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| Photo by Muffy Aldrich |
Weary from all the storms and the cold, this is not the time for the teapot and strainer kind of restock. No loose tea here. More nuts and bolts, think builder's tea.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
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Walkers Shortbread Finger Cookies with Bigelow Plantation Mint Tea for the win ... collars up, Preppies !!!
ReplyDeletePepperidge Farms Milano double dark chocolate cookies and Peet’s Breakfast tea
ReplyDeletePleased to see Yorkshire tea in there. Our daily drink and yes of course builders tea, very strong with a dash of milk
ReplyDeleteMy next door neighbour hails from Belfast and runs on Barry's (the Gold). It is excellent for a builders tea with a splash of milk.
DeleteClassics don’t always need to be tweaked! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteNot quite a New England brand, but not far from the CT border in Millerton, NY - Harney & Sons has a wonderful range of bagged, sachets, and loose leaf tea.
Harney very much a New England brand despite the Millerton facility. John Harney of Salisbury Conn founded the company. His descendants now manage the company. They all live in the No’west corner.
DeleteTheir Earl Grey is my favorite & the tin container is lovely.
DeleteTyphoo and butter cookies . Now that's a nice afternoon.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Typhoo, too.
DeleteGood choices! We too are fans of Anna's and Earl Grey among others. Perfect for a mid-afternoon break during a cold winter's day.
ReplyDeleteKind Regards,
Heinz-Ulrich
Taking a trip to London in two weeks. Recommendations for English tea brands to grab while I’m there?
ReplyDeleteYorkshire Gold
DeleteYes good choice
DeleteFortum & Mason is a treasure trove.
DeleteIn England all the tea is better. Twinings Earl Grey in England is better than ours. Waitrose's own brand of tea is good. And of course there's Fortnum's teas.
DeleteHeartily second recommend Yorkshire Gold. We also like the Yorkshire Bedtime. Sends us off to sweet sleep.
DeleteMay I please add to the menu of afternoon repast: Hot chocolate with buttered cinnamon toast ... ??? I, of course, would set the table with my beautiful "Pearl River" by Spode and Stieff Rose sterling. Collars up !!!
ReplyDeleteI had never seen Pearl River before! Thank you!
DeleteI always serve my tea in the Royal Doulton china with the handpainted periwinkles.
ReplyDeleteYes, of course Mrs. Buck-Bouquet!
Delete:-)
DeleteYes, tea bags are no fuss. However, they are also likely leaching microplastics into your tea. Those nifty little steel mesh cylinders with ears that drop into your pot, mug, or cup for loose tea are quite nearly as no fuss and enable you to use loose teas. I like Upton, but there are certainly other excellent sources.
ReplyDeleteHere is an AI summary on plastics and teabags:
"[m]any tea bags contain plastic, specifically nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and can release billions of microplastic and nanoplastic particles into a single cup of tea when steeped in hot water. Even paper tea bags often use polypropylene for sealing, making them a source of plastic particles."
Life's too short!
DeleteThe source of your information is interesting. Far more dangerous to human beings than a tea bag, is AI
DeleteDear Vecchio Vespa, it's not only plastic. There are also chemicals in this paper (also in organic certified teas!), We use only loose tea, never teabags. Tea in teabags is worst quality tea (nothing new in the industry), containing also colour agents. It's easy to make an experiment at home, Lipton, Twinings and many others are turning black (literally) in few seconds after adding boiled water, good quality tea will first turn reddish, at the end to brown (black tea I mean), but it takes time and not such an artificial weird brownish black colour. If you use teabags occasionally-it's ok, if regularly - it's dangerous.
DeleteOh I do love a self proclaimed expert, especially one who doesn't have a clue what they are talking about! As someone who in their working life worked for a company that supplied engineering equipment to many tea companies and spent a lot of time on their production lines and in their laboratories I can say without hesitation that this is nonsense! The suggestion that quality is lower in tea bags is patently untrue as is the suggestion that long term use of tea bags is dangerous. By all means correct me by quoting the court cases where people have claimed they were damaged by tea bags (or even the t.v. expose)
DeleteFirst, I made no proclamation that the tea in tea bags was inferior. In fact, I found some quite good. Second, I am not implying or stating that drinking tea made with teabags will result in actionable damage to the drinker. However, if you happen to be using bags that leach plastics at any level, you are probably making an unneeded minuscule contribution to the plastics in your system, and even minuscule contributions may accumulate. The ultimate effects may not be adequately and fully known, but why bother if there is a neat, quick, easy alternative that does not involve plastic? Third, if all you are after is a good cuppa, that is one thing. If you are interested in more options, I find the choices of bagged tea limited.
DeleteDear Vecchio Vespa, I was responding to anon 7.02 A.M. and not your goodself.
DeleteAnon 9.08 A.M.
I agree on those mesh, microplastic bags. I'm on my 3rd cancer and I don't need a 4th.
DeleteLipton tea and Aldi Brand Fig Newtons...on second thought Major Dickason coffee ground fine and strong and Trader Joe's chocolate chip dunker biscotti.
ReplyDeleteWill
Always only home-made Earl Grey (no excuses here, it's so easy and makes such a difference!) and Pan di Stelle cookies.
ReplyDeleteAnxiously awaiting my delivery from the British Food Depot to welcome spring--Heinz Beans, Cadbury Drinking Chocolate, some REAL Cadbury caramel eggs and some Walker's Cheese and Onion crisps! And some Wispa and Curly Wurly bars. Bring on the better weather! (US Cadbury sucks, way too much paraffin, might as well buy a Hershey bar.)
ReplyDeletePepparkakor!!!
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous 9:08: As it happens, I too used to work (as the business owner, no corp!), and still do with tea, herbs, coffee and cocoa beans suppliers. Organic certified, but indeed, only EU organic certification so yes, I know what I am talking about. No need to talk, just do this, what I recommended as a test. Unless you have something better in the US market than EU market (I doubt!). I am not a self proclaimed expert, from 2014 lots of products for private labels including sourcing, packaging and testing with professional laboratories. Lipton used to be ok something like 15 years ago, Twinnings opinion is based on my last experience few weeks ago, one of the hotels in Italy. Horrible! I have never seen tea turning artificially brown-black so fast, literally few seconds.
ReplyDeleteIsabel
I'm sorry I actually don't follow any of this it seems like gobbledygook and I don't understand what point you are making?
DeleteAnon 9.08
Yorkshire & Walkers! Our go to! Thanks once again! Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI miss Peek Freans. Very serious cookies.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about these. I miss them too now that you mention it.
DeletePeek Frean are biscuits not cookies.
DeleteWalker's Shortbread is my favorite biscuit with tea if homemade shortbread or fruitcake is not on hand. I also love Cornwall saffron bread (never seen it commercially sold in the US) so instead I have hot cross buns that are in all the stores during Lent.
ReplyDeleteFor an individual mug/cup of tea it is simple to use an inexpensive tea ball holder instead of a tea pot or tea bags.These are metal and cost about £1
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/idealisk-tea-infuser-stainless-steel-46956800/?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19850988644&gbraid=0AAAAADqyA2PA0K5NNGiYD-ZPhuxI_INJR&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkKXHloGikwMVrYlQBh37Nx5CEAQYASABEgLwFvD_BwE
That means you can see the tea leaves themselves. Tea bags often contain lower quality leaves known as ‘fannings’ or ‘dust’.