A Scottish tea company has created the countrys first commercial tea plantation 

The Fife based Wee Tea Company has grown plants which will be used to make specialist Scottish blends

The Grower discribes his blend as brewing up with a Champange like in colour and much likr a Darjeeling in taste , he credits this to the rich Scottish soil 

Price has not been announced , other than it is said to be a very expensive brew

www.weeteacompany.com 

The tea bag was not invented to solve some wartime problem , by common consent , it was an American tea merchant , who , in 1908 , started sending tea in small bags to his customers , they , whether by accident or design  , dropped the bags in water and the rest is history

But a German compant Teekenne , did copy the idea in the war and developed it supplying troops with tea in small cotton bags which they called bombs

Easy to make with  fancy way of serving ,  

Needed : 

              1 regular sized cupcake tin 6-8

              6-8 cupcake liners

              6-8 tea cups

               1 box cake or cupcake mix

Directions: 

follow cake mix directions , then pour batter into your tea cups and set them inside pre lined cup cake or muffin tins , follow baking time on side of box , fancy cakes to serve with your next tea

The standard response when ordering up a cup of tea in Paris , is a glass accompanied by a small pot of water and a bag , milk , if insisted upon , normally arrives hot

For generations in France , the search for an acceptable cuppa has been an obsession of expat Brits

Shops are no help , supermarkets sell boxes of weak "style anglaise" tea bags which in England would'nt pass muster

People survive by buying on the internet , making  the trip to the repoened Marks & Spencer or codging consignments from visiting friends

And yet all the while , France has been undergoing a silent tea revolution , hard to believe  for a country supposedly devoted to the cult of coffee , but today French blends are the toast of tea cognoscenti from Nanjing to New York

Backed by multi million euro advertising , the Paris based Kusmi tea is a staple of airport duty frees , and with it's new flagship store on the Champs-Elysees has seen turnover multiply by six in the last few years

Other historic brands like Mariage Freres and Dammann are also fast expanding , selling online and opening stores across the globe

And inside France a sudden fashion for tea has swept the middle classes , specialist tea salons are spreading , in Paris and beyond , people take classes to learn how to taste and serve , literally hundreds of varieties and blends are now available for sale

To be clear , French tea is NOT British tea , the tannin rich dark brew beloved of the British household , finds few takers in the French , what the French are developing is something altogether more refined and delicate , as befits their gastronomic heritage

Tea first came to Paris via the Dutch in the 17th century , a few years before it arrived in London  , originally it was used as a health giving drink , Cardinal Mazarin , chief minister to the young Louis XIV , took   it for his gout

Later the famous court letter writer Madame de Sevigne , wrote of how a certain Monsieur de Landgrave "drank 40 cups every morning" and that though he was very ill it "brought him back to life before our eyes"

Madame de Sevigne is also often quoted as providing evedence that the French were the first to put milk in their tea

Her Royal Majesty offers her congratulations to Team Great Britain and the Athletes of the British Commonwealth on their efforts and achievements during the London 2012 Olympic Games

This Evening the Nation Rocked out to HRH Elizabeth's Jubilee Concert

The Music Played and The crowd Swayed to the beats of Sir Paul Mc Cartney and Eton John, who was sporting a red coat,while Paul strummed his Union Jack design Guitar,Tom Jones Played My Delila  and The  Prince of Wales ( next heir to the Throne ) led three Cheers to His mother , the estamate of the crowd who attended was over 12,000 of Her Majesties  Subjects , all wishing her well on This the Second night of Royal Pagentry and Celebrations.