Tap water straight into the electric kettle - but we do have very soft, nice water.
Yorkshire tea bags. The first mugs that come out of the cupboard, which will be china about 20% of the time. Or more likely, a random faded pottery mug that originally came free with something. Milk in first. I serve it with breakfast, and the midday meal if at home. Biscuits go with coffee.
I read that milk first is lower class, because we couldn’t afford china cups, which can stand more heat. So we put the milk in first to reduce the hit on the cheap pottery cups that we used. No idea if that’s true, but it’s satisfyingly British to drag class in again, so I’m convinced.
Edit , forgot to mention the teapot. My mother will be spinning.
Carmarthenshire (mild, wet, windy). Loam over shale, very slightly sloping, so free draining. Mildly acidic or neutral.
Sainsbury’s own Decaff Earl Grey teabags. Made in a big bone china mug, with properly boiling water. A good stir, before taking the bag out so it’s not too strong. I drink it black, no lemon or sugar. Always pack some for holidays, and often take my own travel kettle as well ( especially to the US, otherwise I’ll get offered a cup of lukewarm water with a tea bag sitting next to it) I have never understood the American version of iced tea, I’ve rarely come across a more disgusting concoction, fit only to pour down the loo where it belongs, with other similar yellow coloured liquids! The correct and proper way to serve tea to others is to ask how they would like it, and offer any varieties you have to choose from. Nothing contentious about that, and only polite.
I always have to explain that I don't drink it and go by the colour. I favour a nice rusty brown. I leave the bag in and provide extra milk. I also assure them that I won't be offended if they dump it and start again. As a teatotaller, I've no idea at what stage in a social or business interaction that it is appropriate to offer tea. If they look at me a bit strangely, I know I've got it wrong but I reckon it's better than forgetting altogether. When I visit and tea gets offered, I end up with a drink of something I don't really want but accept for politeness. The best/ worst time was when I was given a full glass of whisky by non drinkers. I remember looking around for a potted plant.
@LittleGreyRabbit. I don’t think it’s a faff really, I won’t use tea bags for the same reason, as well as the tea in a bag is like dust compared with loose tea, I don’t want plastic in my cup either.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
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The first mugs that come out of the cupboard, which will be china about 20% of the time. Or more likely, a random faded pottery mug that originally came free with something.
Milk in first.
I serve it with breakfast, and the midday meal if at home. Biscuits go with coffee.
Always pack some for holidays, and often take my own travel kettle as well ( especially to the US, otherwise I’ll get offered a cup of lukewarm water with a tea bag sitting next to it) I have never understood the American version of iced tea, I’ve rarely come across a more disgusting concoction, fit only to pour down the loo where it belongs, with other similar yellow coloured liquids!
The correct and proper way to serve tea to others is to ask how they would like it, and offer any varieties you have to choose from. Nothing contentious about that, and only polite.
As a teatotaller, I've no idea at what stage in a social or business interaction that it is appropriate to offer tea. If they look at me a bit strangely, I know I've got it wrong but I reckon it's better than forgetting altogether.
When I visit and tea gets offered, I end up with a drink of something I don't really want but accept for politeness.
The best/ worst time was when I was given a full glass of whisky by non drinkers. I remember looking around for a potted plant.
as said previous I thought you brits knew how brew tea from birth.
And there he gives us the reasons this thread was started … an attempt to cause a storm in a teacup … he’s a stirrer! 🥄 😉
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.