Tea in the Morning
March 18th, 2009
I swear it wasn’t this cold when I went to bed but tea in the morning is perfect at warming you up enough to cope with the rigors of the outside world.
Oh Dear Canada. What Have You Done?
March 1st, 2009
Twinnings of Canada is one of the most active in this international tea merchants branches. I’ve heard mumblings that Canadians like tea almost as much as the English in fact.
Then I read this news story from the Montreal Gazette…
I was at the Georges Vanier station, walking down to the platform to catch the Orange Line to Lionel Groulx. On the second flight of stairs were two items of debris: a potato chip and a used tea bag. ~ Source
What?! WHAT?! A used tea bag discarded in a metro station. Its akin to leaving a baby under a car or a basket of puppies on a cliff edge. What on earth possessed this dysfunctional Canadian to discard their tea bag in the metro?? I say dysfunctional with the utmost certainty that this person wasn’t of sound mind. Either that or they could be…
French Canadian!
I’ve heard stories about the French Canadians. They want independence and have no regard for tea. I can only hope this isn’t the start of a terrible terrible decline in Canada’s love of tea.
5 Glass Tea Cups
February 20th, 2009
I never used to be a fan of glass tea cups until I tried them for the first time. Being able to see the tea infuse and the rich colours and whisps through the wall of the cup is refreshing in itself! Here’s just 5 of my favourite glass tea cups and sets.
Frosted Blown Glass Tea Cup
These small glass tea cups are a fantastic addition to your favourite teapot. They were hand-crafted using a technique that adds small bubbles in the bottom of the glass cup. The bubble patterns are unique from cup to cup and makes each one an exceptional tea cup. This is art, but also a functional glass tea cup that you can enjoy for years.
You’d think something this delightful and delicate looking couldn’t cope without kid gloves but its fully dishwasher safe.
Bodum Insulated Glass Tea Cups
Glass is a poor conductor of heat anyway so glass tea cups often keep your tea warmer for longer. These insulated glass tea cups from Bodum have a double wall though which means your tea stays hot for much longer. They come with a stainless steel saucer too and being glass blown they look great and show off the tea brilliantly.
Petit Fleur Suspendu Glass Tea Cup Set
These wonderful cups have an almost fragile appearance, but the borosilicate glass they are made of is strong and durable. They have a pocket of air between the inner glass wall and outer glass wall to insulate the tea and keep it hot. These are similar in shape to the Bodum cups but they have a wonderfully light printed floral pattern on the outside. It is just enough to show flowers when tea is in the cup. They come as a set of 4 5oz cups.
Japanese White Pebble Glass Tea Cup
Basic Glass Tea Cup and Saucer
This is a nice basic but stylish glass tea cup with matching saucer. Made of tempered glass, which is very sturdy and able to withstand high temperatures and dishwashers. These tea cups are great to have as your everyday cups with a low cost and simple design.
Te con Leche Por Favor
February 18th, 2009
Apologies for the delay in posting recently but I went away to Barcelona for a few days. I had a fantastic time but I’m really happy to be back where they make proper tea!!
I knew I was in a tea-hostile country when I received my tea in the form of a cup of luke warm water with a folorn tea bag floating in the top. Te con leche was most definitely not the same tea with milk I was used to in the UK.
Other than that Barcelona was a beautiful city and I’ll be going back as soon as I get the opportunity.
Normal posting shall resume with vigour over the next day or so.
Thanks for your patience. 
Jasmine Pearls
February 4th, 2009
I’ve only seen these specific jasmine teas at Adagio (US) and Jing (UK). I’ve seen other rolled Jasmines but I’ll be concentrating on Jasmine Pearls for this review.
I first bought some of these back in August 2008 and falling head over heels for the tea alost immediately I wanted to give it some time to allow sense to prevail so a more objective review coul be formed. Jasmine Pearls are quite simply one of the finest jasmine teas I’ve come across.
As they’re hand rolled you are treated to their gentle unfurling as they steep in the hot water, unleashing the fragrance and colour as each second ticks by.
The taste is incredibly refreshing and the leaves will provide at least 3 to 4 cups of good quality. Though I’d recommend at most 2 cups per serving of leaves as it feels almost criminal to not have a fresh batch of the balled leaves opening in your cup for each drink.
I’d strongly recommend these to anyone regardless of whether youre normally a fan of green and jasmine. These are a truly amazing tea and have entered the cupboard as my favourite jasmine of all time. Never will my stock run down!
A fantastic 5/5
UK Shelf Tea: Tetley
January 27th, 2009
As part of a regular set of reviews on major UK tea brands you can buy in the supermarket I’ll be reviewing Tetley today. Tetley is very much a ‘builders tea’ which should be drunk strong to make up for its weak flavour.
First a little history
Tetley started its life 1822 when two brothers, Joseph and Edward Tetley started to sell salt in Yorkshire. They started to sell tea as well and became so successful that they set up, in 1837, as the tea merchants, “Joseph Tetley & Co.”. They moved to London in 1856 and set up “Joseph Tetley & Company, Wholesale Tea Dealers”.
Tetley was famous for being the first company that launched tea in tea-bags in the UK in 1953.
In terms of sales in the UK they’re the third largest but in the world they are the biggest by volume and only second biggest by revenue (to Unilever – owners of PG Tips).
Enough History! How does is taste
Mediocre at best but and in the groupings of British shelf teas I’d put it below Yorkshire tea and about equal with PG Tips. Its loose leaf variety has very little difference in taste or feel so don’t be suckered into thinking loose leaf is any better. Its got a richer colour than Typhoo or PG but this doesn’t translate into a richer taste. I’d give this a quite poor:
2/5
UK Shelf Tea: PG Tips
January 25th, 2009
Continuing on with my series reviewing the most popular supermarket teas of the UK I’ve now come to PG Tips. PG are the second biggest tea merchant in the UK and were first established in 1930 by Brooke Bond who originally called it Digestive Tea. It got this name due to teas claims of aiding digestion but after the second World War the government decided to put a stop to this claim and so the name was changed to Pregestee.
A silly name I’m sure you’ll agree!
As time went on the PG delivery drivers shortened the name to PG and the name stuck. So thankfully they became PG Tips in the 1950’s.
How does it taste
Better than Typhoo but still a poor quality tea. Its the tea rival at our office where Taylors of Harrogate is drunk by the decent tea drinking folk and the evil Morlocks drink PG Tips while feasting on the bones of children and murdering innocent people.
I’m not saying PG Tips causes this – but its is a definate link!
PG has a very clear and crisp taste. With little body it doesn’t cope well with too much milk and adding sugar can kill the taste almost entirely. Although it’s technically a Breakfast Tea it lacks the punch and so I’d say its lacking Kenyan black and rolls more towards a low quality light Ceylon.
Having said that it is much better than Typhoo so I’ll give it a:
2.5/5
UK Shelf Tea: Typhoo
January 24th, 2009
As part of a new series reviewing the major UK supermarket teas I thought I’d begin with Typhoo. Typhoo was first created back in 1903 by John Sumner – a Brummy. He was well versed in tea due to his fathers publishing of a book about the first tea trade missions to China and so was at home when him and his father set up a pharmacy/grocery business offering tea and other such things.
Unfortunately Mr Sumners legacy has been trashed when it comes to taste and decency. Although it is now the most popular tea in the UK outselling even the great Yorkshire Tea by Taylors of Harrogate. Its taste can be described only as wood-y, bland, tannic and dirty. I’ve never come across such a foul concoction in my life as a Typhoo tea. In fact it almost killed me once and it saddens me that its the most popular tea here.
I’d never drink Typhoo and I strongly recommend no one else does either.
A pitiful 1/5
3 Cups of Tea Cuts Breast Cancer by 1/3
January 22nd, 2009
Well as per the results of the voting here’s a healthy tea post. It looks like a recent study has shown that women who drink at least 3 cups of tea per day cut their breast cancer risk by a third.
England has….tea plantations?
January 7th, 2009
Its the truth! Down in the Cornwall countryside they happen to grow tea on a small pocket of plantations. It was started in 1999 and has gone form strength to strength. Its thought the climate is perfect for the tea bush and its already hugely popular in the London high society. Fortnum and Masons anyone?
The key advantage the producers are touting is the freshness of the crops. Evelyn Boscawen (son of Lord Falmouth) says that the teas in most peoples home’s are upto 12months old by the time they’re drunk. Whereas the Cornwall crop is weeks at most.
The last time anything like this was attempted was during WWII when the countries leaders feared the loss of tea supplies could plunge the country into an abyss of misery and woe far greater than the falling bombs ever could!
Due to the small size of the plantation the tea is quite expensive compared to the usual tea choices but if you’re interested in getting hold of this quite rare breed then you can visit the Tregothnantea site for a look.
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