October 2009 Archives

It's always a joy to find like minded people trying to improve the quality of what we consume on a daily basis. The Real Bread Campaign is a not-for-profit initiative, which aims to encourage and support increased production and consumption of Real Bread in Britain.

By the campaign's basic definition, the only essential ingredients of Real Bread are flour, water, yeast (cultured or naturally occurring, though some flat breads don't even need yeast) and an optional small amount of salt. Any additional ingredients must be natural (e.g. seeds, nuts, cheese, herbs, vegetable oils, fats, dried fruits etc.) and naturally processed. The making of Real Bread does not involve the use of any artificial: additives, 'improvers', conditioners, preservatives, flavourings, colourings or processing aids.

If you care about the state of bread in Britain why not become a memeber on their website www.realbreadcampaign.org

We're exhibiting at The Spirit of Christmas Fair, at London Olympia between 4th - 8th November. It's billed as "The home of Christmas shopping - enjoy an eclectic mix of companies showcasing exquisite and desirable products ideal for Christmas gifts". That'll include us then.
We've 10 pairs of tickets to give away. Just email us on alex@teapigs.co.uk with the subject header Spirit and tell us about your most unusual Christmas gift ever. The ten best answers in the judges opinion (that's us too) will win. Entries will close 17:00, 28th October.

Apparently, yesterday was the UK's national Energy Slump Day - the day that we as a nation collectively feel an energy slump as it's the first day back at work after the clocks go back. Research shows that 81% of us struggle to stay active as the nights become longer and the days get shorter resulting in a collective energy slump. We of course didn't notice as we were fired up on a combo of super power matcha and yerba mate. Don't like the early dark evenings though.

in need of matcha boost

We thouht things might get a little nasty. So. Jay, our UPS man comes to collect deliveries which we've "upgraded" to courier service in order to help speed things through during the postal strike. And what happens? Derek, bless him, our regular postman unexpectdly turns up. Result? Fighting over a precious parcel. Now, we're not ACAS but we know how to arbitrate a good dispute. With a nice cuppa of course. Check out details of our "upgrade" here.

High Noon at Pump Alley

Lily and Amos, two tea nutters from Oxford, have set themselves the ambitious task of trying every single tea room in the country to celebrate the wonderful British ritual of afternoon tea.

So far they've been to over 150 tearooms now (reviews to be found on their website). The website also has a great list of tea-time recipes that you can try at home from beef and horseradish scones to strawberries and cream pasties. They are always happy to receive suggestions for tearooms to visit and crazy tea time creations to try so feel free to get intouch.

For more info visit www.noveltea.co.uk

Louise and I recently exhibited at Anuga, the world's largest trade show for food and drink at Cologne in Germany. An amazing experience talking to so many different nationalities from Mongolia to Mexico, Kazakstan to Kenya and everything between. Some interesting and very positive reactions to teapigs so we'd better start brushing up our linguistic abilities. Which is exactly what we had to do when we entered a rather strange estabilshment in search of refreshment on the way home. According to the owner the pictures on the wall were of the local Carnival King but judging by the hats and broomsticks we weren't too sure. Louise is bravely trying to smile above her obvious fear. We smiled, nodded, ate and left in one piece. (posted by Nick)

there's fear in them eyes

Alex, Jo and I went tea sampling at new stockist, tossed, around London last week. We loved it. As well as offering the bestest, yummiest (yet healthiest) salads in town (I really recommend the sweet chilli chicken with rice), they now offer fantastic breakfasts from fresh fruit to granola and breakfast baps - needless to say best washed down with a good cup of teapigs english breakfast now available in all tossed stores.

So get yourselves down there and soonish because they are offering a free hot drink to customers until 30th November 09 - just print off your voucher here

Whilst you're there make sure you take in the entertaining "i'm a tosser" t-shirts (Alex's favorite), the salsa music (my favorite) and the super clear points-based nutritional info (brilliant).

(posted by sofia)

Come and meet the teapig team this Thursday at tossed Baker Street, St Martins Lane, & Sheldon Square (Paddington).We will be in store between 11.30-15:00 - Free tea samples for all!

Exact locations can be found on the tossed website.

www.tosseduk.com

Well, we weren't sure whether this was for real either and no, we won't be getting one for the office. Cute story though.

aaahhhh....

The Real Tea mission continued on Saturday at the Contemporary Women Writers Conference held at the Oxford Union. Following talks given by authors Joanna Trollope and Francesca Kay, many of you looked in need of a good cuppa and teapigs were more than happy to play mother.

The settings of the Oxford debating chamber stimulated much discussion about tea and yerba mate soon became a topic of hot debate. By all accounts this brew really seems to be the marmite of the tea world. Whilst many lauded the smoky and bitter flavour of the South American tea, others had trouble getting past the first sip. One Classicist couldn't help but point out the appropriateness of promoting Amazonian tea at an event celebrating the achievements of female authors (at first I didn't have a clue what she was talking about - God bless Wikipedia).

Are you yet to sample the yerba mate experience? Why not order a sample pack and let us know what you think. Like "my mate marmite," love it or hate it yerba mate is jolly good for you.

[posted by Alex]

We'd only recommend you buy this for a friend if they haven't yet discovered the great flavour of Real Tea. This is perfect for that brown slop delivered from dusty paper tea bags. Sign up for our Real Tea Mission here

resting place for dusty paper tea bag

One side benefit of us doing many trade exhibitions is that we get to meet like minded people doing nice things in food and drink. Alan, pictured on the left here, recently packed in his day job and decided to set about making delicious, wholesome stews in a format so easy to use that even those who struggle to boil an egg could manage. With the temperatures dropping and the nights drawing in, check out the stewed! website and nourish your soul.