Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna
Part of Speakers' Corner
18th September 2013
The most British tea in Britain
Is anything as quintessentially British as a “cup of tea”?
I’m delighted that our GREAT Campaign has proudly partnered with British producer Tregothnan Tea, whose excellent website includes the fine slogan: “Tea is liquid wisdom”.
British tea is justifiably famous. Apparently people in the UK consume 165 million cups a day. But Tregothnan tea is more British than most. This is because it is the only tea which is actually grown in the UK itself, rather than being imported, blended and packaged like other excellent British brands.
In fact, Tregothnan tea comes from a place called, you guessed it, Tregothnan, in Cornwall – a county famed for its outstanding British natural beauty.
Many people – myself included – are enthusiastic tea-drinkers, whether a robust classic blend to wake you up in the morning, a delicate green tea with elevenses, or a soothing chamomile at the end of a long day. I look forward to serving Tregothnan tea to guests in the British Consulate-General here in Istanbul.
PS: there are many excellent histories of how tea became the British national drink. My favourite version is in “Asterix in Britain” where Asterix and Obelix team up with brave Britons Anticlimax, Dipsomaniax and Chief Mykingdomforanos against the scheming Roman Governor Encyclopaedicus Britannicus – and end up introducing tea to Britain. Great.
This is fascinating as I was recently filming for a TV programme along the Black Sea coast, and was amazed to learn how recently the growing of tea had started there – about 80 years ago.
The landscape around places like Rize and Çayelli has certainly embraced this “new” industry to make it a truly beautiful scene, and one of the local boasts is that this is the only place in the world where it actually snows on tea plants. Cornwall isn’t famed for its snow, but perhaps the land of my ancestors will have something to say about that!
I’m intrigued to by the role of the FCO in developing trade links between the UK and Turkey, and am proud to be the only British voice artist / oncamera presenter and actor based in my adopted city of Istanbul. I’d love the opportunity to meet with you briefly to see if there’s any role I can play in helping to develop those links – what’s the best way to organse this, perhaps over a cup of Tregothnan tea?