Tea in a pot with a teacosy anyone? (lighthearted thread)

You are not an old fogey but very very trendy!
All the hipster young things now but their tea loose and use teapots and tea-strainers or those perforated ball on a chain hints.
The DDs (who are the epitome of cool) and I had a wonderful time shopping in an exclusive (and ruinously pricey) tea shop in Brussels last year with more varieties of tea you could possibly imagine. We certainly were not buying it in kg quantities either!
Congratulations on being a trailblazer though. Teabags are indeed decidedly uncool (think of the environment) as are mugs, especially the “jokey” sort. Checking in my kitchen cupboard I find I have five teapots, plus MIL’s silver one in the sideboard. Two “proper” tea sets too.
However I must take issue with you about reheating (or stewing) left over tea.
Just put less in the pot next time.

“Buy” their tea, not “but”

And “ball on a chain things” - need to find my glasses!

We visited a tea plantation in Sri Lanka where we were told the best tea is sold as loose leaf and the inferior tea (we translated that as the 'sweepings up') was put into tea bags.

MawB I enjoyed your reply! Yes, I know it's awful to re-heat but.. Did you ever read Angela's Ashes and the description of how they used to squeeze out the tea leaves to a maximum?!

Well I am afraid I do not use loose leaf tea, but I still put my teabag in a small pot. I cannot abide a teabag in a mug; to me it. tastes completely different to same teabag in a pot. I always refused tea at my sister's as she used to put the teabag in a mug then put the milk in before topping up with hot water - yuk!

I love my teapots and have about 6 , must do a count , ranging from one cup size to a very large family one .
Sadly I find tea makes me trot up the corridor too often and have resorted to red Bush , which is far too expensive in leaf form so tea bags it is , but still in the teapot

Has to be loose leaf English Breakfast for us, nothing else will do, made of course, in a tea pot. I’m afraid I don’t have a tea cosy though, perhaps I’ll crochet one.

I have a traditional navy blue Brown Betty teapot and always make tea in the pot with loose leaves (PG Tips, nothing fancy) I use a strainer and china mugs but no cost- it stews the tea! If it is only me, I have a small china pot that holds 2 mugs worth of tea.

Tea pots here too. I still use my Mum’s knitted tea cozy, it goes with nothing but I can see her knitting it each time I use it and it makes me smile.

When we were young, our friends always laughed at us for using a teapot, but of course it’s quite appropriate now!
One of my daughters always uses a teapot.

I use a tea pot and tea bags (I know, not good for the environment. , ) but I hate the feel of tea leaves in my mouth. A strainer never seems to get rid of them all.

I always use a tea cosy, to match my kitchen. Years ago, I had to throw a tea cosy out, as I had re-covered it so many times, the tea pot wouldn't fit.

When I had to refrain from drinking tea the other day before my hospital procedure, I was getting such a craving for a cuppa!! The first thing I asked for in the ward, was a cup of tea!

I use a teapot at breakfast time (but use teabags, shock horror), and a cup rather than a mug - that way, I can sit there drinking until the pot is empty, and I get three cupfuls from one teabag.

The rest of the day, it's mugs!

This year, there was a class in the crafts section of our village show for a tea cosy - mine was the only entry! (A croched fairy house for a teapot that I won in one of the competitions here on Gransnet)
I put that down to how few people use a teapot nowadays.

I don't drink tea

I admit I use tea bags as I like my tea really weak and milky and it gets stewed in a pot which I dislike.
However, I'm not keen on mugs and use a large tea cup with a saucer which marks me out as odd amongst my friends as I'm in a minority.

I ve never in all my life used a teapot my Nana used one maybe my Mum in her early married days but she always used teabags in my memory and I ve only ever used teabags in a mug but then we were working class
I have very up to date grandkids but none of them would use a tea pot or probably know what is, still considered very olde worlde in this part of the country might be trendy in the big cities though

Ha, what a lovely thread on a miserable Sunday morning here in north Nottinghamshire.

We have a sturdy 'pot for life ' with a cozy knitted by my next door neighbour. We love our Northumberland Blend loose leaf , courtesy of Gary the Ringtons Man.

Does anyone else get the Ringtons van coming round? Not sure if it's a Midlands/northern thing.

I have a Picquot teapot which keeps hot for ages. DH still puts on the cosy, knitted by me, but it isn't really necessary. I am trying to use loose tea but DH is resisting. (He mostly makes the tea.) I dry the tea bags a bit, then open them out to put the tea on the compost heap. I'm afraid the tea bags go in the bin, which eventually go to an incinerator, (as does all our refuse in Cornwall).

I always use a tea pot, I think it tastes better than putting a tea bag in a cup.
But so many variations used here when the family are round.
Decaf tea in a lot for DH and me, ordinary tea made in mugs for both SiLs , fruit tea for one daughter made in cup although when at home she uses a tea pot for her fruit tea and finally hot chocolate for the other DD.

This thread has reminded me I've been meaning to treat myself to a new teapot for ages. The last one broke because I dropped it in our Belfast sink!!

I might even consider a return to loose leaf tea because I've just checked and the strainer is still in the drawer of Mum's old Welsh dresser. I gave up knitting years ago so I'll have to search for a trendy cosy in our local craft market (otherwise known as eBay)

Time to browse.

I find that tea is too cool after being in a pot. I do agree that we should stop using tea bags, though. I put loose tea leaves in a strainer then put that in the cup and pour boiling water on. That's OK for one or two but I resort to tea bags when there's a crowd here. I don't know how you can reheat it. Surely, it tastes 'stewed'?

I'm not happy with drinking (even more) plastic particles:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49845940

My late H and I loved a cup of Earl Grey for a long time and I used to experiment with a lot of different teas. We weren't keen on Lapsang as to me it was like drinking kipper juice with its smokey flavour.

It was a few years until we introduced ourselves to teabags and the teapots then became redundant. I don't know where they all got to but I do know that D has one that I know of.

I use two tea bags for a good strong " brew ".I like to taste the tea.

Loose leaf Ceylon tea for breakfast, brewed in a small teapot with a stainless steel filter fitting below the lid, so can't tell my fortune in tea leaves . During the day, I drink red-bush from tea bags. I tried it as loose leaf but the leaves were tiny and messy, so sadly I resorted to bags.

I’ve just switched back to loose leaf tea after a few years using tea bags. I don’t, however, use cups and saucers- perhaps I should! What to do with the tea leaves, though? I live in an apartment, with no facilities for composting. I think I read somewhere that emptying used tea leaves into the sink helps clear the waste pipes.