Tea in the wild?

[Moonraker]

Chriskavanaugh wrote:

"...as emotionally needed as a traumatised child holding to a teddy bear..."

This is also what tea in the wild and elsewhere is for me...well a foreigner totally addicted to the British "cuppa"..

I hate tea bags, will never surrender to them, don't understand how the British could so easily give up on tea leaves! :rolmao:

So tea for me is infused organic tea leaves, milk, no sugar.

In the wild I indulge to this little tea ceremony: a drain the right size staying in a mug and then removed. The leaves thrown out, no harm to the environment. Then powder milk because of its light weight.

Alternatively, organic green tea leaves: got myself used to not having milk with these.

I have tried pine needles: do you have to crush them first? Just broken in tiny bits doesn't seem to give much taste/colour to your drink. Does anyone know more on this?

Quite agree nomade except for the sacrilege of using powdered milk

A cup filter is also useful as a water filter before purification. It can also be used well with pine needles, mint etc etc for a tisane.

Tea bags are nasty things with basically the floor sweepings of the tea at best and require carrying out with you.

The needles and tender twigs of the pine can be gathered at any time of the year and cut into one inch sections after which they are covered with water and gently simmered in a pot with a tight fitting lid for about twenty minutes. The resulting tea will be delicate and lemony in flavor and high in
vitamin C. Pine resin is also antiseptic, Pine needle tea will be helpful for sore throats, for gum diseases and as a wound wash.

In old Russia peasants would make a Pine needle wash for the sore legs of horses. Try it as a foot bath when your feet and legs are tired after a long hard day.

 

[BIG-TARGET]

Without sweet-n-low in my tea,,,,,,we're in trouble!!! :yikes:

 

[Skippy]

i used to have a little metal tea ball, which i lost on the trail about two years ago, brilliant gadget, if anyone knows where i can get a new one....great

 

[Skippy]

pine needles best very finely chopped and infused

 

[BIG-TARGET]

i used to have a little metal tea ball, which i lost on the trail about two years ago, brilliant gadget, if anyone knows where i can get a new one....great

Any kitchen supply shop on the planet. They even sell them in any local Walmart

 

[leon-1]

The problem BT is that he is in England and Wall-Marts are few and far between, I have a diffuser that it is a spring with two mesh cups, one mesh cup filled with tea is great and when he waters it, it fills both.

I love it to bits, but I also spent a long time in the military and did not have time (a lot of the time) to brew using this, as a result I drank coffee more often than not (black with sugar) because it was easier.

I am now trying to remedy that fact, I love my Earl Grey (was even nick named Lord Earl Grey by some of the guys that I worked with) and used to drink it whenever I was in camp along with russian tea with lemon, which is a most refreshing drink (commie Leon would not of gone down very well with me and probably still won't).

 

[BIG-TARGET]

You mean walmart has store in the most remote areas of China, but none in England.

Go figure !!!!!! :shock:

 

[Kim]

You can't beat nettle tea, paticulary if it's fresh. I've not tried pine but I've heard that's nice too.

 

[Paganwolf]

You can't beat nettle tea, paticulary if it's fresh. I've not tried pine but I've heard that's nice too.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm nettle tea perfect, im bringing some herbal teas back from Oz as they seam to have tonnes of the stuff out here, also coffe in a tube! its like coffe toothpaste yummo :biggthump

 

[Kim]

Coffee in a tube...that comes out like toothpaste...Wow...that's got to be a caffine freaks idea of heaven surely.

COFFE IN A TUBE, get your kicks whilst cleaning your teeth... :shock:

 

[BIG-TARGET]

You can't beat nettle tea, paticulary if it's fresh. I've not tried pine but I've heard that's nice too.

Dumd confirmation question, for pine needle tea, just pluck the needle from the tree, right??? :?:

 

[Paganwolf]

Dumd confirmation question, for pine needle tea, just pluck the needle from the tree, right??? :?:

Crush and steep as you do most teas..

 

[Kim]

As far as I'm aware, yes....don't know if different types of pine taste different though...hey, you could have your 'morning breakfast' pine, with a 'earl grey' pine for later in the day, and your bog standard 'builder's' pine for whenever you wanted....

 

[BIG-TARGET]

Crush and steep as you do most teas..

THANK YOU!!!! :wave:

 

[BIG-TARGET]

Thank you!!!!

Now I don't have to carry teabags into the pine barrens!! :wave:

 

[Neil1]

I normally carry "monkeys" bags but also a few Earl Gray bags too. My favourite refreshment on the trail however is -Water Mint Tea - I often make little detours to boggy areas looking for those little purplr/blue flowers. Just bruise the leaves and stem and steep in boiled water for five minutes it is just perfection.
Neil

 

[Deleted member 1143]

Great amount of replies thanks,

Kim's comment about how the standard pine is like the builders tea struck a chord, being a builder myself (of sorts) I hadn't realised how dependant I am on it. In fact I'd go as far as saying that my body clock has been programmed that 10 o clock is time for tea!

What I'm looking for in particular is a granular or instant tea that doesn't require milk, I remember having a brand called 'New Leaf' a while ago whilst on a scout trip, it was a kind of apple tea and did the trick very nicely however can't for the life of me track it down...has anyone else tried it and know where I can get it?

Thanks, Jack

 

[Carcajou Garou]

Cedar, pine teas are high in vitamin C also Bonus!!!
just a thought

 

[Skippy]

a granulated tea that does not have to have milk is called QT
use it myself, does not taste too brilliant but welcome on cold winter camps

 

[Moonraker]

Great amount of replies thanks,

Kim's comment about how the standard pine is like the builders tea struck a chord, being a builder myself (of sorts) I hadn't realised how dependant I am on it. In fact I'd go as far as saying that my body clock has been programmed that 10 o clock is time for tea!

What I'm looking for in particular is a granular or instant tea that doesn't require milk, I remember having a brand called 'New Leaf' a while ago whilst on a scout trip, it was a kind of apple tea and did the trick very nicely however can't for the life of me track it down...has anyone else tried it and know where I can get it?

Thanks, Jack

Jack, isn't that the same as Gary mentioned earlier?

Lift Apple tea and a thermo of hot water - works for me!!

. Made by Premier Foods who also make Typhoo Tea.

A nice review here

Lift Instant Apple Tea - Review

Not my cup of tea though

I normally carry "monkeys" bags but also a few Earl Gray bags too. My favourite refreshment on the trail however is -Water Mint Tea - I often make little detours to boggy areas looking for those little purplr/blue flowers. Just bruise the leaves and stem and steep in boiled water for five minutes it is just perfection.
Neil

I dare not ask wat 'monkeys bags are' :yikes: some jungle speciality no doubt, or another army lingo

Yep, like I said it is one of my favourite wild treats to make mint tea like they serve in Turkiye and great for a refreshment on hot days :biggthump

It is one reason I find a cup size tea filter so handy. Because you can chuck tea leaves in or gathered and chopped leaves in, fill with hot water, leave to seep for a few minutes then simply pull out and you have nice leaf free drink.

I also use it to filter out bits from water before boiling etc ( I put some charcoal in the actual filter which helps to sweeten the water as it filters) so it is dual purpose.

You can get all sorts of tea filters. I prefer these as they allow proper contact of tea leaves with the water; I find the smaller diffusers are OK but not as good to extract full flavour quickly. They come in all sizes and in plastic or metal mesh or even gold plated for posh people I also us this for making coffee. Simply put the grounds into the filter in the cup and pull out after a minute. Nice and easy and simple to clean too.

A few examples:

( all from Fantes - Tea Infusers which is an American site but with lots varieties most of which you can get in the UK)

Large Mesh Tea Ball

Heavy-Mesh Snap Tea Infuser, 2.5"

Stainless Infuser/Strainer for Mugs

SwissGold Tea Ball (gold plated foild. Not the most expensive )

Stainless Mug with Lid & Infuser Basket