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There aren’t many people in this world who don’t love a lovely hot cup of tea. There is something very soothing and comforting about a cuppa in your favourite mug. Something so ubiquitous is bound to have a lot of variations and the truth is that no two cups are made the same. So how do you take yours?

It’s a question that has divided us for years! There is a lot that goes into a cup of tea and everybody has their own particular preferences.  Just the sheer choice of teabags (regular, herbal, fruit, white, oolong, green… an endless list!) is enough to baffle you but once you’ve found the one for you, how do you make yours? Here are the things to consider when brewing up:

Choose Your Weapon!

Some people insist on having tea in their favourite mug. And others think a mug is sacrilege and always go for a cup and saucer. The thickness of the china is another choice to make – do you prefer a big thick chunky mug or cup, or would you prefer a delicate fine bone china? Everybody has their favourite and once you have found your perfect cup or mug you are bound for life!

One Lump or Two?

Do you add sugar to your tea? If so, do you use refined sugar or a sugar cube? Or maybe a sweetener? Everybody has their favourite but some people think sugar in tea is revolting! Which camp do you fall into? Then it gets really complicated… do you add the sugar before the water or afterwards? It makes a difference you know! Watch your friends when they make a cup of tea and see how they do it – everybody has their own preferences.

Milk Muddles

Milk is a whole new subject! Skimmed, semi-skimmed and full fat milks are available. Then there is organic milk, soya milk, goats milk… there are lots to choose from. Some people eschew it entirely in favour of a black cuppa while others drink tea which is 50% milk! As with the sugar there is the eternal conundrum of whether the milk goes in before the water (makes it more creamy) or afterwards (makes it thinner). There’s a lot to think about you know!

Take the Biscuit

We all know you can’t have the perfect cup of tea without a biscuit or two alongside. So what type of biscuit works best? We all have different answers! Some people opt for a simple shortbread or digestive while other people go for something more chocolaty like a bourbon cream. Then there are the devout cream tea fans that go for a scone, cream, jam… the works! Or perhaps you are more of a pastry aficionado – a currant bun or a cinnamon swirl begs to be taken with a cuppa on the side!

Making the perfect cup of tea is a skill that you will get better at with practice so without further ado… what are you waiting for? Stick the kettle on – mine’s milk with one!

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Henry Dickens works for Pinchaji Tea House which is a successful provider of oolong tea. He likes to write about his work and life experiences in his spare time.

It is a common misconception that the best wines in the world only come from European countries. The continent does host some of the best wine making regions in the world, but it would be wrong to presume that non-European countries are unable to produce fine wine. Here are 4 non-European countries that take viticulture very seriously.

United States of America

The United States has been a wine producing country for over three centuries now. However, it was only since the late 1970s that the world became aware of just how good American wine can be. A major reason why the American wine industry took so long to make an impact was the enforcement of Prohibition. After Prohibition was repealed, it was discovered that the American wine producing sector had suffered a massive setback. Thanks to the effort of winemakers in California, the USA has finally become home to some of the finest wine producing regions in the world, including Napa Valley. Read the rest of this entry »

Put them down, the Jamie Olivers, the Gordon Ramseys, and the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls. BBQ is more than a collection of fast recipes with exotic, imported ingredients.

Anyone can throw some marinated meat on a bucket grill and call it a BBQ. But there is more to it than that and it’s not as complicated as you may think. BBQ has an ancient soul.

First off, BBQ is not grilling over a flame. It’s actually an old technique from the Americas used for preserving. The idea is to let the meat cook slowly over glowing hot embers. At the same time, it gets smoked and charred.

So to rediscover this art, we need to do some things we may not have done for a long, long time.

Prepare

Send invites two weeks in advance, plan the menu, and marinade the meats the day before you intend to cook.

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Fish, in general, is good for the diet, but some fish are better than others. These are mostly fatty fish that live at least some of their lives in cold water. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish are beneficial for everyone, but especially those at risk of heart disease. This is also a good food to add to your diet when trying to lose weight.

Salmon

All salmon are born in fresh water. They migrate to the sea to mature then famously return to the freshwater of their birth to spawn. Most salmon are edible but they range in size from the Chinook, which can weigh as much as 120 pounds, to the kokanee version of the sockeye, which rarely weighs more than five pounds. Salmon not only has a delicious, rich, pink flesh, but that flesh is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These are polyunsaturated fats that can help lower levels of bad cholesterol and help prevent cardiovascular disease. Because their risk of harboring pollutants is usually less than farm-raised salmon, wild-caught salmon are better to eat.

Salmon also has other nutrients, including proteins, that keep the cartilage found in joints healthy, help the body more efficiently use insulin, and reduce inflammation in the GI tract. Salmon is also impressively high in other vitamins and minerals. A four-ounce piece of salmon has 264.7 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D, 109.6 percent of vitamin B12, and 109.3 percent of tryptophan. Read the rest of this entry »

When you work in an office it can be really hard to eat healthily, especially when the temptation of the vending machine or the office canteen is always lurking around the corner! We all know the lure of a quick and easy sugar filled snack can sometimes be hard to resist especially when you are in a hurry, so is it possible to eat healthily as a young professional?

Obviously we can all try and live our lives in the most healthy ways we can by getting regular exercise, drinking lots of water, getting regular fresh air and even making sure you have up to date health cover just in case. But our diet forms such an important part of living a healthy lifestyle and there are lots of options to curb the snack cravings and make sure that having a busy work life doesn’t mean you suffer nutritionally! One great way of avoiding a dash to the junk food is by keeping a healthy snack on your desk. Fresh fruit that you don’t have to prepare earlier such as a pot of grapes won’t go off and is an ideal low fat snack. A little pot of nuts such as almonds, brazil nuts and walnuts is also perfect to keep the junk food cravings away until lunch time. Read the rest of this entry »