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Why I love tea

July 17, 2006

I love coffee, espescially that wonderful smell when you open a fresh packet, but it’s not the same as tea.

It has no ritual for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like Starbucks, I like the way it’s given good coffee to everyone, but it feels rushed and homogenised. Coffee signifies business, being quick, a caffeine jump start to get you going for the pace of life. All this is good, by the way, there’s nothing wrong with being cosmopolitan, but it’s not tea.

Tea is British, and whatever version of British you want. It’s a mug of tea in a greasy spoon, it’s something to dunk a biscuit in (Hob Nobs work best), it’s afternoon tea on the lawn and the lost empire. It’s a ritual, it’s tradition, it’s the famous British reserve; the age old argument about if the milk should go in first, warming the pot (it’s not tea to me if it’s made in the mug), the water must be boiling – all those things.

Tea is Kate Bush and Alan Rickman v Coffee’s Britney Spears and Will Smith. Tea is grown up and warmly eccentric, with tea you want to sit, you want to take time, you want accompaniments done just right. In a world that seems to continually speed up, tea is slow and thoughtful. That’s a good thing to cling on to for a while.

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5 responses to “Why I love tea”

exitcreative

July 17, 2006

As a coffee drinker, I must protest

Northern Planner today posted a really nice ode to tea. Hes British, if you didnt know, so it follows that he would like tea. I agree with 90% of what he has to say, with the most notable exception of: Tea is Kate Bush and Alan Ri…

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Clay Parker Jones

July 18, 2006

Andrew –
Thanks for the reply. I get where you’re coming from. I only wanted to defend Coffee’s dignity.
And I really enjoyed the graf about the associations you make with tea … it’s those beautiful, specific details that make it part of the collective British identity.
Good stuff.
– Clay

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Kirsty

July 18, 2006

Oh god I love a good mug of tea. Hot tea, from the pot, with milk. English Breakfast please.
Woe is me here in Paris….

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James B

July 18, 2006

tea is cheap. @ £2.59 for a cappucino that’s good enough reason for me.
but you raise a good point about the practice of making… the effort required, the knowledge [of the leaves, the ‘right’ way to do it etc.] which is missed by the beverage ‘retailers’. mrs klegg at colne criket club pavillion was a master of proper tea, the barista equivalent… shops should try harder to get the practice, knowledge, specialism across in their customer service in order to justify the massive margins they make. starbucks ‘baritas” de-value the name, they neither know nor care about good coffee.
do you go in for all that ‘special leaf tea’ business btw? plucked by virgins from the south facing slopes of kashmir?

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Andrew

July 19, 2006

Kirsty; I’d love to spend a while in Paris, I’d end up missing proper tea too. By the way, isn’t that a thought all of its own? What’s the thing most UK people look forward to about getting home? Isn’t it a proper cup of tea?
James: leaf tea does make a difference, but sometimes it’s just a bit too far. That’s what I’d love about going somewhere it was done for me as you sugggest.

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