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 |
Nick Q
Biscato Spicy and Plain Digesta Review |
Dear Nicey
I write to you midway through a two week business trip to Egypt. The lack of teaspoons is alarming. In fact, given that I'm in one of the fanciest hotels in Cairo (just next to the pyramids) their ability to produce a suitable spoon for any task is a worry. This morning at breakfast I was presented with a soup spoon to eat my little pot of yoghurt. Teaspoons are only allocated when the waiter comes to pour your coffee, and it is likely to be whisked away should you leave your table to replenish your plate from the breakfast buffet.
I would have trousered a set of eating irons by now to carry around with me however one is frequently required to pass through metal detectors to get to the simplest of objectives and I do not wish to be frisked every time I pass through the hotel reception area.
I am planning to try the breakfast tea tomorrow although I have resisted it thus far as the coffee served is so far removed from any other cup of coffee I have tried that I cannot contemplate what the tea might be like and may be disinclined to give it an honest appraisal. Also the milk served with such beverages is of the hot frothy variety which also makes me somewhat hesitant to see what it would do to the tea.
However, this in no way detracts from my overall enjoyment of the country which, like many places across the world, has it own distinctive charms and idiosyncracies. A word to your readers - bring your own supply of (plastic) teaspoons if planning to visit.
Pharoanically yours
Nick Q |
| Nicey replies: Hello again Nick,
You have of course reminded us of Wifey's trip to Cairo the other year. She didn't report any problems with the the supply of teaspoons in Egypt so maybe this is a recent and troubling issue. Anyhow thanks for the tip off. |
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Julie Wyman
Leafy Pie and Green Tea Pocky Review |
Dear Mr Nicey,
I just thought that you'd like to know what the flavour of those pretzelly things actually is. Verily it is not quince, but rather that old Japanese favourite - green tea!
I do in fact reside in the land of bonkers, have done for nigh on seven years now, and I still find myself being surprised by anything and everything!
Julie Wyman
PS Loved your book. FANTASTIC!!
PPS I write my own blog about Japan, and about tea (although sadly the latter is in Japanese, ganbatte! = good luck!)
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| Nicey replies: Hello Julie,
I have had green tea before but I don't think it can have been the same stuff as the Japanese are using, as the Pocky didn't rekindle any latent memories of it. I'll stick with Quince as the nearest thing in my personal experience but may be try and get hold of some proper green tea, if nothing else to see how near to mark or far off of it these Pocky are. |
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| Vivienne Lane |
I have just been introduced to your site and can see that I am going to become an addict. On the subject of tea-making facilities in the USA - a few days after moving to America one of my neighbours invited me over for a visit. She poured herself a cup of coffee (freshly roasted and ground Blue Mountain beans, lightly steamed milk) but insisted on making me a cup of tea, since "that's what you English like, right?" - cup, tea bag, teaspoon, HOT WATER OUT OF TAP! Quite unspeakably vile.
Of course, being English, I drank it. |
| Nicey replies: If you plan on seeing this neighbor ever again then you are best off sorting this matter out. Either that or bung her a cup of 'Mellow Birds' instant coffee whitened with Coffee Mate when she visits you, made with tap water of course, that should put the wind up her. |
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| Scott Bachmann |
I confess that I am at once both an american and a coffee drinker, and now a fan of your site. You have a way with words and humor that make me miss what I've never known. (I had the same experience once with Turkish Delight and that Narnia book, but that came to a bad end when I finally tried one.) So pat yourselves on the back for a job well done.
Oh. And on behalf of my entire country, I apologize for that Dr. Who thing we did. Your new one is much better. |
| Nicey replies: Scott, I too have had some fairly rubbish Turkish Delight, not the proper pink jelly stuff but more like partially molten green styrofoam. Apparently this was the real stuff as brought back from Turkey by a colleague, and it was green because of its Pistachio content. If this is the stuff which delights them in Turkey I wouldn't like to have to eat mouthfuls of of the stuff they're not fussed on.
Anyhow you shouldn't go wrong with a decent biscuit and a cup of proper tea. |
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| Nick |
Nicey,
I have just landed my aircraft this morning after a long flight back from Johannesburg. Many hours had to be whiled away as we covered the 5000 miles between South Africa and London... plenty of time for a nice cup of tea and we are always sitting down!
Lo and behold, one of the cabin crew passed me a little individually wrapped biscuit with one of my many cups of tea and, being a dunker, I gave it a go. This was probably the best dunking biscuit I have ever tried and that covers a lot of ground. Quick to take up the moisture but firm enough to keep in one piece the result was a soft and delightful texture. The flavour was a lovely combination of wheat and oats with a strong coconut aftertaste and not spoiled by the altitude.
The biscuit is a Biscotti home baked Italian wonder produced by Biscotti, 21 King St, Duncanville, South Africa. On a rating of 1 to 10 this has to be a 9.7 and I am renown as being a hard marker. If you or anyone in your ken knows where I might get these marvels in the UK I would be forever grateful as it may be weeks before I get back to Jo'burg.
Many thanks
Nick |
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