Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with tea

Potted Shrimps for Tea.

tallus — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:14:23 -0800

How do you eat Potted Shrimp? Hot or Cold? I brought some today (already potted) and don't know how to eat them. The recipes for cooking them from scratch all talk about chilling them in the fridge, but it seems a bit weird to eat them cold as there is a layer of cold butter on top. I want to eat them on toast rather than putting them in a sauce. Do you reheat them, mash them up or just put them on hot toast so the butter melts by itself?

What are the most reliable online suppliers for herbal remedies, specifically tea?

jeremias — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 05:15:59 -0800

What are the most reliable online suppliers for herbal remedies, specifically tea? I'm interesting in getting either the rhodiola root or a prepared rhodiola tea, but I have no idea which suppliers online I can rely on. Is there a supplier of herbal remedies that mefites have had experience with? One that has a trusted reputation and not some sketchy website that looks like it was thrown up by a college student on the lam? (I realize a sketchy website doesn't necessarily mean the product is suspect.)

What does this tea package say?

fiercecupcake — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:34:41 -0800

Asking for a friend: Can you translate this (Japanese?) tea package? PDFs here and here. What kind of tea is this? What are the preparation instructions?

Thank you, hive mind!

How to drink tea in a public high school?

guptaxpn — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:16:15 -0800

I've started drinking tea during the summer in the middle of the day for a little pick-me-up. How would you suggest someone cope during the school-day without resorting to coming off of this wonderful addiction? Perhaps a thermos? Any suggestions? (I'm a first time poster BTW! Hi everyone!)

I don't particularly want to go the thermos route, it changes the taste and such throughout the day...

Is it possible to boil water using batteries perhaps?!

Maybe I'll try and get a friendly teacher to let me put in an electric kettle next to their coffee maker/microwave/mini-fridge setup, but I doubt they'd let me lol.

Oh sweet Rooibos, it's not you, it's me!

mu~ha~ha~ha~har — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:52:30 -0800

Rooibos Tea (Redbush Tea). Slightly tired of drinking it at the moment but apparently stopping is not going to be a satisfactory option. Is there any reason I can't just rip open a teabag and eat it? (Provided I sift it for sticks and bark and stuff first?) Or does the hot water play a part in releasing all of that Rooibos-ey goodness? But then, again... couldn't I just eat a teaspoon of leaf sludge? I leave the teabag in (which gets mashed to the side about halfway through, I hate crusty teabags on the bottom) and it's usually cold by the time I drink it. So I was thinking half a teabag? Or is there a way to calculate it? I'm really doubtful but is there a possibility of it making me feel anything like I've eaten a bunch of Soldier Crabs (??) (If so, my tummy's not delicate so would Slippery Elm or something probably take care of that risk?) There are the above unknowns.. but have I overlooked anything? Does anything about this plan, to skip the tea part and just eat it, horrify you or strike you as quite alarming?? Thank-you (perhaps most gratefully - and definitely in advance) :)

Why do tea leaves gather in the centre of the cup?

Fiasco da Gama — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:54:34 -0800

Why do stirred tea leaves tend to move towards the centre of the cup? When I pour a cup of tea, then stir it, then wait, the tea leaves gather in the centre of the cup as they slow down from their circular motion.
Why do they disobey the rule I learned, obviously wrongly, about circular motion creating an outwards force from a central point? What is the name of the force pushing the tea leaves inwards, and how does it work?

Alternate drink to coffee/tea?

zobot — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:16:10 -0800

I want to find a replacement for coffee and tea for a morning kick drink. My stomach is having problems with acid, especially from coffee and tea. I abandoned coffee and even though I like it, I am thinking about giving up tea (at least for a while). I'm looking for some ideas for alternative drinks that would help me get going in the morning. The tricky thing is some of the alternatives probably have a lot of acid too. I do sometimes try to get going by doing something physical, like a run or a bike ride, but often I just don't have the time in the morning

Flavored iced tea suggestions?

amyms — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:04:47 -0800

Iced tea is my main summertime beverage. I usually drink it completely plain. I am not a fan of "sweet tea," but I'd like to experiment with adding different flavors, the more unusual the better. Any suggestions?

Chai - why so bitter?

joshnunn — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:07:58 -0800

I thought I'd make my pregnant wife a nice cup of home brewed chai from a pregnancy recipe book. But it's awfully bitter and difficult to drink. What is causing the bitterness? The caffeine free recipe calls for:
1 teaspoon of ginger (which we didn't have so I left out)
2 teaspoons of cloves
2 tablespoons of cardamom pods (although thinking back, I may have used 2 teaspoons...)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf
4 tablespoons of brown sugar

Can the obvious deficiencies in my direction following explain the extreme bitterness? That is, would more cardamom and some ginger counteract the awful taste in my mouth? I need guidance before I try again, as I don't want to drink it if it's going to be much the same. I ended up putting more sugar in my first batch to counteract it, and it made it barely drinkable, but I need more than that if I'm going to try again.

I realise there are a few questions here about chai already, but I want to understand my chai before I try again.

Thank you!

Operating an old teasmade?

pompomtom — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:49:52 -0800

Can anyone tell me how to operate a "Goblin Compact Teasmade 882"?

How many baristas does it take to change a light bulb?

peachfuzz — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:22:06 -0800

Completely-random-question-filter: What's up with that glass bulb-shaped carafe some restaurants use to serve coffee and tea? Am I missing something? What I'm thinking of is a single-serving glass vessel with a grip of black plastic around the narrow top end (I see it most often in sit-down delicatessens). It looks like nothing so much as a light bulb standing on end. It holds a little more than a cup's worth of coffee or hot water, so it doesn't seem to be tailored to a serving size. You always get a mug or cup with it, so you're not meant to drink directly out of it. It's not insulated, so it's not because it keeps the coffee or water hot. And the shape is awkward and ungainly, so I can't imagine that it's because it's a particularly easy shape to store.

What is this thing? Why is it used? Is this a regional thing (Baltimore, MD)? Is it traceable to a particular company (I just tried looking on some restaurant supply sites to provide an image, and couldn't find one)? Is there some way I'm supposed to be using it that I missed the memo on? I wonder about this every time I go out to lunch - it seems to be one of those things that has no identifiable reason for existing - and it's starting to drive me nuts!

Radix Berberidis and Odes to Tea.

Taksi Putra — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:03:36 -0800

Radix Berberidis and Odes to Tea. 1.
I'm wrapping up a book on tea.
I'd like to include little pieces of tea-verse at the start of each chapter.
Poetic form irrelevant. Do you know of any?

Here's one I like:

Cha
Cha
Cha Cha
Cha

Original pieces welcome!

2.
I was shown a mysterious tea from Bulgaria yesterday.
Yellow flakes of Radix Berberidis.
It was quite unlike any other tea I've drunk.
This made me think.
What uncommon teas do you know of?

Name That Tea!

ckolderup — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:42:12 -0800

I'd like to buy more of a specific type of tea that my fiancée really likes, but since she obtained it abroad we don't know what the name of the type of tea is. It's a bit of a longshot, but can someone help try to identify it? When my fiancée was studying abroad in Uppsala, Sweden, she went to a shop that sells coffees and teas called Bönor & Blad underneath a café named Storken. While at the shop, she purchased a type of tea that she really liked. The tea is labeled "champagne;" the leaves are very dark brown and it had little shreds of yellow and blue petals in it. She says it "smells a little like strawberry, but not enough for that to be its primary flavor."

That's, uh, about all we have. I can try to provide more details if there are other important questions to be asked. Thanks!

I don't understand tea!

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:38:27 -0800

How are teabags made? Help me understand the mysterious world of tea production. I see smallish companies like this selling teabags and I always wonder about the process of going from loose tea leaves to teabag in shiny tea bag wrapper.

I assume that there is not a single person sitting and blending all the leaves, stuffing them into each individual teabag, gluing the bag closed, and then stuffing the bag into the paper/plastic wrapper. There must be some sort of automated process? A machine? Where do companies get teabag stuffing/making/packaging machines? Where do they get the teabags to put the tea in? How does it all work?

DC water gets two pinkies down...

Inspector.Gadget — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:10:47 -0800

ThirstFilter: Help me figure out to make iced tea that doesn't suck, despite DC's terrible municipal water. I grew up drinking iced tea made from regular old Lipton black tea and rather hard water. Since moving to DC, I've tried:
1) Lipton teabags, unfiltered water.
2) Lipton teabags, water filtered through a Brita (sometimes twice).
3) Fancy black tea, unfiltered water.
4) Fancy black tea, filtered water.

Whatever I do, it still ends up tasting almost entirely like tannins and cardboard. I boil the water in a normal tea kettle and pour it into a pot with a few teabags. The water/teabag ratio is about the same as I've always had it, as is the brewing time. Suggestions? I drink a full pitcher of iced tea a day or more and subcontracting out to Honest Tea (as delicious as it is) is hell on my wallet.

Why did drinking tea + coffee make me feel very drained today?

gregb1007 — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:09:49 -0800

Why did drinking tea + coffee make me feel very drained today? After eating an omelet in the morning, I had coffee afterwards and tea a couple of hours later. During the hour after that tea, I felt very drained and exhausted, and ravenously hungry. Usually tea and coffee don't make me feel that way, so I am wondering what went wrong today. I want to avoid this feeling of utter exhaustion and incredible hunger next time I imbibe caffeinated drinks. Any tips?

(P.S: In case you are wondering, the sensation of fatigue and listlessness disappeared after I ate. But that should be quite obvious anyway.)

High-quality bulk tea: where, oh where, can I find thee?

jstef — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:54:03 -0800

I have a newfound love of tea, especially that from Rishi tea. However, it costs an arm and a leg for the little container that I can guzzle down in a week or two. I want to buy tea in bulk, but I don't know where to get quality tea at a good price. Rishi costs $40 a pound. Is $40 the going rate for a pound of good tea? I found this old thread, but I would like suggestions on a place to purchase online. How is Coffee Bean Direct's tea? Bonus points for an awesome green/mint blend and fair-trade/organic! If there's a good tea discussion board with pointers about what's good, I'd love to know about that, too!

Electric Tea Kettle with no nasty taste?

media_itoku — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:31:03 -0800

Looking for an electric tea kettle that doesn't make the water taste like metal or plastic. Hoping to get away from the plastic taste imparted to tea water by plastic kettles, we opted for stainless steel. But now we're stuck with a nasty metal taste. We've tried a Hamilton Beach Cool Touch and a Toastess International from Target. No luck. I goog'd and found a Capresso Glass Water Kettle, but some of the Amazon reviews also make a big deal about bad taste.

Stove-tops are sadly not an option, since my husband has burned through three of them in the last year. Any recommendations for an auto-shutoff, non-nasty, electric kettle?

Tea, Vicar?

Tube — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 08:37:35 -0800

In the UK, does the Vicar really come over for tea? I'm here in the US, but I've read enough Viz magazine to recognize that there is a joke form seemingly indigenous to the UK that involves the Vicar coming over for tea. The residents in the joke are engaging in some sort of undignified action and the embarrassment factor (and hopefully humor) is amplified by being witnessed by the Vicar.

I recognize that these are jokes, but my serious question is this; was this some sort of common practice, for a Vicar to come over to people's houses, presumedly unannounced?

Catch a batch o' matcha?

kepano — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:44:17 -0800

I'm looking for good quality matcha to cook with. What are your recommendations for an online retailer in the US (or that ships to the US)?

how do I get that tea glow?

moonmilk — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:20:33 -0800

I drink a lot of tea-- two or three cups a day, black with milk and sugar. Maybe one in twenty cups of tea will taste sublime and leave me with a pleasant sort of afterglow that lasts for an hour or so-- not a caffeine buzz at all. The other nineteen cups are just tea. How do I get that tea glow more reliably? Cheap tea never works, nor does green tea (which I do enjoy anyway, without milk or sugar). The more expensive the tea the more likely it seems to be to do the job, and brewing it really strong (with more leaves rather than a longer time) also helps a bit. But I just can't seem to get that very special tea experience consistently. Can you?

Trying to find a Mate

tmcw — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:49:19 -0800

I'm in the market for some Yerba Mate, either online or in a store. My options in the real world are Bloom, Farm Fresh, and The Fresh Market... but it seems like I might be able to find a better deal online. Is there something like Adagio for tea that has mate (cheap + good, of course) in the loose leaf state?

getting tea smell all over the place

kall — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:29:57 -0800

What's the best way to get the smell of tea in the room or all over the House? I think tea is one of the best smelling, worst tasting things ever. And I wanted to get the smell of it all over the house, or atleast in one room. Is there a better way to do this than to make tea and leave it in the room? Because that way it won't last to long.

Herbal Tea PLZ

melissam — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:55:25 -0800

Recommend me some strong herbal tea? Had to ditch my beloved caffeine and I'm feeling a little sad on the tea front. I picked up some herbal teas, but most have been kind of weak (notably the Numa and Stash teas). The best have been Tazo's Passion and Orange teas, but those are kind of on the opposite side of the spectrum and scream "OMG WE HAZ FLAVORZ."

I guess I'm looking for something that is a little more subtle, but really, I'm willing to try anything that tastes good. Loose, bagged, whatever, as long as it's caffeine free.

Water vs. Tea

amro — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:44:38 -0800

Is drinking unsweetened, decaffeinated tea equivalent to drinking water in terms of health benefits? In other words, is there any reason that it's better to drink water alone rather than unsweetened decaf tea (aside from potentially stained teeth)?