A few weeks ago I read this lovely post by Milla and though I don’t really have a favourite cup anymore (due to the fact that at times I can be incredibly clumsy and have managed to break or chip beyond safe use all my most beloved mugs) I do have a few favourite tea pots which I like to use when I’m making tea….
This beautiful little Winter rose teapot is the one I use everyday, it’s just the right size to make one mug of tea.
I am a bit of a tea fiend, I start the day with a latte and then for the rest of the tea I drink tea….probably about 5 cups a day…sometimes a few cups more. I used to drink lots of coffee but then I found it wasn’t really suiting my tummy, and also I would get really grumpy if I didn’t get my caffeine fix. So now one cup of coffee a day is just right (every so often I’ll have two if I am in the city ….but if I have three I have to walk home rather than catch the bus as I get a bit hyper and have far too much energy!)
I think my favourite tea nowadays is the Earl Grey tea from James Gourmet Coffee….it’s delicately perfumed without tasting yucky. It’s a loose tea and it smells amazing, and tastes delicious. I’m not all posh and fancy, so I like my Earl Grey with milk rather than with lemon…..
A couple of years ago I bought this tiny little tea cosy..It’s hand knitted and was about 50p from a car-boot….it’s not particularly pretty but it’s a perfect fit and keeps my pot of tea lovely and hot.
If we’ve got guests then I often use this tea pot, I love the shape and colour of it so much….it’s a good size for making two or more cups of tea.
A couple of years ago I discovered paper tea filters, until then I’d just put loose tea in a pot and used a tea strainer (inevitably dripping tea all over the kitchen)….the tea filters are really easy to use and when the tea has brewed you can whip them out of the tea pot and stick them in to the compost, and as long as you have a cosy on your tea pot keeping the tea warm, then you’ll have two hot cups of tea without it tasting stewed….. (stewed tea makes me shiver…and not with pleasure)
I love the ritual of making tea, boiling the kettle, warming the pot then opening the tea tin, spooning the loose tea into the paper filter, putting that into the pot, pouring on water, putting the lid on, dressing the tea pot with it’s cosy…allowing the tea to steep before poring it into a cup (tea first then milk)….it’s nice and relaxing, and it’s something I wouldn’t dream of not doing when I have friends round, (along with cake and biscuits on a plate) so it’s equally nice to make this effort for myself…..however sometimes I’ll just stick a tea bag into a mug and pour on the boiled water and make the tea that way, it’s quick but doesn’t taste the same. (if I’m using tea bags then I like Twinings tea, my favourite being their Lady Grey tea)
This was another car booty tea cosy find…. I can’t remember exactly how much I paid for it but it wouldn’t have been more than a pound at the very most…..it’s crocheted and ribbed which I think is very smart indeed.
I’m a bit prone to snuffles and colds in the winter, so rather than make a pot of tea, I’ll often make a pot of honey and lemon juice, sometimes adding a little fresh ginger juice if I have a bad throat as well…..with a tea cosy the pot keeps beautifully warm and I can drink several cups before the pot is empty.
This is another cosy that fits the white and yellow rose teapot….I bought it a few months ago in a charity shop in Bungay…. I love it, it’s such a simple shape….I had thought about blinging it up a bit, adding some extra flowers but I quite like it how it is….
This is my poshest tea pot, it comes from a dinner set that was my Nanny’s….the set was divided up between me and my sisters, and over time this is all that I have left (in part because as I mentioned earlier I am somewhat clumsy, but also a box of crockery ended up at a charity shop by mistake when I moved house….and by the time I had realised what had happened it was too late….anyway, I love the big fat tummy of this tea pot…it’s so round, it’s perfect.
My friend Beth bought me this tea cosy, it’s incredibly flouncy, and makes me think of crinoline lady embroideries…..it’s a bit of a squeeze on this tea cosy (it’s such a fatty) but it just about fits. The cosy is hand knitted and the ruffles look like tiny fox glove petals…..
If I need to make more than three cups of tea then this is the tea pot I’ll use as it’s nice and big, meaning everyone will get a decent sized drink rather than just a tiny sip.
The Arpette cycles to work and in the winter comes home rosy cheeked and pink nosed….I’ll often make us hot chocolate (again from James Gourmet…the container size of chocolate is incredible, it’s hilariously huge, and makes me think of those giant sized mock foods that shops used to have up on the highest shelves)…..
I’d really like a proper old timey enamelled chocolate pot (in my dreams it would be orangey red or a beautiful soft blue) but the ones in my imagination are far nicer than the ones I’ve seen for sale. If it is particularly cold I’ll add in a splash of Pomona or brandy to the hot chocolate….purely medicinal of course, to ward off chest colds and the like.
A sure sign that the weather is cooling and Summer is slowly coming to an end is that someone is quite happy to be all cosified and cuddled up in a quilt and blanket…..he was like this all afternoon at the weekend. He snores really loudly, every-so often there is a yawn, a stretch, a smacking of the lips then he cuddles back down under the covers
ericka eckles 