Your ViewsKeep your e-mails pouring in, it's good to know that there are lots of you out there with views and opinions. To help you work out what is what, are now little icons to help you see biscuit related themes. And now you can see at a glance which are the most contested subjects via this graph (requires Flash 6.0 plugin). Please keep your mails coming in to nicey@nicecupofteaandasitdown.com | If you like, you can use this search thingy to find stuff that matches with any of the icons you pick, or use the fantastic free text search, Yay! | Your e-Mails |
Jason Cook |
I, like many right-minded individuals, am more than a little concerned with the shocking statistics re low-level tea drinking amongst our youth. This coming mere days after the endorsement by our government of banning hoodies at Bluewater seems like more than a coincidence. Indeed I feel that the lack of desire amongst our youth to enjoy a soothing cup O tea is directly linked to the increase in yob culture. I have been enjoying tea since my earliest years & have never indulged in yobbish pursuits. Home Office minister Hazel Blears is on the right track when she makes the case for getting families to eat dinner together but this idea should be taken further & include mandatory tea breaks for all youths, with a nice selection of biscuits on little china plates. This would give them time for quiet reflection with their peers & hopefully assuage any desires to don a hoodie & make merry hell in a nearby shopping centre.
Mr Jason Cook |
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Steve Stone |
Hi
Let me introduce myself. My name is Steve Stone and I am a growing Tea enthusiast. Both the brand and the style of tea making can be as important as the biscuit it comes with.
As I am rushed for time I have to make this email short and to the point (I am a busy student). Nice cup of tea and a sit down has unfortunatly missed a very important point about tea. (I'll try not to sound to much like an activist but....) Did you know because of fluctuating market prices for the tea farmers (God bless them for growing that beautiful golden drink) they often dont know if they'll get their money back from the production cost? Trade rules are grossly unfair to farmers in the developing world and it is because of this that fair trade tea is so good, more then matching its rivals in taste and quality. Not only this but you can drink it and know that you are not robbing innocent farmers of their lives. Its all organic and tastes lovely.
Its the sweet taste of justice to accompany that perfect bourbon.
Tea is beautful, and we should keep the farmers that grow it experianced enough to pass on their tea growing knowledge to their children in as an enthusiastic manner as those who enjoy the product of their labour. Please please please replace the PG tips picture with a fairtrade picture as PG and Tetley are particully bad :( (It is a simple and effective step to take)
Also tea tastes soo much better in a china cup instead of a plastic one :D
Many thanks for your time
Steve Stone |
Nicey replies: Steve,
As we have always said we drink PG and so personally that is that. However, of course the points you raise are of real importance to real people's lives, and we are very happy to give them space here. PG have this to say about their responsibility to producers and their membership of the Ethical Tea Partnership, as are Tetley. Now I'm the first to say that I've not had first hand experience and witnessed the arguments either way with my own eyes. It is, however, of note that such a body exists and and that it was set up by the industry to provide independent monitoring of its own practices.
The fact that more and more people such as yourself are being vocal about these issues is putting increasing pressure on the industry to be transparent about the practices involved in tea production. Your right as a consumer to choose fairtrade products is having a real effect on the market, and market leading products ultimately have no choice but to respond to that constructively or loose market share. After all if the big brands are seen to be actively addressing ethical issues then surely this will lead to a far greater result for all concerned in the long run.
Yes obviously drinking tea from plastic is far from ideal, however, at times such as on the 9:45 Kings Cross Express it does the job nicely. |
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Alistair Balderson |
Dear Nicey,
I note the recent vigorous debate around the sound made by the teaspoon on the side of the cup. I must say I like the scientific explanation, and it makes sense to me. I’ve never noticed it on coffee, as I don’t drink the stuff, but I have noticed it on hot chocolate (generally from a single serve sachet, for experimental purposes), which has a markedly different “clunk”-type sound when you stir it. Obviously hot chocolate is, as a rule, much more viscous than a cup of tea, and so the fact that the sound is effectively trapped in the gunk of the drink stands to reason, now it has been explained to me. I’ll have to think of something else to ponder whilst stirring a cup of hot chocolate now …
Cheers,
Alistair Balderson |
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Stuart Hudson |
Nicey,
Having read Gianna's letter this does seem a very convincing argument however, as a musician, I have a slightly different theory: when stirring tea if the teabag is left in the mug it will reduce the available surface area of the tea thus raising the pitch and, to some extent, "dampening" the sound, the same effect as placing a cushion inside a bass drum.
By the way, love the site
Regards
Stuart |
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Christopher Capron |
Hi Nicey,
(Victor Meldrew style) "I don't believe it". You may, or may not, remember my wifey woes of her not drinking the last bit of tea in the cup, labelled 'nim-nims' by Tomsk, despite the tea being made with a teabag and not real tea. Well since then my wife and I have gone our seperate ways and I have since met a wonderful woman but guess what.......it's 'nim-nim' time again! What do I have to do Nicey? Is this a generational thing? Do you think I should try speed dating and have that as my first question? What do I have to do?
Christopher Capon
Derbyshire |
Nicey replies: Christopher,
You've only got yourself to blame on this one. Important subjects like this should be broached within the first few hours of any relationship. I think Wifey and I got all this type of thing bashed out on our second date over a couple of beers. Anyone who shares your views on tea and so forth shouldn't mind you asking such forward questions, in fact they should view it as a plus point. It may lead on to a rich and engaging conversation on things in common that you can't tolerate. Having got that lot off your chest and assuming the other party hasn't left by then you'll be free to talk about more romantic subjects, safe in the knowledge that you have broadly compatible aversions.
Lets also hope your Wife also finds somebody who dislikes drinking their nim-nims too. |
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