Author: Robert Godden

  • All Good Things…

    All Good Things…

    I’m here to say goodbye. I just read that there is now an oyster-vending machine in my home town, and I think that’s a perfect way to introduce my last ever blog post. The oyster, that snot-textured harbinger of vomit-inducing fishiness, that molluscory kryptonite to anyone with sensible taste buds, is the perfect demonstration of…

  • The Day He Decided I should Die (or at least Retire)

    The Day He Decided I should Die (or at least Retire)

    Well, dear fans, I, your Lord Devotea, have some news for you. So, there’s this guy called Robert Godden. Many of you know him. I know him well. He invented me! Yes, shockingly, I am not real. His wife actually came up with the idea that I should be called The Devotea, later he promoted…

  • A Pot Of Kindness

    A Pot Of Kindness

    Well, folks, it’s been a while. So much has been happening and blogging has not so much taken a back seat as moved into the luggage compartment. However, I have been honour-bound to write about a particular cup of tea, and it’s been preying on my mind. On Tuesday, July 13th I had a cup…

  • Struggling

    Struggling

    Well, it’s been a while. I have only written two blog posts this year. Why? Mainly because my cartooning has taken over as my main form of tea-related expression. But now that is also on hold. Why? Because I’m about to undergo a life-changing event. As I write this, I am very lucky. I am…

  • Once More Unto The Beetroot Water

    Once More Unto The Beetroot Water

    7.07 a.m. I’m at Woolworths, picking up some items for breakfast. I usually skip through the tea aisle, which is tragically awful, but something catches my eye. It’s this. Why? Well, yesterday Woolworths sent me a notification I could have one of these free as a reward for my loyalty. Now, I really do not…

  • Stat!

    Stat!

    It’s hard to buy someone like me a Christmas present. I find it hard to ask for things. I’d rather buy ten gifts for other people. (Specific people, not just randoms.) But I made two suggestions this year. One was a sausage roll maker. Last year’s breakout product from – of all places – K-Mart,…

  • Lockdown and the Opportunity

    Lockdown and the Opportunity

    As has been observed many times, tea is a simple process. Put leaves in a pot or gaiwan, add water, wait, pour. While you can get better at it, and use better tea, it’s an essentially achievable process. As I once said in another blog post about a similar topic to today’s, “You could train…

  • Valiant Fusion

    Valiant Fusion

    In about 1992, we acquired a 1972 Valiant for Lady Devotea to drive. We asked my Dad – who was a car dealer – to find us a small, second hand 4-cylinder car at a modest price as we didn’t have much money, and a few days later, a car transport turned up and deposited…

  • Everything Old Is New Again

    Everything Old Is New Again

    Mr Bob Egle died in June 1971. Mr Jethro Batt became very ill in October 1971 Mr Fred Biggs died in November 1971. The men all had a number of similarities. They had gastrointestinal symptoms similar to food poisoning. They had hair loss. Hallucinations. They also worked at the same place. Hadlands, a photographic instruments…

  • Biscuits as Medicine

    Biscuits as Medicine

    Kale, eh? The super-darling super-food of the super-earnest, it has a super-reputation for super-godliness like some super-evangelist, think Jimmy Swaggart, just before it turned out had a super-saucy super-predilection for prostitutes, BDSM, cheating on his wife and super-preaching the exact opposite. Remember him? “Please send super-rolls of cash to help God stamp out sin, etc.”…