Honey Vicar?

Honey and agave syrup at Pain Quotidien and just honey at Maison 3 Garcons.  The latest condiment offered for tea drinkers to sweeten their tipple.

Very Cosy

 Would you know what this is?

 All becomes clear - tea pot cosy courtesy of my neighbour's collection of family heirlooms

Cup of Char

 Entrepreneurial Emily Holmes has set up her Good & Proper Tea Co wagon.

Fancy Marco Uber water boiler allows exact temperature control.

Coconuts, Cucumbers & Coobo

Coconut water was everywhere at IFE.  Low in calories, premium priced it is big in the USA and in the rest of Europe apparently.  I learnt that the real stuff comes from young coconuts, such as the Dr Antonio Martins brand, whilst Coca-Cola have their Zico brand (from concentrate but sadly I preferred the taste).

Qcumber cordial won the best drink innovation award

Coobo is the first bubble tea in a bottle.  An unusual taste sensation.

Teapod

Teapod has two 'teahouses' in central London, tea for retail sale in pouches and some interesting food

Fishcakes

Eton Mess traybakes

Real Food Cuppa

Guest Spot

The Real Food Cafe http://www.therealfoodcafe.com in Tyndrum - half way between Glasgow and Fort William - get rave reviews for its fish and chips, cakes and tea presentation.   Thank-you to passionate owner Sarah Heward for the sample which will get good use at home.

Knowingly Undersold

Notice anything inconsistent?

Tea at Peter Jones comes with plastic milk jiggers.  Apparently you can ask for milk in jugs but John Lewis needs to wake up. Consistency of experience counts.

Full Leaf Teas

Starbucks has full leaf tea, not powder, in their tea bags.  You will be able to taste the difference, trust me and better quality tea should allow you to charge more.

Benugo are switched on to quality tea

Anything for the Weekend?

For regular followers of this blog you will have noticed that we have started taking the weekends off (after 460 consecutive days posts) but there is no rest for the dedicated cafe professional.  Weekend slots will be reserved for guest contributions and re-runs of our very own London Cafe Tour video.  Send us your latest discoveries.

Guest Spot

Thank-you to Ben Duffy for his notes and photos following a visit to Teacup on Thomas Street in Manchester.  Ben was impressed with "a large unit and rammed at 10.30 Saturday morning".

Everyday isn't Good Enough

Costa may make good coffee but they haven't woken up to the 'real tea' revolution that is sweeping artisan coffeeshops, quality cafes and the food shows.  Consumers are prepared to pay for a premium tea bag or loose leaf tea and tea powder just isn't it.  Powder tea bags is the new instant coffee powder; to be avoided.

Check out previous blog posts on Suki, Jing, Tregothnan and Tea Nation teas.

Bio Bags of Tea

There is no doubt that one of the next 'big things' in the world of cafes is higher quality tea, loose leaf and in teabags.  Customers like (and will increasingly demand) better quality tea and operators like being able to charge more for one of their best selling items.  Just make sure that the teabags are biodegradable - made from PLA and not nylon.  Tea Nation's teabags have cotton tags, no staples and promise that the tea bag will degrade in 90 days; oh and the tea is good too.

Loose Leaf or Tacky Teabag

Upscale Tea Palace in Covent Garden ready for the Jubilee

or tacky Royal tea bags from another store nearby

Will Stainless become trendy?

Great loose-leaf tea and old fashioned mis-matched china at Foxcroft & Ginger's cafe in Berwick Street - the cafe that uses pummel horses as tables.  I love the quirkiness of the place.  And yet the milk comes in a stainless steel jug!  They do say that every trend comes full circle.

Not Your Average Brew Up

Salt not only has good quality tea but tells you the temperature of the water and the brewing time.  Terrific detail for the increasing band of tea connoisseurs.

Hot Drink ideas at our Pinterest Board http://pinterest.com/turpinsmale/great-cafes-hot-drinks/

Suki Tea

Quality tea and attractive tea pots - Suki tea at Dobbies garden centre cafe, Ashford.  Are you still offering a cheap stainless steel dribbling teapot with no-name untagged teabag?

Speakeasy

Speakeasy Espresso & Brew Bar is off Carnaby Street and the second unit of the Dept of Coffee & Social Affairs folk in Leather Lane.  They reckon they are the only UK cafe to sell Bellocq tea from the USA.

The downstairs Brew Bar

No Froth Here!

A. Gold - traditional foods of Britain - in Spitalfields has proudly not joined the  espresso revolution.  Great place for new ideas of well packaged British food and drink.  Check out http://www.agoldshop.com/



         

Jing Tea

Jing Tea have some great glass teapots as well as first rate tea

See http://jingtea.com/

Tea Selection

Fortnum & Mason's tea display is great - you can savour the smell of each type of (dried) tea by lifting the lid of the see-through tea pots.

It's Very Hot. Oh No It's Not!

It's pantomine season on the East Coast train from Newcastle to London.  We try not to moan on this blog - there are so many great cafe stories to tell - but the warm water dispensed from the trolley service made for a truly revolting cup of tea.  On the way up, the trolley had no hot water at all.  £1.85 worth of disappointment and the waste of a Yorkshire Gold teabag.

Thankfully, Fresh Element at the Baltic made up for it with a Bronky - see tomorrow's blog for explanation.