Tea, please

I've got a complaint to make.

I've been to lots of meetings recently. And in lots of those meetings I haven't been offered a cup of tea. Shocking isn't it?

Sometimes, if the meeting is going on a bit, I'll politely ask for a drink. Someone will then bring out some water.

Water?

I love tea, I could drink it all day. I tell them at work, "don't ask, just make a brew". Sometimes when I get in of a morning I make myself two cups of tea, just to get me started. Tea is the drink that built Britain. In fact Russell once told me that because tea uses boiling, and therefore pure water, it stopped factory workers getting cholera and such and therefore that's not just an aphorism, tea actually did build Britain.

So next time I'm in a meeting with you, I'll have a tea, please. Milk no sugar. Thanks. And next time you're hosting a meeting, please offer to brew up.

Some other points; Yorkshire Tea is easily the best and occasionally I'm partial to a latté.

Comments

[Martin]

Hear, hear!
"Do you want a up of tea?" is like asking "Do you breathe?".

[Dan Hill]

I hope you make it with leaves and not tea-bags. It's loads nicer that way.

There's a completely brilliant shop here in Oz called T2:
http://www.t2tea.com.au/

In Melbourne and Sydney. They do a nice black tea with a hint of bergamot called Sydney Breakfast - my current favourite.

[minxlj]

At our office we have several tea addicts - if someone isn't making a brew every half hour there's something amiss!

Tea is the cornerstone of Britain, don't stand for people disregarding it! Demand your right to tea! (LOL)

[davidthedesigner]

I haven't drunk a cup of tea (well, at least one with milk in) since 1983. It's horrible stuff. Give me a good espresso, though, and I'm up for anything.

[Ul. or a P.]

Loose leaf Darjeeling darling, please. No sugar, sugar - I'm sweet enough!

Hampstead is the best option for quality/price and Steenbergs if you've got money to burn. Taylors is pretty shit, with Twinnings being total. You should be able to steep it for up to five mins without ruining the flavour.

Don't buy at a supermarket - find a good source.

and No Milk!

[Jeff Gill]

Clipper Organic with milk and one small brown sugar.

Question: Why does tea not taste the same away from home, even when I make it using the same tea, milk and sugar? Is it the mug or the ambiance?

[Sigh9]

The other theory about the success of the British Empire is that tea in the morning displaced the previous breakfast beverage of choice for the workers of GB which was...beer.

I can see how that might improve productivity.

[Vicki Brown]

Shocking. Do not work with them. They are untrustworthy.
PG Tips Pyramid Special Blend IS THE KING OF TEA. I work in an office full of girls so there's all this camomile and mint and detox nonsense. That is NOT tea! In the same way that white chocolate is NOT chocolate, but don't get me started on that one...

[claire]

I once went to a meeting at a software supplier (don't ask)at 12.30 and we were given only their own branded water to drink. The place was in the arse end of nowhere, we'd travelled halfway across london to get there and we weren't offered a hot drink or a biscuit. Rubbish.

[Rob Mortimer]

I knew there was another reason I respected you, Yorkshire Tea is the stuff of the gods.

I am still gutted that Ben and Jerry's Northern Tea and Chocolate Biscuit flavour Ice cream (which I suggested) fell at the last hurdle of testing...

[Isaac Downing]

I've never strayed from coffee... but I'm in the US, so that probably has something to do with it.

I'll give this whole 'tea' business a try this weekend.

[Nick]

Cheers to T2 Dan - I miss/love that place.

Of course here in the old US of A it's coffee and on occasion I've been offered a latte (a reason to keep that client!)

[India]

Worse than no tea, though, in my opinion, is when you go to a meeting or conference and there's a hot water urn for making tea, but the water (a) is not hot enough, duh, and (b) tastes like rancid coffee tar, because that's what the urn was used for at nine out of the last ten meetings. The bags-versus-loose discussion is irrelevant, in this situation. I'll gladly take your cold, bottled water instead, branded or not.

I call this "Lincoln tea," as Abraham Lincoln is suppposed to have once said, "If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."

Furthermore, we hardly ever have biscuits/cookies at meetings in the U.S. Very sad.

[Jonathan Baldwin]

Yorkshire Tea is the only brand other than Apple that I am loyal to. It says on the box '1 bag makes two cups' but I've only done that once.

I have a big issue with tea. It never tastes right if it's not made at home. If I have a tea in a cafe it's usually too week, and if I make tea at work, with water from those cooler things, it never tastes right. The milk always tastes a bit off too.

So if I'm not at home I tend to have a fruit tea or a hot chocolate (I used to drink coffee but I've gone off it).

Can I recommend http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/ and the associated book?

[Valarie]

Try being in the U.S. and finding a decent cup of tea. Even at nice places, where they probably personally flew in coffee beans that very morning to make your perfect cup of espresso, frequently the best you can do is Tazo's Awake, which is total crap. And then, just to pour lemon juice on my paper cut, they usually serve it with half-and-half.

I'm with Vicki - PG Tips is the way to go (although I'm fond of Typhoo, too), and it's actually being picked up by some high-end grocery chains here. I still remember being on vacation, getting on the train from London to Edinburgh, and being served PG Tips. On mass transportation, they served PG Tips! What a lovely country you have.

[LYnda]

i like tea too...current favourite is lapsang souchong a kind of black tea from www.teacuppa.com

smooth, complex and smokey..

[lauren]

perhaps your clients don't like you very much ben. i've tasted london water and it's close to poison (except when boiled in tea, of course).

[Emily Wilkinson]

I notice this in meetings too. I seem to remember when I was job hunting the Design Conspiracy and Futerra were the only places that offered me tea (out of about 15 companies). What is the world coming to?

[Ben]

Emily - I'm pleased we offered you a cup of tea!

[Steve O]

I usually say no to a cup of tea at meetings and interviews because when I did say yes it arrived just before I left! Stil, it is nice to be offered... PG or Yorkshire... one sugar... not too much milk... ta.