FeedsIced Tea.. sort of
Taking a brief break from politics, I would like to talk to you about tea.
Specifically, iced tea. Sort of.
I am an iced tea aficionado. I drink it pretty much wherever I go (when I'm not drinking something harder). It's like calamari, which I will probably devote another entire post to. If I see it on the menu, and I haven't tried it before at that particular restaurant, I'll get it, hands down. (Speaking of seafood, has anybody else had massive cravings for oysters on the half shell lately? Is it just me?) However, at home, I rarely make iced tea. This is most likely due to an incident that occured during high school when I made myself some in an effort to stay awake all night. Rather than the recommended concentration, provided to me by the Lipton box, I put something like five times the amount of tea in that I was supposed to. I drank a surprising amount of that, shuddering every time I did, and for a little while I couldn't drink any kind of Lipton tea (which, of course, is not that horrible a fate). Since that time, though, I haven't really made iced tea.
Instead of making a gallon of iced tea, I keep a glass in the freezer. When I want tea, for instance, right now, on a drizzly Portland evening, I take the glass out and use that for my tea. It is extremely calming to watch the ice instantly melt away and see the color slowly expand from the bag, swirling around as the currents mix in the glass. Then, I can carry the cup around normally.
Now, I know some of you tea people out there would live to have me hung for something like this, since it's so much against tradition. However, I don't really like super hot tea, and if you use boiling water it's still a nice hot (but not too hot!) drink.
I'm sure I'm not the only one with crazy food habits. My grandfather, for instance, loves tuna fish and strawberry jam sandwiches. ...hm. Maybe it's a hereditary thing.
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Comments from site editors have a darker background than comments from everybody else.I don't know about that last sandwich. Really? Tuna and Jam? That just sounds nasty.
As for tea, I'll share a little secret I learned from a Twinnings tea bag the other day: if you keep your tea bag in the water for too long, your tea will get bitter. I only note this because, from my vantage point on your couch, I can see that your tea bag is still sitting in your drink.
Unless you like it bitter. Then go nuts.
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You're just trying to prove to the world that I'm a really bad tea drinker, aren't you. Jackass.
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No, hey- I'll also let you in on the secret that I still do it, even after learning of the advice. I ain't gonna let some Twinnings tea bag tell me what to do.
Hey, do you think anyone out there who reads this would be interested in restaurant and food writing? I'd love an excuse to try some places I've been meaning to try...
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If we were paid for this in any way we could write it off.
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It's true! The optimal brewing time for black tea is 3-5 minutes, 2-3 for green tea, 1-3 for white tea. Some people swear that rooibos and mate taste better if you let them steep for 10+ minutes but I think it's awful after 5 or so.
In hot water, all the caffeine leaches out in the first 15 seconds of brewing the tea, so you're not making it more caffeinated by letting it sit longer, either.
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It's kind of scary how much you know about this.
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I wish I could say, "But I get paid for it!" but... I knew all of it before I got paid. I asked so many questions at training that they made me stop talking.
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If you want to try again, a dirt easy way to make iced tea: 4 liter / 1 gallon pitcher, 4 teabags, boil pot of tea, dump, wait 5-10 min, remove teabags, fill to top with water and chill. (If you're having a lot of people over or something.)
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Anyone who loves Oysters is craving them on the half shell this time of year.
They're not really safe until October.
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Aren't they always safe in this modern age with refrigeration and the like?
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No, even farmed oysters live in water outdoors. In warm weather the bacteria levels are too high to eat them raw.
The rule of thumb used to be "only in months with an 'R'", but in this modern age of pollution and global warming, October-March is your best bet. Even if you don't get sick, they'll taste like shit.
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That's what the horseradish and cocktail sauce and lemon and vodka is for, right?
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I must admit that the oyster shooters I have been having have done absolutely nothing to assuage my unholy need to oysters.
Clearly, I haven't been having vodka in the right proportions.
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Oysters, huh? I had some great oysters in San Fran when I was there the other week. Right by the water. Fantastic.
Whenever I eat oysters, the wife always tells me that the way that she likes to eat them is the way they supposedly eat them in the Big Easy: on a cracker, with red and yellow sauce. Anyone able to verify this from personal experience?
Oh, and with regards to your vodka consumption: maybe we shouldn't go there.
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Exactly.
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