You’re looking at the best cup of tea I’ve had all year:
Since moving from London to Amsterdam I haven’t been able to find loose leaf tea or teabags that make a really decent strong, dark cup of tea… but the power of the interweb has changed all that! I was thrilled when Kate over at needled agreed to do a swap – a curiosity cabinet cushion for some good strong tea. The package of tea arrived yesterday afternoon and Kate has been amazingly generous, sending not just one kind of tea but four different varieties: English breakfast, Yorkshire Tea, Lakeland Special Tea and Earl Grey, all beautifully wrapped in multicoloured tissue and ribbons.
I could barely contain my joy as I opened the package and the heady aroma of the teas was set free.
Kate also sent a set of her handmade fabric button badges. The colours are beautiful and subtle – I still need to figure out where to pin them to do them justice.
The tea at the top of this post is the Lakeland Special and it is extraordinarily delicious! Thanks so much Kate – I’m looking forward to enjoying endless cups of good, strong tea as the Amsterdam Autumn sets in.
Some pictures from Antwerp to follow… after I get over the excitement of having so much yummy tea to drink!
8 comments
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3 September, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Jason
It can be hard at times when you can’t get things that you expected you’d be able find easily. Loving that Japanese tea pot btw.
3 September, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Bruno
Well, you ‘English’ are different; in Holland we would call that a cup of tomatosoup by the look of it!
3 September, 2008 at 4:52 pm
sakurasnow
Ah, it’s the old colour profile/monitor calibration problem again! I’ll have to correct that… can’t have this magnificent cup of tea looking like tomato soup :-)
Jason, I’m a big fan of that Japanese teapot too – keeps the tea nice and hot for a good long time!
3 September, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Bruno
Oops, sorry, that’s not what i meant, just thought you had some weird reddish English tea there!
At least you got it just in time to withstand Dutch post-summer…
And is that teapot from ‘gietijzer’ (cast iron?) ?
3 September, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Jesse
That is fine-looking tea! I’m going to boil the kettle right now… Love the teapot, and the badges – beautiful colours.
4 September, 2008 at 8:32 am
sakurasnow
Bruno: I had a look at the tea pic on my Mac laptop (very different monitor to my PC desktop) and it did look pretty red, so I figured my PC monitor could probably do with some adjustments! That said I do brew my ‘english’ tea so strong that it’s practically soup :-)
The teapot is indeed gietijzeren (strictly speaking it’s not Japanese – it’s made by those talented Danes at Bodum, but is based on the Japanese cast-iron designs).
Jesse: The colours of the badges are really beautiful aren’t they!
4 September, 2008 at 1:34 pm
wazzuki
hurrah! For me, that looks like the perfect cup of tea — coppery, tanin-y, and just about strong enough.
4 September, 2008 at 8:17 pm
teaescapade
Over at Tea Escapade we have a tea swap going. (Loose Tea Only). If you are interested, stop by to get membership information. Don’t worry… it’s FREE.