Do you use an electric kettle?

I agree Sqwidge, the sound of a whistling kettle has something about it. Comforting

My electric one does switch itself off though - so for me that's more practical - I can go away and leave it while doing something else. Mind you, by the time I come back to use the water it often needs reheating lol

Your name reminds me that i'm dormousing tomorrow and hope I may get photos of squwidgey ones before they go into hibernation....

I think the best way to make tea is to take a good tea bag and gently let it drop in the hot water and let it steep witout stirring. Let the flavor "flood" out as Mark pointed out. Or it could be done in a pot--making sure it is hot.

Bird

Lordy!...this thread (and you folks) are about to turn me into a tea drinker! You make it sound so good!

Last time I drank tea was 3 winters ago...wasn't feeling too good so made a couple cups with mint, comfrey, and some dried rose hips I'd put up. It was good to me!

Reckon I better try some of ya'lls name brands...see what I can manage.

(By the way, have you noticed "green tea" seems to be all the rage? Any comments on that?)

...and now back to the proper thread topic...
Nope, don't use an electric kettle. Often cook on gas, or on the wood stove.

Horseshoe...

Green Tea with honey is something that I enjoy on a regular basi.

It is supposed to have cancer preventative properties.

Sqwidgetz I got one ;-)
http://davesgarden.com/t/405457/

ROFL...that is so cute philomel, thanks for sharing

So glad you liked it :)
How did you choose your name?

Sqwiggie from Laverne and Shirley used to be my nickname and I worked in computers and they would always use a company called Widgets as a example during our training. So Sqwidgetz. It's weird but the only one I've kept this long. :)

I love it ROFL

Shoe, I do drink green tea bc of the antioxidents. :-)

vic...that's what I'd heard about it also. Maybe this winter I can incorporate more tea into my system. (However, I'm more inclined to lean towards an Irish coffee during the Holidaze.)

Electric kettle. Hmmm...Would a Mr. Coffee be the same thing?

A chunk of calcium build-up an inch wide and a half an inch thick fell out of my tea kettle this morning - it's getting the vinegar treatment, but I'm thinking a new kettle is in order. And maybe I'll start using the filtered water in it! It will be an on the stove top kettle - with a detachable whistle and a lid that I can remove to give it a clean now and then.

I'm force to use the microwave this morning - but the next cup will come out of a cooking pot - this is really yucky tea!

Oh, about anti-oxidants, they are also found in black tea.

When I was in college (mid '80s), I had an electric thingy for boiling water. It seems all my friends had one, too. I called it a hot pot, though I don't know if that is an "official" name or a just Pennsylvania term. I have a regular stove-top teakettle, but now if I want to boil water, I do it in the microwave. I guess I'm just an American barbarian who wouldn't know good tea if she drowned in it. :-)

Hey Shoe when you get off the cruiser in Southampton I'll make you and your family a lovely mug of chai!

Black tea isn't without it's health benefits either, green tea has more but black tea (fermented) does a similar job.

Dinu are you a tea drinker?

This message was edited Oct 23, 2003 6:45 PM

I try to drink the fermented tea, Kombucaa, at least once a week http://w3.trib.com/~kombu/

Ok, the new pot is berry red to go with the accents in my dark green kitchen - got it home, took it out of the box, washed it, boiled up a cup - IT'S BROKEN!!! Had the tea, and man, what a difference in taste. Now I have to call and see if they have another berry red one that isn't broken, or just stay with this one and hope the whistle doesn't fall off or burn me or any of 4 or 5 other possible nasty things. It is a lovely pot.

How disappointing Kathleen. Hope you can change it - good luck

There's an article in the New Scientist this week saying that microwaves come bottom of the league for retaining goodness when cooking vegetables (top was steaming)
It doesn't comment on tea making LOL

Just found (also in the NS) that it will soon be possible to make tea at the same speed as espresso:

"A cup of tea normally takes several minutes to make, with the ground leaves slowly infusing in hot water. Now the Steam Tea Company of Sheffield, UK, promises an equally good taste, but at the speed of an espresso machine. The secret is a two-stage process revealed in patent GB2386543. The leaves are pre-infused with a blast of steam for a coouple of seconds, and then high-pressure water at a temperature of precisely 82C is forced through them for around 5 seconds. The result is delicious tea in 30 seconds."

That should be interesting!
Won't need kettles ;)

Wow! What they won't think of next, Phil! The comments made about brewing a good cup of tea put me in mind of the Bed & Breakfast customers where I work in the summers. Tea bags and coffee are left for their convenience, and often, those who opt for tea run the water through the electric drip coffee maker with a clean filter. That has to be a terrible insult to the tea, since some bit of coffee must linger in the bale.

Wonder what the name for that would be? (if coffee/chocolate = mocha, perhaps teafee?? LOL) YUCK!

The continuing saga of the tea kettle:
returned defective tea kettle, bought new one, brought home said tea kettle, fell apart when I attempted to remove from box. Will return next week. Buying tea kettle elsewhere! Using old tea kettle. Tea still tastes funny. deeeep sigh, I really need a good cup of tea!!

Ooooooh Kathleen :( truly a saga of the worst sort
Third time lucky? Fingers crossed...