WEBVTT - TWININGS TEA 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.680 Good evening, and welcome to my podcast. I'm so excited 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:10.520 about the conversation we're about to embark upon because I 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:13.200 have been a tea drinker since I was very young. 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:17.640 My grandma, my grandma and grandpa helped to raise me. 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.840 My my parents had four children. And I know you're 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.400 not supposed to have favorites or say that, but I 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.159 truly was the favorite of my grandmother. I was the 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:29.920 apple of her eye, and she was a tea drunker. 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:32.240 And so when I would go stay with my grandma, 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.120 and I stayed with her all summer long my whole 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.920 life growing up, we would have a ritual of she 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:41.880 would brew tea and she would actually boil the water 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.360 on the stove, and she had the little uh screen 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:47.320 and she would put the tea leaves in and she 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:51.519 would make me a proper cup of tea. And so, 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.360 while the rest of my family became coffee drinkers, my 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.480 mom and dad drank copious amounts of nasty black coffee, 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.840 I became a tea drinker. And so I am so 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:05.160 honored to be able to sit here with Stephen Twining, 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:09.480 who is from the Twining family Twinings of London, which 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:13.080 is the best tea I've ever had in my entire life. 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:18.280 And how many years has the Twinings of London tea 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.399 been creating delightful tease for people? So it all goes 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:27.120 back to Thomas Twining, who board a coffee house Shark 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:31.400 Horror in seventeen o six and in London at the 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.640 time there were over two thousand coffee houses. Obviously London 0:01:34.680 --> 0:01:38.840 was a much smaller place. So to differentiate, to offer 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.360 something different to attract people to his coffee has, he 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:45.600 chose to sell fine quality tea, and very quickly the 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:52.280 tea took over seventeen what zero six, seventeen o six 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:56.720 before America was founded, when we were fighting with y'all 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:03.520 before evening that's right, aids Wow. So how many generations 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:07.760 back is that from you? Ten ten generations back? So 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:09.480 I'm not even going to go through the great great 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.760 great great great great granddads, just ten generations back. And 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:20.000 has the Twining tea business always like stayed within the family. 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.160 Was there ever a generation that said we don't like tea, 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:24.920 We're going to go become Starbucks or something. I know 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:27.399 that lots of Twinings have gone off and done other 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:30.760 things because the family tradition, which was actually started by 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:35.280 the the second and third generation of the family. So Thomas' 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:40.000 son Daniel, just imagine that his oldest son would have 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:42.520 exactly the same passion that he did inherit it from 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.799 Thomas the founder and brought him into the business. And 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:50.120 Daniel's oldest son had no affinity but he hated it, 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.160 really couldn't wait to get out of it. And Daniel 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:55.640 was smart enough to say, actually, so off you go, 0:02:55.639 --> 0:02:58.560 go and do something that fulfills you that you're going 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:01.120 to be good at. And he became a very good 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.799 ecclesiastical scholar, which is very different from tea. But his 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:06.720 younger brother couldn't wait to be in the business. And 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:08.160 the fact his older brother was out of the way, 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.919 obviously Ethor was great and came in at the first volunteer, 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:16.160 so from then on the next generation volunteer. So that's 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.679 really quite amazing remarkable for that time frame, because when 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.320 even today, when a father has a successful business, he 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.760 assumes that his children are going to follow in their footsteps. 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:34.320 Oftentimes there's a little um business in my hometown that 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:38.200 is Smith and Daughters. Because his sons had no interest 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:42.440 in the building process of building houses, but his daughter, 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.600 his two daughters did and so instead of smith and sons, 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.720 it's smith and daughters. He had the wisdom to realize, 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:51.760 as your great great grandfather, I'm teen times removed in 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:59.400 that it's passion, not simply position. Yes, absolutely, twinings. We 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.440 are so lucky that everyone who works for us has 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:07.920 this passion for making great teath and that has got 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.240 to be part of loss of sets. So it's in 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:14.080 your DNA. You You, and how many siblings do you have? 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:17.320 I have a big sister and little brother, but they're 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:21.479 not in the business, not interested in tea. They drink 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.039 a good quantity of tea, they don't have the same yes, 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.320 the level of depth of knowledge or want to be 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:29.719 in the tea business. Now wow, Now, how many cups 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:33.000 of tea a day do you think, Stephen, you consume? 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:37.360 I say that anything less than nine is a wasted 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:41.760 tea drinking day. I may have met my match then 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:47.320 I love. I love tea, but I specifically love your tea. 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.159 And um, a couple of years ago, you signed a 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:54.039 tea box for me. And I'm not a I'm not 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:58.800 the kind of person that really values material possessions. You know, 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:01.240 most of my furnishing in my house come from second 0:05:01.240 --> 0:05:05.040 hand stores. There's not a lot of things, physical things, 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.279 material things that have any meaning for me. And I 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.320 think part of that is my personality, and part of 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.360 that is with so many kids, you can't get attached 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:16.279 to material things because they get broken, they just get broken. 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.159 Or as your older children leave, because I have several 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:22.440 that have left, that your things walk with them. You know. 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:24.520 I'll go into my son's house and go, wait a second, 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.040 that's the bench tomorrow. I said this the other day. 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:29.680 I walked into my older son's house. He's got four 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.760 children and a foster child right now, so hopefully we'll 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:35.839 be five soon. Um, And I went, that's that's the 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.160 bench to my piano. You know. When he left, the 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.719 bench walked with him. Um. But my tea box that 0:05:42.839 --> 0:05:47.240 you signed is one of my prize possessions. And I 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:52.720 go through a lot of twinings tea, I mean a lot. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:57.240 I start my morning with your breakfast tea. Uh, and 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:01.119 then four o'clock is my cut off for the black 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.599 teas because you know, I have to sleep sometime, so 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.000 after four or five o'clock when I'm doing my show 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:10.800 at night, it's your herbal teas and you you sent 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.360 some new herbal teas to my house the other day, 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:19.320 the Lemon Lemon Light and the very Infusion, and the 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:21.960 one that was the biggest surprise is the butter mint. 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.719 It is a surprise, I think surprise a lot of people. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.760 It surprised me, and I'll be honest with you, Um, 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.200 mint tea is probably my least favorite, not that I 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.839 don't like it, but you know, in the level of favorites, 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:38.040 I always go for your orange or your black teas 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:42.320 are just fabulous, and I make before the day starts, 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.520 I have to have a cup of your breakfast tea. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.240 But so when your butter mint arrived, I thought, well, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.640 this will go to my girlfriend Jan, because Jan runs 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:55.680 my foundation or my ministry Point Hope, Um, and we 0:06:55.760 --> 0:07:00.760 work in West Africa and in West africause they're big 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:05.239 tea drinkers, but we can't find twinings. They're not very often, 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:09.520 you know, so whenever I go over, Jan always asked 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.720 me to bring her your mint tea. When this box 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.520 right here of the herbal tea peppermint showed up in 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.000 my house, I thought, well, this will be something I 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:23.200 will read gift to Jan, but I had to try 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:24.880 it because I knew we were going to get together 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.520 and talk about it. Stephen. It's so good, thank you. 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:33.760 It's just the right It's like the edges off the mint, 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.440 because usually the mint has that little bite to it 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.120 that's a little too much for me. Yeah, but the 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:41.320 edges off the mint and it's just got this little 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:45.400 touch of sweetness that's wonderful. Thank you so much for 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.360 those very very Kinton compliments. I mean, we are delighted 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:52.320 with it because yes, mint is usually quite a popular flavor, 0:07:52.680 --> 0:07:55.240 but just offering a different type of mint really isn't 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.120 again to excite people, and we want to do something 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.440 completely different. So by adding the vanilla, uh, it changes 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:03.920 the text in your mouth. It changes, it adds to 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:07.840 the peppermint and as you said, turns it down. It 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.520 turns it also get this lovely creamy sensation, so it 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.840 feels incredibly indulgent. Now, a cup of any herbal tea 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.920 is less than five calories. So when I have it 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:21.400 after dinner, because mint is meant to be good for 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.440 you after dinner, uh, you're going to sleep because it's 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.360 naturally caffeine free. But it feels like you're spoiling yourself 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:31.560 with this really indulgent treat. And it's there are a 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:34.760 couple of young women in my life that are expecting 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:39.760 and for them it is a godsend because the mint 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:43.640 calms their stomach and calms them down, and it's such 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:46.720 like you said, it's such an indulgent little treat, and 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:50.920 so so thank you for that. Now you've got nine 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.720 master blenders at Twinings, and are you one of the 0:08:54.760 --> 0:09:00.480 master blenders? I always reasonably modest. Therefore I say that 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:04.319 I'm an honorary master blender. I certainly worked with them 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:06.200 over many many years. I do have a couple of 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.080 blends out there that have been created by me, which 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.200 I'm very proud of. Um. But most of the time 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.839 I would leave the blending to the master blenders because 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.760 I'm often lucky enough to be out and about s 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:21.760 I m over here talking to you. So when you 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:26.320 set upon deciding to create a blend of tea, do 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:31.480 you actually go to the places the spices are from? Like? 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.000 Do you go to where you get the peppermint? Do 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:36.720 you go to where the cinnamon sticks are raised? I 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:41.000 have not been to all the places where the ingredients 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.320 come from because they are worldwide. So in the Lemon Delight, 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:46.959 we're talking just on the lemons, we're getting lemons from 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:50.640 Paraguay and from Senegal. Uh. Now I have been to Paraguay, 0:09:51.240 --> 0:09:53.840 but YESR master tea taster for the herbal teas will 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.480 certainly get out and meet all the suppliers and once 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:58.760 as much as he can about them and most of 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.720 all about the taste when it's going to be perfect 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:05.080 for harvesting, collecting, uh, and then he can use it. 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:09.200 I love that. I love that your your hands on 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:12.960 and your people are feet on the ground. And actually 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.560 I raised almost all of our food for my family. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.800 I have a fifty five acre farm and I have 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:23.120 probably two or three hundred chickens, and my husband has 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:25.920 an organic beef and pork farm. So we're kind of 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:31.120 rabid about the things that go into our children's bodies 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.920 and our bodies. I don't want my kids to be 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:36.920 eating nasty things that's going to hurt them in the future. 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.000 So when I started drinking Twinings tea long before you 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:42.760 were part of my show, just because I love the 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.480 flavor of it. But then as I've grown to to 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:48.760 learn about the integrity of your company and the family 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:52.120 history and the quality of the ingredients. I just fell 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:54.600 more and more and more in love with the products. 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.640 So thank you, thank you. It's the way we like 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.840 to do business. We think it's the right way. It 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.600 is the right way to do business. Family and friends 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:09.880 and goodness and and honoring the ingredients. I love it all. 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.800 So tell me about this building. There's a building that 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:18.760 you're grandfather ten times back started in. And is it 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.040 true that you still have that building today? We still 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:23.400 have that building today. The coffee has got converted to 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.120 what is now the office. But what Thomas did because 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:28.760 in the early days in London it was the wealthy 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:32.520 and aristocratic ladies who were his customers for tea, and 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.079 a lady would never go into a coffee house. It 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:38.920 was just socially taboo. So he realized that the services 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:42.800 best customers, he needed to open a dry tea and 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.120 coffee shop. So over eleven years he bought three very 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.880 small neighboring properties, knocked at the end wall, put an 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.160 address on the London Strand to post away his coffee 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.560 has been in Devereux Court, and opened the world's first 0:11:56.120 --> 0:11:59.400 dry tea and coffee shop, which we absolutely still have 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.839 to this day. So celebrating three birthday this year, Oh, 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.280 I need to come to a birthday celebration there, I 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:11.280 think anytime. I would love that. It's funny because I 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.079 started I I consider myself a world traveler now, but 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:15.959 the only place I've ever traveled in the world is 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:20.960 West Africa. And I always imagined that I would someday 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.839 get to go to London, and I've never I've never been. 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.920 Let me know we have, So we'll go for for 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.200 a tea excursion. All right, what are some of your 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:33.000 favorite blends? But I know the Butterment, the Limon Delight, 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.360 the very Fusion, or the new ones. But what are 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.760 some of your will fall back like favorite when you 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:41.280 just go, oh, I've had it. I just I want 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.439 a cup of the perfect tea right now. Yes, so 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.280 the first thing in the morning, like yourself, I'm going 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:49.280 to reach for that English breakfast is just the right 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:54.760 way to take. And every cup is so perfect, every cup, 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:57.240 every cup is like a little a little dose of 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.040 happiness in my morning. It's all that. And to the 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.560 skill of our master tea tastes. Because as I'm sure 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.080 you know, let's make a comparison, tea is like wine, 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:06.640 and if you're a wine drinker, you go back to 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.880 the saving vineyard every year. As the weather changes from 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.679 year to year, the wine that the vineyard produces changes. 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.400 Now tea has picked every ten to fourteen days. Every 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.880 time the weather changes, the flavor from an individual tea 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.600 garden is different to the time before. So our master 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.240 tea tastes are always looking for different ingredients to make 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.400 your cup of English breakfast always taste exactly the same, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.920 and that is the skill. Well. It always tastes like 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.080 heaven to me. Thank you, And I love raw honey. 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:38.760 My husband has honeybees, oh wow, and so we harvest 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:43.600 honey and he knows just the right amount of honey 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:45.040 because I don't like a lot of it. I don't 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.360 like it to be overpowering. But just a smidgen of 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:51.439 honey in the English breakfast tea is the perfect start 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:55.440 to my day. Excellent, perfect start to day. I relate 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:59.560 to this so well. I could I could work for 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:04.560 Twine Tea I loved. Then you would have to do 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:07.400 my radio show. That wouldn't be so good for your listeners, really, 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.400 because I think they'd love your delightful accent. Well, that's 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:13.360 very kind. They might last for five minutes. Really, I 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.600 think you'll be a short honeymoon period. Do you do 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:18.000 you know, like all the lyrics to a thousand love 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.480 songs love songs. Yeah, that wouldn't work very well then, 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.880 because when somebody calls and they're just falling in love 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.600 for the first time, you have to know the perfect 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.880 song that goes with that. Or if they've passed that 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:35.040 first falling in love and now they've got something sparkly 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:37.520 in their pocket that they want to share with their beloved, 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:40.560 you've got to know the perfect song to play. I 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.720 can match it to a t but not to a song. Yeah, 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:45.560 well we could work together here and after I played 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.200 you know, the Marrimi song, you could suggest what cup 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:53.320 of tea they could celebrate the engagement with. I think 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.160 engagement would be something like a lady gray, which is 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.560 a lighted old right, and we've just added to our 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.520 old gray collections that we could go with a lavender, 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.440 which is a little blue, and we're thinking, yeah, it's gorgeous, 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.200 but actually the lady gray with the citrus elements a 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:11.520 little lighter, good for guys but great for girls. There 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.080 we go so the engagement would see how this work. 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.239 Or if somebody calls me and just found out she's expecting, 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.440 all right, then we're probably not going to have a 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.280 tea at all, because I think it would probably be 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:26.160 the Buttom, and there are some of the some of 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.880 the herbal teas that you should avoid when you're pregnant. 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:31.840 But I'm not a doctor, so consult your doctor on that. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.600 But yes, I would have thought that would go perfectly well. 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.880 That might be the one that I've suggested to the 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.160 people that I know in that condition, because mint is 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:47.520 so calming, so calming. So there's see, we could we 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.600 could have a whole new show here where we do 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.640 the dedication with the song, and then you could come 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.200 in each night to the studio and suggest the tea 0:15:57.280 --> 0:15:59.040 that would go in and make it for you, of course, 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:03.000 and make it for us perfect, perfect, because there is 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:07.800 like a whole tradition, a whole element that goes into 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:12.280 the making the brewing. So we we both agree, where 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.640 do we not heat the water in the microwave? That 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.000 is totally totally forbidden and bad for you and not 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.240 good for you and horrable. So after year you were 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:24.760 telling me about this experiment that you did in high school. 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:27.360 I actually have to give the credit to a young 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.720 lady who wrote the article up and it caught the 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.280 attention of our national media. And the experiment was she 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:37.240 took two identical jugs of water out of the same tap, 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.840 of which one she put into the microwave and boiled it. 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:44.000 She then had two identical plants and asked the plants 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.280 needed watering. One got the fresh tap water out of 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.240 the that jagon, one got the water that had been microwaved. 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.440 And after three weeks, the plant that was meant to 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:57.560 be rehydrated with the microwave water died dead, completely dead, 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:02.160 was no longer. So I water that's been heated in 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.080 the microwave and then cooled down is not good for 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:10.240 a plant, probably not really good for us. Yeah. And 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.240 the other danger is you can super heat things. It 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.800 might so if you boil your water then you put 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.200 your tea bag into it, it can turn to steam 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.560 and that's not good for anybody exactly. So how do 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.399 you heat the water when you make the perfect cup 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:28.080 of twinings? Being very British, I have an electric kettle 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.080 and what I do is I empty the cattle out 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:35.080 of previously heated water and put in good fresh cold 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.600 tap water because that has the most dissolved oxygen and 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:40.840 it's the dissolved oxygen in the Okay, wait wait, wait, 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.600 back up, back up. So you have the plug in cattle, 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.680 which have just now become popular in the last two 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:50.520 years here and available in most stores. So the plug 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.440 in kettle, which I have on two of them on 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:56.040 one on my countertop upstairs and one on my countertop 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:00.360 in my studio. So dump the water out that's in there. 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.320 I don't do that. I need to do that, and 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:05.760 I knew not to use hot water, but always to 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.080 put cold water in because it contains the dissolved oxygen. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:10.840 That's what it's all about. That's the bit of the 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.760 water that gets the flavor off the tea. Okay, So 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.320 dump out the old water, put in the fresh water, 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:21.080 cold water, switch turn it on. How hot For the hubbles, 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.600 we're going to go straight to boiling. For black teas, 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.600 we're going to go straight to boiling. You can these 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.080 days getting kettles. You can pre set the temperature right 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.200 Mine has one eight, two twenty and boiling. Okay, so 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:35.600 you would hit one eight if you were going to 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:38.239 make a cup of green tea or white tea and 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.920 oolan oh, I love the lan Yeah, it's so good. 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:43.760 What I have to do is let it go to 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:46.640 boiling and then walk away for five minutes. But when 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.040 it gets to boiling. So you've got one that just 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:53.119 has offered boil it, y okay, all right, well you 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:56.280 should you should spoil yourself. Get the one that has 0:18:56.400 --> 0:19:01.680 the maybe I should. Yeah, okay, move into the century. Um. 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:05.040 And in the meantime, I'm perusing the tea cup and 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:07.359 to see what I'm going to be drinking. You know, 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:09.680 we know we're going to start our day with the English. Yeah, 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.280 if it was this time of day, and perusing the 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:17.320 herbals to see what I feel like. Um, and yes, 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.320 bag into cup first. And then just as the cattle 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.679 reaches boiling point. If it's an old fashioned cattle, it 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:25.920 has what I call a safety device. In other words, 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:30.120 if I get distracted, um, it will boil and actual 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.120 builds up a head of steam. It will switch itself off, 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:34.640 but that takes ten to fifteen seconds. We don't want 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:36.879 that ten to fifteen seconds of boiling because it's pushing 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.879 out that precious dissolved oxygen. So you supervise it cattle, 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.200 switch it off, on, goes the water, and then it's 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:45.679 I think the stage that people have most difficulty with. 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:48.760 There's a lot of this sort chilling of the bag 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:50.600 going on, or a spoon comes out and the poor 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:53.800 bag gets beaten to death in the attempt to speed 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:58.399 up the process. You can't. It takes for herbal teas 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:01.359 four minutes to get the faver off. For black teas, 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:03.600 yes it will come off in three, and green teas 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:07.360 and two and a half is fine, but be patient. Frankly, 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:09.000 the water is too hot to drink anyway. If you 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:10.800 can drink water that's just come out of the cattle 0:20:10.840 --> 0:20:14.080 after thirty seconds, then wow. I don't advise you to 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:18.000 do it, though, um So let it brew, let it steep, 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.879 let the flavors come out. Then remove the bag, and 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:23.960 then if you like, like you like honey in your 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:26.639 English breakfast, I personally think the very fusion that the 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:29.040 cherries and the blueberries have got enough sweetness there that 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:31.679 they actually don't need it. But it's your cuvity. You 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.400 must drink it the way you like it. And then yes, 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:36.960 sit back, relax. If you're by yourself, you can read 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.159 a book, tells you whatever you like. If you're with 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.680 friends from family, maybe have one of these wonderful old 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:46.080 fashioned things called a conversation. A conversation, well, I love 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.040 the very fusion, and I don't put any sweetener in it, 0:20:49.040 --> 0:20:52.199 because you're right, it's very sweet, not overly sweet, but 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:57.440 just that hint of sweetness that's delightful. And the conversation, 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:03.480 the art of conversation is disappearing. Sadly. I just read 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.719 a study the other day that said, the the average 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:12.280 young person checks their phone for social media interaction. Guess 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:17.360 how many times? Guess what the the what would you say? 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:20.600 The length of time between checking your phone is for 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:25.680 the average person three and a half minutes, every three 0:21:25.720 --> 0:21:29.359 and a half minutes. People between the ages they could 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:32.439 in that three and a half minutes, but people between 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:35.040 the ages, there was like ten thousand people studied between 0:21:35.040 --> 0:21:38.760 the ages of fourteen and thirty five three and a 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:41.600 half minutes. They check their social media every three and 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:45.520 a half minutes. And there's actually dopamine that's released in 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:48.679 your brain when you've become addicted to social media, and 0:21:48.760 --> 0:21:55.119 that's replacing conversation. So we need to bring that back 0:21:55.280 --> 0:22:00.479 with a cup of tea and a conversation about family, 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:04.479 about friends, about passions, about hobbies. So do you have 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:08.720 a hobby besides blending tea? Steven, the good Lady has 0:22:08.720 --> 0:22:10.440 a horse, so that takes up quite a bit of time. 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:12.960 We have a lovely little rescue dog, and so is 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:14.760 he and I got out for long country walks when 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:17.560 she's off with Johnny the horse, and we play a 0:22:17.560 --> 0:22:20.760 bit of tennis. We love our garden and yeah, so 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:25.000 this is all goes perfect with tea everything. I mean, 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:28.560 do you have like the mug that has the lid 0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:30.200 on it so you can take it on your walk 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:34.880