the weird thing about the tea ban

[_Drifting]

My mother has been drinking tea since childhood (English). She averages at least a pot a day. She will be 92 next month. I'll have to tell her of the dangers of tea and how it might shorten her life.

I hope she has a knitted tea cosy.
The best tea comes out of tea pots wrapped in a knitted tea cosy, or so my Nanna said.

[_Quasimodo]

My mother has been drinking tea since childhood (English). She averages at least a pot a day. She will be 92 next month. I'll have to tell her of the dangers of tea and how it might shorten her life.

I hope she has a knitted tea cosy.
The best tea comes out of tea pots wrapped in a knitted tea cosy, or so my Nanna said.

Hah! She knits those for fun while watching soap operas! I have several. I use two (layered) on my pot for extra warmth. Your Nanna was quite correct.

Pouring is also important. My dad said that you have to tip the pot back and forth to pour a good cup. He claimed he could taste the difference.

Me old mum and I both use Yorkshire Tea (a tip for all those Yanks out there).

[_Drifting]

Hah! She knits those for fun while watching soap operas! I have several. I use two (layered) on my pot for extra warmth. Your Nanna was quite correct.

Pouring is also important. My dad said that you have to tip the pot back and forth to pour a good cup. He claimed he could taste the difference.

Me old mum and I both use Yorkshire Tea (a tip for all those Yanks out there).

And obviously tea should only be served in china cups with saucers.

I think the rocking of the tea pot has something to do with the strongest taste coming from the liquid closest to the base and sides. Rocking gives it uniformity of taste. I think that's right but I may also be imagining that.

[_Morley]

Me old mum and I both use Yorkshire Tea (a tip for all those Yanks out there).

Hm. I've never had it. I usually go with Japanese Sencha (loose) for green and Cinnamon Spice (loose) for black. Though like all tea drinkers, I have self in my cupboard devoted to the various and sundry brews.

[_Quasimodo]

Me old mum and I both use Yorkshire Tea (a tip for all those Yanks out there).

Hm. I've never had it. I usually go with Japanese Sencha (loose) for green and Cinnamon Spice (loose) for black. Though like all tea drinkers, I have self in my cupboard devoted to the various and sundry brews.

I like green tea at sushi restaurants. I have to pretend it's not tea, though, to enjoy it.

Like coffee, one needs to start with good quality tea. It's very different than drinking coffee, though. There are some unofficial rituals involved. Also, for English people, there is a cultural element that is hard to define.

In English culture, a cup of tea can bring one back to normalcy after a dreadful experience. If you can manage to make a cup of tea, all will be well. Think of the Blitz. Bombs dropping on your neighbors. A cup of tea would make that bearable. Like I said, hard to explain.

[_Blixa]

I was under the impression that the tea-ban was "tit for tat" against the sisters for agitating for a ban on tobacco, alcohol, and coffee.

Oh, yeah, I also seem to remember that it only became strictly enforced when the church wanted more money to build the Salt Lake City temple, and felt members should sacrifice such luxuries.

Around the time of the Retrenchment Society? I always remember this anecdote of Juanita Brooks from her autobiography, Quicksand and Cactus:

And I thought of what Grandma Mary had said once about the visit of some of the wives of President Young. “The came down to establish the Retrenchment Society. They told us how it was the wish of the President that we should do away with all our extravagance in dress and habits. I looked around at the women in the audience. We were all in homespun, coarse and faded-looking because we hadn’t learned yet how to set the indigo. And the speaker wore a silk dress with wide bands of velvet ribbon and lace edging. I sat there and listened as long as I could stand it, and then I said, ‘Which do you want us to retrench from, Sister Young the bread or the molasses?’”

[_Quasimodo]

Hah! She knits those for fun while watching soap operas! I have several. I use two (layered) on my pot for extra warmth. Your Nanna was quite correct.

Pouring is also important. My dad said that you have to tip the pot back and forth to pour a good cup. He claimed he could taste the difference.

Me old mum and I both use Yorkshire Tea (a tip for all those Yanks out there).

And obviously tea should only be served in china cups with saucers.

I think the rocking of the tea pot has something to do with the strongest taste coming from the liquid closest to the base and sides. Rocking gives it uniformity of taste. I think that's right but I may also be imagining that.

A thin, porcelain cup is best (not sure why). My dad, on the other hand, insisted on his being serve in an old, stoneware marmalade jar (we still have it). I think it reminded him of being in he army.

I think you are correct that rocking the pot evens out the strength of the tea.

[_brade]

A bishop once explained to me that the WoW is not about health, it's about obedience. He explained the danger of using it as a health guide. For example, when it came out that drinking red wine in moderation was actually healthy, then those members who thought the WoW was a health guide would have their testimonies shaken. But if you treat the WoW as a commandment, then you will never have your testimony shaken, no matter what new discoveries are made. I suppose that makes sense.

[_Drifting]

A thin, porcelain cup is best (not sure why). My dad, on the other hand, insisted on his being serve in an old, stoneware marmalade jar (we still have it). I think it reminded him of being in he army.

I think you are correct that rocking the pot evens out the strength of the tea.

And afternoon tea at three pm precisely!

Some English traditions are just inexplicably wonderful.
Like cricket!

[Guest]

A thin, porcelain cup is best (not sure why). My dad, on the other hand, insisted on his being serve in an old, stoneware marmalade jar (we still have it). I think it reminded him of being in he army.

I think you are correct that rocking the pot evens out the strength of the tea.

And afternoon tea at three pm precisely!

Some English traditions are just inexplicably wonderful.
Like cricket!

LOL! When I was young and visiting back in Hull I walked into my Uncle's house after just arriving. He and my cousin were watching a cricket test match on TV.

I asked them who was winning. He said "we won't know until tomorrow". My dad loved it and played throughout his life until moving to America. I own a cricket bat, but I think the game might be an acquired taste. Like baseball in America.

I do remember going to matches, sitting on the lawn with a picnic basket full of home baked goodies (picnic pie). Politely clapping when a ball was hit for six.