Pah. All such rules are completely flexible if that is how you like your tea.
I will not object to anyone else’s predilection for five sugars, using condensed milk, or using lemon.- so long as they let me drink mine as I like. Which is as follows:
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Eric has it right with boiling hot water, chinaware and loose tea as opposed to bags. You are trying to extract flavour from the leaves. This means that boiling water is a must to get the full combination of flavours out. Chinaware is excellent, as it does not interact with the tea at all. Borosilicate glass would also do the same job, but you’re not in the lab, you’re making tea. and loose tea is fiddly, but is to be preferred, as bags tend to be filled with poor quality tea. This is less of a problem now, when almost all tea is bagged, but years ago, bags were filled with off-cuts, stems and tea dust- making for a most unsatisfying cup.
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I take my tea without milk or sugar. This means that I will brew it for a shorter time and to a lighter hue than others. If you drink tea without milk, a cup brewed to Orwell strength would be so thick with tannin, it would only be useful for resurfacing roads. In my case, the opposite of his rules apply. Chinese teas for preference, or an earl grey blend, brewed to a light caramel colour. And before you ask, caffeine is very soluble, so this doesn’t mean the tea is weak.
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Why am I not drinking it yet? I don’t take milk, so I have to leave it to cool for a bit. if you don’t add milk, then a fresh cup of tea is still boiling hot. I’ll get to it when I’m ready. And yes,it is still drinkable when it is stone cold.
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I happen to live in an area blessed with very soft water. Those of you who have hard water will notice that tea forms dark deposits. Either milk or lemon will eliminate these, which is probably why people started adding them in the first place. I don’t need to do either.
