Welcome to Midnight Tea !

 

Evolution means learning from mistakes.

 

 

 

Midnight - isn't there a better time to have tea? Well, to be quite frank, no. It is the time of the night when you are on your own, comfortable and at ease. The stress of the day has drowned and won't resurface for another 6 hours.

You have the time to enjoy your tea, and to snuggle into a blanket with a story to read. This is what I want to provide here. On this site, you will find all the stories and quite a few pictures taken by your hostess, eretria.

Back to the important things: How to brew good tea? I'm not talking about your garden variety tea-bag you buy in the supermarket around the corner here. Midnight is the time to enjoy real tea. The time to spoil yourself.

And this is how it's done:

Use a warm teapot, preheat it by filling it with hot water and letting it sit while boiling the water for the tea.

Bring fresh cold water to a full rolling boil. Water that has been reheated gives tea a flat taste and has lost most of its oxygen, only boiling water can extract the full flavour.

For a teapot containing 1 litre, use 4-5 teaspoons of leaf tea. Depending on the leaf size, take one less for fine leaves and one more for big leaves.

Empty the hot water from the teapot, place your tea of choice into the teapot (most comfortable by using a big cotton tea-bag that allows the leaves to move) and pour the boiling water over the tea.

The use of a ball tea infuser (also called a "tea-egg") is actually a sin because it does not permit free movement of tea leaves within it’s restricted confine. No good tea comes from a tea-egg. Ever.

Depending on how much longer you want to stay awake and how much you want to read, steep 3 minutes for a tea that will refresh you, and 5 - 7 minutes for a tea that will soothe you.

Choose a cup you like. Drinking tea is a sensual experience, you enjoy it with most of your senses, sight, smell and taste, so don't use a cup in which you can't see your tea. For example, if you choose an Assam, you will be surprised by the deep red-golden colour of it.

Some teas you can drink with milk. Some you shouldn't. In the end, it all depends on your very own taste.

Brown sugar is for the stronger teas, white sugar for the more delicate teas.

Are you intimidated now? I hope not. Because each step towards a good cup of tea takes away some of the daily unrest, and weaves its very own magic.

But for now: Have a seat in one of the cosy armchairs around here, let me offer you a nice cup of tea and some shortbread.

Then make yourself at home and feel free to roam the library and the gallery, have a look at my reading recommendations. If you have found the site to your liking, please leave a comment in the guestbook.

Remember, this is a place to set aside the daily stress. Welcome, weary traveller.

Sincerely, yours

 

eretria

P.S.: To enjoy this site completely, I suggest you go here to download & install the Font "Dragonwick"