Tea making

I make teabag tea in the mug, so of course I add water first. If the milk went in first the water wouldn't be sufficiently near boiling to properly steep the tea.

I drink tea daily even though I am not British. I put the milk in second, I usually just steep a cup so if I put milk first if I didn't steep the tea long enough then my tea is weak. I also steep the bag so long that it isn't boiling when I add the milk.

I do the exact same thing.

I dont drink tea myself but never understand putting milk in first unless you've made a pot of tea and so it's been allowed to brew before hitting the milk.

This.

Milk on top of a tea bag seems to stop it from brewing well and it ends up too weak. If the tea's already brewed in a pot then I'll put milk in first.

Is it just a splash of milk? My chais are a cup of water and a cup of milk with some honey, but it seems like that would be too much milk for other teas.

Yes, just a splash. I probably only use around a desertspoon of milk in black tea. Some people would have a bit more.

Thanks! I'm going to try again.

The most important thing is to have the water boiling when you pour it on the teabag - this is why tea in the US (and often Europe) is not very strong because you get brought a cup of water with a teabag on the saucer (and a slice of lemon.) Also if you use the Lipton yellow label they are not strong nough - try 2 teabags if you can't get Assam or English Breakfast tea. Give the teabag a good squeeze (wiht the spoon against the side of the cup) before taking it out then add enough milk so the colour looks "right" - this is a matter of taste, my boss likes very little milk, my mother-in-law really weak and milky, I'm about in the middle. (About medium oak works for me)

I don't drink tea very often, but when I do, it's water first always! I've had folks make me tea where they've put the milk in first & it becomes too milky for my tastes, oh and no sugar or sweetner!

Indian Chai every once in a while, since I like that extra sweet :bigsmile:

I gave up coffee a few weeks ago in an attempt to cut down caffeine as I was having crazy heart palpitations. I couldn't give up my warm morning drink ritual altogether so I switched to Chai Tea. I've been using Stash tea bags, regular in the morning and decaf at night. I always boil water in a kettle then pour the water into a 12oz. mug, then add two tea bags. Steep for 4 or 5 minutes, wring out the tea bags by pressing against spoon, then add milk and sweetener (splenda or agave).

I have a feeling there is a better way to make chai tea. Can anyone enlighten me?! It is really worth steeping loose tea in a tea pot and then straining? Please help me recover my English roots as my family has been entirely ruined by American ways over the past 100 years! ;-)

I always put the milk in second, because:
1. I can see exactly how much milk I need to put in.
2. For some weird reason I hate the sight of a tea bag sitting in milky tea.
3. After years of doing it this way, some kind of beverage expert assured me it was the correct way to do it. I can't remember the reasoning now, but it was possibly the reason quoted from RAF guy below.

Always water first. To properly infuse the tea the water needs to be as close to 100 C as possible, if you add the milk first this immediately reduces the temperature of the water, stopping the infusion. This is why you can not get a good cup of tea anywhere that is at altitude as water boils at a lower temperature the higher you go. If you are making a pot of tea, you should always warm the pot first to stop the dramatic drop in temperature when you had the boiling water to the cold pottery.

Probably the blend, you need a nice breakfast blend such a Twinnings

Eww, I always thought Twinings (especially Yellow Label, the hotel-room curse of the international traveller), is why foreigners think British tea is revolting.

To understand British milk-in tea you need a good everyday blend like PG Tips, Yorkshire or Tetley, brewed with just-boiled water (and never re-heated water). Milk in the cup first if using a teapot, milk last if brewing in a mug.

BEWARE tea blends don't always travel - they are subtly different around the country to account for hard or soft water.

Oh dear!

Well, will try Twinings (Twinnings?) and Tetley because I know we have both in the States. I haven't ever seen the other two, but I'll look and see if I can find them. I don't know what I have at home. I wish I could remember. And I'll play around with the amount of milk and see what works for me.

Thanks for the help!

English BTW, and was horrified on first trip to US when I ordered tea & got an iced cupful, eh , what?

Where were you? Most restaurants here have hot and iced tea and usually when people want iced tea, that's what they say.

And in any coffee house, they serve hot tea regularly.