I have come across forty odd something essays written by the late Eric Blair, better known as George Orwell. I have waded through nearly half of them and I can say confidently, at this point, that the guy had a lot of great ideas.
There are pieces dedicated to the faults of English, the obscurity of political language, why ideals get in the way of art, and tea. The last topic is where Blair, in my opinion, falls short.
Blair dedicates an entire paper to what he seems to believe is proper tea etiquette. He establishes this through eleven points. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. The bad ones are bad enough to make me write a post about the paper. Here we go.
1. One should use Indian tea or Ceylonese tea. These teas will make you feel wiser, braver and optimistic. Don't use Chinese tea. It tastes good but doesn't stimulate you in anyway.
I'm really not sure where he's coming from on this one. Some of the best teas in the world are from China. Bao Hao Yinzhen, the rarest and most expensive of all white tea, is only grown in China. I've tried the stuff and I can vouch that its fantastic. Perhaps Blair attributed Chinese Communism to Chinese tea? That's really the only rationalization I can think of. I mean, he loves Communism, right?
2. Tea should be made in small quantities.
Tea should be made in a necessary quantity. I really see no reason to only make small amounts.
3. The pot should be warmed before you add water.
So you can destroy your tea pot?
4. Tea should always be strong
Different teas should be made at different levels of potency. Some teas are meant to be surrounded by little water and then drank like a shot of tequila. These ones will always be strong. A black tea like lapsang might be better enjoyed if the server chooses to steep it for a short amount of time. Lapsang is very distinct and steeping too long can lead to your beverage becoming too strong.
5. Tea should be put straight into the pot. No strainers or bags to imprison the tea.
Although it is traditional to avoid bags and strainers and leave your leafs to sit in the water, this leads to the release of a chemical, the name I can not recall at the moment, and your tea becoming very bitter. I believe you also loose a lot of antioxidants if you steep too long.
6. The water should be boiling when you pour it.
On the contrary, your water should almost never ever be boiling when you pour it on your tea. It should be under the boil. Boiling water can burn green and white tea leafs leading to a bitter and burnt taste.
7. After making the tea, stir it or give the pot a good shake.
Not necessary with loose leaf in a strainer. I've seen people dab their tea bags up and down in cups before but I don't really find it makes much of difference.
8. One should drink out of a cylinder breakfast cup, not a flat one.
I'm not too familiar with which cups to use for which tea but I am almost certain that it depends on the tea your are drinking.
9. One should pour the cream off the milk before using it for tea.
I don't like milk in my tea. You want to taste tea, not milk. Adding cream and milk to tea is probably a very recent practice likely invented by silly white Englishmen with no conception of what they were doing.
On another note, the milk George Orwell drank apparently had a layer of cream on top of it. I just though I would point that out.
10. One should pour tea into a cup before adding milk.
Again, I don't use milk. In the event that I was to use milk, the placement of it before or after the tea would have no effect on the taste of it. Blair says to add milk last so you can better regulate the exact amount you need. Shape the milk around the tea rather then the tea around the milk. Makes sense I guess.
11. Tea should be drunk with out sugar.
I must agree with Blair here. He states that by adding sugar you take away from the flavor of the tea. You get a similar beverage from simply adding sugar to hot water. Again, adding sugar to tea is probably a recent practice born from the mind of colonialists.
Chris out.
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