boiling when poured into the warmed pot. If you boiled it two minutes ago to warm the pot you must reboil it before pouring onto the leaves. (In contrast of course to coffee where boiled water spoils the coffee.) > If you use a tea ball, make sure it's mesh otherwise the tea and the > boiling water will never be properly introduced. You can put the loose tea > in the pot; but remember to use a strainer, Or else learn not to drink to the bottom of the cup. As a youngster we went through phases of using and not using tea strainers. One very quickly learnt not to drink to the bottom of the cup when my mother started a no-strainer phase. >and to top off the pot after you > pour a round of tea. Otherwise you run the risk of stewed tea. Grace Tea > company offers small folded bags into which loose tea can be put; after you > finish brewiing the tea, fish out the bag and toss it. Very handy! No, no, after you have finished brewing the tea, pour it, and anything left is waste. Second cups are always stewed, although the stewing is minimized by the immediate addition of more boiling water, as you describe. However, after a few minutes of brewing you will be extracting too much tannin and bitterness, so it is better to make a fresh pot. > Brewing time for tea depends upon taste and blend. Generally 3 to 5 minutes. > One book advises reciting Psalm 51, which takes barely 3 minutes if read > ponderously, 3 minutes sounds about right for most standard blends. > and will make one long for a cheery cup of tea even more. Blend > depends upon taste and perhaps time of day. Yorkshire tea (Hi, +Tony+) is > fine for the morning but maybe a mild Ceylon for the afternoon. There's one > blend out there called "Demitasse Tea" for after dinner. A good Assam tea is ideal for any time of the day! Assam-style teas are pretty much standard British brew, but a good Assam is defintiely worth it. Or a Darjeeling for something a little more refined for afternoon tea. Earl Grey for those who like that sort of adulteration. > Tea cozies are excellent for keeping the tea warm and, well, cozy! They also > make excellent bishop mitres, just ask the Rev.Ann Markle or visit the > photos of the PB Installation party on the St Sam's Web page. A whole host > of tea cozies in one picture, as I recall! Not just a cosy but also a tea pot stand, both to protect the table or sideboard (or whatever) from the near-boiling heat of the pot, but also to prevent heat loss through the base of the pot. Tea should be served in cups, preferably fine china cups, with saucers. A little milk should be poured into the cup first, though I understand that some heretics advocate adding the milk afterwards (and there is a lot of snobbery U/non-U stuff associated with that). (Adding milk afterwards is, however, a necessity when one descends to the depth of making tea in a mug with a single cheap tea bag.) Apparently some pepole further adulterate the drink with sugar, and one may have to provide tea spoons (or smaller spoons) for them to stir in the sugar. > Diana, daring to describe this process knowing there are British folks on > the list who have it ingrained in their psyche. Yes, but we know that you too are an expert tea maker and expert on tea lore, Diana! I suspect we probably talked about it once, oh so long ago -- was it really *seven* *years* ago that you visited us? Simon Kershaw Cambridge, England ------------------------------ From: Meg Carter Simon wrote: 'Or a Darjeeling for something a little more refined for afternoon tea. Earl Grey for those who like that sort of adulteration.' That would be me. ;>) I very much like adulteration. Other favorites are Constant Comment, which has all sorts and conditions of spices and dried fruit peels. Also the rather new *Republic of Tea* brand's Cardamom Cinnamon. And they have wonderful Chai Tea Latte mixes that go into my daughter's care packages to Montreal. Along with other things hard to find in Canada, like Girl Scout Cookies. ;>) And, speaking of cookies, shouldn't tea be accompanied by something sweet and lovely? So as not to require the addition of sugar to the drink itself? Scones, perhaps, or crisp and delicate cookies. Even as coffee requires biscotti to make it complete. See you. meg, adulteress ;>) ------------------------------ From: "Diana Smith" > different waters have different effects Yes, thanks for reminding me about the different waters. I believe that Fortnum and Mason's will still blend a tea if you bring in a sample of your local water. And Twinings was the first tea merchant to set up tea tables on the premises especially for women, who were excluded from the coffee houses. I had a giggle over putting a tea cozy over a silver tea pot! As expensive as tea was in the early days (1660s onwards), it quickly spread to the lower classes, much to the ire of some social reformers, who thought it scandalous that the lower classes were spending about 1/3 of their income on tea. OTOH, it wasn't gin, and the water was boiled, so therefore safe to drink... Diana ------------------------------ From: "Diana Smith" > shouldn't tea be accompanied by something sweet and lovely? Tea is always an excellent excuse for eating something sweet ObAnglican: 2 vicars were once heard arguing whether afternoon tea counted as a "meal" and so warranted saying grace. ------------------------------ From: "O'Shaughnessy, Mary" Diana altered the space time continuum to emit: > ObAnglican: 2 vicars were once heard arguing whether afternoon tea counted > as a "meal" and so warranted saying grace. Well, the vicars could follow the custom of Jewish meals--if it includes bread, it's a meal and requires ablutions and blessings. ------------------------------ From: "Allan Carr" My recollection is that 6 oz green tea has 15 vs 80 mg caffeine compared to coffee. Other than an occasional iced tea in a restaurant or the oolong typically served in Chinese restaurants, I can't remember when I had other than a green or herbal tea, if hot. (Well, yes, probably in Canada 55 years ago and when some in my neighborhood thought it was ok to drink hot tea out of the saucer - bad neighborhood). Since I'm trying to lose weight and cholesterol, now that I think about it, I probably should try to find some really ancient Pu-erh. ------------------------------ From: "Joan McDonough" Dear Allan, You wrote concerning a "bad neighbourhood" in Canada, where tea was drunk from the saucer; when tea was first introduced into the UK it was a highly costly commodity, pronounced as "tay" (I know Alexander Pope refers to taking tay with Queen Anne c. 1730s) and was typically served in handle-less cups from which the liquid was poured into a saucer ("a dish of tay"). Not being an expert on ceramics I don't know whether this was to do with difficulty in attaching very delicate handles at that time, or simply to allow it to cool more quickly. Funny how habits slide down the social scale! Best wishes, Joan. ------------------------------ From: "Joan McDonough" Dear Meg, "Adulterous" you say? For that, the penalty is to be pelted with rock cakes! Anyone wanting something sickly with their tea could check out the Tea Council's web site (www.tea.co.uk) or curl up with Nigella Lawson's new cookery book "How to be a domestic godess"! Love, Joan ------------------------------ From: "Joan McDonough" Dear Diana, Didn't the Temperance movement encourage tea drinking "The drink that cheers but not inebriates"? ------------------------------ From: "Jon A. Egger" I love Earl Grey tea. Stash Tea Co makes a fine double bergamot Earl Grey that I buy four 100 gm bags, loose, at a time. I make mine, with an infuser, on the strong side, which is how I like it. YMMV brudder jon --------------------- From: "P. Dan Brittain" When I was in Calgary, the University cafeteria had a Stash Russian Caravan that I liked. Helped jolt me awake for class. Haven't seen it since. Dan Brittain Berryville, Arkansas ------------------------------ From: Roland Orr For a fast strong cup of tea Marks & Spencer Extra Strong TEA Bags one per cup also works well. However Nescafe Gold can produce weak or strong coffee with or without milk or cream or sugar Had a nice mixture of teas in our lent bible study group this evening (2Cor is quite meaty) as some Earl Grey was added to add a "bouquet" as no wine tonight as lent . Roland Who alternates between tea and coffee & adds sugar when under stress Jon wrote: > I make mine, with an infuser, on the strong side, which is how I like it. I could smell this from across the pond........... Roland Orr Kent UK ------------------------------ Oakland, California P.S. Don't forget to visit the Hunger Site today and every day. Every time you do you feed a few hungry people somewhere in the world. http://www.thehungersite.com