My brother-in-law was over for dinner about a week ago and we were enjoying a pot of Vanilla Dreams with dessert. We got to talking about tea and teapots - the one I was using was deceptively large and a funky hand-me-down. I noted that it was well-seasoned and how I never wash only rinse it. And how the taste of residual detergents can ruin the next pot. My brother-in-law tells me that there is a word for that condition - he'd recently read it and would email me with it. So here it is folks: Salween - The faint taste of dishwashing liquid in a cup of fresh tea.
He found the term in a book entitled, The Book of Useless Information and is written by Noel Botham & The Useless Information Society. He's learned all kinds of fascinating things from this book, including "salween". All I know is so many guests reiterate the same thing & their grandmas told them too- don't wash those teapots!
Blessings & Happy sipping! - Ann
