Everyday Tea is for the Weak(ends)

It's very nearly the weekend and, having recently enjoyed a rather frivolous and expensive time in Dublin, my tea options will be limited. At home we usually rotate three 'Everyday' teas: Yorkshire Tea, Twinings Everyday and Clipper Everyday which are all made in a pint mug with little attention to detail. Having lived in Wales for a number of years before moving to Birmingham, there was usually a fourth way in Glengettie but this is something of a rarity around these parts. The only deviation from the usual weekend splosh is when we have guests which should always (but often doesn't) demand a proper pot brew. I will review each of these teas in time but there is a more important group of teas that I want to mention here: my working-week teas.


Tea at work is a serious business for me. It is always made in an individual pot and served in a Glassen 15oz double-walled glass travel mug. The only immediate drawback is that we don't have a kettle so all of our water comes via a boiler - this guarantees that the resulting brew comes close to the required temperature but is not newly boiled and lacks some of the oxygen required for the perfect steep. The overall flavour is impeded slightly but not so dramatically as to make the brew worthless.

The company thoughtfully provide tea and milk for free which would be perfect if the tea was a little more in line with my tastes. While they have not gone with any 'Poundland special' teas their choice, PG Tips, is not one that I particularly relish so I bring in my own, more premium, selection. At present this consists of:

• Twinings English Breakfast
• Twinings Assam
• Twinings Traditional Afternoon
• Twinings Darjeeling (a delicate tea that should be drunk without milk)

This gives me a good selection to fit my taste requirements and I have developed something of a routine over recent weeks:

First brew: English Breakfast

Mid morning/Lunch: Assam

Post-lunch: Traditional Afternoon

Mid afternoon: Assam or Darjeeling depending on mood

Again, I will go into why I make those selections at a later date but I want to emphasise the importance of varying the style of tea during your day. There is no one-size-fits-all with tea and there are a number of reasons for this. Some are lighter than others, some stronger, some weaker, some have high citrus tones and some have heavy, smoky notes, some are very acidic and tannin rich where others are smooth and airy. I try to mix things up as much as I can to avoid getting bored so it's important for me to seek out different flavours to add to my tea arsenal.

Please don't assume from this that I am a Twinings fanboy, they are one of the few brands to have a range of teas available outside of tea shops and supermarkets and I will swap them out with other styles and brands of teabags and loose leaf as the weeks go by.

I will review all of teas mentioned here at a later date. Til then, slurrrrp ahhhhhhh