All You Need Is Tea

October 19, 2014 by Ray Morgan

There's a photo of me and my sister as young children drinking cups of tea; me from a plastic beaker, and my sister all grown-up with a proper mug. I love it for many reasons, but mainly because it shows where my love of tea began.

As the weather (supposedly) gets colder (see my previous blog), one of the great comforts in life is a cup of tea. I have always loved a good cuppa. When I was about 18, I went to a quiz night with my family and friends, and they laughed at me on the way home when I said, after a few beers, that all I wanted was a cup of tea, grannyish and hyper-British it may be.

It's also what we do in a crisis - we put the kettle on. It doesn't matter how you take it, I'm no tea snob, it's all part of the idiosyncrasies of life. Milk first? No bother. Sugar? I'll not judge you; sometimes I even have a cheeky half myself. Herbal? Welcome aboard.

I grew up in a household where there was always a pot of tea on the go. It always used to be PG Tips pyramid bags, but now my parents favour Twinings Everyday - a sublime bag, I think you'll agree. In my own home, I'm building a tea cupboard to rival Holland & Barrett. Builder's tea, decaf tea, green tea, ginger tea, peach tea, rooibos tea (mm, bonfirey), and the after-dinner drink of choice, peppermint.

When I get to work, there's a cup waiting for me on my desk (we have a successful tea round system going). When I need a 3pm pick-me-up, it's time for a strong builder's tea. When I get in from a night out, my first instinct when through the door is popping the kettle on, even if it means being even later to bed. When I go to a coffee shop, I'm often lured away from freshly-ground arabica by the thought of a soothing pot of the good stuff.

In fact, all this discussion of my beloved brew has made me rather thirsty...

Here are my top 5 teas:

1. Classic breakfast tea - strong, with milk, no sugar - preferably in my Deirdre Barlow mug (not kidding)
2. Green tea, simple, clean and classic 
3. Earl Grey, best exclusively drunk while eating biscuits, ideally lemon-based
4. Green tea with peach, good lord if you've not tried this, DRINK IMMEDIATELY
5. Mint tea after a meal. Like a mug of After Eights.