We drive on the left and health care is free.

CPFC1905

GATraveller said:

What are Chav girls?

OK, so "Chav" emerged as a collective term for an element of society about 10 years ago or so.   Its etymology is believed to be from the Romany term "chava" meaning man,  in the sense we say "bloke".

We, the Brits, are very fond of labelling people and particularly enjoy snobbery in all its forms.  A less endearing, but sustaining feature of our national psyche and it often manifests in taking cheap shots at anyone successful and being broadly pessimistic about everything.   (I don't work in tourism, you might have guessed).

The term Chav is obliquely applied to anyone of the lower social orders and distinguishable by any or all of the following features;
1) clad in garish lounge-wear (track-suits) ; the Burberry check especially.
2) cheap and copious jewellery
3) feckless attitude to social responsibility
4) chaotic lifestyle
5) a fan of drinking cheap booze, football, drugs, shop-lifting, baseball caps, vests, smoking, aggressive dogs and reproduction.
6) very narrow vocabulary, the majority of which is conflated to barely penetrable noise
7) a "rough diamond", "misunderstood", "harmless and loves his Mum"

I would be disinclined to google "chav-girl" while at work.

Does that help?

GATraveller

Brilliant.
Contrary to advice I Googled "chav girl" - was not disappointed! 

CPFC1905

SitRep : 6 cups of tea and 2 coffees today.  Will migrate on to herbal tea now (Summer Berry).

Impact Assessment : the PG tips are finished and now we're on to Yorkshire Tea bags (meh - not as good in my opinion)

Oh, and @GATraveller you are a bad man, that's not what Google is for

Eoin

Twinings English Strong Breakfast FTW

GATraveller

Could you give me instructions on how to make a proper cup of English tea please. 

Thanks!

Eoin

GATraveller said:

Could you give me instructions on how to make a proper cup of English tea please. 

Thanks!

Assuming you are not going to the trouble of loose leaf tea in a tea pot:

1. Take your teabag of choice.  Twinings for me.

2. Place fresh water in the kettle.  We use filtered water.

3. Bring close to boil.

4. Take a nice mug.  Preferably china.  Pour in some water to warm the mug.

5. Bring kettle to boil.  Tip out warming water and place tea bag in mug.

6. Pour boiling water onto teabag.  MUST be boiling, not allowed to cool at all.

7. Mash tea to taste.  Some people stir and remove the bag, others let it sit.  This bit depends how you like your tea.  We usually stir, let it sit for a bit and then mash the bag with a spoon before removing.

8. Add fresh milk.  Again, this is personal taste as to full or semi skimmed, we prefer semi skimmed. Not too much either.

9. Serve with your dunking biscuit of choice - rich tea or ginger nut is my preference.

Reasons why foreigners (Europe outside of the UK and Ireland and the whole USA) generally make bad tea.  One of these is enough to ruin a cup of tea, most foreigners employ all 3 to ensure their tea is truly awful.

1. Rubbish tea bags.

2. Using hot, not boiling, water.

3. Using cream, creamer or UHT milk.

CPFC1905

This discussion is beset by controversy! 
re; #6 - there is a strong body of evidence to suggest that just off the boil is optimal.

Eoin

CPFC1905 said:

This discussion is beset by controversy! 
re; #6 - there is a strong body of evidence to suggest that just off the boil is optimal.

That is indeed controversial.

The Chinese water methodology used to be based on bubble size - tiny bubbles is barely starting to simmer up to a full boil. The degree of boiling was related to the type of tea, black tea as we normally drink needing a full boil and green tea not so hot.

GATraveller

This is the exact info I was looking for.  Thank you guys for enlightening this Yank.

How long do you let the bag steep?  

CPFC1905

@GATraveller, excellent question;  traditionally it is 3 minutes - albeit that equally applies to making pot of tea.

Several things to consider;
1) How strong do you like it?
2) What is the thermal efficiency of the surface upon which your mug is placed?
3) How hot can you drink it?

In my case;
1) "builder's" - that's at the stronger end of the spectrum and should yield a rich brown colour once milk is added.
2) Mug on a metal or stone table top will sap heat - fast! Use a chopping block or any wooden surface that is to hand - or a place mat.
3) V.hot - I am a speed drinker.   

Don't leave in there too long,  it goes a bit acidic and you'll probably see a peculiar sheen rise to the surface too.

A clean mug is a great tip from @Eoin - it'll certainly taste worse in a dirty mug.  
(NB Dirty Mug is not Cockney Rhyming Slang, by the way - i just means mug that's dirty).

Strength scale ranges from "gnat's p1ss" through to "you could stand your spoon up in that"  (weakest to strongest).  Intermediate stages include; "dishwater", "soppy", weak, decent, stewed and Sgt Major's. 

Hope that helps?  

GATraveller

Great info!  Thanks.