Blended Black Teas and Scones
Posted on June 15 2010
When we were little mum would let us put up to 4 tsp of sugar in our mugs of tea and that’s what we did when she watched. The syrupy sweet mug of PG tips or Typhoo gave way to the unsweetened, milky endless mugs of PG tips or Typhoo that helped keep the damp, Welsh weather at bay and helped cram for college exams. Two decades past college and three decades past mum’s watchful eye I still confess to having a fondness for milky strong tea when I feel homesick and to wanting lots of sugar in tea on the very rare occasion when I get a cold.
Mum would bring a tray to bed with a cuppa tea that would apparently kill colds if you could drink it scalding hot, often accompanied by cheese toast (crusts cut off only if we were actually sick) and her famous scones, usually served with honey. We bake the mum’s scones every day now at the store and even package the mix to sell. I’m told they are very, very good and I’ve modified her recipe with organic flour and sugar so they are, I think really excellent. Still, they don’t come on that tray with cheese toast and no one’s watching to make sure I stop at 4 tsp so there’s something missing.
English Breakfast, organic: Lightly tippy leaf with brisk, spicy notes. Light, vegetal tone, pleasant astringency, lighter body than expected Holds milk well without loosing flavour.
Glasgow Gold: Rich tea aroma. Hardier, brisker and more astringent than the English Breakfast. A very nice British style tea, benefits greatly from a splash of milk.
Irish Breakfast: CTC style tea, malty and very strong. Heavy body and flavour, a serious tea! I think this one could take the sugar and it really does remind me of drizzly cold Welsh days in school.
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