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 |
Mark Hamlett |
Hello Nicey and Wifey,
Am I the only person who drinks nothing but tea at home, yet drinks nothing but coffee at work? In my case, it’s because the tea at work smells of mushroom soup, but I’ve always done that. Anybody else?
Best wishes,
Mark Hamlett |
Nicey replies: Yes nothing more off putting than a trace of fungus. |
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Philip Neaves |
Wonderful site - but has making tea really come to this? A tea bag? Dreadful. For instructions on "real tea" (in the same manner as "real ale") please visit our tea page
Also a tea quiz - see link at bottom of page.
Keep up the good work.
Philip & Catheryn
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Nicey replies: Philip,
Whilst I'm very pleased to use at least four of our tea icons to go along with your mail, I would urge restraint on your part and not to descend into full blown tea fascism. A live and let live attitude is the enlightened path unless of course you are having to drink somebody else's ropey tea, then its all right to have a go especially if you are having to pay for it.
One pound forty on the P&O Dover Calais ferry for half a cup of warm water drizzled over a one cup bag with a small plastic pot of milk, now that's something to get upset about. These vessels are now effectively the very edge of British tea culture. Leaving our shores they are the last chance for a cuppa in a place that should recognise the significance of such a thing. They are also a welcoming sight for the weary travelling Brit and should be a stronghold and embodiment of mass tea provision, in a way that we can be both grateful for and proud of.
Of dear you appear to have set me off on one now. |
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Janice Scott |
Dear Nicey and Wifey,
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your wonderful book. As an ex-pat living in Australia for the past 20 years, we recently returned from a visit (with my husband and three children) to old 'Blighty' and on one of our many days out, my daughter pointed out your book in a very small National Trust Giftshop in Robin Hood's Bay on the North East Coast of England (my husband and I originate from Durham City).
My husband and I are avid tea drinkers, he - a perfect 'T'; myself - it depends, mostly 'T1'. My husband (a shift worker) can drink up to 16 cups a day, our kettle is never cold! Our three children, aged 9, 11 and 15 (all born in Australia) have inherited the English taste for tea and all drink it often much to the amusement of our 'Aussie' friends and neighbours.
The book made me smile and laugh and brought back many memories of afternoon teas with my mum and aunts, and of course the compulsory plate of assorted biscuits (my childhood favourite - the Lincoln). I now take part in many morning and afternoon teas with my 'Aussie' friends and take much pride in providing teacups and saucers and teapot on a tray, keeping alive the English tradition.
The book will now take pride of place on our bookshelf for 'special' books; kept safe to be passed on to my children and hopefully connoisseur tea drinkers of the future to hopefully enjoy as much as I have. I will of course take it down to peruse when I am having my 'nice cup of tea and a sit down' which is very, very often.
With many thanks and my very best regards.
Janice Scott |
Nicey replies: Janice,
Thanks for your mail. The National Trust do excellent work preserving the nations heritage as well as selling our book in their gift shops. Around us for some reason they also have a few water mills where they grind excellent wholemeal flour which makes glorious brown bread, and oatmeal which makes equally glorious raisin and oatmeal biscuits.
Quite frankly I don't know what we would do with out them.
Regards to all your tea drinking family
Nicey |
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Frommy |
Nicey & Wifey,
Having been an avid fan of your site for a few years now, imagine how pleased I was to discover that I was working for a group of likeminded tea-enthusiasts. So much so that we have formed a tea society. We are the Backline crew for George Michael's Band, so we set up the instruments and do a lot of swanning around and such. Our tour merchandise has just turned up and attached is a picture of us all wearing the pure new wool sweaters emblazoned with '25Live Tea Society' around a little teapot on the right arm, and on the breast our names, tea preference, and how we take it. I have Frommy, Earl Grey, White no Sugar.
As you can see from the photo we have a blue Delft tea service (second hand from a Plymouth charity shop) with hand knitted tea cosy (Ken's mum-in-law) and a macrameed sugar bowl cover (Ken's Auntie). We take afternoon tea daily after linecheck (this is when we check all the instruments work before the band come in to play).
We are the envy of the rest of the tour - so far no comment from George though.
Keep up the good work.
Frommy & Cyril, Kerry, Ken, Lance, Turbo & Dan (The 25Live Tea Society)

same only bigger
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Nicey replies: Well that's really opened our eyes to the glamorous backstage world of a major international recording artist. We never knew it could be so refined. Of course it has to be a distinct advantage having your tea preferences emblazoned on your chest. Should you perchance to doze off you can be gently awakened with the cup of tea of your choice by any passer by. Wifey reckons George would do well to get one of your nice woolies too.
Nice Fruitcake and Tiffin shot too.
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Marie Vabre |
Hello Nicey and Wifey,
I'm French, and I lived some seven years in England, I thoroughly enjoyed these years. But I still have my tea without milk nor sugar.. Which stops me from enjoying the strong brew I often get in most tea places, even if I ask for a very weak tea.
Only posher places allow you to remove the tea bag before the tea is undrinkable, or give you a jug of water to weaken the tea...
Are you all horrified out there???
Now for custard: yes I admit having enjoying some custards, school dinners ones, home made ones made from Bird's I suppose, but I love trifle, and I have an excellent English recipe that doesn't use jelly, but home made custard (from eggs and milk, but with a special tip which I will reveal on your site if anyone would like to hear it), and also using mostly fresh fruit. Of course in summer I use fresh strawberries, peaches, apricots, to the delight of my French guests who first say "What? Not an English dessert! !
Anybody interested in my recipe?
And to finish with, another addition to British shopping abroad: in the little town of Foix (Ariège) where I live, there is a litttle shop called "Simply British" where you can find all this delicious stuff, even Marmite among other things, that I used to have to bring back from England every time I went there on holiday. The shop is run by an English lady, and the adress is Rue des Chapeliers, should you wish to visit that lovely and peaceful part of France. (By the way, lots of British people have bought houses and are settling or plan to settle there at retirement.There is even a B and B place run by English people, and an English restaurant with a English chef, who makes delicious puddings with custard...The place is called Gaia and the 3 ^places are in the same street in Foix
Voilà tout, merci for your site, and I look fotward to any queries!
Keep up the good work
Marie Vabre |
Nicey replies: Apart from your dubious tea mangling ways you seem otherwise very well adjusted.
Actually the YMOS and I went fruit picking on Sunday at our local fruit farm which is literally the other side of the road from NCOTAASD HQ, even if it is half a mile away down that road. Having gone a bit mad on the raspberries, I juiced the excess added sugar and set it with some gelatine to make fresh raspberry jelly. Some trifle sponges and strawberry blancmange later and we had pudding. Yes I did briefly agonise over the custard vs blancmange issue, but I have a backlog of strawberry blancmange.
So far in our tea tours of France we have never made it down as far as the Pyrenees, but we would love to visit one day. |
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