Irish Tea

[SteveBuscemisRheumyEye]

Afternoon! Perhaps a silly question, but to those who've drunk "English" tea would you say that Irish brands (like Barry's) taste different?

I bloody love tea and am wondering if it's worth getting my hands on some

I'm a Barry's gold blend tea person normally.

When abroad (and I've forgotten to bring a handful from home), I buy Lipton's as the next best thing (and usually available in Belgium and France as well as UK).

My daughter has suki tea and a pot, currently she is on some lemon stuff I think? We stop at Bainbridge at the gallery across from the shopping place, for suki tea and a fifteen. Then we know we are across the border.
I vary my tea, between Punjab and Barry's, occasionally one of the supermarkets has some other Thompson brand.
During lockdown one we got Neil's flour, including soda flour, in Cork. It made my day....proper scones.

This thread should be paired with the Protestant tray bake thread! Those of us living on GB have no idea what we're missing.

Barry's all the way here. There is a strange aftertaste from Lyons (but I do commend them on removing plastic from their tea bags).

A single Barry's teabag will make 2 cups of tea or one nice strong one. The water must be freshly boiled to really get the best from the bag.

I'll drink any tea at a push but will only buy Barrys.. (Cork native by the way)

The problem with lockdown is less opportunity for traybakes to be spread around.
I'd love a good protestant funeral traybake bonanza, with tea from a massive pot.

Not being able to share a traybake with others is a problem how, eggandonion?

The issue is that sampling other people's traybakes is one of life's pleasures. And knowing your own fifteen are better in terms of filling to coconut. Or a new recipe, a new traybake. I hope Presbyterian and Methodist and Baptist bakers are busily creating new uses for condensed milk, to spring on us when we are vaccinated!

Ah, the Protestant traybake! And tea! Nothing better. There's a legend in our school that back in the 80s/90s, having campaigned for a new building for years with no success, locals TDs were invited round for a tour, given the full tea/traybake/tablecloth and doilies experience in the staff room and, suddenly, the project was green lighted! All down to baking!

It could have made the Good Friday Agreement process so much smoother if they’d passed a plate around.

Surely they did? Mo looked like a lady who would have liked a nice malteser slice thing, or the peppermint aero one. With a cuppa.

Gerry Adams has a cookbook (I know - actually not bad! ) full of recipes from that time. Apparently the British side didn't feed them well during negotiations but the Irish Government always put on a spread. Up in Stormont SF had one of their lads doing home baking and bringing it in. Even fed the odd unionist or two

I drink Lyons as its always on special offfer huge box for 6 euro

Has anyone tried teapigs? Earl Grey Strong or Everyday Brew are really nice. Himself bought them for me for Christmas and now I’m a little...addicted...

Being only half Irish I have notions with no shame and thus drink Lapsang Souchong. (I drink with no milk or sugar though so pure Assam teas aren't as great then.) And - here's the firebrand I don't give much for people with strong opinions about tea who only make it from teabags, because loose leaf tea is miles better.

We visited an Irish friend in England at his work place, 18 months ago but it feels like years. He had a nespresso with lots of choice, and a whole range of teapigs. He kept saying teapigs.

@banivani

Being only half Irish I have notions with no shame and thus drink Lapsang Souchong. (I drink with no milk or sugar though so pure Assam teas aren't as great then.) And - here's the firebrand I don't give much for people with strong opinions about tea who only make it from teabags, because loose leaf tea is miles better.

Ah but even looseleaf, Barry's is better :-)

I've only had teapigs with green tea and while nice they are super expensive. I make green tea in a pot with leaves.

For anyone wanting to indulge their tea notions Wall & Keogh do more teas than you probably will ever get around to trying. They're in Dublin but do on-line deliveries. Their mint tea is excellent. You'll never go back to mint teabags.

Black tea and Darjeeling or Earl Grey only here. DH drinks any old shite tea.
Tradesmen often turn up with a box of Barry's tea bags as they don't like to chance whatever the householder uses.

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the civil war yet! I knew someone who would sit, with a face on him, declaring that he wasn’t all that thirsty if he spotted a box of Barry’s.