Good cup of tea

You are still very welcome here Feetlebaum.

@NanKate -- "Feetlebaum you are a grandfather of refinement! I like your style." Not quite - I never got past being a step-father!

I didn't drink tea at all for many years. Then I contacted someone I had known when we were boys together, and schoolmates. It turned out "that his career had been working as that Imperial stereotype, a tea planter! Pshaw! Country's goin' to the demnition bow-wows..." Sort of thing.

Then I had some new windows, and I bought tea-bags and Jammy Dodgers for the horny-handed young toilers. When they had gone there were still quite a lot of bags - so I thought I would try them. OK That wasn't too bad... so let's try doing it properly. Ah! That's quite nice! And that's where I am today. I usually stick to the Assam, although I'll occasionally get all delicate and try Darjeeling again - but it doesn't have the robust flavour I prefer.

My mother has drunk vodka in her tea for many years. Maybe it should become a flavour for alcoholic mothers?

I drink decaff tea and coffee. Mostly tea, nothing like that first sip in a morning and the one before bed. Mmmm... lovely. I wonder what they drunk before tea?

There is a tally of cups of tea drunk in the UK count on UK Tea and Infusions website. It currently stands at over 110,288,000 up to now today.

The Chancellor can make changes, but don't he dare take our tea!!!

Like Alea, my daily beverages follow a pattern....Tea in a very large black and white spotted mug first thing, followed by a smaller mug with breakfast which has Tea written down the side. Mid morning I have coffee in my 'chicken' mug. I am slightly OCD about my mugs!!

Afternoon tea is in a pink mug with 'Crisis management' written on the side and then it's a posh black mug for my coffee after dinner.

I also have fancy glasses for cappuccino and latte (weekend treat)

DH, as you may have guessed, loves to annoy me by sitting opposite me drinking coffee out of a mug marked TEA.

We always take proper tea and a travel kettle with us when we go abroad. And though I rarely drink coffee at home, that's the only beverage I trust in them forrin cafés

mrsmopp I agree! (about that lot on the continent )

I have just enjoyed my first cup of tea in weeks. Went right off tea and coffee when I started a virus, and have only just gone back on it. Waitrose Gold here. Teabags, due to laziness.

Still can't face coffee.

For me, timing is of the essence. First thing in the morning has to be tea, maybe 2 but there are other times of day when I move on to coffee-after breakfast, mid morning, after lunch. By 4 I am ready for tea again right up to before supper when of course the T is joined by a splash of G.
Tea is obviously what one drinks in a crisis, although a drop of the hard stuff is sometimes called for.
Finally, it always amuses me when my German friend collapse in a chair after a busy afternoon and announce they are "gasping for their coffee"!

Has to be loose leaf - I find that Sainsburys Gold is very good and nothing beats weak black tea with a slice of lemon on a hot summer day .

I drink tea throughout the day, probably far too much of it. I might keep a count tomorrow - could well be in for a .
Mostly it's ordinary everyday tea, medium strength, no sugar, dash of milk. But I also drink Earl Grey and Lady Grey (the perfumier the better!), flavoured green teas (my favourites are green tea with echinacea or orange) and chamomile tea when I'm feeling a little stressed.
I wish I liked peppermint tea, because it is so good for the digestive system (and mine could do with some help ), but I just cannot stand the stuff.

Can't abide tea on the Continent where they bring you a cup of hot water and the tea bag is just placed in the saucer.
They have absolutely no idea.

Not only must the tea be good, I think to experience it at its best it should be drunk from a nice , very fine bone china cup.

Always leaf tea; Ceylon in the morning, Yunnan in the afternoon. Brewed four minutes, splash of milk in first.
No problems buying this in France, but English visitors always bring us teabags which we really don't like at all and we say thank you politely.

If I can't get Taylor's teas, I buy Waitrose's Ceylon tea which I have for breakfast. I sometimes have Earl Grey in the afternoon, though there's Earl Grey and Earl Grey and I don't like the more highly perfumed brands. I always use leaf tea (except for Redbush) in a filter teapot. As I like my tea subtle rather than overpoweringly strong and without milk, I'm a very economical tea drinker. I drink Redbush mid morning and evening to keep my caffeine consumption down.

Alea Indeed it was 'Mrs Doyle' rather than 'Miss Boyle'.. Quite a catastrophic failure on my behalf.. As much as i'd like to say i'd be getting rid of an intern for this error.. it was but me who originally wrote that..

feetlebaum Your attention to detail is fantastic!

Nelliemoser 5 mugs a day minimum? We think you should check out our film! bit.do/dsotc

Oh and finally NanKate.. We cannot agree with you more. Certainly Teapigs are the best on the mainstage! We like their tea so much we've been speaking to them on Twitter and they've agreed to send us some free samples. I would urge you to do the same!

Are you dunk or disorderly?

Harry

Cant beat a strong cup of Ringtons tea with only a drip of milk.

You do that Nellie and report back.

Feetlebaum you are a grandfather of refinement! I like your style.

Nankate I probably have a minimum of 5 mugs of tea a day. One down so far another when I have my breakfast. I will keep count today.

I have a friend whose house actually smells of different blends of tea. Unless you can get airfresheners that are those flavours?

Can't beat a good, strong mug of Scottish Blend!

Friend recently made me a cup of hand tied flowering tea...jasmine, chrysanthemum and green tea. It looked beautiful but tasted awful-I felt compelled to drink it out of politeness!

Warm the pot - I don't know if it makes a difference, but I do it anyway.

Never wash the inside of the pot. Add the requisite number of spoonsful of loose tea leaves - I like Assam for a nice mahogany coloured drink.
Bring kettle to the boil and add the boiling water to the tea. Stir.

Allow to steep for about three minutes. Pour, through a strainer. Do not add milk or cream, but sweeten if preferred.

That's what I do every afternoon,.. (I grind and filter coffee beans in the morning).

I likes good strong cuppa with a small amount of milk - Tea Pigs are my current favourite.

Number you would not like an afternoon cuppa at my place as I have Earl Grey, or Lady Grey or Girlie Grey all perfumed or citrusy BLISS.

Nellie how many cups a day do you drink! I have 3 a day ?

It certainly was, Alea.

And I do think you ought to get a better proof-reader, Harry...

???
Wasn't it Mrs Doyle anyway?