Adrian Brown wrote:
"As we approach this landmark Tea-lennium, I wish to relate a story that connects tea with Mike's home town and his profession.
There is a secret ancient tea house in London. It's very discreet and not the sort of place you find in the Time Out Good Tea Guide. But the connoisseurs know where it is, and many have gone there to sample the famous speciality teas. As you all know, I am not a tea drinker, but this true story was related to me by a friend who ""stirs with a clockwise spoon"" as the saying goes.
My friend had been to the shop once before at the invitation of one of the Kree Ming Tea family of Limehouse, and so was invited to a special induction event for potential new members who had passed the first test.
There were five candidates for enrolment.
An elderly Cambridge don, invited after the nomination of his grateful students who recognised that many years of good tutelage had been enhanced by his supportive pot of tea.
A young whizz kid from the city, who thought that her wealth garnered from playing the stock exchange ought to entitle her to exclusive treats. And she had always eschewed the corporate drinking of coffee from multinational coffee shops.
A silent, but shifty-looking man dressed in black. He was said to have opened the first tea shop on the A1, but he did not realy look old enough.
A camp, plum-voiced art critic, for whom this would be the ultimate testimony to his superiority.
And my friend.
They would be set two tests.
The first was to make a simple cup of tea using traditional tea pot and strainer.
They all followed the ritual to the iota.
The second test was to select one of the speciality teas from the Tea Library and make a cup for the senior master of the tea academy.
The first candidate stepped up to the shelves and selected an African Beech Leaf tea, which he brewed in a copper urn, and served with lemon.
""Excellent"", said the Master.
The second candidate liked the look of the Japanese Willow bark Green. She followed a tea ritual she had seen in one of her power meetings with her Tokyo bosses.
""You have learned well,"" the Master said.
The third candidate took a simple packet of PG Tips, but prepared it with such art and finesse that the Master smiled and said, ""Sometimes beauty can be found in simplicity.""
The fourth candidate stepped forward with a harrumph, and scanned the shelves. He considered what the others had chosen, and thought he would impress the Master with an exotic tea with Commonwealth connections. He read the label. ""The best leaves are plucked by domesticated Koala bears in the late Spring from Eucalyptus trees in Tasmania. They are dried at sea as the cargo is shipped north to England, arriving in the Liverpool docks six months later. The produce is taken to the local tea factory, where it is finally packaged for distribution to the finest shops"".
""Yes"", he thought, ""this will do the job.""
The Master watched as the candidate put two teaspoons of the leaves into the already warmed pot. He let it stand for 127 seconds precisely. And then he began to pour into the master's cup through an antique gossamer strainer.
""NO ! NO !"" The Master exclaimed.
""The Koala Tea of Mersey is not strained !"""
