Random thoughts on tea

I am what some call a 'tea jenny' - jenny being scots for 'a lot of something' and means I like to drink a lot of tea. I reckon I drink about 10 cups of tea a day. I used to drink only normal tea - with Yorkshire Tea or Twinings English Breakfast being my bags of choice. The past few years I have become addicted to peppermint tea after drinking it when I was ill with a bad stomach. Peppermint tea is really refreshing and can be drunk hot or cold. This means that when I am at work and forget about my cuppa, it is still good to drink when cold!

I can be quite particular about my tea. I prefer it made in a tea pot although when just making it for myself this seems a bit of a palaver so I make it in the cup (very bad practice). At work I have a one cup teapot that sits on top of a matching cup. It is white with brightly coloured spots on it. When making tea from a pot I warm the pot first - you have to take the chill off it else your tea will cool too quickly. And if I have time I also warm the cup.

Not everyone feels the need to eat something along with a cuppa but I come from a family who loves a wee biscuit or nibble with their tea. I love jaffa cakes although I prefer Tesco blue strip ones. Yes, the cheapest jaffa cakes you will ever find - but the cakey base is a bit crisper and I can get a bit of bite out of it. I love ginger and two nibbles I like are Anna's Ginger Thins, swedish style biscuits. They aren't always easy to get a hold of although deli's often do them, as does Ikea. My second ginger delight is Border's Dark Ginger biscuits - mmmm. They are pricey at £1.55 a box for ten but they are very much worth it. The dark choc and ginger combo works a treat and rather than the usual dry, dusty gibger effect you get from a lot of ginger biccies these ones are moist and chewy.

My favourite teapot is one that I bought with money left to me by my Gran - who was the tea jenny queen so it is quite fitting - made by Freud. It is metal with a wodden handle and is round with a spout that makes it look like a wee pig. It keeps the tea piping hot and it makes the best cuppa. It is hard to put your finger on it, but the right cuppa has a taste all of its own.