This problem applies to most hobbies that I'm interested in as well as my work :/ Detailing: Can't let anyone else touch the paintwork of my car much less wash it. Keyboards: Have to type on rubber domes at work almost all the time, unless I'm using my own work laptop with my Filco attached. Coffee: I can't really call this a hobby for me (yet ) but there's a choice of teabags and instant coffee in school. I think I've already mentioned that I don't do instant coffee any more, so I only drink tea there. Flashlights: People don't understand this hobby until they try to do something in poor light and I illuminate it with the 500 lumens that live in my pocket almost every day. If it's not a 500, it's always at least 220, which is still ~210 better than your average "nichia special" that most tradesmen carry. Computers: I am confronted daily by slow office computers that are not even quick enough to do simple office tasks on at a productive rate, and servers that haven't got enough resources for the demands of the network they're on. I could go on and on! This is the same in school. That wall mounted boiler ruins the flavour of everything. I'm not a tea enthusiast and am only making tea with regular teabags, but I can still taste the difference... I won't even get into the mugs. I bring my own.
It's not so much a case of failing to wash them properly, it's more the fact that the stuff is so strongly bonded to the ceramic that you'd have to remove the glaze to get it off
Would love to. But moving between five different locations in three hospitals and a hospice on a weekly basis, I didn't have a steady perch until a few weeks ago, when in one hospital at least I got my own office. I carry camping cutlery in my bag. It's because the water is stewing in a calcified tank all day. All the oxygen disappears and the water becomes musty. Kinda. I could do a core sample to reconstruct the last 50 years of a cup's drinking history. That actually happens. Some hard-core alcoholic patients used to steal the hand sanitizer. Now they bolt the bottles onto the wall. They also changed the formula and added an unpleasant bitter taste, but (no surprise) that didn't seem to put them off. Some wards now keep the bottles in plain view of the ward desks.
I went to a hospital on business about 18 months ago for a (web) development meeting, I think I got one of their "special" mugs for guests - it was a Brian Adams tour mug... beautiful! My drinks of choice: Water chilled or with ice Black Coffee either from the filter/pot machine at work or cafetiere at home Green Tea Early Grey with a small splash of milk Yorkshire Tea with milk - strong, only a small amount of milk. What can I say my Mother's family are from Yorkshire (Harrogate) I never have sugar in my hot drinks, after switching 10 years ago I couldn't go back to sugar. Too much milk gives me a stomach ache so even if I liked it milky I wouldn't.
The hospitals here removed the wall-mounted ones for that reason, all the staff have little bottles clipped to their belts instead... ...not that they ever bother using it
It's murder on your hands --on an average day a nurse may sterilise her hands about 50 times. The soap often is harsh, too. In some hospitals they have soaps now that are especially formulated to be soft on skin, and they have hand lotion in all the staff toilets.
I have to generally avoid the stuff... I come out in blisters and/or a bad rash when I come into contact with it [including if the person who used a keyboard before me on had used it or it'd been wiped down with one of those sanitizer wipes]...
That's just a good patina, kinda like the result of a cast iron skillet after decades of use. It imparts flavor and grows hair on your chest; it makes you a manly man. Or so I'm told. If you're a tea enthusiast, it's probably best if you stop reading now. I'm about to make you cry. I actually don't know anything about tea/coffee other than it seems to be like every other niche hobby in the world. Some people swear by sacred recipes shrouded in ritualist preparation methods and arcane hardware. Me? I put my generic tea bags directly in the kettle while the water comes to a rolling boil over a gas stove. Then I grab the nearest mug (giving it a quick rinse if necessary) and pour the boiling tea over a generous scoop of sugar. I'm not above fruit flavored teas. Every morning I pour store brand flavored coffee grounds into my Keurig reusable K-cup and make a cup of coffee. I pour the coffee into a stainless steel travel mug (again, over a generous scoop of sugar and lots of milk). I'd love to enjoy one of those mythical cups of tea that will change my life forever. One of these days, perhaps. In the meantime, you've all inspired me. I'm now going to take my tea ball and fill it with the Monkey Picked Tea that my wife bought me. Honestly it's terrible, but the kitsch factor more than makes up for the taste.
My parents talked me out of bringing a fancy tea set to uni. Sport direct mug and a £8 8 year old teapot for me. My dad has a really nice Yixing clay teapot collection though. The latest addition is a small one shaped like a pheonix. Very impractical to use, but then it's really just for show.
What is this I don't even... Actually, all pedantea aside (see what I did there?): You gotta be you, dude.
I loved that commercial. And I'm with Supermonkey, I'd love to have some of this amazing tea you guys speak of. Instead I'll stick with my store bought mass produced water/coffee during the week. And my french press thick as espresso coffee I treat myself to on the weekends.
Yeah, I thought the tea and coffee aficionados among you would enjoy that. I will admit that I do have a french press at my desk at work, but sadly I also admit that it's never used for anything that can be called quality. Sure, I buy whole beans and grind them myself, but it's still cheap flavored coffee with sugar. I even have a couple of flavored syrup bottles for when I'm feeling fancy!
I've only just seen this thread, but this quote is almost sig-worthy In terms of tea, the only "wrong" way to drink tea is to not drink enough of it. I'd be hooked up to a tea drip 24/7 if the IV stand didn't make getting up and down stairs so difficult!
PEOPLE. I'm out of cheap tea bags! HELP ME! Leaf is fine, but I'd also like to try matcha. Thanks in advance.