(no subject)

[vaznetti]

It's a beautiful snowy day, and I have a whole lot of work to do, so why not waste some time answering questions about one of my favorite substances?

1. Are you a tea drinker?
Yes indeed.

2. Which do you prefer: English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Black Tea, or Green Tea?
As a class, I prefer black teas: Twining's Prince of Wales ("tea of historians"), Keemun, Darjeeling. The specific tea depends on my mood. I'm also a huge fan of something I was told was called "Scottish Breakfast," which is a breakfast tea blend with some Lapsang Souchang mixed in. I don't much care for regular English Breakfast (too bitter) or Early Grey (too mild).

3. What is your favorite herbal tea?
Mint, probably. I used to really like rose-hip tea, but I think I OD'ed on it. I'm also quite fond of that Turkish apple tea, although it is not "tea" in any meaningful sense fo the word.

4. Do you take ice in your cold tea?
People drink ice tea without ice in it? That's got to be illegal.

5. Have you ever had Sweet Tea?
I don't know what that is, so probably not.

And now a question of my own. Does anyone else have the "milk/no milk" problem? Sometimes I take my tea with milk, sometimes I don't. It depends on the kind of tea, the time of day, how I feel, where I am, all kinds of things. This drives my husband's family insane, because they like a simple "how do you take your tea?" (with a "milk and/or sugar" response) with one answer to be remembered. It's also caused a mixup at the patisserie I go to, where I asked for milk once, and now the woman at the counter always brings me milk with my tea.

[Edited to add: I got this Friday Five from gryphonrhi, by the way]

Comments

[spican.livejournal.com]

And now a question of my own. Does anyone else have the "milk/no milk" problem?

Well, it isn't really a problem per se since over here it's mostly all coffee all the time and tea gets a very stepmotherly treatment by most (almost always sugar, maybe a slice of lemon, almost never milk.)

But I agree about varying this according to the blend: Darjeeling and Jasmine without milk, Lady Grey could be either depending on mood or time of day, but usually no milk, Earl Grey and strong all-purpose blends like PG Tips always with milk. Jasmine or Lady Grey could equally well be with lemon. I don't as a rule like fruit flavored black teas except blackcurrant, which I prefer without milk. Oh, and Twinings Apple-Cinnamon-Raisin flavor which I must have with milk. I take everything with sugar except Jasmine. And no, I don't expect my friends I visit to remember all this.

This is a fun meme, I must do it. Could Sweet Tea be the same as Chai - strong spicy-milky-sweet Indian tea?

[hesychasm]

Sweet tea is a Southern thing. They drink it iced, with lots of sugar down there. I actually never had regular hot, non-Asian tea until I came up north to college. (g)

[spican.livejournal.com]

All right! Thanks for the clarification. Makes it easier to do the meme. :)

[vaznetti]

Hot tea is very much a regional/cultural/class thing in the US, or it used to be. (Although pretty much everyhing in the US is dictated by region, ethnic background or class, so I guess that's not saying much...) Thanks for the info!

Sweet Tea

[rhi]

It's a Southern thing (as I resist the urge to type 'abomination'). You pour just brewed hot tea into a container that already has the sugar in it, so that the sugar will mix much more thoroughly than it would if the tea were cold. It's usually *very* sweet, almost syrupy tasting, to me at least. And down here, it's sometimes referred to as the 'house wine of the South'. Does that help?

Re: Sweet Tea

[vaznetti]

Thanks for the information. And then you let the tea cool and serve it iced, I'm thinking? As someone who doesn't even put sugar in regular ice tea, I'm thinking that this is something to watch out for.

Re: Sweet Tea

[rhi]

The word my tired brain was looking for earlier, Sarah, is 'cloying'. Yes. It's served iced, it's *amazingly* sweet (not enough lemon in the world to cut it usually), and south of Maryland, I think, certainly south of Virginia, you'd better ask for 'unsweetened' iced tea. I've also heard it called Yankee tea. (Can you tell I don't put sugar in tea, either?)

Re: Milk/no milk with tea

[vaznetti]

I've never understood putting cream in tea, I have to admit. Milk, yes, but cream is too heavy for tea in my opinion.

Re: Milk/no milk with tea

[vaznetti]

After posting my comment I realized that there's one major exception, which is Indian train tea (the tea you get on trains in India): this is VERY strong black tea (it's usually stewed for hours) with condensed (? I think) milk added to it--anyway, that creamy and oversweetened milk stuff. But my love for this stuff is considered some kind of weird abomination by most other people who know what I'm talking about.

Milk

[aceofkittens.livejournal.com]

Ruining tea with any kind of milk is a bad thing in my book. I like my tea like I like my men: yellow and weak.

Re: Milk

[vaznetti]

You had a good Russian description of the overly-strong tea my father and I drink at one point, but I can't think what it was. As for the tea-and-men thing, is that why you don't use sugar any more? (And what about jam--yellow, weak and sticky?)

Re: Russian tea

[rhi]

My Russian teacher let us have some after a Russian dinner she made us. Hot, blacker than any coffee I've ever had except my sister-in-law's, and poured directly over strawberry preserves in thick mugs. The caffeine was strong enough to make you feel your teeth were being scoured clean, even through the strawberry jam. Amazing stuff.

Re: Russian tea

[chriswife.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds like something I must experience at least once in this lifetime.

Re: Russian tea

[rhi]

::laughing:: Samovar chai: strong and steeped forever until someone wanted it. *Really* black. Woke you up in a hurry.

Re: Russian tea

[vaznetti]

Your teacher may have been a bit of a barbarian. My understanding is that you're supposed to dilute the stuff that comes out of the little pot with about six parts water. Or more.

Re: Russian tea

[rhi]

::grinning:: Or she may have been taking pity on us. It was two days 'til finals and we all looked pretty rough.

Re: Russian tea

[vaznetti]

Drinking your tea like that is just like having a big slug of vodka on an empty stomach. In fact, that may have been what aceofkittens said about the tea in my household...

Re: Russian tea

[rhi]

Speaking of finals... have you started *your* lyric wheel fic yet...?

Re: Russian tea

[vaznetti]

Yes, and I want you to know that I'm writing shmoop. Krycek/Marita shmoop. I know that this is your fault, I just can't figure out how...

Re: Russian tea

[rhi]

Oh, I'm sure it's my fault in the general, for getting you into this, but I sent three different types of lyrics, so content I take no blame for.

Re: Milk

[aceofkittens.livejournal.com]

I stopped taking sugar in my tea after I got really sick one day, and was plied with hot, sweet tea, and I just... gah. I really can't stand the taste. :) It's been a really long time. But I like my jam next to the tea. In fact, I think I'll go have some jam right now.

Except I'm missing the bread. Damnit!

I don't remember what I said about tea at your house, but it's too strong for my weak constitution! :)