my cup of tea

Better a man to fast for three days without food than to go for one day without tea.
Chinese Proverb

a brief history of tea

Tea was, apparently, discovered by a Chinese emperor. His servant was boiling water, and a leaf fell into it. He shrugged his shoulders and drank it anyway, and then decided that he liked it. The tea tree was discovered, and took its first step towards the worldwide fame it enjoys today.

Tea used to come in solid, baked bricks. Part of the brick would be broken off, and ground down before you could make a brew. Later, someone decided that this was too much effort, and loose leaf tea was launched. Later still, a merchant decided to sell tea in stitched silk pouches, instead of tins - he was probably being cheap, but someone buying them thought it was a brewing invention. So the teabag was born, and teapots everywhere started gathering a little layer of dust.

tea tests

There are so many tea brands, blends, infusions and flavours in shops it's sometimes hard to know what to choose. Which to pick if you want to try something new? Buying a box of 80 is always a bit of a risk...

To answer these questions, we decided to be scientific. Blind tea tests would be conducted, with willing volunteers. Three teas at a time would be posted out with brewing instructions only. No trace of brand or type of tea would be sent, and the testers' opinions would be listed online for your reading pleasure.
> click here to read the first 3 tea reviews

a taxonomy of tea

White tea. Herbal tea. Decaffinated tea. Infusions. Single estate. Blends. We get easily confused and we thought you might too, so we present our summary of the terminology used and brief description for different types.
> click here for more on a taxonomy of tea...

a perfect cuppa - Ray's rules

Ray's dad was a chef and a Royal Marine. He passed on to Ray the best way to brew a perfect cuppa. If it's good enough for the Royal Marines, it's good enough for us.
> click here to find out how to brew the perfect cuppa

tea fact t's

Tea replaced Gin as the drink of the masses in Eighteenth century England.

The oriental tea ceremony was developed by Zen Buddhist monks. Their ritual of making tea expressed 'the quest of greatness in the smallest details of life', and are 'an outward form of an inner belief in the importance of peace and harmony'. Tea ceremonies would be run by Tea Masters, and follow the Way of Tea.
> what to know more fact t's? click here to find out more...