How To: Proper Irish Tea

Howaya, c’mon in, pull up a chair and I’ll stick the kettle on. It’s time for me to share the secret of my perfect Irish brewed tea with you.

If you know me at all you’ll know that the gears of the household are greased by copious amounts of strong Irish tea. None of your wishy washy stuff for me thank you very much.  If it’s not golden then it’s not tea.

You like it weak with a good dose of milk?

Well just leave the teabag in when you’re making mine thank you very much.

First things first, get your equipment together to make this strong brew.

You’ll need a clean, empty kettle. Make sure there isn’t a bit of water in it.

If you have a kettle that is jampacked with limescale then 1/4 fill with table vinegar, top up to half with water, then boil the kettle before pouring the contents away.  Then fill and boil the kettle once and discard all the hot water before using boiling water from the kettle.  There’s a frugal descaling tip for you for free.

Now back to the perfect cup of tea.

Fill your kettle with fresh, cold water from the tap. Then put on the boil.

In the meantime, get your mugs together with your teabags.

I use a mug because I want my tea to stay warm for longer than a hedgehog’s sneeze.  If you don’t tend to have children, husbands or various others pulling out of you in all directions then you may be able to enjoy a hot cup of tea from a china cup.  If so, I envy you, a lot.

Put 1 teabag in each mug.

As soon as the kettle has boiled then pour the hot water over the teabags.  If you have to reboil the kettle and want the perfect cuppa then you’ll need to empty the kettle and start again.  If you’re lazy and parching for a mug of the amber nectar then sure boil the kettle again but be warned it won’t be as good.

Leave the teabags to steep for at least 1 minute before stirring and removing.  If you can see the bottom of the mug through the tea then it’s not real Irish tea.

A dribble of milk and then you’re done. No sugar for me thanks, I’m sweet enough.

If you’d like to see what kind of treats I enjoy with a good cuppa’ then you can pop over to my friend Emily at From China Village who is celebrating all stuff tea this week.  She kindly asked me to suggest some yummy bits and pieces to add to the blog and I’ve happily obliged. It’s a great example of how small a place Ireland is because we “met” through Twitter but our husbands know one another!

If you want to hear the process from start to finish along with me yakking a bit more about tea and how it should be made then click here.

PS

Don’t take this post too seriously. Everybody has their own way of making a good cuppa so shout out below or over on Audioboo and let me know how you like it.  The kettle’s on, just make sure it’s Proper Irish Tea.