by: Brenda Kay Ledford
My sister and I took a heritage tour to Ireland in 1988 with Western Carolina University. When we landed in Ireland, our tour director served tea and scones in a cute thatched-roof cottage. I don't drink tea at 11 am, and this was a new experience for my taste buds.
They served strong tea with lots of "rich" milk. I had never eaten scones and found them to be a bit dry and not too tasty. This popular pastry was cut into circles, baked, and sliced in half and served with berry jam and stout tea. The Irish are known for their hospitality and served plenty of this to us Americans.
My sister and I were amazed how they served the Irish tea. Milk was first poured into tea cups to prevent the hot tea from cracking the china. What started as a custom to preserve the china, became tradition. The Irish have discovered that pouring milk into hot tea makes it taste badly. They call a cup of tea "cupan tae" or "cuppa tay" on the Emerald Isle. Our tour director told us that "taking tea" is an Irish custom that has been enjoyed for centuries. Farmers and fishermen drank the hot drink to warm up on cold, winter days.
After our trip to Ireland, my sister and I developed a taste for Irish tea. We especially enjoy sipping the hot drink during the holidays and munching sugar cookies. It really "hits the spot" taking hot Irish tea on cold winter days. It's like a taste of Ireland that we brought home to the United States.
This story appeared online: "Good Life Tea"
https://www.goodlifetea.com/blogs/news/irish-tea
January 04. 2019
I wish all my blogger friends a very happy St. Patrick's Day!
10 comments:
Sounds interesting. I am not sure if I could drink tea with milk. I like mine black, but when in Ireland, do as the Irish do, I guess.
Hi Brenda, Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.
I'd love to have tea and scones in a thatched cottage ( even if the scones were on the dry side).
Love this Brenda. I've always wanted to visit Ireland and thank you so much for sharing your experience. I think I'd love the Irish Tea as well. Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.
How wonderful that you and your sister had the opportunity to make this amazing trip. Your story about tea is delightful, and really makes me want to give the rich milk and strong tea a try. I think I might, however, skip the scones and go for the sugar cookies as you have done.
I enjoyed this so much! A trip to Ireland would be wonderful, especially with my sister. I have always wanted to be a tea drinker and have afternoon tea in a pretty cup. But, I am just not a tea drinker. Maybe I should try putting rich milk in the cup first and then having sugar cookies, That does sound good.
Oh, and a Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!
It sounds like you had a fun trip. The Irish tea with sugar cookies sounds delicious. I enjoyed seeing your photos from your trip too.
Sounds like your trip to Ireland was fun and left a lasting impression, Brenda Kay. I like the photos you shared as well.
Ireland is a place I've always wanted to visit. So glad you and your sister got to share that experience! I only discovered scones last year. No idea how I missed them for so long. My favorite recipe for them is a cranberry/orange scone. Yummy!
Loved your post and the tea sounds wonderful! Such pretty photos!
I love hot tea in the afternoon. It is always so relaxing!
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