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 |
Carl Bicknell |
You say in your reply to the query from Limerick that pyramid teabags are crimped at 90 degrees, but actually it is 60. |
Nicey replies: No, 90, its a continuous tube alternately crimped at 90 degrees rather than all in the same plane as in a square teabag. The crimps are the divisions between the bags, the folds in the sides form at 60 degrees due purely to the crimping. If you look at any edge of a tetrahedron from a perpendicular direction its opposite edge will be at 90 degrees. |
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Andrew Hannon |
Nicey,
just a little note to let you know that your website is "brewing" up a real storm at thompson scientific in limerick, Ireland. There are biscuits and tea debates kicking off left right and centre. I do appreciate how busy you are. but, there is one tea related query that "takes the biscuit" Are pyramidal shaped t-bags scienficially proven to provide a better quality and higher flavour tea. Thanks again for the hours of enjoyment you have provided us with.
your tea connoisseur pal,
Andrew |
Nicey replies: The crimping of the bag at alternate 90 degrees produces a tetraheadral teabag. Compared to conventional square bags this lowers the surface to volume ratio of the bag towards the idealised spherical tea bag. What is immediately obvious is that this is good for the manufacturer as they can use less bag to tea thereby saving on materials. What is not at all obvious upon casual inspection is if this is a good thing for the tea brewing, although obviously we are told it is. To increase the diffusion of tea from leaf to water it could be assumed that a sphere is the most inefficient shape whilst an infinite plane folded or other wise would be the most efficient. This would seem to indicate that very flat square bags are good.
Of course this is a childish oversimplification as the diffusion is taking place within the space occupied by the teabag and not just at the volumetric boundary. So the ability of each tea leaf to circulate and there by potentially encountering higher diffusion gradients has to be considered. Much was made of this 'room to move' at the inception of the pyramid bag and so I suspect they probably did a lot of work in this area.
The upside of lower material uses are the potential to use higher spec bag paper as was recently introduced with the pyramid bag.
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Nick Scovell |
Hallo...
I have just enjoyed a few minutes looking at your lovely website. However, deeply disappointed that Royal Scot have been discontinued as have been searching for them for years.
Would you know if Princess biscuits are still around? I cannot remember who made them, but they were a favourite of mine in the mid 1980's. A fairly thin, round biscuit with a lattice style top. Large sugar crystals upon them too. Had a melt in the mouth, slightly buttery texture. ALmost like a very light shortbread. Would appreciate some help...
Yours hoping,
Nick Scovell
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Nicey replies: Oh dear, we get the odd enquiry about them now and again but they've not been seen for years. Indeed till now all we have had is the description, you are the first to put a name to them. |
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Michael Oates |
In our office in Kazakhstan, we have a very nice couple of local ladies who run the tearoom, where tea (and coffee) is freely available at all hours, even with a choice of white/dark sugar. They have taken to selling tasty biscuits and small sweet snacks as well, but I fear that two of these products (photo attached) are not fit for publication...but I thought you might get a private smile from them anyway. Maybe one day you could write a section on "under the counter" biscuits, or even institute an "adult" section on the site for such products.
Regards
Michael
(PS, transliterated, it simply says BISKVIT)
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Nicey replies: A huge NCOTAASD Hoorah for your Kazakhstani tea ladies and their foul mouthed snacks. I feel somehow more worldly wise from this knowledge. |
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Sam Heely |
Dear Nicey,
I am writing to you out of concern about the price of Twinings tea bags, which has jumped up a whopping 30% seemingly overnight! This is an outrageous leap in price and leaves us true tea lovers who enjoy a finer tea on a mature pallet, exasberated as to what to do. I don't support blatant money grabbing and that is what this is - no company needs to raise their prices by almost a third just like that. But how can one go without one's favourite tea? At present we have compromised here at number 47 - instead of going for Twinings Darjeeling tea, we are trying "Tesco Finest" brand Darjeeling. Initial results are promising, as the tea last night and today has been no different to how it always is - hot, wet and most certainly delicious. My double sized mug has been filled for a second turn as always. However, Tesco Finest isn't exactly a cheap brand either and while one doesn't wish to put a price on what is essentially a priceless delight in life, one is certainly troubled by the financial strain this could put on a family that...well, just loves to drink tea and goes through it like termites feeding on a master crafted piece of mohogony furniture.
Have you any advice for us? We have already written to Tescos to find out if they increased the price or if this is something that came from Twinings themselves. If it is just the supermarket we can of course buy it at it's regular price elsewhere...otherwise I fear that our tea drinking may change forever - though not really, seeing as the new brand we tried tastes exactly the same as the original (and by golly when you throw a cheeky Earl Grey bag into the mix for that outstanding blend only truly appreciated by the veteran tea drinker, the flavour is disguised somewhat anyway by the shock addition of another tea!)
Warm Regards
Mr Heeley (number 47) |
Nicey replies: Sam,
As our tap water seems to have a more pronounced taste than Darjeeling tea we don't drink much of the stuff (this is a comment on both our water and Darjeeling tea). However, Darjeeling isn't called the Champagne of teas for nothing. By enjoying tea such a small region with its specialised high altitude tea gardens you are going to have to deal with such vagaries. Such fluctuations in prices are ironed out in the commodity tea market, with blends being produced from tea from several countries.
Perhaps a bit of a tea bag odyssey is called for at number 47. |
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