I have been having trouble hearing in one ear lately. There is a metallic buzz in my right ear that makes people in real life and on TV sound like Cybermen from Doctor Who. And if you’re a Doctor Who fan, you’ll know that constantly hearing Cybermen is most definitely a worrisome experience. So, I […]
It’s fair to say that when we are out and about, we do not always love the tea menu. If one is at a specialised tea house, then there’s likely a fair chance. Even if it’s a specialised, specialised tea house, i.e. it’s not just 50 teas from around the world, but all pu’erh, or […]
It’s been three months since I last wrote a tea blog post, which is about three times slacker than my longest previous gap. Over seven years and many words – this will be my 395th blog post on this site (after about 8 on my first location, and there’s about 20 on Beasts of Brewdom, […]
Today is Lady Devotea’s birthday, so there is no better time to talk about the tea issue that sometimes divides us: milk. I tend not to take milk and she tends to. Of course, I’m not adverse to a sweet, milky masala chai and we both love some lovely whites and greens that you’d never […]
Humanity never fails to disappoint me. Just when you think that only good things are happening, like racing cars being launched into space*, you see something that, like a Hall and Oates Christmas Album**, takes what literally should be sheer joy and metaphorically locks it in a rusty box full of spiders. In the tea […]
For those who have been wondering why I have not written for over a month and feel that means a whole part of your life is missing, well, sorry about that. I do have 5 jobs, there’s an election on here and I’m writing scads of political stuff, and it’s Mad March, where every major […]
Preamble: Right, pay attention, I’ve just coined a new word for a certain condition. I haven’t gone for the time honoured naming-it-after-oneself method (as did Hans Asperger) or after the victim (e.g. Lou Gehrig), because often it’s not appropriate. This is not unprecedented: Lyme disease is named after the town where it was first found, […]
In my first post since Christmas Eve – that’s pretty well a month – I am going to attempt to cover a bunch of things, using my own tea Roulette Format for the third time. If you have not read one of my previous efforts of this kind (shame on you!) it’s where I make […]
One of my more popular posts ever, Dunk!, explained some of the science and social effects behind dunking biscuits in tea. You can read it again now, if you want. I’ll wait. In it, I said “My short summary here is just an overview, there is obviously a lot more to be said on the […]
“Tea is nought but this: first you heat the water, then you make the tea. Then you drink it properly. That is all you need to know.” – Sen Rikyu A week ago, the World Tea Expo’s 2017 “Best Tea Brewing Device” (and 2016 “Innovation Of The Year”) ceased sales, ending one of the most […]