Tea break

Is there such a thing as comfort drinking? There is now. Plus why you should never trust The Brownie Cookbook.

Photo by Nadia Dulina on Unsplash

Welcome back to Queen of Markets on Substack. This week I'm taking a tea break, and sharing a guest post I wrote for

FoodStack Library

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Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

‘I must lend you a book some time’ he said.

Some time? When is some time I thought as I looked at the tea leaves in the bottom of his cup. I poured him a second cup, through the little tea strainer which the waitress had belatedly brought. The tea dripped very slowly through the fine strainer.

‘Oh that fiddle-faddle’ he said, so we discareded the strainer and left it on a side plate to drip.

The Lonely Girl, Edna O Brian

There's been an influx of comfort eating posts in my inbox in the past few weeks, unsurprisingly given the world news. I'm not immune to a fragrant bowl of basmati rice, rich with melted butter, or the call of a bowl of banana and custard.

But, for me, there’s nothing more appealing, than the sound of tea being poured from a spout into a waiting cup. A simple daily ritual, it’s just not the same dunking a tea bag into a mug. From 1941, here’s the ultimate in making the best cup of tea, using Empire tea ofcourse.

In Osho’s Art of Tea, he uses the ancient Zen tea ceremony, to demonstrate the relationship between relaxation, alertness, and meditation. ‘A cup of tea is the most ordinary thing in the world, yet Zen changes this ordinary thing into an extraordinary experience.’

Preferring loose tea, I know I’m on a losing streak. The majority of us, over 90% use tea bags, with fierce tribal competition for the best, whether it’s the Irish Barrys or Yorkshire Tea. And even more, tea is losing out to coffee in the UK popularity stakes. Unsurprisingly it's the under 30’s who drink the least amount of tea. My heart sinks when, ordering tea in a cafe I’m given a mug of hot water and a tea bag. Not surprisingly, I’m overjoyed if presented with a tea pot, a timer and a strainer.

Typhoo, the oldest British brand, founded in 1903, is currently in trouble.

Also in trouble; anyone who makes tea in a microwave. I’m looking at you America. And Australia if Muriels Wedding was anything to go by. A teabag in a mug of cold water goes into the microwave to die a sad death. This procedure often lights up the internet with shocked Brits exclaiming at the horror of an American making a ‘British cup of tea’. Here’s Henrietta from The Rare Tea Company showing how it should be done.

In America, tea ofton means Liptons, quite honestly the lowest of the low in terms of tea quality. Here’s a fun fact; Liptons are the biggest tea manufacturer in the world, now owned by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. It all began in Glasgow in the 1800s, with Thomas Lipton buying a tea plantation in Sri Lanka, and taking his tea empire to the United States. Lipton say they’re the world's leading tea brand, serving 400 million consumers daily, and the world's largest buyer of tea leaves. All I can say is, thank goodness we’re better served in the UK.

Photo by Sheila C on Unsplash

I appreciate my teapot so much; it’s never out of use, mostly with seasonal infusions.

Spring time, leaves from my different mint plants take their turn as a vibrant start or end of day brew.

In Summer, tufts of precious lemon verbena from my balcony herb garden make an uplifting, delicate green coloured, fragrant pot.

As soon as the Autumn temperature drops, I'm opening up my tin of roasted barley or genaicha, Japanese brown rice tea for the warming, slightly bitter flavour I yearn for when the weather turns chilly.

In winter, chocolate mint roibos is a hug in a teacup. It’s the closest I get to a novelty tea, with a bright mint flavour and a background hint of chocolate. I’d rather have this than a mug of hot chocolate. And with all these teas, I brew two or three times, each bringing a different element of taste.

Occasionally it’s a pot of black or oolong tea. Real tea not tea bags. I keep tea bags for making kombucha or for visitors who prefer them. Never, ever milk, sometimes lemon.

In Asterix in Britain, the locals drink hot water with a dash of milk because ofcourse, there's no tea yet.

Yes, it’s still common to laugh at us Brits as tea drinkers but we’re not the only ones who appreciate tea.

Who drinks the most tea in the world? You might be surprised to find that it’s this country;

Can you guess? It’s Turkey. I took this photo the last time I was in Istanbul, where a glass of çay is never far away. Each Turk consumes approximately 1,300 cups (3.16kg) of tea annually. That translates to 3-4 cups daily.

Surprisingly given the online tea ignorance, the United States are the biggest importer of tea worldwide, buying over 519 million dollars’ worth in 2023.

I still miss the tea house that opened in 1982 in Covent Garden. We were lured by the saucers of different fruit teas. I know. There’s a huge difference between real tea and fruit teas with ‘bits’ in. Long gone from Neal Street, they’re still online if you want to take a look. At the very top of the grown up tea pyramid are businesses like Postcard Teas, who can tell you exactly where their teas come from, and only work with small tea estates. You’ll also find me reading through the tea stories on The Rare Tea Company website. With about 20 teas in my cupboard already, including the mountain herbs I brought back from Crete recently, I have to stop myself from buying any more.

I think it’s time for another cup.

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As an added bonus today, I recently wrote a guest post for

Lynn Hill

The Food Stack Library. It’s called; Never Trust The Brownie Cookbook. I hope you enjoy. You can read it HERE