The Friday Review....Birchall Tea - Part One

Hello There,

Well, it's that day of the week again....it's Friday and that means we want to share a new tea with you....but this week we have something a little different to share.

Yesterday I was invited to a tea tasting event held by Birchall Tea, a fifth generation London based tea company with over 140 years of history. Today we are one of the world’s largest exporters of East African teas shipping 36 million kgs of tea worldwide per annum.

A history of Birchall Tea

Quality is really important to Birchall Tea, something they highlighted during their informative and very enjoyable tea tasting. Their teas are always 100% pure main grade black leaf tea...you know what that means? 

No powder, dust or stalk in your cuppa!

Birchall Tea

So, after we had an introduction to the company we were given a first hand experience of their teas with a tea tasting session

We were shown exactly what is inside the tea bags of several different brands of black tea....

Tea bags exposed - spot the dust!

Can you tell which one is from an economy teabag? 

I'll give you a hint.....its the pile of light brown dust on the far left hand side.

The teas were then brewed, following their individual brand instructions....

Tea tasting from Birchall Tea

Once brewed to perfection, we examined the difference in the teas - from the leaves to the colour of the brew....we also tried each of the teas too. The experience was led by Sinclair, a very knowledgeable member of Birchall Tea, who answered all our questions as he guided us through the experience....

Tea tasting from Birchall Tea

Once we had finished the black tea tasting, we sampled the other teas in the Birchall Tea range which includes green teas and a range of fruit and herbal infusions. From a fresh and fruity Green Tea & Peach blend to a warming Lemongrass & Ginger or the fresh and punchy Peppermint. There is something for every taste bud!

Birchall Tea

I particularly enjoyed the Green Tea & Peach which is a traditional green tea, blended with real fruit pieces and marigold flowers. It has a wonderful peachy aroma, but the taste is light and fresh and not at all overpowering. I was also told a wonderful recipe to try with this tea....watch this space for another blog post coming soon!

The other tea I enjoyed was the Red Berry & Flower tea which is a smooth blend of sweet red berries and refreshing hibiscus. This tea is a beautiful ruby red colour, and has a full flavour...but because of the hibiscus flower it is not too sweet. I tried this tea hot, but I think it would make a wonderful cold brew or iced tea too.

Red Berry & Flower tea - Birchall Tea

Now I'm not going to tell you too much about the other teas, as I will leave that for the next blog post, but if you want to find out more about Birchall Teas you can visit their newly launched website.

I'd like to thank Birchall Teas for inviting me to their tea tasting event, it's always good to learn about different tea brands.

Watch this space for more blog posts about Birchall Teas!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

I didn't know that about tea!

Hello there,

As you know it's currently Tea Month here at Tea With Me and Friends...we've already shared a little tea history with you...but I've also come across some other tea facts for you! You might never look at your humble cup of tea in the same way again.....

Can I interest you in a spot of tea?

Did you know that after water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the whole world! Its thought that approximately 3 billion cups of tea are drunk around the world each day!

We all know that tea is popular in Britain, but according to the UK Tea Council 66% of the British population enjoys a cup of tea every day and this equates to approximately 165 million cups of tea being drunk every day in Britain! For anyone who thinks Britain is becoming a nation of coffee drinkers (an easy conclusion to come to with the amount of coffee shops on our high streets!)... only approximately 70 million cups of coffee are enjoyed in Britain each day.

A spot of tea with Tea With Me and Friends!

But how do we make and enjoy our tea......Britain it seems loves a tea bag...the convenience and accessibility means that 96% of British tea is brewed from tea bags. Milk is extremely popular, with 98% of British people taking their tea with milk (I really am in the minority as I enjoy my tea without milk!) however, only 30% of people have sugar in their tea.

There are at least four different types of tea, these include white tea, green tea, oolong tea and black tea. The difference between the types of teas is all in the tea processing the tea undergoes. All these teas come from the same plant - the Camellia sinensis.

Tea contains numerous antioxidants and considerably less caffeine than coffee. Tea is also a natural source of fluoride!

We hope you enjoyed these tea facts - feel free to share them with your friends over a nice cuppa and a piece of cake!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Time for a little his-tea-ry!

Hello there!

Well, as you know its officially tea month here on Tea With Me and Friends and what better place to start then at the beginning!

I knew that tea had come originally from China....but that was the extent of my tea history so last week I did a little research that I thought I would share with you. So put on the kettle, make a cuppa and sit back while I explain where it all began!

Time for a cuppa?

We all know that tea is incredibly popular in Britain, in fact its been drunk here for over 350 years...but we need to look much further back in history to discover when it actually first began. Legend has it that in 2737 BC the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung was sitting under a Camellia Sinensis tree while his servant boiled water to drink. Now you might not know (I didn't!), but this tree's leaves and leaf buds are used today to produce tea. Now some of the leaves from the tree blew into the water that was being boiled, and this intrigued Shen Nung, who was a known herbalist. Shen decided to try the accidental infusion - the rest is his-tea-ry!

Who knows if this is actually true, but I think its a lovely beginning to have! I'm glad Shen decided to sit under that Camellia Sinensis tree! We know that containers for tea were found in the tombs from the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and it was during the Tang dynasty of 618 - 906 AD that tea drinking really became popular in China.

Time for a second cuppa?

But how did this popularity spread across the world? Tea was introduced from China into Japan by the Japanese Buddhist monks who studied in China. The Portuguese traders and missionaries probably first mentioned tea in Europe, as they would bring samples of tea back with them from their travels. However, it was the Dutch who first commercially imported tea into Europe at the end of the 16th century.

The popularity of tea soon spread across Europe, but it was very expensive and therefore remained the preserve of the wealthy.

So, how did tea make it into Britain? At the time the British were quite suspicious of the continent and therefore the popularity of tea did not spread quite so quickly in Britain. It was the marriage of Charles II to Catherine of Braganza that really cemented tea drinking into British society. Catherine was Portuguese....and rather partial to a cup of tea! Her tea drinking habits made the beverage very fashionable in Britain and the East India Company finally began to import tea from about 1664.

I don't know about you, but I love the story of Shen Nung! I hope you have enjoyed our little trip into the history of tea, join us throughout March for more tea articles!

Thank you for popping by today,
Rachel

March is tea month!

Hello there!

If you popped by Tea With Me and Friends during January you might have read about our resolutions for 2014....and you might remember that one of them was to learn more about Tea!

We all know that I love a good cup of tea with my cake, but at the moment I don't know much about it. I have already started expanding my taste buds, experimenting with different tea leaves and blends...not always picking the same tea when I'm indulging my sweet tooth in the afternoon!

Time for a cuppa?

Next month I am going to take this a step further and will explore more about the humble cup of tea....where did it come from and how did it get to be such a popular beverage in Britain? 

I declare that March will be tea month at Tea With Me and Friends!

Afternoon tea with Tea With Me and Friends

We hope you will join us to share in a little of the history, look at the different leaves and tell us about your favourite cuppa! We might also drool over the odd teacup or too! If you have anything tea related that you would like to share with us just get in touch!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

Let's talk sandwiches.....

Hello there!

Afternoon tea often divides people...there are some people out there who believe its all about the cakes and pastries...they're not sure why the sandwiches are there getting in the way. For others they don't mind what they are eating as long as there is lots of tea to be drunk and some (like our friend Becca) are real fans of the savoury items and shy away from the sweet treats!

For me a good afternoon tea offers a tasty combination of all three elements...tea is a must...and there should be a good selection on offer. It goes without saying that I enjoy the sweet selection....but as I've discovered over the last year I really enjoy the savoury items too and its a fine balance to make sure I don't fill up too much on the sandwiches before I start on the cakes and pastries!

Afternoon tea - a fine balancing act!

So this month we decided to dedicate some posts to the savoury items included with an afternoon tea - give them the exposure they deserve! Lets begin with a little history lesson...as I don't want you confusing a traditional Afternoon Tea with its savoury cousin the High Tea! Served later in the evening, High Tea included tea and savoury items (rather than cakes and pastries) and this was a preserve of the lower working classes.

Originally, Afternoon Tea was only enjoyed by the upper classes as tea was very expensive and the working class could not afford to waste it on meals that weren't necessary. Instead they drank it after the working day with bread, cheese, vegetables and meat...thus the High Tea was born!

Traditional afternoon tea sandwiches

Traditionally afternoon tea sandwiches were very dainty creations....brown or white bread was served without crusts, cut into small fingers...easily eaten by ladies enjoying a natter and a cup of tea! The sandwiches served with afternoon tea have evolved as the pass time of afternoon tea has developed and today you will find all kinds of sandwiches on offer....however one thing that Lorna and I are sure of is that the bread must definitely be crustless, avoiding a controversial hint of crust!

Just look at this sandwich that Lorna found on her tea plate.....

At Tea With Me and Friends we believe
that sandwiches should be crust free!

So just how have sandwiches evolved? Well today they can be found in all shapes and sizes, I myself have experimented with shaped sandwiches at our themed afternoon teas....

Tombstone sandwiches and rolled "snail" wraps at our Halloween tea!

One Aldwych offers a wonderful selection of savoury items with their Charlie and the Chocolate Factory afternoon tea...

Fingers, triangles, open - all sorts of sandwiches at One Aldwych!

At W Hotel recently we were presented with triple decker sandwiches....most definitely not ladylike!....

Not particularly ladylike, but very tasty!

The Ampersand take it a step further with their filled Gougeres....

(savoury choux to you and me!)

However the sandwiches appear within the tea, they must be fresh.....hard tops and soggy bottoms where they have been hanging around all morning is a big no in our books! Fresh, soft bread and lots of tasty fillings...that's the way to our hearts in the savoury part of afternoon tea.

Later this month we will be looking at other savoury items on the afternoon tea menu....did you know that Lorna once ate snail at the gentleman's afternoon tea! We will also be looking at sandwich fillings....do you have a favourite? If you do we'd love to hear from you....why not leave us a comment or take part in our poll on the side-bar!

Thanks for popping by today,

Rachel and Lorna

Let's Celebrate!

Did you know that this week is national afternoon tea week?  A week to celebrate the wonderful tradition that is afternoon tea!

We all enjoy the delights of tea, sandwiches and cake in the afternoon (well at any time really!), but where did this fabulous tradition begin?

Although we have been drinking tea in England since the 1660s, when it was made popular by King Charles II and his wife Catherine de Braganza, afternoon tea did not develop as a concept until much later.

It is believed that afternoon tea was first introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the 1840s. At this time dinner was traditionally served quite late, somewhere between 8-9pm, and due to the gap between lunch and dinner the Duchess would feel hungry at about 4pm.

To ease her hunger pangs the Duchess requested that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. As time went on she invited her friends to join her for this afternoon feast. As more people experienced this wonderful meal other hostesses picked up this tradition, inviting their friends to join them for afternoon tea.

 

Afternoon tea became a fashionable social event, with ladies dressing for the occasion. This is something that me and my friends still observe today – there is nothing better than enjoying a spot of afternoon tea with your friends, dressed in your best dress!

Traditional afternoon tea consists of dainty finger sandwiches (crustless of course!), followed by scones served with clotted cream and preserves (warm scones are the best!). Small cakes and pastries are next and not forgetting that this is all washed down with freshly brewed tea served in delicate bone china teacups.

 

 

So whether you've never sampled the delights of afternoon tea before, or you indulge (like us) on an alarmingly regular basis....lets all celebrate National Afternoon Tea week this week with a cup of tea and something yummy...whether in a fabulous hotel, a cosy tea room or at home!

 

Pop back again later this week to see more afternoon tea inspired posts!

 

Thanks for visiting us today,

Rachel and Lorna