Important survey about tea/coffee habits of yakyakers

[PFVA]

At home i take the spoon out. I have a tendency to always use the same one that it's strategically located near the tea kettle and i wash it before drinking the tea and put it back in its spot.

[chub]

At home i take the spoon out. I have a tendency to always use the same one that it's strategically located near the tea kettle and i wash it before drinking the tea and put it back in its spot.

I do that too. Saves on washing up.

At work it doesn't matter about washing up, but I always take the spoon out. Once I've stirred there's no need for it anymore.

Whoever invented those plastic stirring things? They don't work! Why are they there? Do plastic spoons cost too much or something?

[Perkunas]

I don't use a spoon, nor a proper cup.

Then again, I only drink Chinese/Japanese tea.

[chub]

I don't use a spoon, nor a proper cup.

Then again, I only drink Chinese/Japanese tea.

Do you use those cups without handles? If so, how do you pick it up without burning your fingers?

[Perkunas]

I don't use a spoon, nor a proper cup.

Then again, I only drink Chinese/Japanese tea.

Do you use those cups without handles? If so, how do you pick it up without burning your fingers?

Yes, I make sure the tea's not too hot to handle.

[sty]

no spoon here.

In fact the most essential skill I learned at University was to make a cup of tea with milk and teabags (I don't take sugar) without using a teaspoon.

After all have you ever tried to find a teaspoon in a shared student kitchen?

The challenge is to keep hold of the tea bag in your fingers without pouring boiling water on them. Then the milk mixes with brownian motion, convection, and a little assistance from the teabag on removal if you want.

I do coffee the same way, I can tap out enough the perfect measure of coffee directly from the jar into the cup. You pour the water in assertively to mix the coffee and you obviously need to be positive when you pour in the milk.

[Kronos]

Tea AND cofee together is not good for insomnia, good fro cramming the night before an exam though

[Stone]

No spoon. Same method as Giles, in fact

(though I don't bother warming the mugs, they'll get warm soon anyway and they've not cracked thus far...)

Stone

[Thoughtcat]

Lovely thread about a favourite subject!



[more details]

Spoon out here, not because I might poke myself in the eye but because it conducts the heat out of the drink. Tea or coffee going cold too quickly = depression.

Lemsip or cup-a-soup, a different story.

Favoured tea method:
- Yorkshire teabag in mug
- pour on boiling water
- stir/mash with reasonable force for a bit
- add milk until desired colour obtained (George Orwell advocated this as well)
- stir in sugar
- start sipping immediately.

(Orwell also used to add black pepper to his tea, but then he was an Old Etonian.)

I am incidentally disappointed that Mr Spoongod has not contributed to this thread

[gilesgoat]

I used to always drink it with the spoon in the cup, but in later years I've fallen out of the habit.

The metal can spoil the tea ...

[Kronos]

Lovely thread about a favourite subject!



[more details]

Spoon out here, not because I might poke myself in the eye but because it conducts the heat out of the drink. Tea or coffee going cold too quickly = depression.

Lemsip or cup-a-soup, a different story.

Favoured tea method:
- Yorkshire teabag in mug
- pour on boiling water
- stir/mash with reasonable force for a bit
- add milk until desired colour obtained (George Orwell advocated this as well)
- stir in sugar
- start sipping immediately.

(Orwell also used to add black pepper to his tea, but then he was an Old Etonian.)

I am incidentally disappointed that Mr Spoongod has not contributed to this thread

Ahh, basically what I do except the sweetener goes in the plain hot water first as otherwise it doesn't dissolve nicely.

Black pepper in tea you say......it just so happens I have some fresh cracked black pepper. I can feel an experiment coming on

[Orava]

Always the spoon out !

Recently I am doing an experiment replacing the "normal sugar" with
pure cane sugar crystals, but as I saw this still could be "still a bit
processed" this week end I'll try with Muscovado

I'd love to find Jaggery but I fear that's really a hard find.

Not really, I've seen it in Sainsburys and Tescos here - although both in Bristol cater fairly well for the Indian market.

Failing that any Indian supermarket will do. Muscavado might be a bit too strong tasting for tea / coffee?

[Orava]

The challenge is to keep hold of the tea bag in your fingers without pouring boiling water on them.

I just take it out of the cup with my fingers. But then I am Mr Asbestos fingers.

Then the milk mixes with brownian motion, convection, and a little assistance from the teabag on removal if you want.

Get your milk in with one quick pour and it generates enough motion to mix it. Do not dribble it.

I do coffee the same way, I can tap out enough the perfect measure of coffee directly from the jar into the cup. You pour the water in assertively to mix the coffee and you obviously need to be positive when you pour in the milk.

That is not coffee though. Your are talking about a vaguely coffee flavoured drink. Instant coffee crumbs do dissolve without mixing in about 5 minutes though.

[betamax]

No spoon.

[Stone]

I just had some nice coffee. Two teaspoonfuls of hot chocolate mix, three of instant coffee and two of sugar, in my half-pint mug. Yum

Stone