A right and a wrong way to brew

My goodness! Coffee, tea, wine, bourbon and scotch are prime holy grail drinks of life.

Anyone’s attempt to instruct me how to drink these better know their trade!

Stephanie Hammett’s ‘Seven tips for serving tea properly’ in today’s (6/30) food section literally hit the iceberg and sank by point #3.

Bringing hot water in a cup (or teapot) with loose tea or a teabag on the side is equivalent to bringing a mug of hot water with a spoonful of coffee on the side to be ‘brewed’ by the drinker!

Now I know there are snobbish ways to do anything. Same goes for mild, medium and strong flavors and additions such as milk, lemon slices, etc.

Regarding preparation, however, just like coffee is best when brewed or have fresh boiling water force fused through it (like Starbucks) so tea should, ideally, be placed in a preheated teapot, and have rapid fresh boiling water poured on it.

For this reason, I never order tea in any restaurant unless I’m in Canada.

Phil Zammit

Spokane