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Your e-Mails

Liisa Shunn	Dear Mr Nicey, I came across your site while doing a Google search for Welsh Breakfast Tea, and I saw the entry from the Australian man about Welsh Breakfast Tea and your reply that you had not heard of a breakfast variety of Welsh tea. I assure you there IS such a thing, and I personally find it smoother and more to my palate than the English and Irish varieties. The loose tea itself is smaller in 'grain' than you might expect -- rather like a rough coffee grind. The trick is getting it of course. I can report that if you do a Google search for "welsh breakfast tea" (it must be in quotation marks), several purveyors will come up. I am writing from the US, and I found two distributors right off the bat, but I'm sure your readers in the UK will prefer to make their purchases directly from a Welsh company. Anyways, please pass along to your readers that Te Gymraeg is indeed available, and I hope this information helps someone. :-)
	Nicey replies: Yes I remember mailing Brian about that. I was only basing my observations on the fact that I grew up in Wales and nobody I have ever met in Wales drinks Welsh breakfast tea, or indeed has heard of it. There is a tea called Glengetty which is a Welsh brand of tea, but its not widely drunk either. From what I remember of it smooth is not a word I would apply to it, astringent perhaps. I don't doubt that some other companies copy this blend style, or not, and call it Welsh Breakfast but it's all a bit contrived I think. Similarly in England where I have spent most of my adult life very few people indeed drink English Breakfast tea at breakfast time unless of course they are forced to through finding themselves in a hotel or something that insists on keeping up the charade by having Twinings English Breakfast tea. Mostly they are after a nice cup of PG, Tetley, Typhoo etc In my limited exposure to Irish Breakfasts you mostly never get Irish Breakfast tea, but something sensible like Barry's, Nambarrie or Bewleys. Do see where I'm going with this? I don't want to sound stroppy (my Mac is telling me that's not a word, so you may not know what I mean), it's just I suspect these things are abstractions which elude to the popular styles of tea blended over a century ago and subsequently replaced by branded tea. I'm sure you would be equally nonplussed at things that pass over here as 'New York Bagels' or 'American Cheesecake'.
Jim Fussell	Nicey, Sure you may have read or seen about this but if not thought i'd draw your attention to it.  A restaurant in Berkshire called the Fat Duck has just been awarded "Best Restaurant In The World" and one thing on it's menu is a cup of tea which is both hot and cold at the same time.  Apparantly you have to remove a divider before drinking yet, the hot and cold sides of the drink stay as such.  This incredible phenomenon is performed by something called science.  So the beauty of it is that you can drink from the cold side, the hot side or half and half. The only question I have is, who likes cold tea anyway? Jim.
	Nicey replies: Jim, Yes I was tipped off about this a week or two ago but I dismissed it out of hand, as its plainly wrong. When will they ever learn? As you say who wants to drink cold tea? I think the laws of physics and the forces of chaos would in fact soon ensure that you had luke warm tea despite their claims.
Fiona Ware	Dear Nicey and Wifey, While returning home from San Francisco last week, boredom forced me to flick through the pages of BA’s in-flight magazine High Life. One of the journalists ( Ed Grenby) had been given the job of reviewing five lesser known Britsh festivals, including the Edinburgh Harp Festival, the Lancashire Food festival and the  Bonsai Festival. I must say he seemed more than under-whelmed. His final quip went “And if undersized undergrowth wasn’t exciting enough, April also sees the return on the (n)ever stimulating North Devon and Exmoor Walking Festival (What next ? A festival of sitting down with a nice cup of tea and a biscuit?)” Having suffered two tea-less weeks in the states I would have been the first in the queue at such a festival. In fact the more I thought about it the more it seemed like a good idea, (possibly an effect of tannin withdrawal) Perhaps you should call his bluff and organize something.
	Nicey replies: Fiona, This Mr Grenby seems to be a bit unbalanced, even if he does appear to be aware of our work. Quite apart from all the lovely treats from Lancashire to feast upon, and the glorious walking to be had in Exmoor, the idea of a large organised event celebrating tea, biscuits and sit downs seems perfectly sensible. In fact the Queen has one each summer, although I don't think anybody is allowed to sit down.
Abigail Stynes-Webb	Dear Nicey, I have just been looking back at the archived polls and I saw the results on the poll on Decaffeinated tea. May I please register my outrage on the selfishness and unfeeling response from the very people I felt I had a genuine affinity with. I have been recently diagnosed with a heart problem and so have had to give up caffeine and so decaf tea has been a lifesaver for me as I cannot even think about going out of the door without polishing off at least two cups of tea with my toast in the morning. How could the ncotaasd.com readership be so heartless? It is bad enough that I have basically had to say goodbye to a decent cup of Earl Grey without taking my PG Decaf away from me too! Yours blubbingly, Abi Stynes-Webb
	Nicey replies: Do stop blubbing Ms Stynes-Webb, it wasn't us who voted but our readership at large. Anyhow, my caffeine watershed is 6pm beyond that a cup of proper tea will stop me sleeping. If there is important tea or cake sampling to done beyond this hour as is sometimes the case then Wifey will make me a cup of PG Tips decaf. Of course she complains slightly, but it serves a purpose, other than that I try and make sure I get a proper cuppa at 5:30pm.
Jane Purdon Tunnocks Tea Cake Review	Hello Nicey, I’d like to share how my partner takes his tea because in the tea drinking world it takes all sorts and I think diversity should be celebrated.  He has one enormous, pint-sized mug on the go all day.  He will start the mug off about half an hour after waking up, and use 3 tea bags and skimmed milk.  This will be topped up through the day with further bags, hot water and milk. The key to his tea enjoyment however, is to leave all the bags in so that at the end of the day there are about 7 in the bottom of the enormous mug.  I can also tell you that he is a very happy soul. Right then, being a high-powered lawyer in a very high profile PLC kind of organisation, I’m off now to brew up and grab a Tunnocks Tea Cake (see my previous post) and try that put-a-hole-on-either-side-of-the-teacake-and-blow-a-marshmallow-fountain trick so highly recommended by one of your previous correspondents. Toodlepip Jane Purdon
	Nicey replies: Bit of a hoarder by the sounds of it, whilst celebrating it, I would watch for signs of this developing into a full blown mental condition.
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