Today I found out that one should not pull too hard at the string that is attached to the nylon-bag. I spilled the loose tea all over my desk. The edges of the pyramid seem to be a weak spot. So one has to treat these tea bags tenderly.
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt know thy Port
DRT wrote:Daniel might be on to something here and not just rambling away like a lunatic in his Berlin flat.
You make it sound so tawdry. It's not a 'flat' it's a studio. It's like Studio 54! All covered in silver, up all night, Andy's here, Candy's here, just doing whatever we like whenever we want.
Not really.
Anyway I was actually rambling away in the Staatsbibliothek at Potsdamer Straße which is my new favourite building. I defy anyone not to like it. Except librarians. Librarians always find something to complain about ("oh the stacks are so far away" etc etc etc).
(Sorry André! )
Daniel J.
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
DRT wrote:Daniel might be on to something here and not just rambling away like a lunatic in his Berlin flat.
You make it sound so tawdry. It's not a 'flat' it's a studio. It's like Studio 54! All covered in silver, up all night, Andy's here, Candy's here, just doing whatever we like whenever we want.
I think I can picture it, but I can't decide between a scene from The Young Ones or the party scene in Crocodile Dundee.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
djewesbury wrote:Except librarians. Librarians always find something to complain about ("oh the stacks are so far away" etc etc etc).
(Sorry André! )
I will tell you some more complaints about this library when we're in the Mosel.
I know, I've heard that Otto on the front desk is really up himself, and Hienrik never pays his tea bills and is no better than he ought to be if you know what I mean and Herr Direktor was caught with that tramp from accounts on the Christmas night out!
djewesbury wrote:Except librarians. Librarians always find something to complain about ("oh the stacks are so far away" etc etc etc).
(Sorry André! )
I will tell you some more complaints about this library when we're in the Mosel.
I know, I've heard that Otto on the front desk is really up himself, and Hienrik never pays his tea bills and is no better than he ought to be if you know what I mean and Herr Direktor was caught with that tramp from accounts on the Christmas night out!
One thing about it is that everyone who works there is very friendly, which is no mean feat in Berlin. This is a city where, if you speak German to them, they wearily reply to you in English; and if you speak English, they angrily reply to you in German. They're like that. But in the library they've been very helpful and friendly. Probably they all know nobody can touch them because they have the photocopies of Herr Direktor and that tramp from accounts (I think he pressed the 'Scan and Send To All' button by mistake, hit it with his knee..).
Daniel J.
Husband of a relentless former Soviet Chess Master.
delete.. delete.. *sigh*.. delete...
djewesbury wrote:This is a city where, if you speak German to them, they wearily reply to you in English; and if you speak English, they angrily reply to you in German. They're like that.
Berliners are the rudest people you can find in Germany. (Second come people from Bremen, I think). So they're rude not because you're a foreigner or English, it's simply because you just bother them at all. They're rude to me everytime I'm there, too. And if you watch closely, they're rude to each other as well. Next time you should go to the south (Bavaria) or the west (the Rhineland). People there are more friendly. Sometimes I think that religion is one factor here. The west and south are traditional catholic areas. But this may just be a coincidence that has nothing to do with it.
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt know thy Port
Coming back (almost) on topic - did you know that there is now a tea plantation in Cornwall? Tregothnan has been growing tea for a few years and while it is hard to find, is very expensive and isn't yet anything fabulous in flavour, it is quite a novelty to be able to drink English tea.
PS - I do like the new fashion for pyramid teabags although I frown at the use of nylon (which doesn't decompose in my compost heap) instead of silk or cotton.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.
2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
I have never come across nylon, cotton or silk tea bags. just the usual paper, am I missing something? Any suggestions about where I might come across these? Nothing too fancy, Darjeeling, Assam, that sort of thing.
AHB wrote:Try your local supermarket, but (leans in conspiratorially and whispers) look on the top shelf.
Try Tea Pigs or a similar brand. And be prepared to pay something like £4 for 15 teabags!
It is easy to reconcile this in your head. If you bought a cup of tea from a cafe you would pay between £1-£4 for the privilege. That means Tea Pigs are up to 1/15th of the price of Tetley.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
AHB wrote:Try your local supermarket, but (leans in conspiratorially and whispers) look on the top shelf.
Try Tea Pigs or a similar brand. And be prepared to pay something like £4 for 15 teabags!
It is easy to reconcile this in your head. If you bought a cup of tea from a cafe you would pay between £1-£4 for the privilege. That means Tea Pigs are up to 1/15th of the price of Tetley.
What price a decent cup of tea? Even unto half my kingdom, well four quid should be alright.
AHB wrote:Try your local supermarket, but (leans in conspiratorially and whispers) look on the top shelf.
Try Tea Pigs or a similar brand. And be prepared to pay something like £4 for 15 teabags!
It is easy to reconcile this in your head. If you bought a cup of tea from a cafe you would pay between £1-£4 for the privilege. That means Tea Pigs are up to 1/15th of the price of Tetley.
What price a decent cup of tea? Even unto half my kingdom, well four quid should be alright.
Cheaper than a horse.
"The first duty of Port is to be red" Ernest H. Cockburn
Owen could drink his tea while sitting on a horse.
I guess this would make a fine image for a tea ad. "Drink xx's breakfast tea and take on the world in the morning like a King."
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt know thy Port
That's my favourite black tea. It's curiously not on the UK market, which I discovered some years ago while looking for it in Twinings' tiny shop on the Strand. The people there told me that they just produce it for foreign markets.
Today I am finishing the last of my packets of Prince of Wales tea. Very nice. I can see why you recommended it as it is very similar to the keemun loose leaf tea that I enjoy so much. Thank you!