MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

Exactly - we will make a tea connoisseur of you yet!
I realize I don't really know how to use a samovar.

From a functional perspective it sounds like an urn, but I'm sure it's got a different cultural and social meaning and resonance.

I might have to educate myself.

 

[MaryJanet]

cold very concentrate tea.

That does not seem ok to me.

I need to try samovar tea and see if it's better than I suspect.

 

[RoyalChick]

Well this is interesting
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/95070/samovar-tea-let-it-brew-the-whole-day

And it reminded me of a story told to me by my grandfather about how his father or grandfather (not sure how far back this was) would sip his tea through a lump of sugar. According to the link a common approach to dealing with the bitterness.

It was told to me as a cautionary tale all about how his teeth rotted - I suspect that part was made up in order to scare me off sweet things or not cleaning my teeth!

I remember playing with a toy samovar as a kid. Presumably a gift from that part of the family some of whom were from ‘Greater Russia’.

 

[MaryJanet]

Well this is interesting
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/95070/samovar-tea-let-it-brew-the-whole-day

And it reminded me of a story told to me by my grandfather about how his father or grandfather (not sure how far back this was) would sip his tea through a lump of sugar. According to the link a common approach to dealing with the bitterness.

It was told to me as a cautionary tale all about how his teeth rotted - I suspect that part was made up in order to scare me off sweet things or not cleaning my teeth!

I remember playing with a toy samovar as a kid. Presumably a gift from that part of the family some of whom were from ‘Greater Russia’.

I was so engaged in thinking about samovars I stewed my breakfast cuppa have to make another one now.

 

[MaryJanet]

Well this is interesting
https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/95070/samovar-tea-let-it-brew-the-whole-day

The comment about using a heavily oxidised (?) tea like lapsang souchong or Russian caravan made a lot of sense.

This comment awakened my inner pedant: Traditionally the tea leaves are placed in a sealable glass container, covered right to the top with cold water and placed in the fridge for 4-120 hours. I usually use a 5l jug with glass clip lid or bamboo screwon top.

I can't think of too many traditions that involve a fridge

People in glass houses... My own word choices are just awful sometimes.

Anyway, the chilled water concentrate method sounds like it could handle a greater range of teas without making bitterness.

 

[RoyalChick]

The comment about using a heavily oxidised (?) tea like lapsang souchong or Russian caravan made a lot of sense.

This comment awakened my inner pedant: Traditionally the tea leaves are placed in a sealable glass container, covered right to the top with cold water and placed in the fridge for 4-120 hours. I usually use a 5l jug with glass clip lid or bamboo screwon top.

I can't think of too many traditions that involve a fridge

People in glass houses... My own word choices are just awful sometimes.

Anyway, the chilled water concentrate method sounds like it could handle a greater range of teas without making bitterness.

Tee hee. Yes. I guess at least some of the Russians may have had snow readily to hand!

It was this quote that brought my family memories flooding back:
Tea was drunk in clear glass cups, sucked through a sugar cube held in the mouth.

I still have a set of tea glasses and remember my grandfather's generation always drinking their tea from them.

 

[MaryJanet]

Tee hee. Yes. I guess at least some of the Russians may have had snow readily to hand!

It was this quote that brought my family memories flooding back:
Tea was drunk in clear glass cups, sucked through a sugar cube held in the mouth.

I still have a set of tea glasses and remember my grandfather's generation always drinking their tea from them.

I must be spoiled because if it needs me to hold a sugar cube in my mouth to offset bitterness, I don't want to drink it!

But I hear you on family memories. They lie quite deep in the mind and are very comforting.

My nana favoured a specific brand of tea which is still available for purchase. On a nostalgia trip, I tried it a few years ago and was disappointed that it made such a poor tea.

 

[LozzyR]

Yes, boiling water de-oxygenates it which means some of the finer notes in the tea can't release.

So "fresh water, coming up to boil" was what my nana used to say. Catch it before the kettle whistles or turns itself off.

Sooo.... I might have tried this this morning.

I couldn't really taste a difference but it was.... nice?

 

[MaryJanet]

Sooo.... I might have tried this this morning.

I couldn't really taste a difference but it was.... nice?

Nice is good

 

[LozzyR]

Nice is good

Yep, and then I reheated the second cup and lost any karma points I might have scored.