I had the most perfect cup of tea last year. I sat in a bright room in Oban, Scotland, looked out over the harbor and wished my vacation would last another week. The pot of Earl Grey was scalding hot, the fragrance was amazing, the taste divine.
Why haven't I ever had this good a cup of tea back home, I wondered? Maybe tea is best realized (or would that be realised?) in the United Kingdom.
That room in Oban is one of my mental happy places, and I went there recently and savored that morning once more. Then a moment of inspiration: an electric kettle! My enjoyable tea times in Northern Ireland started with an electric kettle. So I bought one last week. I peeled off the cellophane from a yellow box of Twinings Earl Grey.
I just had the most perfect cup of tea: steaming, strong, delicious. It's 90 degrees outside.
Georgia Confidential 