For many of us a lovely cuppa (or three) is crucial to happily getting on with our day. Obviously, tea paired with cake enables us to get on even more happily. September’s meeting managed to combine both these delights with a talk from Hebden Tea and our usual refeshments.

Okan from Hebden Tea, despite his nerves, delivered an excellent talk about tea (obviously). He introduced black, green and white teas and explained the differences. He spoke about the best way to prepare the different teas including temperature, brewing time, milk or not to milk and what equipment to use. We learnt that loose tea is preferable to teabags, milk should be added to the cup last and that ball shaped tea holders are rubbish, a larger diffuser is better as the flavours can infuse more easily. Okan answered everyone’s tea based queries and we all now know how to make the perfect cuppa.

Okan and his assistant Jacob prepared several teas for us to try. We used tiny beakers like shot glasses and we were instructed to sniff the tea, taste and swill it around the mouth. It was much like wine tasting only with less spitting and no danger of drunken behaviour. The loose versions of the teas were available to sniff. The teas included a black tea, a banana based fruit tea, jasmine tea as an example of green tea and a liquorice tea which was surprisingly delicious. The favourites seemed to be Okan’s version of Lady Grey, AKA Lady Hebden and an antistrain tea which was soothing and balancing.