Talking Tea

Growing up in a tea drinking family meant that the kettle was always nearly on. In fact, if any of us walked into the kitchen, my father would always call out, "Are you making tea?".
There are several good "everyday" brands here in England. PG Tips,  Tetley Tea and Yorkshire Tea were the ones usually drunk in our house.


About five years ago I discovered "Earl Grey", and everything changed. It requires a longer brewing time then any of the teas I had drunk before, and I enjoy it with either a slice of lemon or a splash of milk. It is smooth and subtle and lemoney. And so, it suddenly occurred to me a few weeks back, that I could "branch out" and try other teas! The Earl Grey tea I like the best is made by Twinings -  and it made perfect sense to me to try their "Special Selection" box. I had also had good feedback from many Plurk friends that "Lady Grey" was a nice little tea, and Lady Grey is included in the Twinings selection box. Bingo!


The Ealy Grey is included in the special selection, so I knew those bags would not be "wasted", and so I tried the Lady Grey first, and loved it. Somehow, it has more "life" then then Earl, and there is definitely a strong presence of the citrus fruits it contains. Strong, but not over-whelming or unpalatable. The "English Breakfast" tastes like a younger version of the teas I drunk while growing up, with a very similar brewing time required. It is easy for this tea to become "stewie" and over brewed, and while I enjoy it, it isn't my first choice in the morning. I found the "Assam" and "Ceylon" very similar. Both are a little to strong and dry for my taste. The Lady Grey is definitely the winner.


Next up, I suppose, will be the black and green tea. To me, they are of a different family to the others I have mentioned. As with the herbal teas, who are also in a family of there own, they seem to have a different purpose and do not appear to be teas that I would have multiple cups of in succession. The Lady Grey however, I would be very happy to have "on tap".


Tea is the perfect companion when I am knitting, crocheting or spinning. Putting the kettle on is just the thing when I need a break, to celebrate something going right, or console a fibre related disaster.