Monday, April 23, 2012

"T" is for Tea

I've always been a tea drinker more than a coffee drinker.  Don't get me wrong...I love a good cup of coffee, but someone else has to make it.  Or I'll buy it.  But there's just something about a nice hot cup of tea that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


Since moving to the UK, I've been drinking more tea than before.  When I grew up in the northeast, I'd occasionally have hot or iced tea.  When I lived in the south, it was almost exclusively iced tea, and boy did we go through a lot of it.  I would brew it myself and everything...not powdered Lipton crap for this gal.

One thing they have over here that I've fallen in love with is tearooms.  My favorite is Peacocks Tearoom in Ely, which consistently appears on ranked tearoom lists.  You can get the same experience here as going to Harrods, for a fraction of the price.  Not only is their tea--over 50 varieties of loose-leaf, brewed in a pot with a cool mesh container--amazing, but so is their food.  I'll really miss this place when we leave.

Some tea terms that I've learned since being over here is "cream tea," which does not refer to the milk you add to your tea.  That's having your tea "white."  As in, "I'll take mine white with one sugar, please."  No, a "cream tea" is a tea service consisting of a pot of tea, scones, clotted cream, and jam.  It's the perfect afternoon snack.  



I've made tea for Brits a few times, and it's always intimidating, but I brew a proper cup, and no one's complained yet.  Or maybe that's just because they're British. 

What are your feelings about tea?  Do you prefer it to coffee?  Have you had a cream tea?  

xoxo Sarah

8 comments:

  1. A cream tea is one of my fondest memories. I include them in my books which are set in Cornwall. My paternal grandmother was Cornish and taught me the joys of eating fresh, aromatic scones with sweet strawberry jam and thick, sticky cream. And of course, they must be washed down with a nice cup of tea.

    http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.com

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    1. Ooh, the strawberry is my favorite, too! I'm glad you have such fond memories of your grandmother.

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  2. I'm most definitively a coffee gal but that cream tea sounds lovely. I also truly believe that where you go, you have to adapt to the customs, so if I were to live in the UK, I'd drink a lot more tea that I do now. What a nice post, now I'm all jealous because I want to live overseas... =( But I'm the nice kind of jealous. =)

    Thanks for commenting on my blog.
    From Diary of a Writer in Progress

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    1. A visit to a tearoom is a definite must if you come to the UK! Put it on your "must do" travel list. :-)

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  3. I don't like tea and I'm from the South. The only time I drink it is when I have no choice. ugh! We have a tea room in Lake Charles that's nice. They give everyone a free cup of tea before taking their order. I enjoyed that cup -- it was a sweet, spicy kind.

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    1. I'm not a big fan of "sweet tea." When we lived in the South, I learned to specify VERY quickly that I meant unsweetened (I'd either leave it as-is or add my own sugar). Blegh.

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  4. I have only one thing to say: Lovers Leap, Lovers Leap! ;0)

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    1. Yum! Now you have to come on over and try the other 50+ teas. :-P

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