Tea for you and me

Join me on my epic quest to find the best tea ever

Author Archives: tealeaves


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The Hatchet Inn

12 Market Place, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5BD.   (View on map)

Leather armchair, tea and a log fire at The Hatchet Inn.

A Wetherspoon pub is not somewhere to go for a great cup of tea, but it will do a passable cup of tea and it will do it cheaply. Every Wetherspoon’s I’ve ever been in will serve a cup of tea in the same way: the teabag in the mug, a saucer on top of the mug and a milk jug on top of the saucer. This does allow you to carry it all with one hand (handy) but does mean that drinking the tea leaves you with a dilemma. Is the saucer for the teabag? For the mug? For the mug and the teabag? I tend to use the saucer for the teabag and milk jug and let the mug sit straight on the table as it’s quite a small saucer and things don’t balance properly if you try to put the teabag and the mug on the saucer.

Anyway, the tea at The Hatchet Inn was hot and strong and only cost 79p, but the best thing about this place is the log fire. The pub opens at 7am and though I’ve never made it there quite that early, I have made it in before 8am and the log fire is lit if it’s cold outside. A leather armchair, a book, a cup of tea and a log fire. Lovely.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, a Tetley drawstring teabag.
Milk jug? Yes, a tiny one.
Price? 79p for tea, though the menu says it’s £1.19 I have never been charged that much. Sometimes I am charged 99p though, must remember to ask why the price changes when that next happens. They also do a loyalty card with a free tea after five hot drinks are purchased. Bargin.
Cake? No, but muffins, biscuits, breakfasts (including hot drink and a breakfast item – such as a a bacon roll – for £1.89).
Go again? Yes, there’s a log fire!

 


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Jam Factory

Hollybush Row, 27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU.   (View on map)

My tea at the Jam Factory.

The Jam Factory is a restaurant and bar that has art classes and things as well. The art on the wall near the table where we sat was very familiar as I’d previously seen it at Jelly so the Jam Factory immediately felt like home (maybe the artists only exhibit in places named after food?). Plus they had a selection of indoor trees growing and I have always wanted to grow a tree inside my house.

The Jam Factory was specifically recommended as a place to go where you could get tea or beer, so some of us had tea and some had beer and some went even further and had coffee. I stuck to tea, but though there was a choice of loose leaf (including Rooibos and green tea) there was no Earl Grey. I went for Darjeeling and a slice of banana cake instead. The seven of us placed our orders and a combination of tea, coffee, beer, cake and caramel shortbread arrived at our table. There was banana cake, but not for me. In the end I went and asked for it and they gave me an extra large slice as an apology. The tea was nice, but there wasn’t enough of it (just a cup rather than a pot) but the cake was good.

Tea and my apology sized banana cake.

Teapot? No. The big jars of loose leaf tea behind bar looked promising, but then it went into a large teabag anyway.
Leaf tea? Yes.
Milk jug? Yes, a little one each.
Price? £2 for a cup of tea, £2.50 for a slice of banana cake.
Cake? Yes – and also flapjacks, museli bars and shortbread.
Go again? I’d quite like to try going here for a meal, but maybe not for the tea.


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The Tea Box

7 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey, London, TW9 1RX.   (View on map)

A green throne and grand furnishings at The Tea Box.

Before I go anywhere new I tend to do a quick search online to see if there are any particular cafes or tea rooms that seem like the kind of place I should investigate further. When I was doing my preliminary searching for Richmond only one place stood out and that was The Tea Box. Their website doesn’t give much away (apart from their strap line, ‘About to cause a stir…’) but it wasn’t too far from where I was meant to be going so I thought I’d give it a try.

It looked good from the outside and inside I was happily surprised by the furniture – all old style wood chairs and dark tables, an opulent tea drinking palace. I plumped for a gold table with green thrones, which was very comfortable. The people at the table next to me had a candelabra! Anyway, the tea menu (not pictured here, that’s the tea-you-can-buy-loose-and-take-away menu) had the largest selection of tea I’ve seen outside of Tea Smith.There was also an events listing on the table – adult storytelling, jazz evenings, knit nights…

I went for ‘Indian Tea’ as I wanted something to wake me up. There was also a wide ranging selection of cake, including half a dozen flavoured scones, and I went for the dark ginger cake.

Tea, cake and hourglasses at The Tea Box.

The tea came with three hourglasses so that I could time the strength of my tea perfectly, and advice on which one hourglass I should be watching. The tea strainer lifted out completely and had it’s own saucer so that the brew didn’t get any stronger. The cake was very rich and the tea very strong – just what I needed at this point in the day.

My only niggle was the note in the menu saying they that don’t do refills so please don’t ask – and the waiter underlined this by taking away my pot once it was empty, but before I’d finished my last cup. Considering that the tea here was done so well and there was such an emphasis on loose leaf, it seems odd that they wouldn’t honour the tradition of asking for some more hot water for the pot. Unless it’s not so common now? Is this something that people still do? Obviously, having fresh tea leaves in your pot means you should pay for a fresh pot, but just adding hot water on your old leaves tends to be free. Answers on a postcard, please.

Anyway, overall a very enjoyable trip and one that I will be making again sometime soon if I can.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, there’s only loose leaf in here!
Milk jug? Of course.
Price? About £3 for the tea and around £2.50 for the cake.
Cake? Cakes, flavoured scones, meals, sandwiches, hot tea, cold tea, hot fruit punch, lots and lots of choice. Also teapots, tea cups, tea strainers and tea ducks (such an astounding tea related item that I bought one for R for Christmas, it deserves a whole post).
Go again? Yes, yes and yes.


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Court Cafe West

The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG.   (View on map)

The view from my table looking up - the stairs and glass roof of the Court.

I was early for an appointment and The British Museum was the nearest place I could see that had tea, so that’s where I headed. The central area of the Museum is called the ‘Court’ and the first place that did tea I found was one of the ‘Court Cafes’– according to the receipt it was ‘Court Cafe West’.

The cups were the mandatory cultural cardboard (every cultural institution seems to have these nowadays, e.g. Royal Festival Hall and Kenwood House) and once again I spilt it as I was looking for a table. Yes, I know I had a plastic cover but I didn’t bother to put it on the cup. And so I spilt some.

It was the ‘Drury Lane’ teabags again and I’m not a big fan of the taste of these, they always seem to taste slightly metallic. The Earl Grey I had was okay, it did the job.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, ‘Drury Lane’ teabag, I had Earl Grey.
Milk jug? A big one that you helped yourself to.
Price? £2 – whatever you type of tea you had.
Cake? Cakes, brownies, pastries, sandwiches, biscuits, cold drinks and jelly beans.
Go again? I will probably end up here again the next time I visit the British Museum, but I will try to seek out a different cafe inside the Museum in the hope that they have teapots.

Cultural cardboard at The British Museum.


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Espresso Cafe

Harvey Nichols, The Mailbox, 31/32 Wharfside Street, Birmingham, B1 1RE.   (View on map)

The wall of Harvey Nichols tea related items behind my chair. Note the cups and saucers with the photos on.

I wanted some good tea and we were heading to The Mailbox for lunch anyway, so trying the Espresso Cafe inside Harvey Nichols seemed like the best way of combining the two. It was much smaller than expected and quite busy but we managed to get a table for four and then added more chairs as more people arrived.

There was a range of tea on the menu – the usual suspects plus a Lemon Verbeena – and between us we sampled Earl Grey, Darjeeling and English Breakfast. It was teabag tea, but they were Harvey Nichols teabags so I feel that makes them more exciting. The cups had black and white photos of glamorous people on – the majority of cups had some scantily clad ladies in bikinis with surf boards.

A special view of the table before we poured the tea out just so I can show you how carefully the waiter arranged everything. Note the slightly lifted pot lids (I'm not sure why this was done, but I like that they were all the same - it implies a purpose).

The teapots were metal but they were placed in a precise manner with each lid slightly off.  I have been asked to note that the teapots did not drip, but that the milk jugs did. HR also complained that the handles of the cups were so small you burned your fingers.The cutlery was also very neatly presented and was a nice quality – Arthur Price (yes, I’m afraid I am the kind of person that checks the cutlery when I go out to drink tea).

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? No, but a Harvey Nicholls teabag.
Milk jug? Yes, a tiny milk jug each.
Price? £2.60 – a bit steep for Birmingham but I was in Harvey Nicholls, so what do you expect.
Cake? I seem to remember some cake somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you what it was. There was a full menu and you could have a meal if you wanted one.
Go again? Yes, I’ve had trouble finding good tea in Birmingham and so this is now my default tea place if I go there again.

The table once the tea was poured.

 


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Central Bar

Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX   (View on map)

My tea and a bit of the ballroom at the Central Bar in Royal Festival Hall. My apologies for the unappealing dribble of tea down the side of the cup - I split some whilst wandering about looking for a table.

Once again I was early and waiting to meet someone at a train station, this time Waterloo was the station of choice. It was cold and dark and raining so I didn’t want to go too far away, but all the places in the station were packed so I braved the weather in order to head to the Southbank. Royal Festival Hall was the first place I came to and I knew they had tea and lots of space, so I went in.

The tea was hot and was Clipper, but it was teabags and came in a paper cup, but I wasn’t expecting much else as I had ordered tea from a bar after all. Though they have a large number of tables and sofas all over the place, there were surprisingly few that were empty. After wandering about a bit I eventually found one in a corner overlooking the ballroom and settled down to pass the time.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, Clipper teabag.
Milk jug? A big one you helped yourself to.
Price? £1.65.
Cake? Not in the bar, but I think there are other venues inside the hall that might do.
Go again? Yes, a good place to go to get some work done as there are tables and free wifi.


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Cotswold Garden Tearooms

Digbeth Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 1BN   01451 870994   (View on map)

The really big fireplace behind our table

Stow-on-the-Wold has an abundance of tearooms and cafes, but this was the one that fulfilled the important criteria of selling cream teas for A and I and sausage sandwiches for CP. It wasn’t that cold and so the large fireplace didn’t have a fire in it, but it still made it feel very cosy.

There was a wide range of food – breakfast, lunch, afternoon cakes and scones – and a good choice of tea as well. We’d had breakfast very late that day and so even though this was the afternoon we couldn’t quite get our heads round what meal this should be, but we were all hungry and in need of tea, so we just ordered whatever we felt like. This resulted in an intriguing mix of sandwiches, scones, fizzy drinks, tea and toasted crumpets with melted cheese on top. The crumpets sounded so enticing that I went to the counter to add some to my order after the waitress had left (all in the interests of research, naturally).

Our impressive spread of confused food

I can’t remember the exact name of the blend of tea I had – winter berry or winter spice or winter fruits? – but it was warming and fitted the festive feeling of the day. My cream tea was tasty, but the crumpets were so amazing that we ended up trying to re-create them for our breakfast the next day.

Having just looked at the photo of the table covered in food and drink I would like to point out that there were six adults eating and so we weren’t being as greedy as it first appears (though I suppose I was being quite greedy as I had a cream tea and crumpets, but those crumpets were definitely worth it!).

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes, though a confusing tea strainer that I couldn’t quite get the hang of. I think those who had ordered ‘normal’ tea got teabags.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? Normal tea £1.65, speciality tea £1.99, Cotswold Garden cream tea (one scone) £4.25, sausage sandwich £3.75 (with the most sausages in one sandwich I have ever seen), toasted crumpets with melted cheese on top £2.50, cold drinks £1.40.
Cake? Yes and sandwiches, flapjacks, scones, crumpets, breakfasts.
Go again? Yes.

My cream tea and crumpets

 


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Cafe, Morrisons Supermarket, Reading

Rose Kiln Lane, Off Basingstoke Road, Reading, RG2 0HB   (View on map)

Yoghurt, tea and plastic teaspoons at Morrisons Cafe

I went to this Morrisons cafe just before lunch time on a Monday and it was already half full with people eating their lunch. I knew I had lunch I needed to eat at home so bravely walked past all the cakes and pastries and picked a yoghurt instead.

The first tea pot I picked up had no teabag in it, the second had a wet teabag in it, but it was third time lucky for me as the third one I picked up had a dry teabag inside. It’s a self service type cafe so I filled the pot with water myself, grabbed my cup and saucer, paid, then got some milk pots (grr) and made my way to a table.

The tea tasted metallic and really wasn’t very nice, but then it was only 89p so I suppose that’s why. Or maybe it was because the water came from a machine? Who knows.

Teapot? Yes, metal one.
Leaf tea? No, ‘Red label’ teabag.
Milk jug? No, the evil little plastic pots.
Price? 89p for tea, 75p for a Muller Light.
Cake? Yes and sandwiches, main meals, pastries, chocolate, scones…
Go again? I want to say no, but I always seem to end up needing some tea in this area of Reading and there isn’t really anywhere else to go. So I’ll say yes, I’ll go again, but only because I have to (and I’ll try to remember not to order the tea).


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Quaker Centre Cafe

Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London, NW1 2BJ   (View on map)

Tiffin and tea in the Quaker Centre Cafe

I was meeting a friend near Euston Station and got to Euston too early, so went off in search of tea. I spotted Friends House and a sign saying ‘All welcome’ so I went in. It was a warm friendly cafe with natural wood fittings and a bookshop next to it. It felt peaceful and relaxed.

There was a choice of teas and coffees and a variety of cakes, biscuits, traybakes, sandwiches etc. Also a soup meal deal I think. I had an excellent tea break after the hustle and bustle of the tube.

When I met SW and told her where I’d been she said that she goes there a lot, and that they have a restaurant as well as the cafe that does very good main meals. I’ll definitely try going to the cafe again next time I’m around this area of London.

Teapot? No.
Leaf tea? No, but it was all Clipper and mostly fairtrade.
Milk jug? Yes, big one you helped yourself to.
Price? The seriously bargin price of £1 for a mug of tea. £1! Tiffin was £1.30.
Cake? Yes and traybakes, muffins, biscuits, sandwiches, soup.
Go again? Yes.

 


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tea

1 Paternoster Square, St Paul’s Churchyard, Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7DX   (View on map)

View of St Paul's Cathedral from just outside tea.

This place has been on my wish list for a while, but before then it was torn out of a copy of the Metro and given to me by my friend HR. I’ve been carrying it around in my tatty map of London ever since. I mentioned this to A and we hatched a plan to go visit the next time we met up in London. So, on a brisk Saturday we headed along the Thames and found our way to tea.

On our way to find this place we’d been past a market stall full of lovely cakes, but had decided to put off the cake eating until we reached our destination. This may have affected how disappointed we were with the selection of cakes on offer at ‘tea’. There were the usual suspects, nothing out of the ordinary really. I have been asked by A to mention that she felt the cakes didn’t match the tea – that with such specialist and sometimes delicate tea there should have been specialist and delicate cakes. We had some chocolate shortbread with our tea, it was okay but not that exciting.

A insisted my tea photography needs more excitement, so here is her answer - a tea pouring action shot.

The Darjeeling 2nd Flush I had was light and smooth and airy, and A enjoyed her Yellow Gold Oolong. For central London they were a very cheap purchase, definitely somewhere to stop if you’re round and about that way.

On the whole, ‘tea’ was like a Starbucks but with lots of tea choices instead of coffee choices. I think this is a good thing – trying to take the mystery out of drinking good tea has to be a bonus. It was just unfortunate that we were in the mood for something with a bit of mystery to it, something with ceremony and intriguing cakes.

Darjeeling 2nd Flush at the bottom, Yellow Gold Oolong at the top and chocolate shortbread to the left.

Teapot? Yes.
Leaf tea? Yes and a really wide choice of leaf tea with simple and clear explanations of what each was like.
Milk jug? Yes.
Price? An amazingly cheap £1.85 for Darjeeling 2nd Flush, £2.50 for Yellow Gold Oolong. They also do afternoon tea for £10. Not sure how much the cakes were but I remember thinking they were very reasonably priced.
Cake? Yes, but the usual muffins, chocolate shortbread, victoria sponge etc.
Go again? Yes, the tea itself was very good, but not when we’re looking for something a bit more special.