I've been slowly reading back through the Teabags thread as I plan to bind parts of it into a small hardback book. This is not, I might add, for any personal gain, but because a few years ago, when I entertained the ridiculous notion that someone might want to employ me, I did a pretty amateurish job of binding my CV and it was something that I enjoyed doing.

Initially I was just going to collect mine and Dave's stories together, but that seemed rather big-headed and, the more I thought about it, the more appealing, the idea of incorporating parts of the thread into the book, became. As the days go by, the project seems to grow in scope and ambition, as I think of more things I can do with it.

Anyway, reading back through the Teabags thread made me think about the effect it has had on my life.

Before I began reading and occasionally contributing to the thread, I drank only ordinary Tea made with PG Tips teabags, or, on rare occasions, one of those fruit flavoured blends.

Now I have a massive assortment of Tea. I used to keep it in the drawer of the Wardrobe in the spare room. When I lost my home, I obviously couldn't take the wardrobe with me, as it was too big, but I took the drawer full of tea.

Here is the current inventory of its contents:

Whittard of Chelsea Green Tea (loose leaf)
Whittard of Chelsea Mango Indica (loose leaf)
Jackson's Of Piccadilly Green Tea with Apple (Bags)
Jackson's Of Piccadilly Green Tea (Bags)
Waitrose Peppermint Tea (Bags)
Twinings Keemun (Bags)
Clipper No.3 Shangri-La Tea (Bags)

Taylors of Harrogate Cloud Forest Coffee

Jackson's Of Piccadilly Green Tea with Lemon (Bags)
Jackson's Of Piccadilly Green Tea with Mint (Bags)
Clipper Ayurvedic Detox (Bags)
A big packet of Silver Spoon caster sugar
Twinings Chai (Bags)
Twinings Jasmine Green Tea (Bags)

Clipper No.19 Bright Penny Tea (Bags)
Clipper No.8 Adam's Peak Tea (Bags)
Dragonfly Organic Swirling Mist White Tea (Bags)
Clipper No.17 Bourbon Vanilla Tea (Bags)
Twinings Green Tea Selection (Bags)
Twinings Rose Pouchong (Bags)


I've also become very interested in the history of Tea and it's amazing how many books are published on this subject. I now own four or five books about tea, all of them published within the last couple of years. One of them is even signed by the author.

Recently I've become very interested in Japanese cooking and I read in one of the recipe books, that the optimum water temperature for making green tea is 80 degrees centigrade. Now when I make a pot of Green Tea, which I do several times a day, I measure the water temperature with a sugar thermometer before pouring it over the leaves.