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 |
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)

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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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Bob and Amanda |
Nicey, Wifely, et al,
Where can I get a good cuppa in London? Do British Rail cafeteria still exist?
Robert
Australia |
Nicey replies: Lots of places although it would seem you need to go anywhere that Tony Blair doesn't.
There are cafes in most London stations but they are tend to deal in charmless Danish pastries and paninnis. Your tea will be subject to whatever nameless catering teabag they shove in your paper cup and how hot their water is. Both of these important factors are usually beyond your knowledege or control.
I find the best places to simply be any every day back street cafe which London is full of. If they do bacon rolls or egg and chips then the tea should be up to scratch. The really good ones have giant teapots and use giant catering tea bags. I was very excited to be presented with one of these giant tea bags when I went to the Fields Cafe in Dalston.
Then of course you should check out definitive back street cafe site eggbaconbeansandchips and its sister site ateaandathink. |
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Andy Titcomb |
Hello Nicey
I thought you might be interested to see my teapot blog? All the latest teapot news updated virtually every day. It has been in the news locally recently.
All good wishes
Andy Titcomb |
Nicey replies: I think we may have spied a few of your teapots when we were on tea tour in Cornwall the other year.
I took this picture in Lakes teapots next to the quay in Looe. |
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Ben Riordan |
Hi Nicey,
I was rather hoping you could offer some advice.
My lovely girlfriend and I are going to the Far East for 6 months soon and, although they do have some wonderful varieties of Tea over there, I am concerned that we may find ourselves longing for that Great British Taste at some point or other.
Now, as Tea Bags and their packaging are liable to splitting when put under continued stress, do you know of any practical, yet classy method of transporting Tea Bags. I am always aware that I am travelling in an almost Ambassadorial role when it comes to the Great British Taste so presentation is also of the utmost import whilst abroad.
Many thanks in advance for your help and, of course, for the pleasurable moments spent in front of nicecupofteaandasitdown.
Yours,
Ben Riordan |
Nicey replies: You are very wise to plan ahead like this. Wifey just returned from a short girls trip to Florence with marathon running Bezzer, and she forgot the tea bags (it normally falls to me to remember them). After four days of Liptons Yellow Label she returned home late Monday night in a quite scary tea frenzy.
I find those re-sealable sandwich bags do a good job. Providing you don't put too many tea bags in them (60-80) then they can be easily packed inside other things and act like tea flavoured flow wrap. The space inside of shoes is very appealing but you might want to double bag them for that.
Also six months is a long time, so you'll need to develop sensible techniques to maximise the longevity of your stash. I would suggest that you certainly look at our preferred two cups from one bag method, or the use of a small pot. Finally you might want to to get some more sent to you, or preceding your arrival. If your employer is sympathetic to your needs then maybe you can have some sent to a regional office by your colleagues back home. The setting of supply dumps are the sorts of techniques used by explorers, mountaineers and advancing armies to ensure vital supplies are in place.
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Sarah Derryman |
Hola Nicey (gone all Spanish for a bit as it's hollies season)
You said in your reply to Nessa's lovely pictures of her tea party (what a fabulous idea, I may take the liberty of following suit if she doesn't object...) that the plucky blue teapot had a chip out of its rim. But surely you can see that it's one of those spangly-fangled clever teapots which can hold its own integral strainer attachment, thereby allowing the use of leaves instead of bags without having to cart around the small hand-held tea strainer (with the accompanying dilemma of where to put it when it gets full of leaves).
Jolly lovely array of teapots and cups/saucers there, do all of Nessa's friends share her passion and brought along their own I wonder? What a fabulous idea - after the advent of book clubs, knitting circles and sewing gangs, perhaps we should all be starting NCOTAASD appreciation societies, meeting once a month for general tea, biscuit and sit-down activities in the company of like-minded others? I'm sure I can't have been the first to think of it...
Hope you head off somewhere smashing for your hollies, love to Wifey and the YMOS.
Sarah in Bath xxx
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Nicey replies: Yes you can see how ignorant I am of cutting edge teapot gadetry, and you're not the only one to pick me up on this. Still I think a few chips and the occasional missing handle add a touch of earthy personality to some of the more senior teapots, even if it does make them unpleasant and awkward to use. |
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