George Orwell, British author author of “1984”, was also a great passionate about tea. In fact, it published under the title “A nice cup of tea” a list with 11 tips related to its preparation. It must be borne in mind that he wrote it in 1946, and that from a current point of view there would be a few debatable points.
Likewise, it is always appreciated that a person so influential gives us his opinion on the matter. It should be noted that George Orwell is considered possibly the best chronicler of English culture of the twentieth century. Well, here is a summary of Mr. Orwell’s advice.
1 – Use Ceylan or Indian tea. It is not necessary to despise the Chinese tea, but if it is prepared with milk the best thing is Indian tea.
2 – Prepare the tea in a teapot, if possible of Chinese porcelain or earthenware.
3 – Preheat the teapot
4 – The tea must be strong. It literally says “It’s worth more just one cup of strong tea that 20 cups of weak tea.”
5 – The tea should be put directly in the teapot, without filters or bags.
6 – The water must be added when boiling. Reherving the water does not make any difference.
7 – Once made the tea, shake the teapot so that the leaves settle.
8 – Tea is to be drunk in a cylindrical breakfast cup, the higher the better. Another type of cups cools the tea long before you start enjoying it.
9 – Discard the cream of the milk before serving it in the tea. Too creamy milk gives tea a bad taste
10 – Add the tea first, then the milk. This allows to know the level of milk that is needed depending on the tea.
11 – The tea is drunk without adding sugar, unless it is not taken in the Russian style. It is a bitter drink that has to taste bitter. He adds that “if you add sugar, why do not you add salt and pepper as well?”
Mr. Orwell himself comments in the introduction to his advice that he knows there are a couple of them who are in general agreement, as well as that there are 4 that can arouse controversy. He also considers these councils “my rules” and comes to consider them “golden.”
Going over his advice, he seems to drink black tea with cow’s milk, which is very “british”. Saving the distances, in the fact of drinking the tea without milk in our case, we would speak of 9 norms to compare.
So, here our humble comparison:
Fully agree with that tea without sugar, in teapot, in whole leaves without filters or bags, and in that the tea stronger better than smooth. This is a total of 4 out of 9 to start, which is fine.
Half a pair of these standards, such as heating the teapot previously and then shaking it to set the leaves. Heating the kettle is very typical in the traditional Gong Fu tea ceremony in China, although it is heated by pouring water over it. Of course, not everyone has a tea table with water deposit in the office, for example. As for how to shake the kettle, if the leaf is whole and has poured water as is necessary no need.
And disagree with how to rehervir the water and the glasses. We have already published an article about rehervir the water, which you can access here, and the cups do not influence if it is prepared and served at the right temperature.
And strongly disagree with using only Ceylan or Indian tea. Mr. Orwell, Chinese green tea is extraordinary, and indeed the best varieties, which are also the original ones, are Chinese. Look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his character Sherlock Holmes, who had as their favorite tea the Pu Shan Xiao Zhong (aka Lapsang Souchong), a smoky black tea with a really strong flavor and aroma, which we reviewed in our Tea Time. And the Chinese varieties of black tea “Dianhong” are really nice and gourmet quality.
But in summary, and back to the beginning, the nice thing about all this is that a person as interesting as George Orwell would get wet in his day, until literally getting infused, on how to have tea based on his tastes. Thank you Mr. Orwell, and enjoy yor tea !!
