As it is well known, the British drink a lot of tea. It is definitely true!
When I get up in the morning I have taken to having a cup. If I stop by a friends house, invariable I have one as well. I have found with the cooler weather that I will also have a cup in the afternoon as well. I find though that if I drink my tea too late, I don't sleep well. So I switch to an herbal tea at night.
When I am out shopping, often the shop keepers can be seen enjoying a mug. When I was in the medical office yesterday (26/01/12) the receptionist and the pharmacist were discussing having a cuppa. (and they used the word cuppa)
When my mother in law was here, on her last day after we had a good shop (think shopping trip), we went to have a cream tea, which is a traditional tea. It was quite lovely and it was my introduction to clotted cream. I love it, but dairy does not love me back so I have to limit my intake, sadly! At our tea, we had a nice selection of sandwiches: tuna; egg; and ham. We also had scones with the clotted cream. What is clotted cream? In the US it would be considered butter. It is cream with the fat separated but with no further processing. It has a slight butter flavor and is wonderfully creamy. You put it on a scone with a dollop of jam and it is HEAVEN! I fancy it with rhubarb jam but strawberry is good as well. I would happily have a cream tea for dinner every night. I have found as I age that my appetite has decreased and I really prefer something light for dinner. In the UK though, dinner is referred to as tea, no matter what you are eating. It does not have to be a cream tea.
I learned from my mother in law the proper way to brew a tea bag. Ideally, to be proper, you are suppose to do it in a teapot, but if you do it in a mug for a single serving, you are suppose to pour boiling hot water over the tea bag and let it brew for at least 5 minutes. I typically don't brew it quite that long.
Every person that I have met thus far always take milk in their tea, no sugar. I also learned that there is such thing as too much sugar (gasp!). When you ask for 3 or more sugars in your tea, you are up for ridicule. Too much sugar and you can't taste your tea! I am trying to wean myself off of the sugar.
I completely understand why their biscuits are so dry, you dip them in your tea. Honestly, that always sounded so distasteful to me. when I heard it in the US. Then, while I was having tea with one of my friends at her house, I decided to try it. It was actually quite good! I found out the name of the biscuits, they are McVitties Digestives. They are quite tasty! I went out and bought every single variety that was in the store. Yum!
In the store, the tea aisle is shared with the coffee's just like in the US. There seems to be a smaller coffee selection, which makes sense when there is so much tea drinking. The British apparently do not drink as much herbal tea though. The stores carry a small selection.
I drink the Tently tea at home. PG is also another brand that I have tried and it was nice as well. I don't think that my taste buds are not sophisticated enough to tell a bad tea from a good one, I may be wrong, perhaps I just have not tried a bad one!
The British do have a very nice custom that I do particularly find pleasing. When they have a contractor or anyone at their homes to do a service, they serve them a drink. Typically it is a tea brewed and served on some sort of tray with cream and sugar. Before I moved into our house, the day I was visiting, Jan had a carpet cleaner here and she served him a tea. The gentleman that was here to diagnose the problem took a tea. My girlfriend who is having an expansion put on her house makes tea for her contractors (if she is home) at least twice a day. Yesterday, I had a contractor here fixing the flue (we have been having boiler problems) and he asked for a coffee. I think that it is a really nice custom, especially since during the day, if it is damp one can get thoroughly chilled easily. Especially if your heat only comes on twice a day (like mine does).
Right now, I am the only one in my house that drinks tea regularly. Super Handsome will have a lemon flavored tea when his throat is sore. My kids prefer to drink hot chocolate. We brought a huge canister of hot chocolate with us when we came and it has been all drank up. I saved the canister and I have put some of the Cadbury hot chocolate mix in it. I don't think that I could convince them to drink tea with me, even for all the tea in the UK. :)
When I get up in the morning I have taken to having a cup. If I stop by a friends house, invariable I have one as well. I have found with the cooler weather that I will also have a cup in the afternoon as well. I find though that if I drink my tea too late, I don't sleep well. So I switch to an herbal tea at night.
When I am out shopping, often the shop keepers can be seen enjoying a mug. When I was in the medical office yesterday (26/01/12) the receptionist and the pharmacist were discussing having a cuppa. (and they used the word cuppa)
When my mother in law was here, on her last day after we had a good shop (think shopping trip), we went to have a cream tea, which is a traditional tea. It was quite lovely and it was my introduction to clotted cream. I love it, but dairy does not love me back so I have to limit my intake, sadly! At our tea, we had a nice selection of sandwiches: tuna; egg; and ham. We also had scones with the clotted cream. What is clotted cream? In the US it would be considered butter. It is cream with the fat separated but with no further processing. It has a slight butter flavor and is wonderfully creamy. You put it on a scone with a dollop of jam and it is HEAVEN! I fancy it with rhubarb jam but strawberry is good as well. I would happily have a cream tea for dinner every night. I have found as I age that my appetite has decreased and I really prefer something light for dinner. In the UK though, dinner is referred to as tea, no matter what you are eating. It does not have to be a cream tea.
I learned from my mother in law the proper way to brew a tea bag. Ideally, to be proper, you are suppose to do it in a teapot, but if you do it in a mug for a single serving, you are suppose to pour boiling hot water over the tea bag and let it brew for at least 5 minutes. I typically don't brew it quite that long.
Every person that I have met thus far always take milk in their tea, no sugar. I also learned that there is such thing as too much sugar (gasp!). When you ask for 3 or more sugars in your tea, you are up for ridicule. Too much sugar and you can't taste your tea! I am trying to wean myself off of the sugar.
I completely understand why their biscuits are so dry, you dip them in your tea. Honestly, that always sounded so distasteful to me. when I heard it in the US. Then, while I was having tea with one of my friends at her house, I decided to try it. It was actually quite good! I found out the name of the biscuits, they are McVitties Digestives. They are quite tasty! I went out and bought every single variety that was in the store. Yum!
In the store, the tea aisle is shared with the coffee's just like in the US. There seems to be a smaller coffee selection, which makes sense when there is so much tea drinking. The British apparently do not drink as much herbal tea though. The stores carry a small selection.
I drink the Tently tea at home. PG is also another brand that I have tried and it was nice as well. I don't think that my taste buds are not sophisticated enough to tell a bad tea from a good one, I may be wrong, perhaps I just have not tried a bad one!
The British do have a very nice custom that I do particularly find pleasing. When they have a contractor or anyone at their homes to do a service, they serve them a drink. Typically it is a tea brewed and served on some sort of tray with cream and sugar. Before I moved into our house, the day I was visiting, Jan had a carpet cleaner here and she served him a tea. The gentleman that was here to diagnose the problem took a tea. My girlfriend who is having an expansion put on her house makes tea for her contractors (if she is home) at least twice a day. Yesterday, I had a contractor here fixing the flue (we have been having boiler problems) and he asked for a coffee. I think that it is a really nice custom, especially since during the day, if it is damp one can get thoroughly chilled easily. Especially if your heat only comes on twice a day (like mine does).
Right now, I am the only one in my house that drinks tea regularly. Super Handsome will have a lemon flavored tea when his throat is sore. My kids prefer to drink hot chocolate. We brought a huge canister of hot chocolate with us when we came and it has been all drank up. I saved the canister and I have put some of the Cadbury hot chocolate mix in it. I don't think that I could convince them to drink tea with me, even for all the tea in the UK. :)
I'm still fond of cappuccino and at least I'm cutting down on Pepsi. I would not fit in there since I couldn't handle ice tea. :)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy reading your updates. :)