A FRIEND of mine messaged me from Guatemala not long ago, having just arrived in Central America for the start of a random three-month ramble around the eastern coastline. Yet, his WhatsApp message didn’t contain pictures of Aztec ruins or sun-kissed beaches. Attached was a photo of a ruined pile of Yorkshire Tea bags, waterlogged and rendered beyond brewing by a leaking hotel ceiling that destroyed the supply he’d brought all the way from London. ‘Feel like coming home already,’ he moaned. He was joking—but only just. Such is the Englishman’s devotion to tea; a product that, like chicken korma, pizza and lukewarm Chardonnay, has almost nothing to do with the nation that has commandeered it as its own true love.
Tea is the great leveller. The vessel you drink it from, the time of day and environment in which you consume it and the posture you assume when imbibing it may vary. However, it’s still the greatest solution to the emotionally constipated, repressed English character we have: our words of comfort or our ability to discuss the mood and health of loved ones may struggle to eclipse the verbal dexterity of a Clinton’s greeting card—but we all know how to offer, make and present a cup of tea to the sad, the grieving, the tired and the hungover.
Denne historien er fra April 12, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 12, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds