[Sca-cooks] Tea water, was raised crusts

[Sue Clemenger]

Perhaps, Master A, it also depends on the kind of tea being prepared, as
well as personal preferences?
I drink both tea and coffee, and I _always_ want my coffee hot, dark,
and a little sweet.  I do not do either cream or milk.  My usual order
at an espresso place is a quad. Americano....<g>
I drink a variety of teas (mostly at home).  The green teas, jasmine
tea, oolong, etc. I like without getting them too strong, since that's
not really in the best interests of more delicate flavors.....
Now, plain 'ole black tea....especially a good English Breakfast
blend....I want *that* _potent_. There's just something about the tea,
the tannin, the heat.....<ggg>
Don't do milk with tea either (shudder), unless I'm having chai, and
cream, rarely...sometimes when I get a cold, or need "comfort food"
sweet, milky/creamy tea just hits the spot. <g>
If I want caffeine at a restaurant, I almost always order tea or a
cola...coffee's usually pretty weak for my standards, and I don't like
it at all.
--Maire, seriously thinking of taking her espresso machine to work.....

Philip & Susan Troy wrote:

> I've never understood the concept of brewing tea either at a
> strength, or for a length of time, such that its primary flavor is
> that of tannic acid. Making it so strong that it has to have milk
> added (let alone sugar -- bleahh!) seems sort of pointless, unless
> you simply need the milk for some dietary purpose, in which case it's
> probably easier to drink milk straight up.
> It's more than a bit like dowsing food with ketchup or salt without
> even tasting it beforehand.
>
> Yes, it is often a matter of taste and of acclimatization, but when
> it is an affectation, as often appears to be the case when a certain
> degree of exactitude is exceeded, I find it, well, silly is probably
> the most diplomatic term.