New New New. The Manor House and Tea
Many of us will remember the Radio 4 series of You’ll Have had Your Tea with Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, the Scottish comedian. It was the doings of Hamish and Dougal and it was a skit on the thriftiness of the people. All very gentle stuff. I had the privilege of sharing a meal with Mr Cryer not so long ago when he was on tour with his old friend Colin Sell, an old pal of the missus. He was an absolute delight. Then we took him to his hotel as he didn’t drive. A great loss now he’s no longer with us.
The radio show worked because it took on old tropes about the Scots and teased, but really the nation has always been a hive of innovation and progress and that’s across so many sectors. One of which is branching out in a surprising direction. So did you know that Scotland grows tea? No me neither and exotic stuff it is too. It isn’t cheap with some packets costing £40 a pop, so I won’t be changing my everyday brew just yet.
And how it can be done is because it has the right soil and climate for tea planters? And part of that answer is weather and acid soils. While the rest of the world of tea growing is being stressed by climate changes, drought followed by floods and ever increasing heat Scotland has avoided these. So the nation at the edge of the things has a small upside to the situation. But Scotland’s latitude at 57 degrees north – won’t allow year-round cropping like those countries closer to the equator, but the quality is great because of the rainfall experienced. Climate modelling is showing that Scotland will expect hotter, dryer summers and milder, wetter winters by the end of this century. More tea!
And just as the nation is a hotbed of innovation so is James Pirie with the all new Manor House Collection. This is a vintage inspired crystal collection in which each piece is expertly hand made by skilled glassmakers. This rang effortlessly blends classic elegance with everyday practicality. Each set arrives in a signature duck-egg blue presentation box, beautifully finished with gold foil detailing. Elegantly packaged, these exquisite wine glasses make an exceptional gift for wine lovers, weddings, housewarmings, and all special occasions. Most come with free delivery and all have free gift wrapping when you tick the box at check out.
