T Stands For Making Perfect Tea

Last week we celebrated National Coffee Day and I promised we would honor tea sometime in the future.  Little did I realize it would be this soon, but when the opportunity arose, I grabbed it.

Today we started at my dining room table

then I realized the image was not what I hoped for.  Besides T Tuesday, I'm also sharing this with Chris of Pear Shaped Crafting, our host this month at Art Journal Journey and her theme which is Hold the Line.

Remember how I said my scanner was on its last legs?  It was actually not set properly.  When I scanned at high res, I adjusted several settings and learned what I had done wrong.  Although I'll always have to make adjustments every time I scan, it will be worth it to get a great scan.

I wanted you to be able to read what I wrote, so I sorted this into five segments.  I hope you can read my writing.  This first group is pretty self-explanatory.  It tells what to use to make ONE cup of tea.
I messed up on this one.  This was only supposed to be about the use of fresh water when making tea.  Your water will go flat after it's been boiled, so never reheat water once it's boiled the first time.  As you can see, it loses oxygen once it boils.  To get the freshest and best boil, bring your tea pot to the tea kettle at the stove, not the kettle to the tea pot.  You lose much of the time you spent boiling the water when you take the kettle over to your teapot.  Also, never leave the kettle unattended.  Over-boiling will occur and you should throw the water away and start over.   

Then there is the adage for making a full pot of tea.  If you are making four cups of tea in your pot, add one bag or one spoon of loose tea per cup and one for the pot. 

This is where I intended to show that you heat the pot using hot tap water.   As noted above, your boiling water quickly cools if you add it to a cold pot.  I tried to compensate by showing right before you add the boiling water, remove the hot water from the teapot.  Carefully observe the steeping time.  If you don't steep the tea long enough, it will be weak.  Steep it too long and it will be bitter.

To add milk to your tea, place it in the cup first, then add the brewed tea.  That way you won't cool the tea too quickly, which apparently shocks it, and you won't crack your delicate and priceless china cup.  Of course, another site stated the exact opposite.  I'm going with putting the milk in the cup first and that way you have less stirring to accomplish, too.

If you are not British (because the British know how to make a proper cup or pot of tea), I hope you learned how to make tea properly.  I know I did.  To create this page, I started by stamping images sent me by CJ onto 110 lb cardstock, then sewed lines using black and white variegated thread for Chris's theme at Art Journal Journey.

Now you have the experts' tips on making perfect tea, it's time to share your own drink related post.  Your post may be anything from a photo of a glass, cup, or mug, to an actual drink.  You may choose to share a sketch or a digital, hybrid, or traditional page in your scrapbook, art journal, or altered book.  Maybe you'd prefer to share a tag, or wow us with your photography.  You might choose a postcard, decorated card, or magazine image.  You might even draw an image on a used tea bag.  Or perhaps you prefer to review a place you visited, a movie, or book.  It makes no difference as long as it's drink related.  And don't forget that the more unique and outside the box it is, the better we like it.  Please tie it back here, and please link only to your T post, not your entire blog.  When you link, Bleubeard, the T gang, and I will be by to visit.   Bleubeard would also like to remind you that your photos may be taken any time, even months or years ago, if you choose.