All in the best possible taste!

Coffee and tea drinking is a very personal thing and we all have different tastes. My tastes have definitely changed over the years and, for me it's about embracing things new and trying different things.
I grew up on tea. I was a right tea belly! I used to love watching my dad make us a cuppa and he'd make his in his big tea mug. I get it now as I have the same big tea mug! Or my Krispy Kreme mug. They both hold a bucket of tea! I always start my day with a cuppa. It would feel wrong not to. My last drink at night is a cup of  Redbush tea with honey. I'm so rock 'n roll!

I remember one night when I was an early teen, probably one of the first times I made tea for everyone. I used to walk round the house, with my waitress notebook and pen, taking orders from every one. I was so proud I was making everyone drinks. Next thing I know, there's this massive bang and spark from the kettle. My dad rushed towards me as I was shaking uncontrollably. We all ended up laughing in the end. Never again have I boiled an empty kettle!
My dad loved his Bovril and Ovaltine drinks too. Not together, of course! I remember sipping this potent stuff one night when we had a power cut. Strong stuff that liquid Bovril!



I've never been a hot milk drinker but I have had them over the years to help me sleep. I love this old advert.



I much preferred a lovely cold glass of milk with a few cookies. Some things just go better together and these were the perfect midnight feasts on sleepovers when I was growing up.



I'm not really into hot chocolate. Unless it is the Turkish Delight or Salted Caramel and white chocolate hot choc from The Pavillion cafe at Cawthorne! The rose flavour syrup in the Turkish delight hot choc is so tasty! I do also remember the hot chocolate my friend had with candy floss at the Strawberry Secret tea rooms and that did look gorgeous. Actually, so did the melted white chocolate hot choc my friend's son had recently at Godiva in Meadowhall, so there's still time for me to become a hot choc concert!





I'm sure my love of a good cuppa comes from growing up on the stuff. I come from a large family and we were always visiting my aunties and uncles who had a teapot ready to be poured at any time, sitting on the table with its tea cosy on.



My grandma and grandad made a lovely cuppa. My grandad's tea was so strong though. The tin of Mollasses on the side was a clue as to why. We had a visit from the Police and their horses at primary school and in the assembly the officer asked who knew what Mollasses was used for. I shot my hand up straight away and excitedly told him my grandad put it in his tea. The officer's face! He laughed and said in the force, they put it on the horse's hooves! Bless!



Sharing a cuppa and dunking biscuits around the table was such a good family way and we still do it now. I am nostalgic about a lot of things but this is a biggie for me: that lovely feeling of a problem shared; amongst listening ears and smiling faces; wise words from the older generations who have been there and done that; a hug from someone you love and the comforting sound of the teapot bring poured are some of the best things in life. Not forgetting the dunking of choccy biscuits like Digestives, making sure none fell to the bottom of the cup! I often remember much of the advice given over the years by family. Good, sound advice over a cuppa is priceless.




We were a biscuit family too! There are too many favourites to mention!



I remember the Sunday evenings when all my dad's family would gather at my uncle's and we'd have a mixture of goodies to choose from. I loved them all: Wagon Wheels, Coconut Snowballs, Chocolate tea cakes, Caramel Wafers and Blue Ribands. I love visiting my mother in law and look forward to all the vintage biscuits in the Tupperware biscuit box!




At our house we had the good old fashioned biscuit barrell filled with Custard creams, Golden Crunch and Jammy Dodgers. My dad was a Rich Tea fan and we'd spread jam and lemon curd on top. Separately, of course! We used to get the Fox's broken biscuits from the market and eat those with custard poured over. Such fab memories!



I took my biscuit eating very seriously and still do! We loved to have Sports biscuits and we'd like them up on the plate, guessing each sport before we ate them! Chocolate wrapped biscuits had to be eaten in a certain way, from the edges in. Quite messy! My favourite were Trio and Gold biscuits. This Sports biscuit is in keeping with the Tour de Yorkshire! Love it!



I do feel like you need just a bit of sweetness with your tea. In most cafes, like M&S, you are given a little biscuit (Christmas tree shaped at Christmas!) and this special touch goes a long way. In Costa, I always get a small Lindt chocolate to go with my Cortado. In the new HAVE-it coffee rooms, they have a bowl of complimentary biscuits on each table. What a lovely gesture!



I've always loved the original tea and have fond memories of the Ringtons man pulling up outside my grandma's house in his delivery van and bringing out a basket of goodies. My aunty still gets Ringtons now and gives me boxes of Earl Grey and Redbush from time to time. I remember the old boxes of Ringtons and Liptons tea so well.



I'm also starting to enjoy fruit teas again and love anything with ginger or berries in. I love this picture of an orange teapot on Pinterest.



I love the Twinings new pudding flavours. The Pukka teas are lovely too and very refreshing. My problem with fruit teas has been the lack of milk as I am a milk in tea person but I'm getting used to it!



Now to coffee! I never really got the taste of coffee, not until about half way through my life. As a trainee teacher, and NQT, I was slowly becoming more of a coffee drinker. I kept trying new instant coffees and finally settled on Nescafe, Maxwell House, Mellow Birds or Carte Dor. They got me through the working day! I love Pinterest so much. When I searched Mellow Birds, this picture came up of the Angry birds looking much more mellow!



Then, we started visiting my brother in France and not only was I introduced to good coffee, I was shown a whole new world of good cheese and red wine too! Suddenly I was a much more sophisticated coffee lover, making my cafetiere and filter coffee and loving it. I'm going to buy another machine and like the look of this one.



I started ordering esperessos in restaurants, after a mighty fine bottle of red and cheese board. I moved from lattes and cappuccinos to Americanos and Cortados. Flat whites are my main drink now.
I used to pull a face and screw my nose up at coffee when I was little. It has definitely grown on me! I remember the adverts for tea, coffee and hot, milky drinks. The ones that come to mind are the Nescafe and Maxwell House. I remember an actress smiling, shaking her hand and opening her hand out to show us coffee beans. Maxwell House with the on going love saga of the two neighbours was great. Will they get together? Yes! The slogans from these old adverts are still remembered now. I can't write these without singing them!
'You only get an ooh in Typhoo!'
'Hmmmm, Mellow Birds.'
'Horlicks. How do they sleep at night?'
'Trio! Trio! Chocolately biscuit and a coffee taste too!'
'Pppp pick up a Penguin!'
I got the title of this blog from my conversation the other day about feeling old when younger colleagues don't know famous people. I was aghast when a group of them didn't know Kenny Everett. I proceeded to do the 'best possible taste' with legs kicked high in the air. Nothing. Just three worried faces looking at me as if I needed to go home and lay down. I did go home but googled Kenny Everett instead. Can't believe I used to laugh along with Cupid Stunt at a very young age. Love the word play on that one! On typing this title into Pinterest, I came across this fab, nostalgic book that I now want to read!



So whatever tickles your tastebuds, enjoy! Coffee and tea are like music. It does depends what mood you are in. I'm just off to make a Nespresso. Now that's an advert! I wonder if George Clooney will be waiting in the kitchen to share one with me?







Comments

  1. Good read as always!

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    1. Thank you! Another enjoyable trip down Memory Lane!

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