Coffee, tea, something else?

I am an absolute tea addict, have been since childhood because my mother loved British food and traditions and had quite a few British friends. This is why I was raised bilingual as well, my mother's British friends have lived with us when I was a small child and they didn't speak any Dutch. So I learned to speak English fluently at an early age.
We always had Ceylon and Darjeeling breakfast tea, and toast as well for breakfast. In the Netherlands in the 80's and 90's, that was still unusual. Most people drank, and drink coffee instead and have sliced but not toasted bread for breakfast. I still prefer my brekkie to consist of at least a pot of Darjeeling tea and two slices of buttered toast. My mother even made her own orange marmelade.
When I feel tired during the day or need a wake up call at breakfast I drink black Assam tea, with no sugar or milk. That's the English habit I never got into, I like my tea plain and mid level strength, not a builders tea for me thank you very much. My father did drink his tea with milk and sugar but it's never been my thing.

At the moment I drink a family sized tea pot of Darjeeling for breakfast (due to having no colon, I need to drink much more than regular people) and a single person's teapot of green tea in the afternoon. Sometimes I have a herbal tea instead, or Moroccan mint tea if the mood strikes. I also try to have rich tea biscuits at home to have with my afternoon tea, they're also a nostalgic food for me. Unfortunately they are unknown in the Netherlands so I buy them from the expat shop.
 
I've always had a question, never having used one of those...how long do you let that boil when you're making coffee that way?

The closest I've got experience with that is the old office giant percolators, but those had a light on them that would come on when they were done.

It takes 5 to 6 mins, not very much time
 
Oh hey JAS_OH1 since you titled this thread coffee, tea, or something else, I DID try something else:
Screenshot 2021-11-19 150339.jpg

Its labeled as ground roasted cacao for brewing into a coffee substitute. In Jamaica, we would call this "Cocoa Tea" and it is supposed to be similar to a hot chocolate, minus the sugar and marshmallows 😅

I am sad to say this product did not live up to the hype. It basically ended up tasting like very watered down hot cocoa, even when I doubled the amount of cacao in my French press. I still have a bag somewhere, not sure if perhaps I should try boiling it to reduce the water content (effectively making a stronger brew) or just forget about it and toss it out.
 
I'll cook up some hot chocolate sometime this weekend, just for this topic. 😎
 
hubby has taken over coffee duties morning and lunch.

he grinds the beans every other day (the rest are kept in an airtight container in the fridge) and weighs out a set amount each time. then the water, and extra hot water in the mugs to warm them as well (I've finally got him to stop using the microwave to heat pottery after he killed the 3rd microwave in 6 years, all with exactly the same fault, but that did need the manual and the do's & don'ts section...)

75574


we both drink it black, him without sugar, me with my monk fruit/stevia extract stuff.

we don't drink tea. we might be British but neither of us likes it. Chai on the other hand we love but are not very good at making it properly.
hubby also loves his lemon herbal tea that's caffeine free. I like green tea as well but go through phrases with it, it's an off phase at the moment.
 
hubby has taken over coffee duties morning and lunch.

he grinds the beans every other day (the rest are kept in an airtight container in the fridge) and weighs out a set amount each time. then the water, and extra hot water in the mugs to warm them as well (I've finally got him to stop using the microwave to heat pottery after he killed the 3rd microwave in 6 years, all with exactly the same fault, but that did need the manual and the do's & don'ts section...)

View attachment 75574

we both drink it black, him without sugar, me with my monk fruit/stevia extract stuff.

we don't drink tea. we might be British but neither of us likes it. Chai on the other hand we love but are not very good at making it properly.
hubby also loves his lemon herbal tea that's caffeine free. I like green tea as well but go through phrases with it, it's an off phase at the moment.
I love the color of those mugs - that and purple are probably tied for first in my color preference.
 
I love the color of those mugs - that and purple are probably tied for first in my color preference.
thank you. they have a lovely smooth stone feel to them. they are a dedicated cookery shop purchase. that and our really nice knives come from the same shop.

75576
Chinese, though you'd not know it
 
In the spirit of this topic (which is a grand one, BTW), I've bumped up my loose-leaf cuppa to this morning:

Water on the boil, everything prepped (hot water in the pot, cup, and glass measure):
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This spoon was a stocking stuffer (along with some tea and a tea basket*) last year from my wife:
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Steeping the leaves for four minutes (with a makeshift lid and a towel to provide a little heat retention):
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Ready for straining:
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This is a vanilla cream Earl Grey, so there's a little sugar in there to bring out the vanilla - nice color:
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...and a little half-n-half to accentuate the cream flavor:
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*regarding tea baskets/balls - I'm a firm believer that tea leaves need room to expand in order to get the full flavor out of them, so even though I have a couple baskets and balls (that also just made me giggle), I don't use them. I like my tea leaves to swim!
8/10
Maybe a 10 but no tea cosey !!

Russ
 
I LOVE the idea of it, I even bought one. However what I found was that the hot water didn't make sufficient contact with all the coffee grounds to give a nice strong cup of coffee... not like an espresso machine would, you know what I mean?
I have a different kind of single serve coffee maker called the i-Coffee. It actually steams the pod and has a little rod that pokes down into the pod and rotates, releasing the steam from holes in the rod. My coffee is very hot and the coffee grounds are completely saturated. I have a Keurig too and it's been in my pantry for about 5 years now. I had 2 other Keurigs that I gave away. I used to do sales demos for a company that represented both Keurig and i-Coffee (the latter appliance made by Remington) and they gave me free coffee makers and lots of free supplies. I had pods that lasted me for a few years before I started using the refillable pods instead. I have refillable pods for my Keurig too (also stored in my pantry). I kept this last Keurig in case my i-Coffee breaks, but it still works as well as the day it arrived. I love that machine. If I drank more coffee I would probably get a French Press. Oh, I also have a Mr. Coffee automatic drip machine and pot in my pantry that has been there for about 6 years. I don't know why I still have it.
 
Making hot chocolate, just like I promised:

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There may be Bailey's in those... :whistling:
I wonder if Mrs. T would like to trade spaces with me for a few weeks? Nah, probably not, my husband would not know how to spoil her properly and you and I would probably be at odds in the kitchen, especially the first time I wanted to cook seafood for dinner! :laugh:
 
I wonder if Mrs. T would like to trade spaces with me for a few weeks? Nah, probably not, my husband would not know how to spoil her properly and you and I would probably be at odds in the kitchen, especially the first time I wanted to cook seafood for dinner! :laugh:
She did recognize that I spoiled her with the chocolate shavings. :laugh:

She's had a rough few days. I think she's finally realizing that the remnants of her stroke, coupled with normal aging, is making it harder and harder to do her job, mentally, and she's struggling with having to give it up once and for all.

So she got chocolate shavings on her boozy cocoa. :wink:
 
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