So, it's almost Good Friday and I'm going to try something a bit different here today.
I'm going to bring up a #tea topic, and ask for advice. Because I live with a very fastidious German woman, I have my opinions based on her very strong views. But I want to hear new ideas. Your ideas.
How do you clean your tea paraphernalia? Your pot, your cups and saucers?
What tips or tricks do you have to wash away the tea residue that makes me sometimes wonder, "Are my insides also becoming this dark brown colour?"
Since no one else seems willing to jump in and say anything here, I'll get it started. Hoped there would be a bit of interest here about this.
ReplyDeleteWas reprimanded this week for using a 'chemical' product to clean my teapot. In this household, we only use non-chemical cleaning agents. This is a particularly German response to a problem.
Don't get me started on the near obsessive resistance to any and ALL anti-biotics by the typical German.
So, I learned my lesson.
If I'm going to clean my teapot, do it when the wife is elsewhere.
Hallo mein Freund,
ReplyDeleteI think you should not clean your teapot with the chemicals. Never! It is not good for your teapot, your tea, or your belly.
So, I say just not to worry about it. The tea tastes better and you will be feeling good.
Well strictly speaking everything is chemical. But that aside, I would recommend for ease of application a salt paste or one made of baking soda. These are rubbed on by hand if you are not ultra fussy, and then rinsed off. Simple, cheap, effective.
ReplyDeleteThanks BCKMPH,
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly the kind of response I was looking for. We use something like that, but I was using vinegar the other day, and was assured that it'd affect the taste of the tea.
The tea tastes wonderful to me.
I have cleaned a teapot with a boiling water plus vinegar combo and allowing to stand for an hour. You do have to rinse thoroughly, of course. Kills bugs but doesn't shift that tannin residue so well. Maybe I should have varied the concentration.
ReplyDeleteWhat is wrong with good old hot soapy water? Every other eating and drinking utensil we use is cleaned with it. Why should the teapot or teacup or teaspoon or navel lint holder be any different?
ReplyDeleteGood question Jeffrey.
ReplyDeleteYou have an issue with lint, or?
I'm going to answer this as if you meant it seriously. Tea is especially hard to clean out of products. If you have a teapot or travel mug (that you only use for tea) that hasn't been regularly cleaned, the tea can leave a residue that's difficult to remove.
Seems to me the operative words here are "hasn't been regularly cleaned". A soak in hot soapy water will clean anything we use in the kitchen. A quick soapy rinse with the dish scrubbee nicely cleans both my English ceramic teapot and my cheapo glass one. Both can also go in the dishwasher.
ReplyDeleteEnglish breakfast tea needs its own pot, of the traditional variety. This pot should never be cleaned with anything more than a rinse of hot water every now and then to remove any stray leaves or dead wasps. The build up of brown stuff is DESIRABLE and contributes to the taste, lending your English blend a sophisticated maturity.
ReplyDelete