As part of a larger project, I'm researching the thrill of food. I'm
looking through all the sub groups in rec.food looking for answers.
Have you had a thrill involving tea?

I proudly drink Yorkshire Tea (a blend from of tea from India, Sri
Lanka and Africa put together by Taylor's of Harrogate, England) and
all varieties that Twinings have to offer. There is something
delightful, maybe even thrilling about coming home and making tea the
way it should be after you've been away from home for over a week. I'm
keen on the science of tea, and recently helped design a tea machine
for Lyons' new flag ship tea house. I was also "Champion Tea Maker" in
the scouts (no mean feet seeing as Yorkshire is the highest consumer
of tea per capita anywhere in the world). Does this qualify me to ask
questions about tea drinking in the R.F.D.T user group? I don't know.

To answer my own question: "Have I had any tea related thrilling
experiences in my life?" Well, we used to live on a particularly bad
stretch of road in the countryside where accidents were common. Police
and survivors used to congregate inside our kitchen. I remember making
cups of strong hot sweet tea for the victims as they shook and
recounted stories of how they'd escaped with their lives: a post
thrill soothing effect. I also often make tea for my partner in bed …
this too is a shared post thrill soothing ritual.

Have YOU had any experiences where tea played an important role in
thrill – either during or afterwards?

I am a research fellow at the Royal College of Art, England. As part
of my current work I'm trying to find out what thrills people, how and
why. I'm aiming to create a stimulating resource of material to
inspire new design work.

I invite anyone at R.F.D.T to take my short interview. The results
will be published on the website www.chromo11.com. You can see the
interview at www.chromo11.com/interview16 along with instructions on
how to complete it. (it can be done off-line).

We can talk further in this user-group (please be patient at it takes
me a couple of days to revisit each group) - but it's most helpful to
have any comments put forward by email in the interview format. Even
though this isn't scientific research, the interview is formulated to
help me understand your experiences.

Tea is very close to my heart, so I hope you can help. It'll make a
fantastic addition to the growing thrill interview collection.

Thanks

Brendan Walker
+44 (0)20 7590 4573
www.chromo11.com/interview16

(BW) writes:

> [...researching the thrill of tea...]
>
> I'm keen on the science of tea, and recently helped design a tea
> machine for Lyons' new flag ship tea house.

I won't pretend I'm devoid of skepticism about this machine, but I for
one be very curious to see any details about it.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

I'm
> keen on the science of tea, and recently helped design a tea machine
> for Lyons' new flag ship tea house. I was also "Champion Tea Maker" in
> the scouts (no mean feet seeing as Yorkshire is the highest consumer
> of tea per capita anywhere in the world). Does this qualify me to ask
> questions about tea drinking in the R.F.D.T user group? I don't know.

Qualification doesn,t matter, actually your mail already excited me a
lot. What is that "Tea machine for Lyons"

> To answer my own question: "Have I had any tea related thrilling
> experiences in my life?" Well, we used to live on a particularly bad
> stretch of road in the countryside where accidents were common. Police
> and survivors used to congregate inside our kitchen. I remember making
> cups of strong hot sweet tea for the victims as they shook and
> recounted stories of how they'd escaped with their lives: a post
> thrill soothing effect. I also often make tea for my partner in bed ?
> this too is a shared post thrill soothing ritual.

Man, isn,t it scary to hear all those stories-how those victims
escaped with their lives?

> Have YOU had any experiences where tea played an important role in
> thrill ? either during or afterwards?

Ya, I have one from college life. I used to scare people with ghost
stories. One night I saw a ghost riding on a old
tree(Hallucination,Maybe i had too much). Anyway I was fainted. When I
got back my sence i found out this one of the most preetiest girl from
college(who i used to like a lot)giving me some herbal infusion. I
felt so thrilled. Because I always wanted to be a friend of her. well,
do you consider this as your answer. That cup of herbal tea really
played an important role(because we became friend after that day) and
thrilled me.

Ripon
(From Bangladesh)

OK, I've looked for details - but they're hard to find. I WILL post up
a URL if I find a good link. The project was around 1998. The machine
was a prototype I think commissioned by Typhoo (need to check this)
for a new flagship tea shop to open in Brighton. The machine worked an
a principal of a rolling boil (actually just below boiling, using an
airstone to agitate the water), removing old leaves and replacing them
with new whilst monitoring tea strength. The whole thing was in a
pyrex globe, and you could see the tea brewing. As you took a cup, the
process made sure there was always fresh made up.

I worked on the air system for a while. I never tasted a cup from it!

I hope this quenched your thirst for more information, sorry I can't
be more specific. If I talk to the guys at the design firm I worked
for, I'll get more details.

Ripon, your account of a tea infusion and love is fantastic. Please
please tell me more in an interview (www.chromo11.com/interview16)

Cheers

Brendan
Research Fellow, Royal College of Art
+44(0)20 7590 4573