I love my tea. I probably wouldn’t be wholly Irish if I didn’t LIKE tea…. but I LOVE my tea.
Did you know that the Irish are world leaders in the amount of tea we drink? Mind you I think I would dispute the figure of 7 lbs of leaf tea per capita per annum. We drink at least a pound of tea a week in this house – and there are only two of us.
So if I am doing the sums right that means we drink 26 lbs of tea each per annum!! We may well be the cause of Ireland topping the league of tea drinkers.
And none of that dust in a bag stuff. We drink tea. Proper leaf tea which is made in an unwashed teapot!!! 🙂
As you can see I have an array of teapots…. the little one we use to make speciality tea …. no cross-contamination going on in this house 🙂
Some time ago the nice folks at Robert Roberts sent us a tin of their Campbell’s Tea. Alfie always claimed it was nicer than my preferred cuppa – Barry’s Gold Blend.
So the tea wars commenced.
For a couple of days we alternated between Campbell’s and Barry’s. Then we did a few days of one, and then the other.
I eventually got used to the different flavour of the Campbell’s….. but I’m sorry I won’t be shifting from Barry’s anytime soon.
The Campbell’s taste was nice but to get the required ‘strength’ and depth of tea I found you had to use almost 50% more to match the Barry’s Tea.
I do love the yellow Campbell’s tin though!
It is still sitting in the kitchen awaiting an appropriate use. It is way too nice to be ditched.
Thank you again to the folks at Robert Roberts for sending us their lovely tea – and for starting a Tea War in the house!
So the result…… an even split…. Alfie still prefers the Campbell’s Tea and Barry’s Tea still gets my no. 1 vote 🙂
A Year In Redwood 
I’m with you on Campbells. It used to be AMAZING, You needed less than two teaspoons in a big pot to get rich, delicious tea. Now it’s a shadow of it’s former self and you would need more than 3 heaped teaspoons. The flavour has gone to pot as well (‘scuse the pun). I still have one of the old tins and the tea was a blend of Kenyan, Central African and Ceylon.
I wasn’t familiar with Campbell’s but I found you definitely needed to use more to get the strength in the blend.
Not really a tea drinker but thumbs up to ya for supporting local and of course when I have the rare cup it has to be Barry’s (after all I am from Cork)
OMG you are not a ‘tea drinker’ heresy I say, total heresy!
One of our favorite parts about going to Ireland was all of the available tea! In America, tea is starting to make a come-back (meaning you can get more than one variety and flavor) but coffee still reigns supreme. We loved the fact that we could find tea and order tea everywhere we went! 🙂
I too love tea but I am an earl grey drinker…..love the tea I do
Cute tea pots
I can do Earl Grey…. in the little pot. I am not a lover of it myself but save the little pot for such moments!
Tea.. an infusion of flavor, if properly made..lessons to be learned from the Chinese and Japanese on how to appreciate the fantastic benefits of it. Were lucky here our own well water and real tea [well as good as it gets locally]. Tea bags are for uncaring and lazy people…A
And don’t forget for those of us who use milk …. it is real raw milk!
Campbells is the tea of my childhood. Many a mug I quaffed with my grandmother. At a close second it’s Barry’s loose leaf!
Not sure I agree with Alfie that tea bags are for lazy and uncaring people (busy people!!!) but since visiting you we’ve been converted and are now buying the delicious Campbell’s tea. I picked up a cafatiere tea pot recently which works a treat as I’m not a great lover of strong tannin flavoured tea. Next time you visit we’ll be able to give you a ‘proper’ cuppa.
We have been buying and shipping Campbell’s around the world to where ever we happen to have been sent with our radio gear. From Northern Norway at -24*C to the Arabian deserts and the Jungles of South East Asia for over 40 years. And have introduced lots of guys t6o a cup of the Campbell’s, who if asked would vote Campbell’s tea “Ace” (10 + stars on a 5 star scale). While at the same time rating most other teas (probably all, but we have not tried all other teas) “cats water” and give them minus 100 on the same scale. When you’r working 18 to 20 hours non-stop, a drop of “Rosee-lee” made from the stuff in the Campbell’s Tin helps to keep you wide awake and in top form; without the side effects of black-coffee . Been there done that and still drinking Campells’s tea; made from the stuff in the Yellow tin. (OldBlueBear)
Love this story…. keep spreading the ‘tea’ word. We shall unite against all those coffee drinking folk!
Margaret
An Update; Finally in desperation contacted TESCO and they were able to deliver our resupply of 60 Tins of Campbell’s Tea. So we and friends are safe for a couple of years. And from our point of view there the story ends, and back to the CW. (OldBlueBear)
Wow of Wows with the changes at Robert Roberts in Dublin we are having problems set up our next resupply operation Robinson’s Tea, since we send it to the guys in the US and else where normally lift 60 Tins, 30Kgs at a time. At the moment no one is interested in fulfilling our order. Let you know how we fair. (OldBlueBear)