Anyone for Tea?
Office life would not be complete without a cup of tea or two, especially here at Synergy.
The kettle rarely has a day off so there is a regular stream of tea pouring to our desks. It’s our fuel. It keeps us vitalised and in a jolly good mood.
Since the 18th century, tea has been guzzled and supped throughout the UK. We get through a whopping 165 million cups a day (we suspect a large proportion of that figure is consumed here in our office). Tea is a social thing. We catch up over a cup, hold meetings with several to hand and it gives us a break from the computer screen.
The first tea room was opened in 1706 at the Strand in London by Thomas Twining. They quickly became popular and can still be found across the UK.
Everyone makes a cup tea differently. Some have tea so weak it needs to be coaxed out of the cup and others like it so strong it could bench press the biscuits. Whatever your preference there are a few tea “sins” that should always be avoided:
Using the last of the milk. Never let the milk run out. Ever. This catastrophic sin means the fountain of life-giving tea will stop.
Putting the milk in first. If you are guilty of this, you need to stop this crazy practice!
Fishing the tea bags out of the cups at the same time on one spoon so you end up with four tea bags in the end cup. A totally baffling quirk.
Despite all the variations surrounding tea from its preparation to consumption, there is one common element – the packaging. There is a lot of love and thought put in to the design and aesthetics. The box or wrapper takes you on the journey of the tea itself; from where the type of tea came from, its history through to its flavour and aroma. The world of tea is a lot bigger than your average PG Tips!
No matter what your office tipple might be and however you prefer it made, you need biscuits to accompany a cup of the hot stuff. According to research, a Rich Tea is the ultimate dunking biscuit followed by Hob Nobs and Chocolate Digestives. However, in our lovely work space, any crumbly treat is welcome – bourbons, custard creams, Jammy Dodgers and the good old garibaldi all find their way in to Steve’s biscuit drawer which is raided on a regular basis. As self-confessed biscuit hawks, we can be found with our paws in the drawer ferreting about for a biscuit or two.
We may not be fussy over the type of biscuit but we certainly take due care and diligence over our daily cuppa. We really like our tea.
Here are some tea’s we would love to try (hint hint!)
From top left:
William Whistle Tea design for their fruity drink
Tweet box designed by Marina Apevalina. The boxes feature different birds for different flavours of tea.
T-Spoon by March Design. The tea is on the spoon. Simply stir in hot water!
Cut out tea box by Annemarie Kloosterhof
Origami bird teabags by Natalia Ponomareva. Beautiful to look at.
Tealicious designed by Alvarez Juana. The design allows you to see the leaf type, water temperature and how long to steep for.
Hanger Tea designed by Soon Mo Kang – little t-shirts on paper hangers!
Artea design by Masha Ponomareva
If we can’t find any of these beauties to try, we’ll have to stick with good old Yorkshire tea!
