russian tea

Ответ от ViTal[гуру]
They say that Tolstoy fueled his creativity by drinking Russian tea from the samovar. See what it does for you. Start with our zavarka from the samovar, dilute it with a tad of hot water, and add milk and sugar.
What makes it Russian
If you adhere to the above rules, you make tea. Not necessarily good tea, but real tea, nevertheless. These rules are universal, there's nothing Russian so far. What makes all the difference, is the so-called "zavarka", the tea concentrate. The Russian process of tea-making is a two stage one; First, you make the zavarka, then water it down with hot, boiled water ("kipyatok" in Russian). At this point, it is worth noting that it's the process sketched in section How to make it that makes the tea Russian. The origin of the tea leaves does not matter, whether they are from Georgia (a member state of the former Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus range on the shore of the Black Sea; home to the largest tea plantations in the Russian Empire and the S. U.) or from Ceylon (Sri Lanka, a former British colony, an island south of India). Nor do the utensils involved in the process of making or consumption. If hot water is poured onto tea bags from a samovar the result is still "postman's tea" which has little to do with Mother Russia. In my experience, fake Russian tea parties like this gained some popularity in certain circles. Don't let them fool you. Zavarka is what matters. It's that simple.
Respect the Queen, spread clotted cream, & drink strong black tea with milk & sugar. Back in the day, in England, they attributed mysterious healing properties to tea. Actually though, it was the boiled water that made
everybody healthy.
To make a real cup of tea you will need...
A quality blend of tea leaves. Loose tea is best, however a good brand of tea bags will suffice. (Remember if the tealeaves were cheap - the tea will taste accordingly) If you choose to use leaves you will also need a tea strainer.
You will also need a kettle full of boiling water, a teapot, a teaspoon, a china mug or cup and saucer, milk and sugar to taste.
First pour around a quarter of a pint of the boiling water into the teapot. Put the lid on the teapot and swill the hot water around inside the teapot before pouring the water out of the spout and down the sink. This is called 'Warming the Pot'.
Warming the teapot ensures that when the teapot is filled with water for making tea, that the water will remain hot and wont loose any heat tot he teapot. Keeping the tea water hot not only keeps the finished tea at an optimum temperature for drinking, but also helps with the tea brewing itself. Piping hot water aids the tealeaves to effuse.
One the teapot is hot, you should add the tealeaves. The general rule is to add a teaspoon of loose tea or a teabag for every person who will be taking tea, plus 'One for the Pot'. Therefore, if five people are taking tea, you should add six teaspoons of tealeaves or six teabags to the teapot.
Now pour on the boiling water. You should add enough water to fill everyone's teacup. Put the lid on the teapot to retain the heat. Leave the teapot to stand for two minutes.
Then remove the teapot lid and stir the tea with a spoon. Replace the lid and again leave it to stand two more minutes. The tea is now ready for pouring.
China cups are best for drinking tea from, which is why the Victorians chose to drink from beautiful china tea sets. It just makes the tea taste better.
Controversy has arisen as to when the milk should be added to tea. Some people saying that the milk should be poured in first and others saying that the tea is poured first. Obviously as a nation we have got used to brewing tea in a mug. This way the tea is always added first. However, to make a real cup of English tea the milk is always added to the cup first, followed by the tea.