brew tea

[ostap77]

What do you do with tea when you pour hot water over tea leaves? You brew it in a small kettle or let it stand in it?

 

[lauralie2]

What do you do with tea when you pour hot water over tea leaves? You brew it in a small kettle or let it stand in it?

The word is "steep".

 

[ostap77]

The word is "steep".

So you don't brew tea or stand it you only steep it?

 

[bhaisahab]

So you don't brew tea or stand it you only steep it?

In BrE we say "let the tea stand for ten minutes" or "let the tea brew for ten minutes".

 

[ostap77]

In BrE we say "let the tea stand for ten minutes" or "let the tea brew for ten minutes".

What about "to steep"?

 

[Rover_KE]

You pour boiling water from the kettle onto the tea leaves (or teabags) in the teapot (or mug) and let it brew.

In BE we don't use 'steep'.

Rover

 

[bhaisahab]

What about "to steep"?

I've never heard or used "steep" in connection with making tea.

 

[SoothingDave]

Tea Brewing Basics, How to Store Loose Teas, What is a tea sachet

This American purveyor of fine teas uses "brewing" to describe making tea, and advises "steep times" for the various blends.

 

[Barb_D]

I'm so surprised by this thread -- I would have bet money that "steep" was more common in the UK than in the US.

It is, however, reasonably common in the US.

 

[BobK]

I've never heard or used "steep" in connection with making tea.

:up: But the verb is OK in general for leaving things for a time in a liquid. And it's also used metaphorically to refer to an intellectual climate - 'steeped in the wisdom of the ancients' - sort of thing.

The verb 'brew' correlates so strongly with tea that in some parts of the UK it's used informally as a noun (meaning 'cup/mug of tea'): 'This afternoon's going so slowly... Is it time for a brew yet?'

b

 

[lauralie2]

:cheers:

'This afternoon's going so slowly... Is it time for a brew yet?'

b

On this side of the pond, the noun "brew" in that context has just one meaning, "beer".

 

[ostap77]

:cheers:On this side of the pond, the noun "brew" in that context has just one meaning, "beer".

Is it sometimes "brewsky"?

 

[lauralie2]

Is it sometimes "brewsky"?

Yes. :-D

 

[ostap77]

Yes. :-D

I very much like the way you put it "on this side of the pond".

 

[lauralie2]

I very much like the way you put it "on this side of the pond".

Thanks, but it's a fairly common phrase, neither mine nor American in origin--notice the word "pond".

 

[BobK]

Thanks, but it's a fairly common phrase, neither mine nor American in origin--notice the word "pond".

I have been working on the idea of a joke based on the fairly obscure word 'transpontine' - which means 'coming from across the bridge'. This use of 'trans-' to describe a domicile on the other side of a known big object presumably dates back to the Latin division of Gallia into Transalpina and Cisalpina (a 'Rome-centric' view of 'trans-'). Similarly, 'transpontine' was used to refer to the less fashionable parts of London south of the Thames. Anyone who was Anyone knew how to interpret the 'trans-' i.e. from a northern point of view - where Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament), the Tower, the 'Square Mile', Hyde Park, Trafalgar Sq ... etc etc are.

I'm often tempted to refer to America as 'transponDine', but - until now - I've kept it to myself. You guys are a Bad Influence. ;-)

b

 

[lauralie2]

I like it.