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Your e-Mails

Maggie Jacobs	Dear Nicey, Just caught you on the latest B3TA. Nice interview, lovely pic. I was sorry to hear about your bad experience in San Jose, though. I can't believe that nobody warned you never, never to order tea in a restaurant in the US! For one thing, they usually don't have any good quality tea; and for another, the public consciousness in this country has not assimilated the idea that in order to make tea, the water has to be boiling -- not just "pretty hot." The milk, of course, you should have ordered separately, pretending that you were going to drink it. This would still not have saved you from an aggravating experience. The solution might be to bring along a "travel" tea kettle... if such a thing exists... My friend Rodney and I are looking into getting an electric tea kettle for our office, so maybe I will be able to give you a report on what's available at some later date. Cheers -- Maggie
	Nicey replies: Maggie, Thanks for those words of encouragement. There probably isn't an office in the UK that doesn't have an electric kettle. I like a nice Tefal or may be Morphy Richards. Woo, rate my kettle.
Ivory Fishbone	nicey... have you ever debated cup size? sorry to bang on about it if you already have debated it ... but it's a subject dear to my heart and i am a Quite New member of niceetc. and not really up to speed... (though am very interested by the tea bag bin) i was raised in a tea leaf house ... there was no compromise ...there was pot warming ... there was perfect brewing time .... there was milk first and it was all done in bone china ... (cup and saucer, some with gold rims) ... my mother is still a bone china fanatic but since i have shucked off the parental traces i have "gone over" to the other side... i do brew in a cup with a tea bag and put the milk in afterwards (and i am NOT ashamed of it) .... anyway i am sure these are old arguments much worn by your stalwarts ... i think what horrifies my mother more than anything is my preference for drinking my tea out of "buckets" or as she sometimes calls my big cups "the po"...i think tea (PG natch) tastes much better from a large (up to a pint) sized earthenware drinking vessel ... for me it is a matter of comfort ... nothing beats sitting with a big cup in your two hands ... titchy bone china that you can't even get your finger through the handle ... PAH! anyway ... i like your site ... it's very nice.... i once followed a link from it to some Spam Sculpture and was nearly hospitalised with mirth ... yours most teafully ivory fishbone
Giles Strachan	Tea was never meant tobe made with Teabags. The best biscuit tea is Earl Gray. Simply place a pinch of the tea leaves in a seive, place the seive over the mug and add boiling water. The tea should be quite weak and have NO milk and NO sugar which are the tea equivelants of McDonalds and Burger King (no flavour and bad for you). Oh yes, a pinch is between the thumb and forefinger and should be about 6 leaves. The Pedantic Earl Grey Drinker
	Nicey replies: Do you like tea or do like Bergamot oil? I like tea with milk, I'm not keen on after-shave, another use for Bergamot oil, although I did used to know somebody who used to drink aftershave. The chap in question would be sent aftershave by his Aunties who didn't realise that he handn't really shaven for about 4 years. He used to drink he stuff with tonic water, as its mostly alcohol. Dispite his hairy appearence some women found him strangely aluring, depending on what he had drunk and how recently he had burped.
Joanne Fry	Sorry, but this important question has just come up - surely if you put cold milk in tea there is no need to pour out hot tea and replace it with cold tap water? Similarly, why is it that although in posh coffee houses they make coffee with hot milk, no-one ever makes tea with hot milk - why not??
	Nicey replies: All to do with the denaturation point of casein the main protein in milk. By forming complexes with the tannins in the tea the milk protein softens the taste, which is how most of us like our tea. Hot milk doesn't do this as well because the protein is all mashed up. Of course this was the central point to the recent study by the Royal Society of Chemistry on tea making.
Brian Parker	Just a note to follow-up on Hel Moo's mail about pouring tea out and replacing with cold water from the tap. My father has done this all his life, and I've never understood why. In fact, when I've brewed him a cup at home I feel vaguely insulted that my careful infusion of the leaves (well, ok, bag - but it's the thought that counts!) results in 25% being thrown away. He's thankfully never been so extreme as to throw away 50%. Neither has he ever satisfactorily answered me when I've asked him why. Maybe it's subconscious throwback to a pagan ritual, to ensure that the tea is appropriately "monied", ensuring continuing good luck, or riches or whatever. I should add, maybe it's worked - he's 75 and still driving coaches to and from coastal towns (don't worry folks - he takes an annual medical to ensure his capability) - and at least he prefers good caffs to pubs.....
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