IN WHICH I
  • ... Write
  • ... Explain

Queer Out Here Q&A

10/4/2018

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Queer Out Here Issue 01 was released in February. Woohoo! It’s been a really exciting project - starting from deciding to put it together, to creating the structure to support it, asking people to contribute, then working on the episode. My co-editor Allysse and I have each answered a few questions about the process so far - you can read mine below and Allysse's at Beste Glatisant.
Did you have any expectations for Queer Out Here - and how did they match with the reality?

​
I tried not to have too many expectations, but I did have hopes!

I had no idea what kind of response we’d get to our call for submissions, so I was really happy with the number and range of pieces we received. We ended up with enough content to make a nice, fat Issue 01 - longer than I’d expected - with creative writing, sound art, conversations, field recordings and monologues/musings all represented. Overall, I probably expected more stories about specific events or activities, and possibly a few more essays/academic approaches to the theme, but it was a pretty good balance.

The process of putting the issue together was more time-consuming than I’d thought - but it was fun! Allysse and I spent a lot of time building the infrastructure and doing background work, chasing up submissions, choosing the running order, recording the links and transcribing. We’ve also learnt a bit about the technical side of things - especially the distribution of podcasts (or things-that-are-kind-of-like-podcasts).
two smiling people with green landscape behind
Me and Allysse at Cheddar Gorge. I'm not really that short. (I am quite short.)
​Are there any podcasts (or other media) that inspired you more than others for the creation of the zine?

The initial spark came from listening to the Tough Girl podcast by Sarah Williams and wondering if there was anything similar for queer/LGBTQIA+ adventurers (there isn’t, as far as we know!). Allysse and I didn’t have the time or energy to do weekly, long-form interviews like that, so we knew we'd have to take a different approach. We’re also both really interested in the more creative side of audio as a format, and from that perspective I took inspiration from the creative journals I remember from uni and the collaborative zines I’ve enjoyed or been part of since then.

When it comes down to it, we had a hankering for stories of queer folks doing stuff outdoors - we wanted something like this to exist, and sometimes if you want something to exist you have to create it (or facilitate its creation) yourself. And that is quite a zine-y attitude.
Picture
Queer Out Here Issue 01 - cover art by Emma Charleston.
How did you go about organising the pieces into a coherent whole for the issue?

Ooh, this was interesting! Obviously, until we passed the submissions deadline, we couldn’t really decide on a running order. Once we had all the pieces, Allysse and I both went away and created our own track lists (I made some colourful spreadsheets, of course), then reconvened the following weekend to talk through our ideas. We’d independently come up with some of the same notions - like a preference for Adele’s piece coming first and Wendy’s coming last, and about the links between some of the pieces. A few pieces were harder to place than others - for example, Belinda’s poems are so powerful that we felt the piece following them needed give the listener a bit of space to come down.

Doing this was a bit like curating and planning an exhibition, with questions about theme, tone, format, creator and length all playing a part. We tried to mix things up - for example, not putting all the poetry, or all the American accents, or all the long pieces together - but we also wanted the zine to have a momentum, and to flow from one piece to the next rather than chopping and changing. In the end, we kind of created chapters within the zine, like rooms within a gallery - sections of about four pieces each, which we felt spoke to each other in some way.
person wearing headphones looking to the side
Recording links for Issue 01. (Actually, just posing in my PJs!)
person pulling face looking like they're going to eat the microphone
Now this is really what I look like when recording.
What has been the most interesting thing about making Issue 01?

Is it a cop-out to say “the whole process”? Like I said above, we started Queer Out Here because we wanted to listen to something and we couldn’t find it - and it was exciting to learn that other people obviously wanted to share and listen to these stories, too. I loved hearing all the pieces that were submitted - the range of topics, the different styles, the personalities of contributors, all of it! Overall, though, project is something of an experiment, so I’ve tried to approach without too many preconceptions and it’s been wonderful to watch it take shape so far.
What has been the most difficult thing about creating Queer Out Here for you?

Luckily, we didn’t encounter too many snags and hitches. Sure, there were a couple of technical concerns, but overall I feel like the two of us - and various helpful friends - managed to sort them out.

The hardest thing for me, personally, was the process of approaching people and asking for submissions. I’ve never enjoyed cold calling, fundraising, and the kinds of things that mean asking people to do something for you. Although I am obviously invested in the idea of Queer Out Here, I still find the approaching-and-asking process rather anxiety inducing. Issue 01 features several friends and acquaintances, but outside of my usual circles I took quite a scattergun approach, which didn’t work so well. This is something I want to focus on for Issue 02 - finding new people and groups to approach, and doing that in a more personal way.
What are your hopes for future issues?

My main hopes are that people keep creating and submitting interesting pieces and that Allysse and I continue to enjoy working together.

As well as more of the kinds of audio we feature in Issue 01, I would like to hear from people of colour, from Indigenous people, from people in countries outside of the UK, Australia and the USA, from older folks, from queer families and youth. I’d like to hear music, essays and documentaries, pieces about sport (team, solo, extreme, everyday), epic journeys, cultural geography, homelessness, relationships, ecology and conservation.

One thing I loved about Issue 01 was getting submissions from people who hadn’t created much (or any) audio before, as well as from people who do this professionally. I hope that mix continues. It would be amazing to hear from previous contributors as they continue to explore the possibilities of the medium, too.

You can listen to Issue 01 here, and on iTunes, PlayerFM, Stitcher and a few other places. Let us know what you think! Submissions for Issue 02 will open in May 2018.

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Interview: Introducing Queer Out Here

30/11/2017

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Look, it's another audio post. It’s almost as though I like the sound of my own voice. (I don’t, particularly, yet here we are again!)
Retro chrome vocal mic on mustard background
Not my microphone! (Photo from Max Pixel, used under a Creative Commons license.)
If we’re connected on social media you’ve probably seen me mention Queer Out Here. (For good measure: Like our page on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter!) Queer Out Here is an audio zine that explores the outdoors from queer/LGBTQIA+ perspectives. I’m co-editing it with Allysse from Beste Glatisant. The idea is that queer/LGBTQIA+ folks create outdoors-related sound pieces and submit them to Queer Out Here, then we collate them into an issue of the audio zine. (What’s an audio zine? Think of it as a sort of cross between an art journal, a zine and a podcast.) We launched the Queer Out Here website and call for submissions a couple of months ago and I am super excited to hear what people create. (Fellow outdoorsy queers, please submit something! Deadline is 2 January 2018.)

Here was our initial mini-introduction and invitation to contribute.

Queer Out Here - Issue 00

And now, Allysse and I have recorded an interview with each other as a kind of pre-zine introduction, or Issue 00, if you will. You can listen to it here (includes content notes and links to transcript on Google Docs and as PDF.)

Click the button below to listen to Issue 00 on the Queer Out Here website.

Listen to Queer Out Here Issue 00
I was nervous about recording this. I usually redraft my blog posts a couple of times and have Dan proofread them before I publish because I don’t like to make mistakes, say something that hurts other people, or something I’ll regret. So the idea of talking unscripted, then recording it and putting out there for everyone to hear - ugh! Add to that my self-consciousness about my speaking voice . . . Well, I almost didn’t do it at all.

“But, hey,” I thought, “If I want people to make audio for Queer Out Here - people who will also have their own hang-ups and anxieties about various elements of it - the least I can do is face my own discomfort.” And of course, it didn’t end up being as horrible as I feared. In fact, it was quite fun. As Allysse and I live in different parts of the UK, we played tag with questions and responses, recording our sections then emailing them over to the other person for their answers. I looked forward to hearing Allysse’s thoughts and the sounds of wherever she was recording. It wasn’t so bad doing my own parts, either, because I got to think about my responses before recording, make a mental (or written!) note about how I could answer the questions and re-record something if I stumbled badly over the words, or went off on a wild tangent or really couldn’t stand the way I sounded.
Golden landscape with QUEER OUT HERE writing
Queer Out Here banner - follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
The interview is based around four questions:
  • Does being queer affect your experience of being outdoors?
  • How is your creativity influenced by being outdoors?
  • What do you love about field recordings?
  • What kinds of outdoor places are you drawn to?
There are things I wish I’d said, or said differently, or not said. I wish I'd mentioned that submissions can be about all kinds of outdoors experience, not just travel, nature, sport, etc. I wish I'd acknowledged that when "I grew up on the Snowy River" or "lived in Melbourne", this was on GunaiKurnai/Krowathunkaloong and Kulin/Wurundjeri country. There are moments when I cringe at my voice - and there’s nothing like transcribing yourself to, like, I guess, realise all your bad speaking habits, you know? But it is what it is. Hopefully it’s mildly enjoyable for other people.

So, please pop this on your listening device and let Allysse and me chat to you for a bit. Issue 00 comes in at a bit over 50 minutes, which might suit your commute, or perhaps you could listen while making dinner . . . or maybe it’s something that will send you to sleep.

We’d love to hear from you - about this interview (content or format), about ideas for your own Queer Out Here submission/s, about our RSS feed (does it work for you), about groups and/or individuals you think we should get in touch with. You can leave a comment here, or contact Queer Out Here on Twitter, Facebook or by email.

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#30DaysWild: Random Acts of Wildness cards

30/6/2016

2 Comments

 
Last June, I had a great time doing #30DaysWild, and I drew a little doodle or sketch each day to show what I’d got up to. It seems that some of the folks at the Wildlife Trusts appreciated my little pictures, because they asked me if I’d like to do the illustrations for the Random Acts of Wildness cards in this year’s pack. Of course I wanted to! How cool is that?! Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in hearing a bit about the cards - thanks to Mags (of With Each New Day), Helen (of Stresswitch) and notso (of Bus-Stop Birding) for the following questions. If you’ve got other questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
Cards in different colours

What determined your choice of subjects? Did you think of the acts yourself or were you given a list?

I liaised with the fabulous Lucy McRobert at the Wildlife Trusts and she sent me a list of activities, along with some instructions about the shape and layout of the cards. Other than that I was left mostly to my own devices, which suited me. It was a nice way of working, to be free to think about the story I’d like to create around the text on each card. Some of the pictures are straight up illustrations of the text, others work in tandem with the statements.

On the other hand, this freedom meant that when I got stuck with what to draw, it took a lot of thinking to get me out of my pickle - I didn’t have many pointers! But, as is so often the case with creative things, some of the pictures that puzzled me the most ended out being my favourite illustrations. I had a hard time figuring how to illustrate "Google wild facts" without just showing a person at a computer. Hopefully the end result, although slightly fantastic, shows how research can bring ideas to life, off a screen and into reality (or at least into imagination).
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The first few illustrations had borders on them, but these were ditched (which made life easier for the designers and for me).

Did you work on the art at the location or from photos? Were any of the cards inspired by specific locations?

I was doing most of these illustrations in February and March, when it was cold and bleak and I was not surrounded by the flora and fauna of summer. This was one of the most difficult parts of the process. I couldn’t walk outside and think, “Oh, that’s an interesting flower,” and draw it. I had to try to remember what kinds of flowers or fungi or birds are around in June, then find images of them to work from - photos, diagrams, other illustrations. Inevitably, that meant I was limited to the things I could remember names for, or which showed up in my many Google searches on variations of “wildflowers in Devon” or “fungi UK June” or “summer migrant birds Scotland”. I also drew on the pictures I did during #30DaysWild in 2015, and on my photos from the last few summers, using them as inspiration.

(Incidentally, I just read this great conversation between Sarah Perry and Amy Liptrot at Caught by the River, which includes a discussion about the difficulties in writing out of season - I can relate!)

In terms of specific places, I worked from memory a lot of the time - not to create exact replicas, but to get the feeling of a landscape. In the "Meditate in the wild" illustration, the bay was inspired by the beach at Hastings or Bexhill (near where I live) looking towards Eastbourne and Beachy Head. In the sketch a wild landscape illustration, I drew on our walk along the Grand Union Canal. For other pieces, I looked at photos and films of relevant landscapes to try to create appropriate backgrounds. In the "Watch a wild webcam" picture, there’s an osprey in the foreground and a landscape inspired by the hills of midwest Wales in the background.
Three cards in blue and green
Left: "Google wild facts" took ages to get my head around. Middle: Can you identify that flower (it's edible)? Right: Cheeky mouse eating the bird food!

What is your artistic process for something like this? Straight in with the pen or pencil sketches first? What equipment do you use?

Interesting questions - though talking about “my process” makes me sound like I’m a pro, when I’m really not (this is the first time I’ve ever been paid to draw things, as far as I recall). As I said on Twitter, "Just have a bash at it!" is probably my first step.

All of the final images are black ballpoint pen on cartridge paper (sketchbook) - and a bit of whiteout, too! (That's Tipp-Ex or correction fluid to you.) There wasn’t a lot of reasoning behind that choice other than it’s what I had on hand when I began - and once I’d started I wanted to be consistent. If I did it again, I’d be interested to try out felt-tip pens. I knew the original images would be reduced a little in size for the cards, so I deliberately tried to keep them simple - lots of bold outlines, not too much shading. This also made them a bit like children’s book drawings, which appeals to me. I think Alison Lester’s artworks are gorgeous, and if my pictures captured even a little bit of the joy she is able to convey in her books, I’m happy.

For the first few images, I started with rough sketches and studies, but because pencil and pen are such different media (for me, anyway), I didn’t find that process very useful. As I continued, I tended to draw in proportions and light outlines with pencil and go at it with pen almost straight away. Some subjects required a bit more work, especially animals and people, where the proportions needed to be more accurate.
Picture
Left: Draft idea that I discarded. Middle: I want to be doing this right now. Right: Writing poems under a tree.

Were there any unused designs?

I ditched a couple of designs at draft stage, because they were boring or didn’t work for some reason. One of them was rejected as not being relevant enough to the text and I made a couple of spares just for the sake of it (again, I don’t think they were used). And then I did seven more on request that were to be part of the social media campaign - I haven’t seen them yet, though!
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I'll have to use the lily pads in another picture one day.
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Another comparison between illustration and final product.

Which illustration did you do first? Which is your favourite?

The first one I did, though I ended up redrafting it later, was the "Switch off to tune in" picture of the electrical cord turning into ivy. I was pretty pleased with that visual pun. It’s too hard to pick a single favourite, though. The pictures that were my favourites to draw aren’t necessarily the best images; and my favourite illustrations aren’t necessarily my favourite cards (some were changed around in the design process). But here’s a few . . .
  • Google wild facts. As I said above, the idea for the image took ages to come up with, and it went through a couple of drafts, but ended up being one of my favourites.
  • Read a wild book. I like the simplicity of this, the fact I’ve read in the grass so often and that the drawing came so quickly and easily (which I think comes across in the illustration; it doesn’t feel laboured).
  • Pick up litter. Again, hard to illustrate! Mainly I liked finding somewhere to put bats and a bat box (I did an internship at the Bat Conservation Trust a few years ago, and I love the cute wee things!)
  • Feel the wild between your toes. I’ve rediscovered my love of water over the last couple of years, inspired mainly by Roger Deakin’s fabulous book Waterlog. You should read it, then go and jump into a river!
  • Write a wild poem. I enjoy how serene the poet looks and I hope the squirrel doesn’t drop something on her head! I wanted the people in my illustrations to reflect some of the diversity of the people who might take part in #30DaysWild. I know that when images of particular spaces (the countryside, boardrooms, clubs, new housing developments) are only ever populated by images of particular kinds of people (be that white, straight, young, able bodied, thin, cisgender, male, adult, rich, or whatever) it can send the message that those spaces are not “for” anyone else. I don’t want people to feel excluded from the natural world around them.
  • Search for mini wildness. I spent a long, enjoyable time poring through mushroom books and fungi websites to make sure my tiny world was seasonally appropriate (even if all those species don’t grow in such close proximity).
  • Look up at the clouds. Here’s one of the few where I prefer my original to the card itself. I like the story of the cloud becoming a butterfly (or vice versa), but I don’t think that comes across in the final design. I should say that I’m not at all miffed about this or other pieces being changed around for the cards - I was happy for the designer to do as they wanted with what I supplied. I’ve worked on the other side of this transaction and I know how time consuming and stressful it can be to have to get everything signed off by multiple people. Far easier for the folks in the middle if I handed the pictures across and let them do what they needed to do!
I’d love to hear which cards other people like or find interesting and why . . .
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A couple of designs done for social media - I haven't seen them around yet!

Have you tried all the activities yourself?

No! I’ve managed a few of them this month and I did many more of them last year. One I really do want to try - hopefully more than once! - is a proper digital unplug. My partner and I go through stages of having a weekly screen-free evening, and that’s great, so a whole weekend must be even better, right? Think of all the books I could read! I wouldn’t mind setting up a bird picnic one day, too. And making a bug hotel. And making seed bombs (I love the idea of guerrilla gardening!). And, and, and . . .
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So, how was #30DaysWild for you? Have you followed people's adventures on Twitter? I have been a bit slack documenting my attempts to add some extra wildness to my days. Hopefully I'll do a summary post sometime soon. Meanwhile, if you have any more questions about the cards, pop them in a comment below and I'll try to give you an answer!

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Talk, once again, about tea

14/7/2015

4 Comments

 
I think it’s time for a cuppa. I’ve addressed the two big milk-in-tea questions, I’ve discussed bitter tea and tea bags and now it’s time to talk about caffeine and cosies.

"Does green tea really have more caffeine than black tea or coffee? Where does it fall on the caffeine scale?" - Emily

The simple (and incomplete) answer is: no. A cup of green tea usually has less caffeine than a cup of black tea, and a cup of black tea has less caffeine than a cup of coffee. Generally speaking, the caffeine ladder from most to least per cup is: coffee > black tea > oolong and green tea > white tea. “Decaffeinated” black or green teas still contain some caffeine. Herbal and fruit infusions (i.e. not made with any tea) and alternatives like rooibos are naturally caffeine free.

But there are some caveats. First, just as tea flavour varies as a result of geography, climate, weather, picking time, grade of leaf and processing, so too does the caffeine content. Here are some interesting stats about caffeine in green tea. Second, if you’re really keen to track your intake, it’s more important to note the caffeine content of your brewed tea than the dry leaves - the content per cup will vary depending on the amount of tea you use and how long you brew it. Also, if your tea contains non-caffeinated ingredients (like flowers, herbs or rice)  your cup will contain less caffeine. Finally, if you’re reusing leaves (this is traditional for some teas) the caffeine content decreases with successive brews.

"Where do you stand on tea cosies? I feel they leave the tea too hot to drink." - Dr G

Where do I stand on tea cosies? In the kitchen, in the living room, the bathroom or the street, wherever there is a tea cosy to stand on, I will stand on it. (Sorry.)

Tea cosies can be delightful to look at - my mum made a few gorgeous patchwork tea cosies when I was a kid - and in some cases they serve a practical purpose. I don’t use them because: (1) I brew tea immediately before drinking it; (2) I don’t have any teapots large enough to warrant keeping warm; and (3) I pre-warm my pot and cups, so the tea retains its heat for longer.

But here is a situation in which a tea cosy could be handy. Let's say you make a four-mug pot of Assam tea for you and a friend (removing the leaves after a few minutes to stop it from overbrewing). You pour two mugs of tea and are left with a half-full pot of tea that you want to keep warm. Tea cosy time! If you have thought ahead, you may have already warmed up the cosy, either by putting it on the pot during the original steeping time (though Dr G finds this makes the tea too hot) or by placing the tea pot on top of the cover while brewing (this works fine with a traditional soft cosy, not so much with those insulated metal covers). Now you and your friend can admire the craftiness of your lovely tea cosy as it sits on the table between you.

"What tea are you drinking right now?" - Everyone, ever

I’ve just received two tea deliveries, so I have lots to choose from! I ordered my favourite Keemun and a Lapsang Souchong from Hazelmere Cafe and Bakery. They also sent me two free samples - a Darjeeling (which I am yet to try) and an Assam (which I have finished). The Assam is from Dinjan Estate and Hazelmere describes it as, “A malty and full-flavoured red tea with a neat tippy sized leaf. It has a briskness and strength (typical of Assams) that make it an ideal morning tea or partner for strong or fried foods.” I say it has a good colour while the aroma has faintly fruity undertones along with the malt. The flavour not quite as deep or rich as I expected from the description, but is has a refreshing mid-palate zestiness. Four out of five stars from me.

I also ordered three teas from Imperial Teas: Earl Grey Cream, Osmanthus Black Tea and Ceylon Montecristo. The smell of the Earl Grey Cream leaves is incredible - delicious and almost overwhelming. I’m looking forward to my next cup. Finally, a month or two ago I bought some expensive fruit tea at Borough Market: a sweet and sour cinnamon and hibiscus infusion from Organic Life. It is delicious (which it should be at ~50p per cup) and I’ve enjoyed it both hot and iced.
Green tea with rice
Genmai cha: green tea (contains caffeine) with rice and corn (no caffeine).
Frothy green tea
Traditionally prepared matcha. Matcha is usually higher in caffeine.
Jasmine pearls, teapot and cups
Jasmine pearls. You only need 2-4 in a mug and they can be reused.
Tea pot and brown cosy
Tea cosies: they're like bobble hats for your tea pots.
Quilted tea cosy
Alternatively: quilts for your tea pots.
Floral tea set
So . . . who's for tea?
Cup of tea on red placemat
A beautiful, red Assam tea. (Not mine!)

NB: All photos in this post are used free of charge under Creative Commons licensing. Click an image to be taken to the source and to find out about the specific license.

Do you have a pressing question about tea? Let me know and I shall endeavour to answer it. Do you use a tea cosy? Let us know if you have a preference - quilted, knitted, felted - and please share your cosy tips!

4 Comments

Talk about tea, again

19/11/2014

7 Comments

 
It's been a while since my first blog post about tea, so it's high time to re-visit the topic. I'd love to hear your tea-related questions in the comments - I'll do my best to answer them there or in a future post. But for now, make yourself a brew and take a few minutes to relax . . .
Tea in a decorative glass
Flavour is not only in the mouth, but in the mind. A beautiful glass can enhance the tea-drinking experience. ("A Japanese tea" by Maaco.) *

Why is my tea bitter?

Yuck! There are three main possibilities that your tea tastes too bitter: you used too much tea, your water was too hot, or you brewed it for too long. It could also be that your tea is a cheap teabag of green tea dust, but that can often be mitigated by being careful about the other three factors. My suggestion, if following the packet instructions is producing a bitter brew, is to experiment with the following:
  • Tea quantity: For most teas, you only need one teaspoon of leaves per cup of water. You don’t need “one for the pot” – especially if you’re making jasmine tea (trust me). While adding more tea leaves can produce a more intense flavour, one of the flavours it’s likely to amplify is tannin-y bitterness. Some people, especially when drinking tea without milk or sweetener, like to use even less than a teaspoon of tea per cup. Experiment to find what's right for your tastebuds, your mood and the tea you're using.
  • Water temperature: Many black teas and most herbal/fruit infusions can take water straight off the boil, but boiling water can scald the leaves of delicate black, oolong, green and white teas. If you're using a kettle, let it sit for a minute or two before pouring the water over the leaves (or add a bit of cold water if you can’t wait). If using an urn, put the water in the cup/pot and let sit for 30 seconds before adding the leaves.
  • Infusion time: As a general rule, I start with 2-2.5min for green tea, 3-3.5min for black tea, 5min for herbal/fruit teas. (There are many exceptions to this rule, like the Keemun described in my last tea post, the 10 second brewing time for Pu-erh, or the completely different preparation method for matcha.) Timing is tricky, because you want to get the fullest flavour from the leaves, but if you leave it too long you’ll get bitter, “stewed” tea.
Having said all this, there is also the possibility that you just don't like a particular kind of tea. That's OK. Not everyone has to like everything. Let me know how your experimenting goes.

What are your opinions on teabags?

Remember how I said people shouldn’t be snobs about tea? Because tea is all about enjoyment and we shouldn’t look down our noses at other people’s enjoyment? Well, it was a noble sentiment, but my opinion on teabags is that they’re mostly pretty dodgy.

A lot of people prefer teabags to loose-leaf tea "for convenience", especially if they’re making tea at work. I can understand that and I have been known to drink tea and other infusions from teabags – gasp! But the ritual of making tea is part of the enjoyment for me. I’d much rather take an extra few seconds to spoon loose leaf tea into an infuser (a deep, mesh-basket style is good, because it lets the leaves expand) and an extra minute or two to let the tea infuse properly and rinse out the infuser. This way, I end up more relaxed and with a better tasting cup of tea.

But, if you must use a teabag, then hear this! Not all teabags are created equal. First, there are the ones most people mean when they say “teabag”, i.e. supermarket brands like Tetley’s, Typhoo, PG Tips, Yorkshire, Lipton or Twinings (if you’re fancy). Then there are the silk pyramids and similar you get from specialty tea companies like Tea Pigs.**

One difference between the two is that the silk bags are usually filled with a better grade of tea (i.e. larger leaf pieces or intact leaves, like a good loose-leaf tea) and the bags are bigger, which allows the leaves to expand and the water to circulate while steeping. These teabags give a more interesting flavour, offer more variety and stay fresher for longer (because the oils don’t evaporate as quickly due to the smaller surface area). Supermarket brand tea bags usually contain a lower grade of tea (i.e. tea fannings or dust – very small pieces of broken leaf). These leaves make a stronger tea and have a shorter brewing time, but the tea lacks subtlety and variation. The takeaway message is: check the content of the teabag - generally, the bigger the leaf the better the quality.

In the end, though, it’s up to you: I won’t judge you for making teabag tea. Unless you’re running a café and I’m paying for it, in which case, I will absolutely judge you and definitely find you wanting.
Close up of white tea leaves
Whole white tea leaves. ("Fujian Silver Needle" by Rebecca Siegal.)
Green tea leaves in a cup
Whole green tea leaves. ("Sencha" by Christian Kaden.)
Oolong tea leaves
Whole oolong tea leaves. ("Fujian Rain" by Rebecca Siegel.)
A tea bag
A teabag filled with tea dust. ("Tea Bag" by Anders Adermark.)

Notes

* All photos licenced for use under Creative Commons, click through to find original images on Flickr.
** Then there are novelty teabags that look like goldfish - which, yes, OK, fine, I admit they're cute.

Do you have a question about tea? A correction or further advice for your fellow readers? Leave a comment!

7 Comments

Talk about tea

1/9/2014

8 Comments

 
I love drinking tea, I love learning about tea cultures and the history of tea, I love tea paraphernalia, I love making and sharing tea and I love answering questions about tea. These excellent questions came from friends on Twitter.    

What tea are you drinking right now?

Delicate white teacup and saucerTea at Hazelmere Cafe & Bakery.
Keemun (Anhui Province, China). The leaves are long and rolled fairly tightly, so I let it brew for about 5-6 minutes – longer than usual – to give the tea time to unfurl and infuse. These leaves produce a gorgeous, warm, copper coloured tea (or ‘liquor’, as it’s known in the business), with a bright aroma and a lovely combination of bright, rich, floral flavours, along with a hint of smoke – but only a hint, as though my mouth is recalling the memory of smoke from a distant chimney, across frosty fields.

I bought it from Hazelmere Café & Bakery when we visited the Lake District a few months ago. I keep curving my focus back to this cup, the warmth against my hand, the smell and flavour, giving each sip my full attention.

Milk in tea: yes or no?  

Milk in a small flower-patterned jugCute jugs: a good reason to have milk in tea.
If you like. Tea is for enjoying, and there's nothing to gain from looking down one's nose at how other people get enjoyment from it.

Most reasons against taking tea with milk and/or sweetener boil down to custom (which is historically and culturally specific) and flavour (which is an individual experience influenced by culture). There are plenty of traditional examples of tea taken with extras: spiced and milky, buttered and salty, strong and jammy (mmm, jammy) or, more recently, iced and dotted with chewy tapioca balls – and let’s not forget iced tea cocktails for partying and chamomile with milk and honey to get to sleep afterwards!

These extras do make it harder to discern the subtleties of a tea or tea blend, so I’d recommend trying your brew unadorned at least once, but unless you’re a pro tea taster and/or buying super swanky tea, it’s not an issue. I take soy milk in most medium-strong black teas (including Assam, Earl Grey and Lapsang Souchong – my standards) and many flavoured rooibos/black teas, but not in oolong, green, white or herbal teas. I don’t often use sweeteners, but I love my Rooibos Chai with soy milk and golden syrup!

Milk-then-tea or tea-then-milk?

Mug of teaTea-then-milk. Because of science.
Enough open-mindedness about milk in tea. If you are going to have milk in your tea, the tea goes into the cup first and the milk goes in last. This is an objective fact as verified by science and has nothing to do with cultural customs or personal preferences.  Here are my top tea-then-milk reasons, in order of importance:
  • You have more control over the tea:milk ratio and are better able to regulate the tea colour. People can be very particular about this, as you will know if you've ever tried to make tea for an office full of tea-drinking colleagues.
  • I don’t drink my tea from soft-paste porcelain on loan from the V&A (I wish!). Milk-first is allegedly a hangover from a time when teacups were so delicate they might crack if very hot liquid was poured into them directly.
  • When using a teabag, the tea won't steep properly if the milk is already in the cup.
  • The milk makes pretty swirly patterns. I like to drink art.

If you're interested in reading further and potentially discovering that my tea-then-milk answer might in fact be subjective opinion, heavily influenced by cultural customs and personal preference, the Guardian has more debate and anecdata.

What tea did people like to buy at the tea shop?    

I used to work at a lovely shop called Tea Party, at the Vic Market in Melbourne. We sold black, oolong, green and white tea, as well as rooibos, herbal and fruit infusions. You can still buy some Tea Party teas through Petal.

The top sellers were French Earl Grey (a black tea with bergamot, fruit flavours and rose petals) and Eastern Sunrise (a sencha flavoured with passionfruit, rose petals and marigold). Non-flavoured teas, such as Scottish Breakfast (a blend of African teas, if my memory serves me correctly) were also popular, but people often wanted to try new things or buy gifts, so they tended to go for flavoured teas. One of the silliest things I heard from a customer was that they would not buy French Earl Grey as a birthday present “for a man” because it had pink flower petals in it. I am not sure what effect they thought this would have on the recipient - maybe they thought he would lose Man Points™?

If you've got a question about tea, let me know in the comments or on Twitter and I’ll answer it here, there or in a future post.

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