Jan 02 2009
The great tea-time of the British soul
A recent poll showed that coffee shops are rapidly becoming a more fashionable and popular place to meet your friends than the pub, given that our pubs are closing by the score every week.
So what of that traditional British beverage, a nice cup of tea?
On the supermarket shelves there is more choice than ever, but most of it is in teabags. Now I have no objection to teabags per se, but what I really hate is tea made in the cup with a teabag, that is, unless it is something like Rooibos (South African Red Bush) or one of the many varieties of herbal and fruit teas.
If I am making ‘ordinary’ tea, it just HAS to be in a pot. My everyday brew is a mix of one Earl Grey bag, which is flavoured with oil of bergamot – from the peel of a variety of orange, and one bag of a good quality Indian tea. Currently it is Clipper Fair Trade Organic , but I also have some specials, like Lady Grey, a more delicate version of Earl Grey with orange and lemon peel and have been trying some single estate teas such as those packaged by a company called Dilmah.
There is an interesting debate about who owns the true Earl Grey recipe and whether it is based on China or Indian tea. The participants in this debate are two English tea companies, Twinings, who favour Indian Tea and Jacksons of Piccadilly who insist it should be China tea. The Earl Grey for whom it was named was the second Earl and British Prime Minister in the 1830’s and there are various legends about how the tea blend was created and got to him as a gift. Continue Reading »
