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Your e-Mails

Nessa Folks	I’ve just turned 30, so to mark the occasion I had a proper tea party with proper bone china and proper cake and scones and clotted cream and strawberries and even proper cucumber sandwiches without the crusts. I thought you might like to see a few piccies. Note the Nice Cup Of Tea and a Sit Down book on display next to the cups. Everyone had such a lovely time, maybe next year we’ll do it again, but with biscuits. Nessa Folks Swansea
	Nicey replies: Hoorah! for you and your lovely tea party, I liked the candelabra at the back and the plucky blue teapot which still took part despite having a chip out its rim, good for him/her (blue for a boy? (oh no have I just started a debate as to the gender of teapots? (probably not))).
Mike Armitage	Hi Nicey, Wifey and team. I just would like to mention that if I buy my Twinings Earl Grey tea bags from Tesco or Sainsbury any any other supermarket, the boxes are filled with standard round tea bags. However, if I am in the Watford area, I can go to Costco and buy a triple pack of tea bags in 100's. These tea bags come in fancy boxes with different tear-open strips and they have string and tags on them. I find them more covenient to use when taking tea on the deck at the lorry park because I can leave the bag in a little longer and then just flip it over the wall into a skip when the tea reaches the required strength. Mike Armitage at the lorry park in West Drayton.
	Nicey replies: Mike, Thanks for that, there's a lot of information in there, not least that your lorry is connected to interweb.
Nick Scovell	Hallo... Just wanted to drop you a line to say how much I am enjoying your book. I am reading it at two hour intervals at work, accompanied by you only know too well what! I have also had an idea that may go well on your website and wondered what you might think of it. Having recently enjoyed the film Vera Drake (thought it is very harrowing, so enjoy might not be the best word), and despite its serious intent, it is so glorious in its Britishness and period feel. Tea features heavily in Vera Drake and it got me thinking about other great tea moments in films. It struck me how interesting and amusing it might be for people to suggest a 'Top Ten Tea Films.' Like the interrupted farewell over tea in Brief Encounter (with sugar served in the spoon), or Tom Courtenay's wonderful rendering of 'I like a nice cup of tea in the morning...' in The Dresser. Not to mention Wallace and Gromit and their huge brown teapots! What do you think? Nick Scovell (Shortbread/Milk Chocolate Digestive top choice at present)
	Nicey replies: Hello Nick, Oh yes, that's a good plan. I think my favourite has to be Donald Pleasence in the Great Escape offering James Garner (I think) a cup of tea and complaining that he had been reusing the same tea leafs about ten times now.
Sue Northcott	Until now I've been a failure as a parent. Both our kids have avoided any tea or coffee intake, in fact the only hot drink they'll touch is hot chocolate. This is probably due to my tendency to consume huge mugs of industrial strength Assam, with very little milk and certainly no sugar. My own introduction to tea was by my grandfather who served me tiny little bone china cups full of very sweet milky glengettie, and let me drink it from the saucer or teaspoon if it was too hot. (I also shared the saucer with his collie dog, Bob, but that's another story). Anyway, while on holiday our youngest (7) took part in a tasting at the Auray branch of the LeClerc supermarket chain (lack of French is no obstacle to a lad who can talk for Wales and doesn't care if anyone's listening). He was much taken with the Lipton Ice Tea Peche Thankfully we can get a version of this at home, so he's very happy. My questions are: 1. Does this count, in any way, as tea drinking in the 'real' sense? 2. How can I encourage it to evolve into a proper tea habit without resorting to too much sugar? Sue Northcott (Much more cheerful this week, thanks!)
	Nicey replies: Hello Sue, Glad you have bucked up a bit this week. I remember my first visit to a LeClerc (indeed the first French Supermarket I went too), must have been about 15 years ago now. Despite only being a small one it still sold cement mixers along with the more obvious groceries. For added rustic charm a small flock of sparrows were coming in through a gap in the roof and making off with some goods placed at the top of the shelves. I'm guessing it was somewhere near Montreuil just south of Boulogne. Anyhow sorry to bring you down in your hour of triumph but French peach flavoured Iced tea fails on at least three counts. Still the fact that the boy is showing willingness to try other beverages is a good thing in general. We work on the principle here that certain selected items such as special forms of cake (one's that we made a bit of a fuss about baking) can only be consumed with tea. This works some of the time but is in no way fool proof.
Jack Briggs	Hi Nicey and Wifey, I bought the book from Ottokars and keep randomly dipping into it for my amusement. I did not see the name of Gray Dunn with caramel wafers but my reading method might have skipped over it. I think they did a popular advertising campaign on TV at least ten years ago. Not that I like them any more than cardboard/Rivita. I endorse the assessment of the fig biscuits, they are some kind of perfection but they can go rock hard if not kept properly in a sealed biscuit tin. They don't normally last long enough to find that out. It would be interesting to know what your readers use for biscuit tins. I have an old round one with a flower pattern on the lid but I also keep them in a modern sealable plastic container. I hear you screaming the word 'sacrilege'. I also have an old chromed biscuit barrel that I think goes back to my parents' wedding day in 1947. It has an inner container, like a little bucket, but does not hold a sufficient quantity of biscuits and it does not feel right to separate them into two places. I hope that you don't mind but I have attached a photo of our workplace brewing area, exactly as it is every day, with its industrial teapot and messy fridge below. Mine is the KitKat mug. Note the rusty spoon and build-up of tannin in the teapot. The cleaning lady is under very strict instructions NEVER to clean the insides of the teapot. We always think it keeps the tea away from the metal and, anyway, it is probably bad luck if someone cleans it out. Out of the picture, there is a box of 100 Tetley teabags from the 'pound shop'. The custard picture from your website is now my computer background picture. Yum! Keep up the good work. I am enjoying the book. J Briggs
	Nicey replies: Hello Jack, That's a wonderful photo of tea making equipment, just the sort of thing I was after when I took the photos for the book. I like the brown tray underneath it all too and the reflections in the kettle. The teapot is glorious, I'm particularly impressed with the black wire handle over the spout to aid pouring. I'm also enjoying the old 10Base2 networking points behind the fridge. Sadly we were informed a while back that Grey Dunn ceased trading in 2001 so I suppose I should really put an entry up or them in the missing in action section.
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