Strainer

Of course it’s not reasonable to expect commemoration or contemplation. The “Great War” was concluded more than a century ago. How can I expect “the eleventh day of the eleventh month” to resonate somewhere so far away from where the...

I’ve spent more money than necessary, wasted too many grumpy gulps than necessary on a tea which usually fails to reward. I’ve thought altogether too much about it. And, as well as trying to understand my problem, there’s another reason...

“Thank you for your tea.” “I just tried it.” “It has a very good taste and smell.” As a proper tea nut, this is the kind of WeChat message I’m used to sending and receiving.  But this was odd. I hadn’t given any...

The English language wouldn’t be as careless as this. Sure, 汤 (tang) is “soup” but this character also gets used for fruit juices, as in 酸梅汤 (suan mei tang); sour plum juice.  There’s also 茶 (cha); tea, which means “processed-Camellia-Sinensis-leaves” and...

You’re not completely sure how you got home last night. You’re worried what you might have said to those friends you were with. You just cannot find that cash which you keep in your wallet for emergencies. Strainer cannot help...

Our eldest daughter destroyed a whole kettle. I won’t be totally surprised if this daughter does, too. It is always a busy device in any kitchen of ours. But it’s surely the first year of a new human life which...

It’s not yellow. Let’s get that out of the way first. The leaves are as green as Act One in Sonic. And the drink; well, green tea makes a pale yellow drink anyway, so there’s no room for differentiation there. It...

They call it “herbal medicine”. And in this house, this week, it’s everywhere. I call it “horrible medicine”. But I actually quite like it.  It smells of fragrant-soil and it tastes like fragrant-soil-with-brown-sugar.   Apparently, it has an English name; Isatis Tinctoria....