Thursday, September 29, 2005
THE DECLINE OF BRITISH TRADITION, TODAY: TEA
Apparently a lot of people are unhappy with the quality of tea being served in Britain. No really? How long did it take to discover this? Strangely, leaving aside the odd traditional tea room in the countryside, this has been a well known fact for years. Or at least to me it has. But you know, the solution is fairly simple: don’t drink the stuff. Myself, I love tea, preferable black, so I am not bashing tea drinking here. But there is little point in trying to ignore reality and insist on drinking tea when being out and about. As a coffee hater, I always turn to hot chocolate or fruit juices when I go to cafes. So if you don’t want to be disappointed, just follow my example and keep your tea drinking at home. Or alternatively, if you have the time and the drive, open your own proper tea shop. Or, if you’re really ambitious, why not set up a whole chain? A sort of Starbucks for tea?
Also, pretty dispiriting is the spread of herbal and fruit “teas”. Yes, I know their healthy, but come on, not that healthy and they taste weakly. Not the stuff the Empire was built on, I say ;)
Though I have to say actual consumption of tea looks pretty strong to me:
Apparently a lot of people are unhappy with the quality of tea being served in Britain. No really? How long did it take to discover this? Strangely, leaving aside the odd traditional tea room in the countryside, this has been a well known fact for years. Or at least to me it has. But you know, the solution is fairly simple: don’t drink the stuff. Myself, I love tea, preferable black, so I am not bashing tea drinking here. But there is little point in trying to ignore reality and insist on drinking tea when being out and about. As a coffee hater, I always turn to hot chocolate or fruit juices when I go to cafes. So if you don’t want to be disappointed, just follow my example and keep your tea drinking at home. Or alternatively, if you have the time and the drive, open your own proper tea shop. Or, if you’re really ambitious, why not set up a whole chain? A sort of Starbucks for tea?
Also, pretty dispiriting is the spread of herbal and fruit “teas”. Yes, I know their healthy, but come on, not that healthy and they taste weakly. Not the stuff the Empire was built on, I say ;)
Though I have to say actual consumption of tea looks pretty strong to me:
On average every person in Britain drinks three cups of tea a day
Although those statistics could be skewered by people like me, who drink at least three pots o tea a day . . . Time to put the kettle on!
Labels: nation
