Except that real tea drinkers pour the tea first, around a silver spoon if you're nervous about grandma's cups, then add milk to taste, depending on the strength of the tea. First cup out of the pot not as strong as later ones. It's a minor art.
My mom used to say the best tea with milk in, was the color of a golden sovereign. A useful tip if you'd ever seen one, I suppose. She had, they still being legal tender, if very hard to come by, in her youth.
Speaking as one whose tea is more builder's than Downton Abbey, charges roaring like a wild beast out of the pot, I still put milk in second. In my Chinese mug. No saucer, my dear, averted eyes, pearls clutched.
So that being settled, and I'm sure you were engrossed, on to snooping.
I like how many people's homes we can see into via online meetings and newscasts. I always like to see the books and wonder if they've hidden the Agatha Christies and put out the Decline and Falls for bragging rights.
Here, with no editing, is a ramble round my four walls, getting closer by the day. Enjoy peeking.
Wildlife
Handmade and blanks
I gave away many artbooks and other readables during the Great Winnowing. Haven't missed them, what with Kindle, ebooks, audiobooks.
But I still enjoy browsing in paper books.
"Pearls clutched." Very good line.
ReplyDeleteTea and milK! On the PBS Brit sitcom, As Time Goes By, they put milk first. I've wondered why. I also wonder why Seth Myers has a copy of the Thorn Birds, clearly there on a side table to his right.
ReplyDeleteIf they were pouring from a pot, they didn't know any better! But at one point she does say she likes builder's tea, so then anything goes. These are serious issues!
DeleteI have tea parties with my granddaughters and use my mother’s China cups. We only use juice these days. I will show them the milk in first though and let them decide which they prefer.
ReplyDeleteOh dear! Milk in second, if you want to be like the queen!
DeleteHeh! I like looking behind the talking heads and wondering if they reorganized the picture to show usually dead people so nobody could find fault and sue? As for the tea, people think being English I must be an authority and when I say gold as a sovereign they go blank. Poor things didn't have a mother like ours.
ReplyDeleteBut we are authorities! In our own minds anyway
DeleteI'm very fond of Earl and Lady Grey which do not require milk. It's always fun to look in other people's bookcases. I try to make out the books people on TV shows now like to sit in front of as they are being interviewed.
ReplyDeleteEarl grey is lovely drunk out of doors in summer, little slice of lemon. Making a note to self to get some in June.
DeleteMy favorite is Lady Grey. I'm apt to have a cup in the afternoon. But - pass on the milk.
ReplyDeleteYes. It doesn't demand it the way breakfast tea does. It's got bergamot, what more is needed?
DeleteI'm a milk in first kind of person and I always use a teapot, never a bag in a mug. I must admit I don't like builders' tea though - more Downton as I don't like it strong. And your book collection looks like heaven to me!
ReplyDeleteEveryone has a passionate stance on tea! I often wonder what Brits did before it came to them. Ale, I supposed. Enough of it and you didn't mind that tea hadn't been heard of yet
DeleteI didn't know people were divided over such a thing. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. lol The only tea I've ever entertained milk with was a Chai that a friend made for me, and I have no idea what she put in first. And when I drink tea I just drink it "straight". Hot or cold. I'm the basest of tea drinkers.
ReplyDeleteI came in for the books. I love the peek at your shelves and titles - and felt exceedingly happy when I saw some same (art and nature related) books on your shelves as on mine. Only you are the true artist, while I seem content to just imagine what it would be like... ;^)
There's no end of things people can argue about! And I'm glad you liked the Book Snoop! It's something I love to do. The houses that amaze me are the ones without books at all. Long before Kindle and all that.
DeleteI'm afraid I have no clue about the pros and cons of milk first vs milk after because I drink my tea black (or green, or oolong, or flavoured). It was great fun to peek into your book shelves - books are important here too.
ReplyDeleteMy local friend who stops in, mysteriously just as I'm making a pot of tea, also drinks it black, so I add in extra boiling water for her.
DeleteI think you can read a lot about people from seeing the books they keep.
MIL definitely. My dad used to have a big mug and would put in two tea bags and let them stew until it was black and them squish the bags to get all the tea out. Arrrgghh. Then add a touch of milk and at least five spoonfuls of sugar. My youngest son is a tea sommelier. Went to night school and took courses and has a diploma. No idea why. Just interest I guess. He does make a really nice cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteI guess your son really is the authority around here, then.
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