From the Mixed-up Anglo-files: Advent Days 1-7: Tea
I watched half of the "Half-Blood Prince" on my flight back from Princeton two weeks ago (with take-off and landing, I could only sneak in half on that 4-hour flight). Now I find myself sick to the bones with wishful thinking; I picture myself in dear old dreary London for the holidays. Outside it's blizzarding quite dreadfully. I wish it were London snow.
Despite the reality of having spent only six months of my life on the Small Island, it still seems like another home. Perhaps it's better than home - it's an unsullied nostalgia. London was like a quick fling, a two-week lover; I was not around so long to notice her flaws.
So this year I'm pulling out the old Anglo-files and sorting through them to find something distinctly British to spotlight for each day of the advent.
Today's piece: Tea.
Because I'm catching up on my advent days, I get to spend 7 of my advent credits on tea. That's my excuse for writing almost everything I know on the subject in one post. But I've spiced it up with links and tasty images and recipes of cakes and things (and a few Monty Python videos) to reward the patient reader.
(And, before further ado about tea and all that rot, I'll have you know that I'll be taking requests. If you'd like to have some silly Brit thing explained, or have me post my favourite Haggis recipe, feel free to recommend future entries).
With tea, it's hard to know where I should start. I'll try to do this mostly based on things I just know off the top of my head. I'll fill in the gaps with links.
First, a few distinctions.
There are five types of tea: black, green, white, red, and herbal. Oolong could be a sixth category, but most conflate it with green and black. It's the same tea leaf, just oxidized a bit more than green and a bit less than black. Sometimes red and herbal are also conflated. Red is basically herb tea, except it's made specifically with rooibos (I hope you're pronouncing that properly: it's hhherb not 'erb. It has an 'h' in it, you crazy yank).
A brewed cup o' rooibos
Rooibos looks like rich, red tree bark. It's chock full of anti-oxidants, but, unlike all the other varieties (excluding herbal if you chose previously not to conflate) rooibos is caffeine-free and has low tannin levels. Tannin can be toxic if consumed often in high quantities. Tannin is the tiny beast responsible for that bitter taste you get from raw fruits and unprocessed nuts. High tannin consumption has been said to inhibit the absorption of iron which may, if prolonged, lead to anemia. That might be something to chew on for those of you who were wondering where Blackwood's got its sickly tea-drinker motif so often featured when talking about the tea-sucking Cockney School.
Those poor, poor tea-suckers.
It's also been linked to bowel irritation, kidney irritation, liver damage, irritation of the stomach and gastrointestinal pain.
One thing that the tea-curious might like to know is that tea extracts do not contain tannic acid. (So green tea gelato will be tannic-free! That's what I like to hear).
But the British apparently like bowel irritation, especially when it's rich and robust. A smoky Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, Earl Grey, or oolong seem to be some of their favorites. When brewing a black tea, you have to be careful not to steep the stuff too long or it will grow far too bitter to drink (the Brits might call this "stewed" tea). No doubt your intestines would be likewise "stewed."
Black tea, Darjeeling
Black teas are served with milk and sugar, and sometimes lemon if it's more than a simple workday cuppa. For a workday, you'd break out some PG tips or Twinings. For a fancier cuppa, designer teas pack more punch. PG tips and Twinings are like Folgers and Maxwell House. You don't get instant coffee at a Cafe - you get brewed coffee beans. It's the same with teas. You don't brew tea bags at a sit-down place - you more likely get a type of loose leaf.
What's loose leaf tea? I hear you asking (because all my pretend readers are immensely interested in the sundry bits of knowledge I've amassed). Well, it's just what it sounds like. Unlike tea bags, which crush and smother the flavor right out of the tea and force you to brew two bags for one cup if you want a decent flavor, loose leaf is kept loose in a canister or pouch. You have to measure it out yourself, and strain it yourself, but it often packs in a heavier, richer flavor for less actual tea. Often when you brew your own loose leaf it can be tricky to keep the tiny bits of crushed leaf, seed, blossom, (or other tasty ingredients) out of the actual tea water - even with a strainer.
If you don't use a strainer, of course, you can predict the future in the pattern left by the remaining tea leaves (often called the 'dregs' - this would be the bitter black tea leaves - why they're called the 'bitter dregs') once the tea has been drunk or poured off (or, of course, you could see an incarnation of your animagus uncle in the bottom of your cup).
As for the other kinds of tea - green tea is mostly drunk for health reasons. There are cheap versions of this - I think the Lipton brand is fairly popular. It's supposed to be all kinds of healthy, but still has moderately high levels of tannin.
It's so earthy.
White tea is not oxidized in the same way as black, green, and oolong. The nuanced processing of white tea means it's a fairly rare tea in general - the white tea versions of darjeeling, ceylon, and assam are more expensive. White tea seems to be more of a specialty tea as far as I've noticed. It has a starchy, windblown color when loose and actually is white when brewed.
You can't even see it - it's like a white rabbit in a snowstorm. Or like somebody well-hydrated peed in your cup.
Tea time used to be a bit more of an event than it is now. Before the 1600s, British folk would have a big hearty breakfast and a big hearty dinner with naught in between. Then rich people started taking their dinners later and later - knowing the Brits this was probably to show off the fact that they could, indeed, afford excessive candle-lighting. But people were getting quite peckish in between and so one day a fine lady decided to start serving a pseudo-meal for tea.
And thus High Tea was born.
At High Tea, the drinking of actual tea is a minor detail. Instead, you find things like cakes, sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, sweet breads, biscuits (or cookies for the yanks), English muffins, regular muffins, petit fours, cheese and crackers, and even things like pate and caviar.
Now, not just any type of sandwich or cake will do. They're usually of the finger food type - delicate little things that can be essentially swallowed in just a bite or two. Sandwiches would typically be smoked salmon, egg salad, ham, and, of course - the famous cucumber sandwich.
Pop them right in your mouth.
Cakes, on the other hand, would be (according to wikipedia) Battenberg (a pink and yellow checkered cake not too unlike petit fours), fruitcake, or spongecake (usually Victoria Sponge - which is sponge cake with jam and clotted cream or butter filling). When Jon and I visited Grandma and Grandpa in Tenerife, their British friend fixed us up a few plates of crackers and meats as well as some Victoria sponge. It was delightful.
Battenberg cake
Victorian sponge with clotted cream
And all these things would usually be found in piles upon piles, arranged delightfully on a tiered serving dish:
But nowadays, if anything accompanies your tea, it's likely biscuits. Like, if I had my druthers, I'd never down a cuppa without some of these babies:
Digestives: Mealy, grahmy cookies with one side coated in chocolate. Sound good? Thought so.
On the occasion that one does go out for tea, scones are actually far more popular than cakes, sandwiches, or any other type of side. Those other dishes are more likely to be served up at tourist spots across England - sometimes at B&Bs if you're lucky. But most would likely take scones with their tea. When I went to the Orangerie in Kensington Gardens, I took rosehip hibiscus tea with a scone and clotted cream.
See the Twinings in the background? Ah, England.
Now, I guess I haven't really broached the whole 'herbal tea' topic, but my post is getting a bit too long already.
Here are a few tips for herbal drinking:
1. If you don't want a buzz, make sure it really is herb tea. Black teas sometimes come in fun fruity flavours, so be sure that it does read 'herbal' on the package. Beware of "black tea leaves" on the ingredients list and you'll be fine.
2. Some herb teas make milk curdle. This seems to happen most with fruit teas (not simple rooibos, peppermint, chamomile, etc), and particularly with citrus-based fruit teas. I think this might be because of acid + milk, but I don't know the specific science. Sometimes I'm surprised when certain teas curdle, sometimes I'm not. I usually pour a small bit in before going the full creamy mile to see if it curdles.
3. I recommend using natural cane sugar rather than refined sugar. These varieties of sugar just have a more rich, carmelized taste. Heidi, from 101cookbooks, has great advice on sweeteners.
4. A note on teapots: if you are brewing in a ceramic pot, courtesy says, brew the tea right in the pot and pour from there. If you're using a metal kettle, courtesy says, brew the tea in a teacup after you've poured in the scalding hot water. I've never owned a kettle, but I'd be hard-pressed not to lust over one of these babies:
5. Some loose leaf teas are so rich and sweet that little to no extra sweetening is required. Teavana has a line of teas with chocolate, caramel, and toffee chunks mixed in with regular loose leaf. Amazing.
6. Last but not least, if you must buy tea in bags, not loose leaf (I don't blame you... I have to buy bagged tea - otherwise I'd be broke). The best cheap variety, in my opinion, is Twinings. That is, if you live in England. If not, you'll have to settle for Essensia or Celestial Seasonings. Personally, my favourite Celestial Seasonings flavor is Madagascar Vanilla Red or Raspberry Zinger (I'm a CS purist). I don't really drink bagged chamomile - that's like drinking steeped grass, in my opinion. It loses all its richness. I will drink the herbal Tazo teas, if I'm willing to spend an extra buck or two. Thankfully, I have quite a collection amassed at home and thus have not had to spend money on tea since England. I even stocked up on Twinings before coming home.
So that's tea for you. Now you can all go off and make tea, not war.
And - now that I've used up my full first seven days on tea - I think I can move on to something completely different.
Despite the reality of having spent only six months of my life on the Small Island, it still seems like another home. Perhaps it's better than home - it's an unsullied nostalgia. London was like a quick fling, a two-week lover; I was not around so long to notice her flaws.
So this year I'm pulling out the old Anglo-files and sorting through them to find something distinctly British to spotlight for each day of the advent.
Today's piece: Tea.
Because I'm catching up on my advent days, I get to spend 7 of my advent credits on tea. That's my excuse for writing almost everything I know on the subject in one post. But I've spiced it up with links and tasty images and recipes of cakes and things (and a few Monty Python videos) to reward the patient reader.
(And, before further ado about tea and all that rot, I'll have you know that I'll be taking requests. If you'd like to have some silly Brit thing explained, or have me post my favourite Haggis recipe, feel free to recommend future entries).
With tea, it's hard to know where I should start. I'll try to do this mostly based on things I just know off the top of my head. I'll fill in the gaps with links.
First, a few distinctions.
There are five types of tea: black, green, white, red, and herbal. Oolong could be a sixth category, but most conflate it with green and black. It's the same tea leaf, just oxidized a bit more than green and a bit less than black. Sometimes red and herbal are also conflated. Red is basically herb tea, except it's made specifically with rooibos (I hope you're pronouncing that properly: it's hhherb not 'erb. It has an 'h' in it, you crazy yank).
A brewed cup o' rooibos
Rooibos looks like rich, red tree bark. It's chock full of anti-oxidants, but, unlike all the other varieties (excluding herbal if you chose previously not to conflate) rooibos is caffeine-free and has low tannin levels. Tannin can be toxic if consumed often in high quantities. Tannin is the tiny beast responsible for that bitter taste you get from raw fruits and unprocessed nuts. High tannin consumption has been said to inhibit the absorption of iron which may, if prolonged, lead to anemia. That might be something to chew on for those of you who were wondering where Blackwood's got its sickly tea-drinker motif so often featured when talking about the tea-sucking Cockney School.
Those poor, poor tea-suckers.
It's also been linked to bowel irritation, kidney irritation, liver damage, irritation of the stomach and gastrointestinal pain.
One thing that the tea-curious might like to know is that tea extracts do not contain tannic acid. (So green tea gelato will be tannic-free! That's what I like to hear).
But the British apparently like bowel irritation, especially when it's rich and robust. A smoky Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon, Earl Grey, or oolong seem to be some of their favorites. When brewing a black tea, you have to be careful not to steep the stuff too long or it will grow far too bitter to drink (the Brits might call this "stewed" tea). No doubt your intestines would be likewise "stewed."
Black tea, Darjeeling
Black teas are served with milk and sugar, and sometimes lemon if it's more than a simple workday cuppa. For a workday, you'd break out some PG tips or Twinings. For a fancier cuppa, designer teas pack more punch. PG tips and Twinings are like Folgers and Maxwell House. You don't get instant coffee at a Cafe - you get brewed coffee beans. It's the same with teas. You don't brew tea bags at a sit-down place - you more likely get a type of loose leaf.
What's loose leaf tea? I hear you asking (because all my pretend readers are immensely interested in the sundry bits of knowledge I've amassed). Well, it's just what it sounds like. Unlike tea bags, which crush and smother the flavor right out of the tea and force you to brew two bags for one cup if you want a decent flavor, loose leaf is kept loose in a canister or pouch. You have to measure it out yourself, and strain it yourself, but it often packs in a heavier, richer flavor for less actual tea. Often when you brew your own loose leaf it can be tricky to keep the tiny bits of crushed leaf, seed, blossom, (or other tasty ingredients) out of the actual tea water - even with a strainer.
If you don't use a strainer, of course, you can predict the future in the pattern left by the remaining tea leaves (often called the 'dregs' - this would be the bitter black tea leaves - why they're called the 'bitter dregs') once the tea has been drunk or poured off (or, of course, you could see an incarnation of your animagus uncle in the bottom of your cup).
As for the other kinds of tea - green tea is mostly drunk for health reasons. There are cheap versions of this - I think the Lipton brand is fairly popular. It's supposed to be all kinds of healthy, but still has moderately high levels of tannin.
It's so earthy.
White tea is not oxidized in the same way as black, green, and oolong. The nuanced processing of white tea means it's a fairly rare tea in general - the white tea versions of darjeeling, ceylon, and assam are more expensive. White tea seems to be more of a specialty tea as far as I've noticed. It has a starchy, windblown color when loose and actually is white when brewed.
You can't even see it - it's like a white rabbit in a snowstorm. Or like somebody well-hydrated peed in your cup.
Tea time used to be a bit more of an event than it is now. Before the 1600s, British folk would have a big hearty breakfast and a big hearty dinner with naught in between. Then rich people started taking their dinners later and later - knowing the Brits this was probably to show off the fact that they could, indeed, afford excessive candle-lighting. But people were getting quite peckish in between and so one day a fine lady decided to start serving a pseudo-meal for tea.
And thus High Tea was born.
At High Tea, the drinking of actual tea is a minor detail. Instead, you find things like cakes, sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream, sweet breads, biscuits (or cookies for the yanks), English muffins, regular muffins, petit fours, cheese and crackers, and even things like pate and caviar.
Now, not just any type of sandwich or cake will do. They're usually of the finger food type - delicate little things that can be essentially swallowed in just a bite or two. Sandwiches would typically be smoked salmon, egg salad, ham, and, of course - the famous cucumber sandwich.
Pop them right in your mouth.
Cakes, on the other hand, would be (according to wikipedia) Battenberg (a pink and yellow checkered cake not too unlike petit fours), fruitcake, or spongecake (usually Victoria Sponge - which is sponge cake with jam and clotted cream or butter filling). When Jon and I visited Grandma and Grandpa in Tenerife, their British friend fixed us up a few plates of crackers and meats as well as some Victoria sponge. It was delightful.
Battenberg cake
Victorian sponge with clotted cream
And all these things would usually be found in piles upon piles, arranged delightfully on a tiered serving dish:
But nowadays, if anything accompanies your tea, it's likely biscuits. Like, if I had my druthers, I'd never down a cuppa without some of these babies:
Digestives: Mealy, grahmy cookies with one side coated in chocolate. Sound good? Thought so.
On the occasion that one does go out for tea, scones are actually far more popular than cakes, sandwiches, or any other type of side. Those other dishes are more likely to be served up at tourist spots across England - sometimes at B&Bs if you're lucky. But most would likely take scones with their tea. When I went to the Orangerie in Kensington Gardens, I took rosehip hibiscus tea with a scone and clotted cream.
See the Twinings in the background? Ah, England.
Now, I guess I haven't really broached the whole 'herbal tea' topic, but my post is getting a bit too long already.
Here are a few tips for herbal drinking:
1. If you don't want a buzz, make sure it really is herb tea. Black teas sometimes come in fun fruity flavours, so be sure that it does read 'herbal' on the package. Beware of "black tea leaves" on the ingredients list and you'll be fine.
2. Some herb teas make milk curdle. This seems to happen most with fruit teas (not simple rooibos, peppermint, chamomile, etc), and particularly with citrus-based fruit teas. I think this might be because of acid + milk, but I don't know the specific science. Sometimes I'm surprised when certain teas curdle, sometimes I'm not. I usually pour a small bit in before going the full creamy mile to see if it curdles.
3. I recommend using natural cane sugar rather than refined sugar. These varieties of sugar just have a more rich, carmelized taste. Heidi, from 101cookbooks, has great advice on sweeteners.
4. A note on teapots: if you are brewing in a ceramic pot, courtesy says, brew the tea right in the pot and pour from there. If you're using a metal kettle, courtesy says, brew the tea in a teacup after you've poured in the scalding hot water. I've never owned a kettle, but I'd be hard-pressed not to lust over one of these babies:
5. Some loose leaf teas are so rich and sweet that little to no extra sweetening is required. Teavana has a line of teas with chocolate, caramel, and toffee chunks mixed in with regular loose leaf. Amazing.
6. Last but not least, if you must buy tea in bags, not loose leaf (I don't blame you... I have to buy bagged tea - otherwise I'd be broke). The best cheap variety, in my opinion, is Twinings. That is, if you live in England. If not, you'll have to settle for Essensia or Celestial Seasonings. Personally, my favourite Celestial Seasonings flavor is Madagascar Vanilla Red or Raspberry Zinger (I'm a CS purist). I don't really drink bagged chamomile - that's like drinking steeped grass, in my opinion. It loses all its richness. I will drink the herbal Tazo teas, if I'm willing to spend an extra buck or two. Thankfully, I have quite a collection amassed at home and thus have not had to spend money on tea since England. I even stocked up on Twinings before coming home.
So that's tea for you. Now you can all go off and make tea, not war.
And - now that I've used up my full first seven days on tea - I think I can move on to something completely different.