As a nation we drink 165 million cups of tea a day. Regrettably, 96 per cent of this is in tea-bag form. Yes, there are good ones out there, but there are an awful lot of bad ones, stale and dusty, horrible fruity flavours.However, tea is upping its game, with a huge range now available.
The most impactful are Nicholas Hitchcock's blossoming teas, where you drop a bud into the (preferably glass) teapot, watch it blossom and drink the delicious and delicate result. Very Zen. A starter pack of three packs and a glass teapot is £26.50: details 0113 263 9300 or www.nicholas-hitchcock.com.
Leaf is a new small company that sells online, gives 10 per cent of its proceeds to charity and boasts the motto 'we don't do dust'. It only sells its impressive range online (www.leafshop.co.uk), but its little trial tins with sliding lids (pictured above) are perfect for travelling, do two cups per tin and work out at 62p per cup. Most people are put off loose tea because it's messier and slower, but a tea infuser is the answer. Leaf does a porcelain mug with an infuser that sits on top (£8.50), or a pack of 40 filters for £1.50 that you fill with tea and
dangle over the cup with the sticks that are provided.
The Tea Palace sells over 160 different teas in beautiful purple tins, plus a range of lovely infusers and teasets (175 Westbourne Grove, London W11, 020 7727 2600 or www.teapalace.com). And it's a great place for tea.
Tea shouldn't be made with boiling water, and Tefal has brought out the Vitesse S kettle (£29.99) with different settings including a low one for teas. But if you must persist with tea bags, get decent ones from somebody like Dragonfly or
St James's (available at Waitrose).
Great places for tea:
Berkeley hotel, London SW1:
its Pret a PorTea with fashion-inspired cakes is brilliant,
£35 (020 7671 7671).
Laduree at Harrods, London SW1: Macaroons to kill for - gingerbread ones in May, £5.80 for 110g (020 3155 0111).
Betty's Tearooms, Harrogate and York. An institution that imports its own teas from all over the world (01423 502746).
