
A Nice Cup of Tea by George Orwell (1946) - Tomte
http://www.booksatoz.com/witsend/tea/orwell.htm
======
moron4hire
I'm a coffee drinker. For some reason, waiters and baristas look at me funny
and ask if I'm really sure when I say I don't want anything in my coffee.
Apparently there aren't any other black coffee drinkers left in the world. So
I've taken to telling them I want my coffee to match my soul: "black and
bitter". This tends to get the point across that I'm serious when apparently
"no, no cream or sugar, I just want black coffee" isn't enough.

That's actually not entirely correct. I hate west-coast style coffee,
popularized by the likes of Starbucks. They burn the shit out of their beans,
leaving no bean taste, replacing it with nothing but carbon black, and
destroying most of the caffeine. I like a light roast coffee with no
adornments. It's still bitter, but not unbearably so, and I would wager most
people who drink coffee with cream would probably drink a well-made light-
roast without cream at all, and it is also richly flavorful in many other
ways, while providing the an excellent kick.

But I also drink sub-optimal coffee straight, too. Who has time to screw
around with titrations?

I have not been a fan of tea because what I had experienced (even that
provided by aficionados here in the states) had been woefully bland. It mostly
tasted like hot water, with a slight floral taste, that ultimately reminded me
too much of dishwater.

But on a recent vacation in Ireland, my wife insisted we "take tea" one day.
First of all, coupling something with a smorgasbord of snacks is a brilliant
way to get me to try anything new. But more importantly, the place we were at
had given us twice as much leaf as anyone I had ever seen, apparently with the
intention that the drinker would choose their own steeping time. I left mine
in the entire time and found that I enjoyed it more and more as it steeped. My
favorite was nearly indistinguishable from coffee in both color, bitterness,
and caffeine kick.

So there we have it. I had given up on tea for 20 years of my life because
most people who pick up tea in the states do it because they are too weak of
spirit to handle coffee, not because of any inherent problem in tea itself.

~~~
jcrites
I enjoy your mention of strength of spirit, because I rather feel that people
who drink coffee are too weak of spirit to handle espresso :-)

Give me a few shots of straight, black espresso. Perhaps with a little whipped
cream on top if I'm in the mood. Very easy to make quality espresso in the
home with modern pre-ground capsule machines.

If you also like coffee black, I recommend giving espresso a try.
Unfortunately there is quite a lot of variation in what coffee houses serve.
Some indie shops serve espresso that is extremely bitter and not smooth; in my
opinion these are not well made. I usually prefer the espresso made by larger
chains or capsule machines. It is heavy on industrial consistency and quality
control, with less emphasis on artistry (more relevant in mixed espresso
drinks). Good espresso by my taste is strong and smooth, and only very
marginally bitter, and at that only as an after taste.

~~~
moron4hire
Oh yes, I love a good espresso, but you are right, some shops either burn the
beans or over extract and make it far too bitter.

------
phpnode
it's a shame for such a distinguished person to make such an amateur mistake -
point 10 is indeed answerable:

1\. people who put the milk in first have become adept at adding _exactly_ the
right amount of milk to a cup of any size. It's a ubiquitous skill, learnt
virtually as soon as the person begins drinking tea in this (proper) way.
Orwell was clearly inexperienced.

2\. adding the milk last requires simultaneous stirring to correctly assess
the tea's consistency. This wasteful and complicated activity is not required
when the milk is added first, as the milk is evenly mixed with the tea by the
pouring process itself. This saves considerable time.

3\. adding the milk to an already boiling cup of tea burns the milk, ruining
the flavour of the tea.

However, a _true_ tea lover would never soil their tea by adding milk in the
first place.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
One can become just as adept at stirring the correct number of times. Its a
ubiquitous skill too.

Also, this myth about 'burning the milk' \- I get my latte at 180 degrees, and
the milk is not 'scalded' or 'burned' or any other thing - its just fine.

~~~
phpnode
The milk in a latte is typically gradually heated to its temperature, whereas
when cold milk is added to hot tea, it changes temperature rapidly. This
causes the Maillard Reaction, fundamentally changing its flavour. This is like
the difference between cooking a steak at immediately high temperature vs
gradually increasing temperature. Same resulting temperature but one is
delicious and the other is brown and floppy.

0\.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction)

~~~
leoedin
Did you actually read the link you provided? The Maillard reaction doesn't
appear to be relevent to milk and tea combining at the sub-boiling
temperatures discussed. Unless you have another source that actually supports
your statement?

~~~
phpnode
Yes, I read it - I was rather hoping no one else would, it seemed just about
plausible enough to be convincing.

~~~
qq66
Refreshing candor.

~~~
phpnode
This is a religious matter and as such no tactics are off limits. Tea first is
wrong.

------
Tomte
Also, the Royal Society of Chemistry:
[http://www.rsc.org/pdf/pressoffice/2003/tea.pdf](http://www.rsc.org/pdf/pressoffice/2003/tea.pdf)

~~~
ZoFreX
I particularly agree with this suggestion:

> For best results carry a heavy bag of shopping or walk the dog in cold,
> driving rain for at least half an hour beforehand.

------
syf81
I personally follow the ISO 3103 standard when I'm brewing tea.

~~~
zaphar
As a collector of knowledge of limited utility and a lover of various kinds of
tea you have just made my day.

I'm totally going to start telling people I use the ISO 3103 standard for my
tea preparation.

------
facepalm
It's so curious that in the UK there is no notion of time when brewing tea. In
Germany you are supposed to remove the tea leaves after 3 minutes. Or if you
keep them longer, the tea will change its nature from being wakening to being
tiring. (Actually times vary a bit depending on the tea - green tea is usually
shorter). Eventually the tea will get bitter if the leaves are left in the
water.

~~~
mwest
In the UK, tea should be brewed for 6 minutes (see BS 6008:1980). :-)

~~~
4lun
Wow, you weren't kidding: [http://skippy.org.uk/wp-
content/uploads/BS6008-1980-Preparat...](http://skippy.org.uk/wp-
content/uploads/BS6008-1980-Preparation-of-a-liquor-of-tea-for-use-in-sensory-
tests.pdf)

------
blt
My Chinese co-worker introduced me to Iron Goddess of Mercy oolong tea, and it
is incredible. Most of Orwell's points are still relevant, but the water is
cooler and milk is not used. I realized that even nice tea bags like Twinings
are basically floor sweepings compared to quality whole leaves.

~~~
visarga
Tie guan yin :-) great tea. I also love puerh to death.

------
fennecfoxen
Orwell is silly. You want your tea strong? Certainly. You want your tea pure,
tasting like tea? Definitely. You want your tea bitter? ... While I can
appreciate that for anyone who has to deal with the exigencies of war and
rationing there is no real alternative, _really good tea_ , made from the
better parts of the tea plant, _is not bitter_ even when exceptionally strong.
It does, however, taste wonderfully of tea.

Try the Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (aka "far too good for ordinary
people") some time. :P

~~~
ctdonath
I find the same with coffee and beer: notions of "acquired taste", "bitter",
etc are the consequence of bad product or production; like tea, _good_ coffee
& beer isn't bitter.

~~~
elsherbini
I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that beer shouldn't be bitter. Hops
are added early in the boiling of the wort in order to impart bitterness. You
can skip this step, but the beer will be sickly sweet with no balance. All of
course contingent on the other ingredients, steps, and desired style of beer.

~~~
ctdonath
I meant to clarify: if you _want_ bitter, as the choice of an educated palate,
that's fine - and is usually a factor of certain quality beers. I was focusing
on poor-quality mass-produced products that much of society assumes is
representative and can't see past.

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yaddayadda
cached version:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&q=cache%3...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&q=cache%3Awww.booksatoz.com%2Fwitsend%2Ftea%2Forwell.htm)

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PhasmaFelis
Every time I see this, I assume it's going to be a story about fascism that
refers to tea. It's always a pleasant surprise when I realize that, no, it
really is just Orwell expounding on tea.

------
funnynickname
I like a little sugar in my tea.

