Tea ‘deserves respect’
One woman is telling cafes coffee isn’t the only thing that matters, writes Ewan Sargent.
New Zealand once led the world in tea drunk per person, so it seems strange tea needs defending in public. But as tea lover Adelia Hallett puts it, ‘‘it’s time to strike back at the coffee culture’’.
She’s created a review blog Tea on the Road which rates cafes and tearooms on the cup of tea they serve up. She gives 10 points each for the tea, the cup and the setting.
It’s her way to thank those who get it right and shove the rest in the right direction.
Hallett travels the country for her work as a climate change advocate with Forest and Bird and tea breaks are important. But good ones are hard to find.
‘‘Think about what they dish up in cafes,’’ she says.
‘‘You have your rock star baristas and the beans are roasted over whatever bizarre kind of thing they come up with.
‘‘They are very proud of their roasting and the way they hold their mouth while they froth the milk and the little pictures they make on the top ...
‘‘And they charge five bucks for that. Then they charge close to the same for where more often than not they have slammed a cheap tea bag into a cup and given you a little water to put in yourself and called that serving tea.
‘‘It’s like giving a coffee drinker a tin of Nescafe and saying put the spoon in yourself and the water’s over there. They wouldn’t dream of it.’’
Hallett has eight to 10 cups of tea a day. Her addiction was created by her family, especially her grandmother, around the family farm kitchen table which had a teapot on it that was never empty.
She has no coffee at home, but found herself drinking it in cafes because the tea was so bad. But the way coffee ‘‘revved’’ her up wasn’t what she wanted either.
She started posting thoughts on places that had surprised her with a good cuppa experience because she wanted to remember them. Others were interested, so it became a review blog.
She drinks English Breakfast, the original strong black tea, and rarely goes beyond that. She says tea has complex flavours and English Breakfast blends can be as varied as chardonnay can be in wine.
‘‘It can range from dishwater through to sublime.’’
Although many cafe teas are disappointing, she says the occasional one startles her by being very good.
‘‘Usually they sneak up on me when I am least expecting them,’’ she says.
‘‘There was one in Eketahuna [The Lazy Graze]. The cafe looked a bit greasy spoonish, I’m not being disparaging in any way, but I wasn’t expecting much, and actually I got this fabulous, fantastic cup of tea.’’
How tea is taken is subjective, but she likes it nice and strong and good English Breakfast suits a dash of milk to mellow the astringency. The tea is in a pot and tea is poured on to the milk from the pot.
Times are changing
T Leaf T is an independent tea blending business in Wellington founded 15 years ago by John and Amanda van Gorp.
John says if Hallett thinks cafes are bad now, it was much worse back then. But he says a growing number of cafes are getting the message that it pays to look after tea drinkers with a good cup of tea.
‘‘Cafes charging $3.50 to $4.50 for a cup of tea and getting the old tea bag from the supermarket which might cost a few cents each is just not on any more.’’
He says tea is still making a comeback and is slowly gaining in popularity. ‘‘Customers aren’t stupid are they? They know what they are paying and what they are getting and they will walk. They won’t say anything but they won’t go back.’’
Why the cup matters
Hallett was having a cup of tea with a hydrologist scientist one day and got excited because the cafe served it in a proper fine china cup.
He said it made sense it would taste better from such a cup because tea is best hot and the volume-to-surface ratio for fine china meant it did the job of retaining heat and not cooling the final sips better than a thick mug .
Hallett says fine cups also make the experience feel more special, more like a treat.
The right way to brew black tea
This is how Hallett brews tea at home. It’s the way her grandmother taught her.
1) Use fresh water
Empty the kettle or jug and refill it from the tap every time you make tea. There’s a long explanation around carbon dioxide levels and tea polyphenol ionisation, but long story short, using pre-boiled water changes the colour, character and taste of good tea. So don’t do that.
2) Boil the water properly
The kettle needs to come to a full rolling boil so wait until it switches itself off. Heating water in a microwave doesn’t get it hot enough. Cafes will take shortcuts with this.
3. Use good loose-leaf tea
Loose-leaf tea will be better than the same tea in a tea bag. Keep tea in a dark cool place in an air-tight caddy.
4. Make tea in a pot
Teapots are great for the ritual, but they have practical benefits, too. The pot should be pre-heated while the kettle boils. Tea in a teapot gets time and space to steep properly and gives a greater depth of flavour. For teapots with tea baskets, fill the pot with water first, then add tea leaves to the basket, one teaspoon per person and one for the pot. Put the tea in first if there is no basket.
5) Let the tea brew properly
Brew for at least three minutes. 6) Milk comes first
If you take milk, put it in the cup first, then pour tea on top.