I am not a great fan of tea. I used to drink it a lot back in Russia, but there everyone was doing it. In Cyprus, most of the year is so hot that I don’t even think about drinking anything warmer than a cold beer. On occasions when it happens I do drink coffee like most of the local people do.
The closest I came to tea for the last few month (if not years) is taking a sip from my wife’s ice tea can. But that’s a totally other drink. If I can remember well, the last few times I drank tea, it was the fast making, small packet stuff from Lipton or competitors.
Today I realized that I want some real tea, the one which is made of tea leaves, and needs some preparation. Luckily there still was some tea in the darkest corner of the kitchen closet. It took me less than 5 minutes to boil the cattle, warm-up the teapot, put a couple of tea spoons of tea in it, pour some hot water (not boiling though), close the teapot and cover it with a towel (I do have one even though I am not planning any travelling around the Universe.). I than had to wait for another 10 minutes and voula! Pour the tea into the mug (roughly 1/4th), fill the rest with hot water from the cattle and enjoy a cup with a piece of apple pie.
Now that is, ladies and gentlemen, what I call a pleasure!
P.S.: If you don’t happen to have apple pie, put a couple of teaspoons of sugar in your mug and mix well. You will enjoy it too. If you like to mix more stuff in your drink, than by all means add some milk. I prefer to stay out of these pervertish experiments though.
As a regular tea consumer and admirer, would like to point at some mistakes you let go during your tea preparation:
1) Do not pour water to your mug after you poured the tea in there and use just as much water at the beginning as you intend to drink.
2) (related to 1) Use the leaves proportion rule "1 teaspoon per person + 1 for the teapot", meaning 1 teaspoon equals 1 level filled teaspoon.
3) (related to 2) Optimal waiting time is 5 minutes. After that, the tea starts becoming bitter. Some people prefer using less leaves and wait longer, but this is totally incorrect! This way they only get the color, not the taste nor the aroma.
I would also advise to remember that the tea looses its aroma and becomes bitter after 15-20 minutes, so don’t be late.
[1] Number 1 is tricky. If I will fill the mug entirely from the teapot, I won’t go to sleep for the next three weeks or so. That is if I will survive at all, of course. ;)
[2] *Tea* keeps you awake?!?
[3] Yup. Tea contains a lot of caffeine too. It is less than in coffee, but enough to keep me going. ;)
[2]
I was not clear enough. The point is, you should put less leaves so that there will be no need to add any water after the tea is ready.
[5] Well, then my teapot is too small. :)