fun cultural rules and Irish tea
If you are invited to an Irish house, as soon as you cross the door you’ll be offered a cup of tea, so it's not just Mrs Doyle that is in love with a nice cup of tea! Of course once you’ve finished that cup, you will be offered another, and so on and on and on!.
What's the History Of Irish Tea
The Irish tea culture dates back to the1800s. It was originally Imported from English merchants, Irish tea was mainly poorer quality so they added milk. Irish tea therefore had to be stronger than its English tea and thats the way it still is, strong and tasty.
By the 1960s Ireland’s tea companies removed the middleman and started buying their tea straight from the growers. Assam tea from India, is a very strong tea with a high tannin level, this is blended with the lighter-tasting Ceylon from Sri Lanka, giving an amazing tasty tea that is known as classic Irish Breakfast tea.
The Etiquette Around Tea In Ireland
In Ireland Tea is brewed in a teapot, though with younger people making tea in mugs is now more common.
if you are in a rush then ok the Irish use tea bags, like everyone these days, and these are steeped one per cup of tea, and of course the tea after brewing for 3 to 5 minutes is complemented with a dash of milk to make a great Irish cup of tea. In the past a good cup of Irish tea always came with two spoons of sugar and fresh milk stirred in, it was better than dessert! but these days if you are counting the cals then to sweeten or not if left up to you and you might politely be asked "Are you sweet?" which means, do you want a spoon of sugar in the tea .
Here are some fun cultural rules surrounding Irish tea:
- Having tea in a household—a house with out tea is in a minor crisis.
- It is bad manors to make yourself a cup of tea without offering to make tea for everyone else in the house.
- And of course, to invite someone into your house and not immediately offer them tea is an absolute no no, after all offering a visitor a cup of tea is what Irish hospitality is all about.
- Tea is indeed a social ritual that takes away the initial awkwardness of those first few minutes of a conversation.
Irish tea, is not just a hot drink, it is an Irish custom that is a symbol of friendship, hospitality and camaraderie, and it is a great way to keep warm on a rainy day!
Basically a decent cup of tea helps bring people together , So Go on, make someone you love a nice cup of the best tea in the world!
love, peace and joy in a mug.