Jonathan Sims (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
intheeyeofthebeholding) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2023-02-08 10:49 am
intheeyeofthebeholding) wrote in fandomhigh2023-02-08 10:49 am
Entry tags:
All About Tea, Wednesday
Jon fidgeted until everyone was seated, then began. "I, um. Well first of all, I should like to apologise for my absence last week. It was terribly unprofessional of me, and I will do my best not to let it happen again."
He waited, looking like he was trying to figure out what to say, then turned around smartly and gestured at the boxes on the table. "Today we're going into some of the more common varieties of black tea. Black tea is one of the most widespread and wide-drunk sorts of tea, and has probably the strongest flavour of the types.
"If what you have is unblended - that is, only one type of tea leaf and no flavours added - it's probably named after the region it's from. Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, and so forth. They each have their own taste and colour, some more distinctive than others. Lapsang Souchong, for example, is smoked."
He went to the next set of boxes. "Then there are also popular blends, like Earl Grey, which has bergamot in it. English Breakfast, which is a blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Kenyan teas is also popular. Actually, a lot of Indian teas and Indian-tea blends are popular in the UK, largely due to Imperial appropriation of resources. Which is probably out of scope of this class, unfortunately." Don't get him started on the monarchy.
"Masala chai is another. It features a lot of spices and is generally brewed with milk and either honey or sugar. A lot of black teas are commonly taken with milk or sugar, or in some places lemon. Though I don't recommend mixing the two, as lemon juice will curdle your dairy and make it...rather unpleasant.
"Right, so, same as before. Try the teas, pick one you like, fix it to your liking, talk about it. Tell us what you like about it or a fun fact if you know one, or whatever you feel like."
You were, after all, having tea.
He waited, looking like he was trying to figure out what to say, then turned around smartly and gestured at the boxes on the table. "Today we're going into some of the more common varieties of black tea. Black tea is one of the most widespread and wide-drunk sorts of tea, and has probably the strongest flavour of the types.
"If what you have is unblended - that is, only one type of tea leaf and no flavours added - it's probably named after the region it's from. Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, and so forth. They each have their own taste and colour, some more distinctive than others. Lapsang Souchong, for example, is smoked."
He went to the next set of boxes. "Then there are also popular blends, like Earl Grey, which has bergamot in it. English Breakfast, which is a blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Kenyan teas is also popular. Actually, a lot of Indian teas and Indian-tea blends are popular in the UK, largely due to Imperial appropriation of resources. Which is probably out of scope of this class, unfortunately." Don't get him started on the monarchy.
"Masala chai is another. It features a lot of spices and is generally brewed with milk and either honey or sugar. A lot of black teas are commonly taken with milk or sugar, or in some places lemon. Though I don't recommend mixing the two, as lemon juice will curdle your dairy and make it...rather unpleasant.
"Right, so, same as before. Try the teas, pick one you like, fix it to your liking, talk about it. Tell us what you like about it or a fun fact if you know one, or whatever you feel like."
You were, after all, having tea.