corporate-wage-slave

We've have Trip Reports, Chip Reports and another type of T Report.

Today (23 April 2014) was St. Georges' Day, patron Saint of England, as well as Shakespeare's birthday. So to mark the occasion Baxter Storey got Twinings to send their Tea Ambassador Mark Nicholls to Flounge and then the Concorde Room, to host a tea tasting session. So a FT ambassador was up against the T ambassador.

Twinings supply BA's tea, including the main blend that tastes quite reasonable in the air, despite the impossibility of getting a 100 degree boil at high altitude.



Also on offer were cup cakes with the flag of St George on top. This photo shows the Flounge display, with the tasting bowls:





I arrived just after the Flounge event had finished, but we then went over to the Concorde Room, where a second tasting was laid on over the main high tables in from of Concorde Dining:



From left to right we see Green and then Black tea, the differences being due to the level of oxidisation in the tea. So on the left is a Green tea with 0% oxidisation, then 20%, 60% and then the black tea is Assam (80% I think). Mr. Nicholls did the professional snort tasting using the spoon, which was perhaps a little unusual for CCR - the rest of were a bit more sedate and downed our samples in little white cups. You can see the brewed tea leaves on the top of each brewing cup, in the background. Then the tasting bowls and spoon, with the original leaf in the foreground.

A great idea for St. George's Day, it even impressed a visiting Australian off her LPGS. I'll try and extract a bit of notice for any future events just in case any FT'ers can "adjust their travel plans" to join in.

PETER01

Thanks for posting corporate-wage-slave. It was an interesting read as I like to try a different Tea now and again. IIRC there used to be regular events like this in T5 a few years ago and threads by the BAEC on here. This is the first one I have heard of for a while.

Personally, I am a Tetley man myself through and through and drink about 10-12 cups a day!

KARFA

Where was the Yorkshire Tea?

I must admit that my tea tastebuds have been so overwhelmed by the builder's strengt tea I drink I struggle to appreciate some of these more delicate ones.

IceInTheCider

Assam and Yorkshire 1 and 2 in the morning. The Earl in the afternoon.

layz

It would be nice if they had some more British themed events dotted through the year where they can showcase British produce.

Food, ales, British wines plus showcase regional produce. Would be nice to have haggis on Burns night too.

PeasantGate

xxxxx

crazy8534

corporate-wage-slave, that looked like a nice bit of fun.

Are you (or is somebody else) able to explain the comment about being unable to get a 100 deg boil at altitude- I feel like I should understand but alas I am too far removed from my old A-level physics! Is it something to do with air pressure?

ph-ndr

At lower pressure the boiling point moves downwards. I.e. the water cannot exist as liquid at that pressure, so you see it as boiling away.

Keep lowering the pressure and you approach the "Armstrong Line", which basically is why U-2 pilots wear space suits, where otherwise liquids in your body would boil at the ambient pressure (6.3 kPa).

As forthe teas, a light Assam or Turzum at any time, or even better a very light Oolong.

-A

crazy8534

Brilliant- thanks!

aceman

Quite, I remember a mountaineering documentary I was watching discussing the same thing, to illustrate it they got a camping stove of water boiling and then stuck their hands in! Does the cabin being pressurised negate this effect at all?

Ps for any tea fiends there's an interesting French company in the basement of selfridges, Marriage Freres or something like that

themapelligroup

It sounds like a great idea from BA to celebrate St George's day, I myself adore tea and I assisted at these kind of demonstrations at the twinings shop, very instructive.

Polomarc

^
Each time I go back to the Nordics I bring about 2-3 boxes of the Yorkshire tea, they love it back home

Genius1

Very interesting, although it irks me somewhat that BA can't even brand their F lounge correctly in the literature they handed out - it should be Galleries First, not First Lounge

layz

They also used the wrong mug on that leaflet!