Friday 23 September 2016

Keep calm and drink tea......

Today's Google Doodle celebrates the arrival, 358 years ago, of tea to Britain.

Click here

People are generally divided into two camps in terms of their morning tipple.  Are you a tea or a coffee person?

I'm definitely for tea.... first thing in the morning, elevenses, lunchtime, bedtime.... it's my go-to hot beverage.

Back in my student days, when I fancied myself as a bit of a sophisticate, I used to mix my own blend, which was 50% Lapsang Souchong, 50% Earl Grey, and very delicious it was too.

These days I mostly drink bog standard decaffeinated tea, although I do sometimes dally with Lady Grey, or Green Tea.

Sadly, tea seems to have fallen out of favour with Brits in recent years, as people have defected to overpriced High Street coffee chains in their droves.  I'm proud to say that I have never, ever bought a Starbucks, Costa or Cafe Nero skinnychocolattemachiato or any other of the zillion impossibly named coffee combinations.  

No.  I'm a tea girl.

So then there's the thorny problem of 'how do you take it?'  Do you put the tea or the milk in first?  Cup or mug?  Leaf or bag? Milk or lemon?

The expected response is always "as it comes" but that's a risky strategy.  You could end up either with a cup of coloured water, or a black, tarry liquid so strong you could stand a spoon up in it.

I'll hold my hands up as a fairly fussy tea drinker.  I like it medium strength and milky.

And while I'm on the subject, how does 'milky' ever translate to 'a dash'?  Nobody else ever gets it quite right... never quite enough milk.

As a child I used to have my tea with two sugars.  Now, if I ever accidentally end up with a visitor's sugared tea I almost yack.  

It's my favoured drink while I'm writing blog posts too.... as I type there is a large mug of tea just to my right elbow.

So, join with me in raising a mug..... to tea!


PS - I think I blogged a  wee while back about the prescience of the number 58 recently.  
I was born in 1958, turned 58 this year, it's three hundred and FIFTY EIGHT years since tea arrived here.

I'm taking it as a sign......

4 comments:

rosanna said...

I am a tea girl and a coffee fan :o)
This means that I always have tea for breakfast at early morning AND coffee before leaving for work about one hour later.
Again coffee after dinner BUT always a mug of tea, no milk no sugar for me, before tucking into bed.
I taught my son to drink tea when he was a toddler and our cuppa is a shared ritual even now when we quarrel so much.
I always have a long coffee after lunch and I don't like the fancy brands, not even Nespresso. The old faithful aluminium moka is the best for me.
Tea is for relaxing, for thinking and a company while I stitch.
May be my UK periods have changed me more than I thought :oD

Sandra Morris said...

Aluminium moka?
If I ever have coffee, which is rarely, it has to be decaff, which does rather defeat the purpose.
Enjoy your cuppas.... whatever they contain :)
Sx

Susan@minicrochetmad said...

I'm with you all the way! Tea and nothing but tea, must be pot made with leaves. Milk first or you get snotty nosed red headed grandchildren. I love red hair so I tried it but still only got blue eyed blondes ;)) My grandchildren even once asked me if I'd ever tasted water, I won't publish what I told them about that but suffice to say it involved fish....

Daydreamer said...

I am a tea girl through and through! I like it plain with sugar and have always enjoyed the common everyday varieties more than the flavored ones. If I am going for fancy I do love a good Lapsang Souchong! It is even harder to find a good cup of tea over here when dining out.... they tend to bring you a cup of lukewarm water and a cheap type of teabag on the side....! It never brews right and tastes terrible! Hence, I will drink coffee when "on the road" or when dining out. I remember arriving in England from France many years ago and being so happy to find real tea at every place we stopped! I tried to drink herb teas for a while.... but truly, nothing but black tea really cuts it for me! All day long, at my elbow, whenever I finish one cup it's time to start the next.....! Sigh. There is nothing like a good cup of tea!