the whole uk power grid puts out puny current

Of course the manly character of the UK plug was formed after years of public school buggery.

Toasted crumpets anyone?

^

Do I Detect a Tom Brown's Schooldays - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia / Harry Paget Flashman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Reference?

What our colonial cousins have overlooked ( understandable, given their preference for obsolete technology, like the stove top kettle: Forget your stove-top kettle?go electric. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine ), is that with the aid of an electric kettle, the UK system allows you to boil water for a cup of tea, in half the time of the US system.

electric kettles take about twice as long to boil in the US as in the UK

Google Answers: 110volts vs. 230 volts -- Pros and Cons?

And they call themselves the land of instant gratification!

lately I decided to boil my water in the mikeywave, even faster.

I found it very quaint to still see stove top kettles everywhere here . Needless to say, I instantly went on the hunt for an electric kettle.

^

What our colonial cousins have overlooked ( understandable, given their preference for obsolete technology, like the stove top kettle: Forget your stove-top kettle?go electric. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine ), is that with the aid of an electric kettle, the UK system allows you to boil water for a cup of tea, in half the time of the US system.

electric kettles take about twice as long to boil in the US as in the UK

Google Answers: 110volts vs. 230 volts -- Pros and Cons?

And they call themselves the land of instant gratification!

It's a matter of prioritization. With the exception of Peter, nobody in the US cares about tea or how long it takes a kettle to boil.

We have hot water on tap at 190F, so water for tea is always available...

We have hot water on tap at 190F, so water for tea something almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea is always available...

FTFY

Proper (Black) Tea BBC - h2g2 - Tea

requires Boiling water!

depends on the tea, my wife's teas are better extracted around 185

Yeah, green teas do better at 160 or thereabouts, and I've actually been experimenting -- successfully, I might add -- with anywhere in the 170-180 range for black tea. I like my tea less bitter/smoover than most. Yes, some may call it insipid. Fuck 'em.

PS I need screenshots of that animation.

Edited February 23, 200917 yr by Dusty Chalk

Just because the english drink MORE tea than americans doesn't mean they're good at it. Hell has an englishman as chef.

have been using my Aeropress to make my black teas. Works very well with far less tannons very smooth and rich flavor. I typically use a half a tea bags worth of loose tea and one scoop of water just off boiled temp stir for twenty cout (one thousand, two thousand etc,) press and mix in desired amount of water (boiled). Kind of like an Americano. By the way the Areopress make (to me) the best coffee I have ever had). Check it out .

[url=http://www.aerobie.com/Products/aeropress_story.htm]Aerobie

Green tea tastes like ass when made with fully boiled water. I use the scientific approach of boiling the water (on my stove) letting it sit for a few minutes to cool down, forgetting about it, coming back to find it's too cold, turning the burner back on and starting again. This is why I drink Earl Grey.

Do you guys warm up your pot / cups with water, prior to infusion?

Green tea tastes like ass when made with fully boiled water. I use the scientific approach of boiling the water (on my stove) letting it sit for a few minutes to cool down, forgetting about it, coming back to find it's too cold, turning the burner back on and starting again. This is why I drink Earl Grey.

I'm not a big tea drinker, but I recall hearing that the scientific approach is to stop the heat before the water boils.

Getting it right up to boiling point supposedly drives off oxygen and other dissolved gases, which is apparently not optimal for the best taste.

$0.02

Beefy is right for green tea but for black tea, it seems that water at boiling temperature is better. Not really sure why

One more thing, assorted garden clippings in a bag (aka herbal tea) does not = tea.

No tea leaves, no tea!

Did someone say anything about herbal tea?

Where's Dom when you need him?

? for green tea drinkers - do any of you drink it for the caffeine (instead of coffee)? I keep hearing about the benefits of such a switch, but I don't know how much tea I would have to drink to make up for the 3-4 cups of joe I have every day.

It'd take about 40 cups of green tea to make up for 3-4 cups of coffee if you brew the coffee the way I do.

Doesn't coffee have like 100mg of caffeine while green tea has like... 15mg?

The caffeine in tea has no effect on me compared to a decent cup of coffee.

? for green tea drinkers - do any of you drink it for the caffeine (instead of coffee)? I keep hearing about the benefits of such a switch, but I don't know how much tea I would have to drink to make up for the 3-4 cups of joe I have every day.

I'm not sure, there's some controversy regarding this. Green tea and black tea are the same thing, only the black tea is roasted/fermented/painted/whatever. So on the one hand, don't be fooled by the fact that it's green, but on the other, that's what I've been told. I.E. it's probably an oversimplification, and is more complex than that.

To tell you the truth, it doesn't feel as caffeinated as even regular tea, I have no idea why. If I drink enough, late, it will keep me up. So I don't, but I can get away with a little.

I'm not sure what your goals are, but if you want to cut down without giving up caffeine, it's the perfect solution. If you want that "jolt", look elsewhere.

I would recommend the following: get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, get some regular activity (exercise), start the day with protein, and don't forget to breathe. In other words, then you won't need the jolt.

I would recommend the following: get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, get some regular activity (exercise), start the day with protein, and don't forget to breathe. In other words, then you won't need the jolt.

Extremely good advice.