[Sca-cooks] Tea water, was raised crusts

[Edouard de Bruyerecourt]

A F Murphy wrote:
>
> Well... I have accepted that, if I order tea in a restaurant, I will get
> a cup of sort of hot water with a tea bag nestled coyly beside it. The
> only way you can make real actual tea, as opposed to colored water, is
> to pour boiling water over the tea... So, I simply refuse to drink tea
> in restaurants. (Except the Indian place in my neighborhood. They make
> good tea.) 185 isn't hot enough, but I don't think 195 is that great an
> improvement.

I find the hotness of tea water varies from business to business, and
will also vary depending on whether or not your server drinks tea
themselves. It can make a big difference whether or not the server
pre-heats your cup, as those heavy ceramic restaraunt grade mugs have a
lot of mass that robs a lot of heat while the cup and water do the
physics of reaching a thermodynamic equilibrium. It also matters if
pouring the water the last thing the server does before bringing it to
you, rather than have it staged on the counter while they fetch a cream
pitcher or pour a glass of Pepsi. I have found that once I started
preheating the cups, I stopped getting complaints about water temp.

Okay, so I'm a little.....exacting. I measured the water boiling in the
kettle (yep, 212F,...and it was 200F with water vapour rising) and while
I paused less than a minute when I realized I hadn't put the tea in the
cup, the water reached 186F less than a minute after I poured it into
the cup. I also like my tea strong and dark. (People have mistaken it
for coffee sometimes). By the time I finished brewing it several minutes
later, it had reached 176F. Then I added the milk, but the tea leaves
are removed and there's no brewing after that.

While even I prefer boiling water right off the burner and poured into
the adjacent prewarmed pot, I will say the 185F is sufficient to brew a
cup of tea. Assuming the restaurant can get it to you while it's still
185F.

Tea will brew in less than boiling water. It just takes longer. We've
made cold brew ice tea, but it takes overnight. Not timely while you're
waiting for your frittata, though. And I find cold brewing produces a
flavourful, but less bitter/acidic tea that doesn't go bad as soon. I
understand that's why we don't _boil_ tea, as it realeases bitter oils.

> I also can no longer drink regular coffee at night, and find that decaf
> is usually stale, even in good places. So, I now finish my main course
> and go... I usually eat late enough that no one is waiting for my table,
> but  not so late that they are waiting to close.

I quite understand about the decafe. We sell it about 1:8-10 with
regular brewed coffee, and if they've got an old pot around because
they've only sold two cups out of it hours ago, they're usually
relucting to automatically brew another pot just to sell another cup
(Also depends on the 'frugality' of the management). How much you go
there may have some bearing, if you ask them how old it is, and if they
are willing to brew you a fresh pot. They are more likely to be brutally
honest to regulars, and make you that fresh pot. To a server that knows
what they're doing in a restaurant, your asking those questions means
you're savvy enough to tell the difference between a fresh pot and an
old pot, and it's not in their best interest to serve it to you.
>
> I don't usually complain, because no one seems to know what I am talking
> about, when I do.

You take you chances asking for hotter water while traveling and eating
at new places, but cultivating regular business at a few local places
helps a lot. Certain customers I automatically will make the extra trip
to the espresso machine for hotter water. I one even 'steamed' the water
in a hoddle just like one would steam milk for a latte, until it was
seriously boiling, then carried it right to the table. The asked me both
politely and insistantly that they wanted as hot of water as I could
manage.

Of course, I admit, that's me. I've worked with servers that I'd have
loved to locked in the walkin freezer and left for the night.

Edouard