Tea on the Go

For many of us, Christmas means a lot of time spent driving between relatives delivering Christmas cheer and indulging in one-too-many mince pies. One of the worst things about being on the road is drinking horrid machine coffee from a paper cup; I mean, I don't even consider drinking takeaway tea in those circumstances as, although I love a good cuppa, I'd rather avoid tea altogether than drink an underwhelming cup. I guess I'm just not one of those "can't live without tea types"; I find it relatively easy to give it a miss if there's only a disappointing bog-standard tea on offer.

A Dangerous Mug Obsession

 During our recent move Coffee Boy insisted that I get rid of some of my enormous collection of mugs. I was horrified at the suggestion. What? Give away that 25p IKEA mug I bought for work eight years ago? No way! But on arrival at our new house I had to admit that the drinking vessel situation had got a little out of hand.

Review: Fleet River Cafe, Holborn

It always makes me happy when I read about a new independent cafe. With so many chains filling every high street in the UK it's good to know that smaller enterprises can make a go of it. One such place I was particularly pleased to hear about was Fleet River Bakery. For those of you that don't know the Fleet River is one of London's old rivers that is now subterranean. It starts in Hampstead and flows down to the River Thames just near Blackfriars. Apparently there are certain spots where you can hear the river flowing beneath your feet as part of London's labyrinthine sewer system.

Birthday Tea Bonanza

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I had started a new job a few days before so I decided not to make it a "big one". Instead I gathered together a couple of my loved ones and headed to Saf Restaurant in Shoreditch. It is an amazing vegan raw food place, which I realise may not sound like the most wonderful thing - but it really was. And not only was the food great but the rather fantastic mixologist behind the bar created a special tea cocktail for me!

A Beautiful Boîte

I have to admit to a secret longing. It's been nine months now and I feel I have to come clean. At the beginning of the year I was visiting friends in the Czech Republic and whilst hanging out in their kitchen I spotted a gorgeous tea tin that had come from shop in Paris. It was a lovely flat oval shape and when you pulled back the sliding lid, there beneath it was another lid which you pulled off using a little handle. I didn't even try the tea inside but the tin lodged there in my psyche just waiting for a chance to assert itself.

A Tea Tin Paradise

For a nation of tea lovers us Brits really could learn a thing or twelve from our German cousins. I am currently in Berlin (which accounts for my recent lack of posts) and am constantly amazed by the superior facilities for the tea obsessive. As I've mentioned before I am a big fan of the tea accessory and none is higher on my list of must-haves than the attractive tea tin. I have searched high and low for nice tins in the UK and although I've managed to find some good ones online it certainly hasn't been too easy. You would expect that department stores like John Lewis or the considerably more gift-oriented Fortnum and Mason might have them, but no, they are completely bereft. Here in Germany it's a different matter altogether.

Hot or Not?

I was enjoying a cup of white tea yesterday when it occurred to me that I haven't written explicitly about water temperature. The more tea-savvy among you may know all about this, but I suspect there's a good chance that some of you don't realise just how important it is to use water at the correct temperature when making a cuppa.