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Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 2:48 pm
by Snape
Ron Clay wrote:What many remember most about Bill Quinlan was his habit of brewing tea from the water of the lake or river he happened to be fishing at the time.
Frank Guttfield described his tea as extremely strong, sweet, thick and gooey. I once spoke to an employee of Thames Water (I was selling them filters at the time for the removal of cryptosporidium) and mentioned that I often brewed my tea from local gravel pit water. He mentioned that as long as you boiled it for at least 5 minutes, the water was fit to drink.
I recall reading that the habit of brewing Redmire tea from the pool water would result, in some years, in the end result being more like shrimp soup due to the huge amounts of daphnia in the water.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 3:10 pm
by Davyr
Water boiled for at least 5 minutes doesn't make very good tea, though!
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 8:57 pm
by Ron Clay
Very true, the dissolved oxygen is boiled off.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 9:03 pm
by Mark
Is it good for you teeth though, I read that Bill used to keep his teeth in a mug full of water. :chuckle:
Wasn't it Len Arbury or Rod Hutchinson that kicked the mug over once and Bill's teeth ended up in Redmire or something on those lines.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 9:16 pm
by Snape
Ron Clay wrote:Very true, the dissolved oxygen is boiled off.
The loss of dissolved oxygen affects the taste which is why tea should always be made with, as the Victorians said, freshly drawn water.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 10:11 pm
by Vole
I thought all the dissolved gases were knocked out by the time the water was anywhere near boiling?
Then again, I have the palate of a rather peckish goat.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 10:18 pm
by Snape
Vole wrote:I thought all the dissolved gases were knocked out by the time the water was anywhere near boiling?
Then again, I have the palate of a rather peckish goat.
No. The solubility of oxygen decreases considerably with temperature but it takes a while for it to leave the solution so it needs to be at an elevated temperature for some time. It is therefore a compromise between needing 100 degrees water temp to rupture the cells to release the flavours etc properly and losing too much oxygen. Therefore ideally it should be made with water brought to the boil from cold and made at the moment the water reaches boiling. The water should not be re-boiled.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 5:18 am
by Vole
Right; thanks, Snape!
I shall empty and re-fill the kettle at home more thoroughly.
Snag: I need to boil off the chlorine or whatever they put in it here - 3 Valleys' water just doesn't taste as nice as Thames'... the only downside of the flight from Cricklewood.
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 6:37 am
by Michael
Funnily enough I never "fill up" the kettle, I just fill with what I need, something my grandmother used to do it and I`ve followed on. I`ve fished with the man who used and wrote about racing beans and I concur they are cheap....
Re: Loveable Rogue
Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 7:40 am
by Snape
Vole wrote:Right; thanks, Snape!
I shall empty and re-fill the kettle at home more thoroughly.
Snag: I need to boil off the chlorine or whatever they put in it here - 3 Valleys' water just doesn't taste as nice as Thames'... the only downside of the flight from Cricklewood.
Filter the water before boiling.
Anyway back to Bill Quinlan....