Sometimes, when a nice cup of tea is particularly nice, my mind goes back to the benchmark for nice cups of tea. It was forty six years ago.
I was an army cadet aged fourteen. At the end of what is now called Year Nine we went on a week's camp to Watchet. After a particularly gruelling morning we had a break and queued up at a canteen booth to buy drinks. It turned out that the only drink I could afford, disappointingly, was a mug of tea.
The woman in the booth praised me (whilst giving the eye to my wealthier friends with their cans of pop). 'Well done,' she said 'a nice cup of tea will refresh you.' Funny how some memory memes stay with you. I can still hear her slightly posh accent. Maybe it was a WI stall or something. I also felt like one of the soldiers (who all had tea) rather than one of the cadets.
Thing is, she was right. After a hot summer yomp a sugary tea did refresh me. It was brilliant. I dispensed with the sugar within a few years of that but still recall the experience whenever a cup of tea hits the spot. Few do.
Next week. The nicest ever potatoes.
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