Watch what you say about PG Tips. I rely on it to get through most afternoons.
Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 1:31 PM, John Francis <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Russia, along with Ireland, is the last bastion of tea drinkers. . . > > Don't forget the Middle East. > > Around here (the SF Bay Area) we have a large number of middle > eastern food stores (some Syrian, some Iranian, some Iraqi, and > some who don't have any ethnicity discernible to a western eye). > > Almost every one of then has a wide variety of teas for sale. > Apart from the ubiquitous Sadaf brands, and cheap junk such as > PG Tips, Liptons, and Typhoo tea bags, you can also find some > somewhat better choices such as Twinings or Taylors of Harrogate, > and my own particular preference - the range of teas from Ahmad. > Back when I lived in the UK I used to buy most of my tea from > Jacksons of Piccadilly, but nowadays that's a bit of a way to > travel, and apparently they're no longer what they used to be. > > Ahmad, however, have enough choices to satisfy most tea drinkers. > In particular (and veering back towards the original topic) they > have something they call Russian Imperial Blend. This is a blend > of Darjeeling and Assam teas, together with a little Bergamot. > The amount of Bergamot is less than is found in Earl Grey tea > (which is where most people will have encountered the flavour), > and the use of Darjeeling and Assam leaves rather than the Ceylon > tea commonly found in Earl Grey also affects the overall taste. > > The Russian Imperial blend is the mainstay tea in our house, > although we usually add a little long-leaf Ceylon tea for the > morning tea, or a similar amount of Assam in the afternoon > (and for Iced Tea we use Earl Grey, brewed double-strength). > That, however, is a matter of personal taste. The most important > things to remember are: > > o Use loose tea, not the rubbish they package in teabags. > > o Tea from a teapot tastes better than the same tea in a teaball. > > I'm a big fan of the Bodum tea presses, but I'm sure there are > equally good results to be obtained from alternative equipment. > > > I've tried, but not been that impressed by, the seriously high- > end tea emporia. These are the places that will sell you one or > two ounces of tea (with or without assorted spices) at a price > per ounce significantly higher than I pay for a pound of Ahmad. > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
