TALES OF MY FATHER
My Father ……. Jack-of-all-Trades, Master-of-None ……. an enigma
-oOo-
TALE FIVE: HOW TO MAKE
THE PERFECT CUP OF TEA
-oOo-
PAGE FIVE:
MY FATHER’S RECIPE FOR
THE PERFECT CUP OF TEA
The Tea by Mary Stevenson Cassatt (1844–1926)
-oOo-
I have always been impressed with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (1812-1870). I was especially taken with its dogmatic opening, which clearly set the scene for what followed:
Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner.
-oOo-
Well, before I begin this page, permit me to steal from Mr. Dickens, and so assure the reader of one thing ……. No one …. absolutely no one could make a cup of tea like my father! There is no doubt whatever about that.
-oOo-
My father took a good twenty minutes in order to brew a cup of tea. In fact, since he never drank just one cup of tea alone, but usually enjoyed two or three, the kitchen kettle was constantly on the stove and filled with water with the gas lit beneath it.
-oOo-
Before I begin this piece, there is something that I would like the reader to know. My other website, eastend-memories.org, was basically to contain tales of my mother, while this website was started to house those of my father. When I started setting up the site, I planned to make my first tale about how he made a cup of tea. Things did not quite work out that way and it has taken me almost four years to finally get round to writing it.
-oOo-
This apparent lack of enthusiasm in writing the piece should not be thought of any lack of interest in the subject on my part. I am as enthusiast now as I ever was. I believe that I put off writing the tale since I haven not felt quite up to the task. Perhaps I am still not up to it, but I do feel that time is ticking away and I should not like to NOT write it. So here goes! Whether I am ready or not, I am determined to give his tale my best attempt. I hope that it proves to be enjoyable to the reader.
-oOo-
Again let me say that my father took at least twenty minutes – yes twenty at the very least! – to make a cup of tea. Although this was a long time, the result was always worth waiting for.
-oOo-
Tea Cups at Disneyland
-oOo-
Something else that I need to mention before actually divulging my father’s recipe for making The Perfect Cup of Tea is his ideas on The Perfect Tea Cup. The one thing that my father insisted upon before a Tea Cup was deemed worthy of being a Perfect Tea Cup was that it had to not just be big ……. it had to be huge ……. extremely huge! His Tea Cup had to hold three or four normal sized cups of tea!!!
Tea Cups that My Father would have appreciated
It could be said that my father was beyond being particular about his tea cup and was as fussy about the vessel as he was about the actual beverage itself!
I think that throughout his life, my father searched for The Perfect Tea Cup and lived in hope of finding it! Wherever we went, whatever we did ……. should we pass a shop that sold china, he would stop and gaze in the window and should the shop be open, he had to go inside and rummage around looking for The Perfect Tea Cup.
My Father found The Perfect Tea Cup numerous times, and when he did, he purchased it and proudly brought it home. He happily drank from it until the next Perfect Tea Cup was discovered.
As a result, the upper cupboards of the kitchen that could only be reached by standing on a chair housed the many discarded erstwhile Perfect Tea Cups where they resided until perhaps were rediscovered and found favour with him once more.
-oOo-
Tea Cup Planters
-oOo-
-oOo-
My father began by running the cold water from the tap for a minute or so. He insisted that very cold water was necessary to make a good cup of tea.
I have no idea how he arrived at this dictum! Despite having no scientific basis for this demand, I always tried, and still try to comply with this command and run the cold water for close to a minute.
My father always filled the kettle with water to the top . This was always much more than was needed to fill a teapot to the brim, but it will become apparent to the reader this was necessary as one reads on.
-oOo-
The kettle was then put on the gas stove and the gas lit. While waiting for the water to come to a boil, he washed out the teapot with cold water and put the cups and saucers out ready to hold the brew.
A Tea Service that would not have been favoured by my Father
-oOo-
Billy Cans on the boil in Australia
-oOo-
Once the water in the kettle came to a boil, my father always allowed it to continue boiling for about two minutes. He insisted that this practice was vital in the making of a decent cup of tea!
Sadly, this was where I used to fall down as a child, as I lacked the patience to wait. My father said that if one did not adhere to this practice strictly, the tea would not taste as well as it should and so be dismissed as piss water!
-oOo-
After two minutes of boiling, the lighted gas was turned down to a low level and the kettle was taken and some water was poured into the teapot. The kettle was then returned to the stove and allowed to continue to boil. The teapot was then swirled so that the hot water (for it was no longer boiling) warmed the inside of the pot. This water was emptied into the sink and then a second batch of boiling water was added to the teapot and a second swirling was undertaken. Meanwhile the kettle was returned to the stove to continue boiling the water within.
The Tea Pot purchased by my Father for me.
He considered this to be the perfect Vessel for the making of a really decent Cup of Tea and believed that other and more fancy makes of Tea Pots produced an inferior drink
-oOo-
Once my father decided that the teapot was sufficiently warm, he added the tea: one scoop for each person who was to partake of the brew and an additional one for the pot! He then put the lid on the teapot and covered it with the Tea Cozy. He next increased the flame beneath the kettle to its maximum and allowed the water to boil for a further minute or so. Naturally, this was another place where I fell down as a child!
My Tea Cozy purchased by my Mother for me
The Tea Cozy and lid of the teapot were removed, and as quickly as possible, the boiling water was poured into the pot: at first, just a little. Next the kettle was returned to the stove and heating continued. Following this, he took a large spoon and poured some of the boiling water over it and then, and only then, did he put it into the tea pot to stir the brew.
After this, he finally filled the tea pot with more boiling water to a level that he felt was sufficient to make the number of cups that he required. The lid of the teapot was then replaced and the whole was covered once more with the Tea Cozy and finally set aside to stew/brew/steep.
-oOo-
Accoutrements necessary for the preparation of a Decent Cup of Tea
Left: My Tea Caddy purchased for me by my Father;
Right: Top, Tea Scoop; Middle, Assam Loose Tea; and Bottom, a Tea Strainer
-oOo-
One thing needs to be noted before I continue. This pertains with the Tea Pot Lid. My father’s tea pots were always damaged. I noticed that whenever he bought a new tea pot, it would not be long before the lid came flying of its place on top of the pot and came crashing down, smashing a portion of it. Naturally, my father blamed the manufacturer of the pot, saying that the lid was too loose and that they should have made it so that it fit properly. My mother blamed my father! She said that he was heavy-handed and was too rough in his usage. She, of course, was correct in her assessment: my father was quite violent when he brought the tea pot back-and-forth as he poured the tea. He would swing the pot and then tilt it into an almost vertical position to get the last drop of tea out of the pot. As a result of his violent motions, the lid would come loose and crash onto a cup or tray and become chipped!
Sadly, I have inherited my father’s heavy handed action, as a look at my tea lid below will show!
-oOo-
HOW LONG SHOULD THE BREW BE LEFT TO STEEP?
As a child, I was never able to leave the brew long enough to gain my father’s approval and I believe that the answer is one of The Great Mysteries that has plagued man since the beginning of time!!! Perhaps one should consult a higher authority such as a Guru or a Yogi or Swami in order to learn the answer!
-oOo-
My father generally waited for about five minutes before thinking of testing the strength of the brew.
While he waited, my father undertook the second part of the preparation of the cups in order to have them ready to hold the brew. He never just took some cups and poured tea into them ……. no, no, no ……. he warmed the cups not once but twice with boiling water. Remember, I did warn the reader that the kettle always needed to be filled since much boiling water would be needed to produce a brew that would please my father!
The warming of the cups would be completed once he felt that the brew had been left to stew/brew/steep for a sufficient length of time.
My Father always believed that milk should be added to the cup before the tea was poured. He added a particular quantity of milk into the cup ….. he only used a little since he liked his tea to be very strong. Next he removed the Tea Cozy from covering the tea pot and began to pour a small quantity of the dark brown liquid into a cup. He did not simply pour the tea, but poured it slowly and then brought the tea pot back to stop a constant flow of liquid. This was done since he was brought up to use loose tea leaves and these were once larger than they are today and would often cover the holes in the tea pot leading to the spout and so reduce the flow of the brew. (It was often here that the teapot lid came crashing out of its place and became chipped!)
If he felt that the brew sitting in the cup was of sufficient strength, which it generally was, he continued to fill the cup and then filled any additional cups.
Additional Accoutrements favoured by my Father
Top: My Father’s Sugar Bowl (Left), which I now use as a Flower Bowl (Right) since I do not take sugar in either coffee or tea
Bottom Left: Several of the Jugs once favoured by my Father
Bottom Right: Several other Sugar Bowls which once held favour with my Father.
However, he always returned to his Sugar Bowl of choice (Top Left)
My father would then stir the tea in each cup and finally add sugar to those where required. This meant me when I was younger since neither my mother nor my father took sugar in their tea. I gave up taking sugar in my tea when I was about eleven years old.
Sugar, brown & white, Tea Spoons and Sugar Tongs
The filled cups were now passed to those lucky enough to be invited to drink from them.
-oOo-
Should the reader follow these instructions, I can promise a wonderful drink. I have attempted to produce such a brew, although my tea is still nowhere as tasty.
Tea is a wonderful drink, but in order for it to be fully appreciated, care needs to be taken in order to release the flavour.
People have laughed when I spoke about tea and my father’s ability to produce the best cup in the world. These Philistines are the same people that think that Tea is Tea and believe the drink is made by pouring lukewarm water on a teabag placed in a mug or a glass cup and yet will wax lyrical about a good cup of coffee and how important it is to prepare it correctly! They will also yap about the joys of wine and its tasting. I enjoy a good cup of coffee too and care how it is prepared and also enjoy certain wines. What I fail to understand is why tea should not be given the same respect, which I believe it thoroughly deserves?
Forgive my preaching! Anyway, why not try following my father’s recipe for the making of a good cup of tea and taste it for yourself.
—ooOoo—
-oOo-