Making Tea
"Polly, put the kettle on, and we'll all take Tea."
Of all "cups that cheer," there is nothing like the smoking-hot cup of tea, made with boiling water, in a thoroughly scalded tea-pot. Put into the pot the required amount of tea, pour over it boiling water, cover the tea-pot so that no steam may escape, and allow the tea to stand and infuse for seven minutes, when it should be poured at once into the cups. If allowed to infuse longer than this time, which is sufficient to draw out the strength of the leaf, the tannin is developed, which gives an acrid, bitter taste, and being a powerful astringent, is destructive to the coating of the stomach. To insure "keeping hot" while serving, in a different tea-pot from that in which the tea is made, the simple contrivance known as the "bonnet" is warranted a sure preventive against that most insipid of all drinks a warmish cup of tea. It is merely a sack, with a loose gathering-tape in the bottom, large enough to cover and encircle the tea-pot, with a small opening to fit the spout, and a slit through which the handle will be exposed. Make it with odd pieces of silk, satin or cashmere, lined, quilted or embroidered; draw this over the tea-pot as soon as the tea is poured into it; draw up the gathering-string tightly at the bottom, and the tea will remain piping hot for half an hour. One tea-spoon of tea and one tea-cup of hot water is the usual allowance for each person. Freshly boiled soft water is the best for either tea or coffee. Always have a water-pot of hot water on the waiter with which to weaken each cup if desired. Tea should never boil. The most elegant mode of serving tea is from the tea-urn, various forms and designs of which are made in silver and plated ware. The best tea-pot is that which retains heat longest, and this is a bright metal one, as it radiates the least heat, but the metal must be kept bright and polished. Serve both tea and coffee with the best and richest cream, but in the absence of this luxury, a tolerable substitute is prepared as follows: Take fresh, new milk, set in a pan or pail in boiling water where it will slowly simmer, but not boil or reach the boiling point, stir frequently to keep the cream from separating and rising to the top, and allow to simmer until it is rich, thick and creamy. In absence of both cream and milk, the white of an egg beaten to a froth, with a small bit of butter well mixed with it, may be used. In pouring coffee, it must be turned on gradually so as not to curdle it.
The method here is sound in its essentials — hot pot, boiling water, no boiling of the leaf — but the timing and one of the cream substitutes need comment.
- Seven minutes is too longModern practice for black tea is three to five minutes, and two to three for most green and oolong leaf. The book's own complaint about bitterness is the reason: at seven minutes you are extracting exactly the astringency it warns against.
- The tannin claimTea polyphenols (called tannin in the period) are not "destructive to the coating of the stomach." Long steeping simply tastes harsh and dries the mouth. Judge by taste rather than by the clock.
- Never boil the leafThis is the instruction that matters. Water goes onto the leaf off a fresh boil; the pot is then covered and left alone. Tea boiled in the water, or held on heat, turns bitter and flat.
- MeasuresA teacup of this period is smaller than a modern 8 oz mug. One teaspoon of leaf per cup is still the standard ratio; with a larger mug, scale the leaf up rather than the time.
- "Soft water"Water low in dissolved minerals. Hard tap water gives a dull, greyish brew and a scum on the surface; filtered water is the practical equivalent. "Freshly boiled" matters because reboiled water has lost dissolved air and tastes lifeless.
- The "bonnet"A tea cosy. Any modern cosy or a folded towel does the same job. Note that the book assumes the brewed tea is decanted into a second pot before covering — leaving the leaf in under a cosy for half an hour will oversteep it badly.
- Mock creamMilk held below boiling and stirred until thick is scalded, slightly reduced milk. It works, takes some patience, and should be cooled or used hot the same day rather than kept.
- Skip the egg-white substituteBeaten raw egg white with butter goes into the cup uncooked and is not brought anywhere near a safe temperature. There is no reason to use it now; whole milk, evaporated milk or cream all do better.
- Bright metal potsThe claim that polished metal radiates least heat is correct, but a preheated ceramic or stoneware pot holds heat well enough and does not react with the brew. Scalding the pot first, as directed, makes a real difference to the temperature of the infusion.
The opening line is from the English nursery rhyme "Polly put the kettle on," in print by the early nineteenth century and thoroughly domesticated in American households by the time Buckeye Cookery appeared in 1877. The instructions belong to a period when tea quality varied enough that method was held to matter more than the leaf itself. The warning about tannin as a stomach irritant reflects a genuine medical preoccupation of the era — dyspepsia was blamed on strong tea and coffee in dozens of household manuals. The elaborate quilted "bonnet" and the silver urn are a reminder that tea service was also needlework and display: the recipe is as much about how a hostess presented herself as about what went into the pot.