Discovering Tea
Teatime
It's been around for a long time but how much do you know about Britain's favourite drink
Eureka!
The Chinese and Indians both have legends on the origins of tea-drinking. The Chinese attribute the discovery to the Emperor Shen Nung who was about to drink a cup of boiling water when leaves from a nearby tree blew into his drink. The decision to drink it anyway changed the world's drinking habits for ever. An Indian legend points instead to Bodhidharma who after seven years without sleep was flagging a bit before a snack on some nearby leaves revived him! It was not invented, as some might think, by Getafix the Druid.
Everyone for tea
The British are the largest consumers of tea in the world, drinking 165 million cups of the stuff every day. That's an amazing 60 billion cups a year.
Home Grown
Britain's first tea plantation has been planted on the Cornish estate of Tregothnan, just outside Truro. The first packets go on sale this year. But you'll have to dig deep to pay for it - a 50g packet from the estate this year cost a whopping £55 and sold out instantly. Click here to visit the website.
What a bunch of tea leafs!
The world's most expensive teabag was made by jewellers Boodles to mark the 75th anniversary of PG Tips. Encrusted with diamonds on the bag itself and boasting a white-gold chain it cost £7500 to make. Bungling thiefs who attempted to steal the bag in Manchester ended up pouring 3.5m bags of tea all over the highway when their getaway lorry overturned. A spokesperson for PG Tips told The Sun, 'a couple of our chimps could have done a better job.'
Go on, Go on, Go on…
We'll leave the last word on the subject to Father's Ted's very own Mrs Doyle; ''Father, I LOVE the whole tea-making thing! You know, the playful 'splash!' of the tea as it hits the bottom of the cup; the thrill of adding the milk, and watching it settle for a moment, before it filters slowly down through the cup, changing the colour from dark brown to...a lighter brown. Perching an optional Jaffa cake on the saucer, like a proud soldier standing to attention beside a giant...cup of tea!'
