How to make the perfect cuppa! (PG Tips Teabags)

Member Name: gillyman

Product:	PG Tips Teabags
Date:	08/10/02 (525 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Perfect pick up, Affordable luxury

Disadvantages: Generic

In the day of the quick fix, instant meals and hot drinks from machines, we often make do with what's easy as opposed to what's good. Rushing in from the office, picking up the kids, on to meetings, social commitments - our lives are so busy that taking the time to enjoy simple pleasures is sacrificed when a quick substitute will suffice. Tea is one thing which you should not accept any substitutes for!

"The entire British empire was built on cups of tea, and if you think I'm going to war without one, mate, you're mistaken". Eddie, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

The simple cup of tea, served with milk is a peculiarly British institution - elsewhere in the world, it is more common to find it served black (or green for that matter).

Tea comes from the Tea bush and originates in Assam, Northern Burma and China. Now it is cultivated in over 30 countries including the Americas, Africa, Middle East and Asia. It needs warm sunny condition with plenty of rain in order to thrive. Tea is an evergreen and picking continues throughout the year. PG uses only the top 2 leaves and bud - hence the moniker "tips".

Between being picked and the supermarket shelf, PG ferment the tea leaves in a process that involves firstly drying them, then bruising the leaves to release oils and juices before the process is stopped by drying the leaves in special machines. The tea is then sorted and packed and sent off to be blended with teas from other estates to produce the PG taste.

The simple cuppa serves many purposes. It picks you up due to its Caffeine content and if you are not sweet enough already, the sugar rush is very welcome. A hot drink on a cold day is exceedingly welcome. The calm ritual which surrounds the making of a pot of tea is therapeutic and as the results are best enjoyed in a companiable environment it can be a social occasion and helop to relieve stress. Tea is a rich source of antioxidant
s which are good for you.

The rituals which surround tea in the orient relate to the specific manner in which tea is brewed, served and imbibed. The British equivalent which we shall address, is no different in this respect and the perfect cup of tea will only be achieved if the ritual is followed exactly.

When I spent time on a Kibbutz, I used to use exactly the same ritual - I was generally regarded as being a little bit strange, walking around with my teapot in the communal dining hall but consider the results to be well worthwhile.

You will need:

1 teapot
1 PG Tips teabag per cup of tea required + 1 further bag "for the pot"
Boiling Water
Milk, preferably full fat although semi skimmed is acceptable to some
<br
>Tea cups and saucers
sugar or sweetener
1 packet of hobnobs (scones with strawberry jam and cream or cucumber sandwiches are acceptable if you are posh!)

Heating the pot.

The first important thing to remember is that the water has to be boiling hot in order to cause the tea to infuse properly. Pouring boiling water into a cold pot will cause some of the heat to be lost heating the pot. Before putting in the tea therefore, you must heat the pot. Pour in a few centimetres of boiling water, pick up the pot in your hand and swish the water around. You should feel the pot getting warm. Whilst you are doing this, hit the button on the kettle to bring it back to the boil. As it clicks off, pour away your warming water.

Adding the tea

Put in as many PG tips teabags as you want cups of tea + one extra "for the pot". Despite a certain amount of research, I don't know where this tradition comes from but it is such a widespread habit that I am not going to argue! Add your boiling hot water, stir and immediately put the lid on your tea pot. If you have a tea cost you may like to use it now. If you don't, you may wish to take the time in
which the tea is brewing to begin knitting one.

Milk

A thorny subject. Does the milk go in before the tea or after. I have always understood (and my primitive scientific logic tells me that it makes sense) that if you add a small amount of milk to a relatively large amount of tea, the milk will be scalded. If you gradually add the tea to the milk then you avoid this scalding as the process is less sudden. Therefore, I recommend pouring a small amount of milk into each cup in anticipation of the tea.

Brewing

Only time will tell how long you should leave the tea to brew. Some prefer there tea to be strong, others weak - you will get to know according to your taste buds. You should bear in mind however, that the longer it brews, the more caffeine will
end up in your tea. Otherwise the differences are not huge and I like to do something whilst I wait. When I have finished whatever I'm doing, I return to the pot. What to do in the time? Improvise.

Pouring

Once you have given it enough time to brew, give it a final stir and pour it into each of the cups. Add sugar to taste. As opposed to coffee, I find that white sugar works best with tea.

Why there's no other tea to beat PG!

PG is the flag ship company of Brooke Bond which is itself owned by Unilever. Other Brooke Bond companies include Marmite, Hellman's, Pot Noodle, Flora and Chicken Tonight. PG was launched in 1930 and has since grown to become the market leader for teabags in the UK with 28% of a market valued at 556 million pounds annually.

PG is famous for its advertising - the series of amusing adverts, based on the premise of a chimps tea party are classics. Brand awareness is particularly high and the launch of the revolutionary pyramid shaped teabags in 1996 helped to boost the brand. A new series of ads made by Ardman animation (of Wallace and Gromit fame) have also captured the imagination - you can meet the char
acters and download a screensaver at www.pgmoment.com

I can't say that it is the best tea in the world as different teas suit different moods and different types of day. A shot of English Breakfast tea is superb in the morning whilst the more fragrant Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchang may be more suited for an early afternoon pick-me-up. PG is an excellent all rounder, providing a solid cuppa, suited for any time of day.

Square, round or pyramid shape is merely a matter of what amuses you as far as I'm concerned although the advertising blurb will tell you that the pyramid represents a revultionary new concept in blah blah blah. The purist will argue that leaves are superior and give you more of a say in how much tea actually goes into the pot. Practically speaking however, very few people still use leaf tea. If you do - the instructions are the same however.

Approximately 1 pound 50 for 80 tea bags depending on where you buy them. Don't buy large packets as once opened they will deteriorate. One of life's little luxuries that everyone can afford.

With thanks to Brooke Bonds' website: www.brookebond.co.uk where you can also find out about all their other brands.

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