Tea

[Beth]

 Gilly, if you're using boiling water for green tea, it's not a good idea. Let the water cool for a few minutes, or warm it to the point of almost boiling. It should be hot, not boiling. Also, only let it steep for 3 minutes, max. Otherwise your tea gets awfully  bitter. 

EDIT: Sorry, Tomas I double posted with your instructions.

Try this kind:


It's about 4 bucks a box. I like it. Oh, and I don't know if this is an obvious thing to say, but honey is really nice with green tea.

[Gilly]

It's not bitter, just really watered down where I can only taste a little flavor.

[Beth]

Well, if it was Stash, it could be the brand. I usually find it to be extremely watery, and as I said, not very good.

[AllisonLeGnome]

I'm definitely not a tea expert, so while I'm not qualified to judge the quality of plain Stash tea, I'm a fan of their more interesting varieties, particularly the Green & White and some sort of Christmas-themed blend we bought on sale after the holidays one year.

[Martin]

Gilly: try throwing in the bag first, then add the water.

[Gilly]

I tried a couple different brands and flavors tonight and I liked those a lot more. I still can't say I'm the biggest tea fan but it's much better than coffee or soda. The only beverages I drink are water and beer but I can definitely see adding tea to that short list especially in the morning and the Sleepytime Tea (which was really good) at night.

[Sarah]

Gilly, you need to filter the tea through your nose to get the right flavor.

***

This is an audiobook of The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo.

http://librivox.org/the-book-of-tea-by-okakura-kakuzo/

(LibriVox volunteers are my favorite people right now:  They make public domain audiobooks of public domain books.  I listen to these when running, cleaning the house, commuting, etc.  The quality varies immensely; this guy is mediocre, but other books such as Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow are professional quality.  It is better to listen to them pitch-shifted by about 20%, which you can do on an iPod if you mark the files as audiobooks in iTunes. )

I might volunteer for that LibriVox outfit.  I like reading aloud.

[Gilly]

Are you guys with me that Iced Tea is pretty nasty?

[yesno]

I might volunteer for that LibriVox outfit.  I like reading aloud.

Do it!  You'd be great. 

You might want to dig up the archive with voice-over legend Kendrick Martin to learn how to avoid popping your p's.

Someone on there did a version of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" with new age sounds in the background.  But generally the cheese/impenetrable accent/tin-can recording quality quotient is surprisingly low.

Are you guys with me that Iced Tea is pretty nasty?

Fake ice tea from cans or soft drink machines is the worst.  Real ice tea and not overly sweetened bottled stuff is great. 

[Gilly]

I don't know why I capitalized iced tea. I've probably only tried bottled stuff so add one more tea-a-dummy strike next to my name.

[AllisonLeGnome]

Are you guys with me that Iced Tea is pretty nasty?

Actual unsweetened iced tea is probably my favorite beverage, but sweetened bottled crap is gross.

[<<<<<]

Waaay too much sugar in the bottled stuff.  But then, there's way too much sugar in everything.

Lightly sweetened home brewed iced tea is great though.

[dale]

Sipping on some Typhoo at the moment and contemplating heading out into a cold and rainy Michigan evening.

[Sarah]

I might volunteer for that LibriVox outfit.  I like reading aloud.

Do it!  You'd be great. 

Thanks, yesno.  Guess I'll have to look into getting a microphone.  (Secret Santa, take note.)

I'm also considering volunteering for Project Gutenberg. 

[dave from knoxville]

Are you guys with me that Iced Tea is pretty nasty?

YOU TAKE THAT BACK