Recently a friend (who shall remain nameless (John K.)) compared me to an “old lady” because I described my new morning routine: I make toast and I make tea. Tea and toast.
I’ve described the toast to you, but not the tea. I started with Harney & Sons but as that started to run out, I bought a box of PG Tips from my local Gelson’s. I first heard about PG Tips from my friend Morgan, who went to school in England and drank lots of tea; then I saw it again in April Bloomfield’s new book, where she describes drinking it with a splash of milk.
The carton comes almost like a packet of tissues; you open it from the top:
Inside are stringless tea bags; you plop one into a mug:
And pour on the boiling water:
The timing of this is crucial. You want enough time for your tea to steep.
So my morning ritual goes something like this: I walk into the kitchen and I put a pot of water on to the boil (I don’t have a kettle, so it’s just a metal pot). Then I feed my cat (yes, the cat thing adds to the “old lady” argument; noted), put a tea bag in the mug, and when the water comes to a boil I pour it over the tea.
That’s when I put the toast in to toast. When the toast pops up and I’ve spread it with that day’s topping (fig jam; Nutella with sea salt) the tea’s usually ready to go:
I’ve been adding a small spoonful of sugar and a splash of milk, and then I eat the toast while sipping the tea.
So much about this ritual appeals to me: because of the small amount of effort, it feels a little special. Both the toast and the tea are warm, so that’s comforting. And the caffeine in the tea is just enough to start my day; I can still have my typical afternoon coffee later on.
As for the tea itself, PG Tips produces a strong, flavorful tea. The milk helps temper it, and the sugar adds just a hint of sweetness.
So the next time you see a box of PG Tips at the store, take it home along with a loaf of bread. You may want to adopt a cat on the way back too. Then you and I can start an Old Lady Club and start our mornings with tea, toast and cats together. We can even have our hair in curlers.
America is an odd country (English born and bred). No electric kettles, no milk in tea… If you drink a lot of tea an electric kettle will improve your life immensely. I take my tea with just a dash of milk, no sugar, I can’t stand sweet tea. I’ve never heard of anyone in England putting honey in black tea.
I also recommend Yorkshire Tea, although PG Tips is good, tbh I’m not fussy about my brand of tea, as long as I’m getting my 5/6 cups a day (tea and water are pretty much the only non-alcoholic drinks I drink).
(I also read your toast post, the fact you had to go and buy a toaster to make toast was odd too, you’d struggle to find a house in Britain without both a toaster and an electric kettle).
PG Tips is the second best choice – I can’t drink coffee, which I adore, so tea is very, very important to me. I drink Tetley British Blend in the little round sachets, and it’s deeply satisfying. We went through a big renovation recently, and the house was crawling with handsome Irishmen, and each and every one of them were Tetley’s British Blend drinkers. Sigh.
PG Tips is the best tea. I don’t use sugar or milk with it but I will try it now.