8 January 2003
LONDON (Reuters) - British chemists are to honor author and critic of scientists George Orwell with a search for the perfect way to make his favorite drink -- tea.
The Royal Society of Chemistry said Wednesday the project will mark this year's
100th anniversary of the birth of Orwell, whose works include an essay on
tea as well as acclaimed social commentaries
1984 and
Animal Farm.
Society Chief Executive Dr David Giachardi told Reuters
tea-making was a very complex area. "There's no right answer to
this. It's something where we can ask people what they think."
Orwell's 1946 essay
A Nice Cup of Tea laid down 11 steps
to the perfect brew, and was a reaction to a lack of guidance
on tea-brewing in cook books.
"This is curious," he wrote in London's Evening Standard,
"not only because tea is one of the mainstays of civilization
in this country.., but because the best manner of making it is
the subject of violent disputes."
Orwell said tea should be drunk strong, without sugar and
from a cup with a round bottom. The tea should be poured before
adding milk, he insisted, entering a debate that has caused
acute controversy within the tea-etiquette world.
Another Orwell essay written in the aftermath of the World
War II sharply criticized chemists and other scientists, whom
he blamed for contributing to the war.
Society Media Manager Brian Emsley hopes the project will
draw attention to the important role chemists play in food,
drink and public hygiene.
"It's some theory, some fun," he said.
The chemists will consult specialists and members of the
public before publishing their ideal technique at a reception
on Wigan Pier on Orwell's birthday in June.
Click here to visit Kai Birger Nielsen's excellent Tea Page. The Tea FAQ is strongly recommended.
