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Your e-Mails

Vicky Moreteavickers	Hi there I am thinking of getting a new kettle and just thought I would look on 'thinternet' to see if I could find a site where people were talking about such things - thinking it was hopeless - how wrong I was (all this and biscuits too!) Now I am an avid tea fan - but I do drink 'weak as *!*!* tea' that causes most people to baulk - however I say Ha! I have every right to be a tea lover, even if my tea is a nice fawn colour rather than sunbed dodgy antiques bloke orange! Having weak tea means that I can taste water (although my boyfriend believes that this is an impossibility because water is just water - duh!) I had some lovely cups of tea in Somerset over christmas and then had to return to our putrid stuff. We live in Hitchin and the water is so hard that if you fill it from the tap for more than two days you end up drinking little hard bits (yeargh) so consequently I lug bottles of water home from work and use them (its only 3 miles away - I don't see how it can be so different but it is?) People say 'buy a water filter' but I hate those things as they use chemicals to remove chemicals and also you have to buy refills (I like to use being 'eco-friendly' as a disguise for being very mean). Although my friend just got a brita kettle and thinks it is wonderful I was 'anti' for the preceding reasons and also because I hate those two smarmy *!*'s that advertise it! As we are about to move to a very lovely house boat and I am finally getting a gas oven (joy!) I was thinking of an old fashioned type. But will this be bad for limescale? I was thinking of a le creuset as I thought it might be easier to clean ... incidentally, that is why I am having to buy a new kettle - tired of paying too much from Mr Sainsbury for descaler (I need it for the shower as well) I went for a dodgy pound shop option. This has left a very dodgy perfume smell in my kettle and I think actually ate at the element - nothing can shift the smell of public loos from my beloved kettle = then some smart !* said that you can use vinegar to descale anyway... what an idiot! happy dunking everyone Vicky Moreteavickers
	Nicey replies: Yes you can use clear spirit vinegar which is just dilute Acetic (Ethanoic) Acid, the same stuff that is in most kettle descalers. The Non-fermented condiment variety that you see in some chip shops is synthetic vinegar which has been made chemically rather than by traditional means which involves the action of acetobacter type bacteria on the alcohol in a fermented malt liquor. The non fermented stuff is made primarily by reacting carbon monoxide with methanol in the presence of a catalyst (Monsanto invented that). As such it is well able to clean out your kettle.
Mystery Bob	I was very pleased to see you had mentioned Empire Biscuits, my most favourite of hot beverage accompaniment. I thought I could perhapd shed some light on where the name comes form.  Before World War 2 they were actually known as 'German Biscuits' but the name was changed to give more of a patriotic feel.  Of course - I have no idea where the name 'German Biscuits' came from - I have never been to Germany and can't confirm if they are available there. (this information actually came from Billy Connolly's biography) Another couple of points: * The filling tends to be strawberry jam in the kind I buy. * Supermarket packs have Jelly Tots on top instead of a glace cherry. Bob
Victoria Wimhurst	Surely having mugs with handles positioned so that the picture on the mug faces you is pointless - you can't "look at the design as you drink" unless you have eyes on your chin, surely. I work in a human eye development lab, so if anyone does have this sort of eyes, we'd be very interested to hear from you. Best wishes, Victoria.
	Nicey replies: To be fair Victoria it's the numerous breaks in between actually drinking when you were merely holding the mug when you would be most likely to look at the side of the mug. Still molluscs have eyes in some unusual places so may be we could worry about them drinking tea from left handed mugs. Hmm. Right that's enough worrying about that.
Mary Dobson	I was very pleased to receive your book for christmas, but was very surprised by the idea of people using other people's personal mugs at work. It seemed a shocking idea to me and I was convinced that it was only going on in very hidden, dark corners of England. However, there has recently been a development on this front at work. I have a mug which has a pig on the side and says "The pig smile because he is so happy" and on the other side has a little poem about the pig's happiness reminding us that there is lots to be happy about...It's my Monday morning mug really. Anyway, a colleague came to my desk to speak to me today and I couldn't answer him because I was so transfixed by seeing my mug in his hand, full of tea! And no, he wasn't bringing me a cup of tea, he was using it for himself and had the audacity to tell me that he likes it very much! What should I do about this? Does it follow mug etiquette to suggest that he stops using it or should I accept it gratefully as a compliment to me in my mug choosing skills? Thank you for the brilliant book, and I am sorry for doubting the truth of your mug stealing knowledge. (Also, this website is very good for lovely+silly mugs  ) Mary
	Nicey replies: Mary, No you are going to have to have it out with him. This is such a Friday type of thing to happen. Lulled by the inevitable slow down at the end of the week, his energy levels to find a clean mug have dipped and he has just grabbed the nearest one to hand. Obviously he quite likes it as its clean, full of tea and in his hand. You are already harboring a good bit of resentment already although you appear to be quite polite about the whole thing. If you allow the situation to continue then its just going to gnaw away at you. Eventually you may snap in a fit of mug rage, which is best avoided. I would tell him nicely that he has been fortunate enough to try your mug, but now he needs to sort out his life and get his own mug, and that if you ever catch him using yours again then he'll need to bring you biscuits and make the tea for you for the next year.
Russell Haswell	What with all this discussion of kettles and things........some kettles are designed to rotate on the base so it's good for right and left handers. Well, I observed this to a friend who got all agitated and moaned about mugs having the design so that only right handed people can show off the pattern. I got to thinking that I must be a pretty unusual character because I'm right handed but I would want left handed designs because I'd like to look at the design as I drink. Is this selfish? Or maybe I just want mug satisfaction. We need a campaign for two way mugs so we can get mug satisfaction AND be altruistic by letting other people see too. Russ
	Nicey replies: Yes I'm sure you have raised an important point, I expect. Of course all NCOTAASD mugs look terrific from any angle.
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