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 |
Penny T |
Dear Nicey,
I was forced to stop drinking tea for a few months and switch to instant coffee, not through choice, but because of a drop in tea quality. I am able to drink any kind of vile coffee but I am very particular about my tea. It has to be strong, with a dash of milk, no sugar. Builder's brew if you like.
I have noticed that bog standard teabags such as Tetley, PG tips and Red Label have got weaker, so weak that I have not been able to brew a satisfactory cuppa. I suspect they are mixing the tea in the bags with dark coloured sawdust. Either that or I have become more impatient.
Fortunately I have found a solution to my problem. I have switched to Assam tea which always seems to come out strong enough and satisfies my craving for tea. I wonder if anyone else has noticed tea becoming weaker? If so may I suggest a switch to assam or kenyan.
Yours sincerely
Penny T.
PS the milk chocolate Hob Nob is the King of Biscuits IMO. Chocolate digestive a close second.
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Nicey replies: I wonder if it's your water? We noticed that our trick of using one tea bag for two mugs which works well enough here for Wifey and I failed when on holiday in Ireland with softer water. This could also explain why the local blends over there were very much stronger.
Have you moved house to one with a water softening system, new kettle or something? |
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Sue Northcott |
Hi Nicey,
Our cake trolley at EDS Swansea raised £212.28. The company was kind enough donate some cash to ensure that all staff got a free Welsh cake to celebrate St David's Day. Meant I was huddling over the bakestone for a good few hours, but it was worthwhile. My fellow bakers helped me out and we had a great showing with bara brith, lemon drizzle cake, loads of nice things like caramel slices and rocky road, fairy and butterfly cakes, and the best jam and cream scones I've ever tasted. I had intended to take a photo for you, but the gannets descended as soon as the cakes appeared. We all had a good time, but by the end of the day some of us were feeling poorer and ever so slightly queasy.
I went along to the Saint David's Day parade in Cardiff on the Saturday and I though it was really good. Not up to St. Patrick's Day in Dublin yet, but certainly enough to make your heart swell with pride. |
Nicey replies: Sue,
Glad to hear you made lots of tea and cake propelled dosh for your Charity. Well done to all your baking colleagues too.
Team NCOTAASD are just back from a week in the Alps, where the YMOS did very good impressions of small helmet wearing projectiles re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Wifey can officially now no longer keep up with them and is adapting her skiing style accordingly to a more sitting down with a hot chocolate whilst I go off and find ever steeper things for the YMOS to tackle.
On the way back yesterday morning we found ourselves on Paris's Gare du Nord at 6:00 am where I was forced to drink Liptons Yellow label tea in a paper cup of hot water and milk, for 2.40 Euros. Wifey has always wanted a romantic weekend in Paris, and arriving at 5:30 am after a night spent trying to sleep and a vinyl covered shelf surrounded by ski socks didn't seem to count. Not even one little tiny bit, although we did spot the odd glimpse of the Eiffel Tower on the way out.
So I better go and get that Guinness and see if we can celebrate St Patrick's Day in some style |
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Pete aka Sadistician |
Hey man,
I love tea (as the title of this email may suggest slightly), and I also produce music... Hence or otherwise I have made a tune all about Tea! You can download it from www.thecentrifuge.co.uk if you're interested. Let me know what you think if do...! The track is called 'Tea Fetish' and features my mate's mum...!
Enjoy!
Pete aka Sadistician
P.s I was watching an episode of 'Father Ted' recently,and it involved a visiting preist being offered the choice of 'biscuit or cake' with his tea... What would you go for? (given the prerequisite of having to choose one or the other...?) |
Nicey replies: Hey Pete aka Sadistician,
Well done on the long kettle coming to the boil intro to your song, I enjoyed that part. Your friends mother however sounded a bit like she had been burning the candle at both ends.
In such a situation as cake or biscuit always go with the cake, as you'll get offered the biscuits again after you have finished the cake, in a kind of main course / pudding thing.
Also as it is St Patrick's day well done on bringing up the Farther Ted reference. I must away now to get Wifey her Guinness. |
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Diarmaid O'Sullivan |
Dear Nicey and Wifey,
I think you'll be interested in this upcoming bank holiday festival in Donegal, in the North West of Ireland, where large quantities of tae and biscuits are consumed cupoftaefestival .
FYI 'tae' is the Irish and Hiberno-English for that which you refer to as 'tea'.
Love the website,
Diarmaid (Dublin, Ireland) |
Nicey replies: We were inspecting Donegal at a distance only last week in a our mammoth NCOTAASD Easter tour of Northern Ireland.
It's over there some where behind that Giant's Causeway. |
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Jim Fussell |
Nicey,
Flew back from working in Dublin yesterday. Ryanair served me with the requested cup of tea and my god, it was the second worst cup I'd ever had. Some strange Indian brand I'd never heard of. It had brown bits of crap all over the top of it. Not tea dust and not tea leaves, just some crap. Then the gave me coffee cream to put in it! It tasted as you would imagine.
They should take a tip out of the Easyjet PG Tips tea choice.
Jim. |
Nicey replies: Whilst I have no desire to bring down the wrath of a budget airline upon us, it does let me use a very succinct set of icons. |
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