I know that this is a coffee forum, but even us coffee drinkers like a cup of tea every now and then, I know I do.
But, like my coffee nerdism, I like a proper tea leaves as opposed to the finely ground sweepings from the floor you get in teabags. So, whilst I do buy bags (well you don’t splash out the good stuff for tradesmen… ahem!) I like to buy proper leaves, and up here in York we have a brilliant tea shop in the shambles that sells literally hundreds of loose tea from all parts of the world.
So, if you are going to buy the real thang, you need the proper receptacle to brew them in. Unfortunately, due to my clumsiness, age or both, last week I dropped the lid to my pot. As I was down near Milton Keynes staying at friends for the weekend, I went shopping in the John Lewis there, where I knew they would have quite a selection of teapots. They did, but none took my fancy. I wanted a reasonably plain, traditional style, but what surprised me was that apart from a Wedgwood one, all were made in China and one in Portugal. Where were those made in the great potteries of Staffordshire?
Anyhow, back oop north I went to York where there is a famous hardware store called Barnitts, which literally sells everything including a vast array of teapots. There they were the more traditional shape, a multitude of colours and many bearing the Union Jack… perfect! Nope. Looking at the London Pottery teapots emblazoned with the Union Jack espousing British designed, upon looking at the packaging… made in China.
Now please don’t get me wrong, I am not against China per se. But, it seems everything has been outsourced to chuffin China. Even going to B&Q a few months ago, and perusing their tool section from the cheapest to the dearest, even those with names that looked like that were crafted in Scandinavia or Germany, were in fact manufactured in China.
Sorry, but I wanted a teapot made in Britain and as usual it was the internet that came to my rescue. A quick tippy tappy and sure enough there were a few manufacturers making teapots, but as usual, they were quite pricey. However, one that caught my eye was made by a company called Adderley Ceramics, and it was their Brown Betty Teapot. There it was, a traditional design dating back to the 17th century. So traditional in fact, it originally only came in one colour, brown, and it is only recently introduced a cobalt blue version. It is the sort of teapot that you can imagine mother pouring tea from during the blitz.
It is still made the same today as then. Made from red clay (Terracotta) and the shape is said to make the best tea in the world, allowing the tea leaves to be gently swirled around as the boiling water is added, thus producing an exquisite infusion. Hyperbole? Well, I have just made a pot of Assam, which my other half says is too astringent for her. I did not tell her I used Assam and blow me down, she commented on what a lovely cup of tea it was.
So, people I bring you…
I know what you are thinking… British made, how much?
Well, this is a 6 cup version (4 good mugs) and yes it may seem pricey for a teapot, but nobody balks at spending a few bob on a machine to produce decent coffee. £25.
