I love a good cuppa. It has to be strong with a little milk and no sugar. If I am offered a brew, I ask for it to be the same colour as David Dickinson's tan. I'm very fussy. The only thing worse than pale, milky tea is a tea slurper. I will bat you with a rolled up newspaper if you do this in my presence.
I adore proper tea shops where the blend is carefully considered, and sweet little accompaniments adorn the shelves. My perfect morning is spent shopping in Manchester whilst dipping in and out of lots of little places like this. Richmond, Home Sweet Home, Sugar Junction and Rosy Lee are amongst some of my favourite places to revive feet like trotters and a mouth full of feathers.
Proper Tea is what happens when you brew up a blend of northern quarter tea experts 'Teacup', with a Blue Peter whizz kid turned ghost hunter, Yvette Fielding. You really could not make this up. They made a decent living from serving tea, she likes drinking it. Match made in heaven. Team that up with a decent design agency who know their chintz from their chic, and pop it on a site of historical beauty and you have Proper Tea. No ghosts though. Not one.
We nipped in on Saturday morning for a pre-shopping pick me up. I'd read about it a few weeks ago, but hadn't given it much thought until Manchester's own
Miss Mustard reviewed it. That gave me the swift kick up the backside required to give it a go.
The tea room is made up of reclaimed doors fashioned into furniture, delicate stencilled table tops and jam jars filled with fresh flowers. Antique tea urns line the shelves, but are juxtaposed with the modern minimalist design of the tea products for sale.
We both welcomed the traditional looking treats on offer, which we prefer to the 'in your face - lets throw glitter at it - the sugar will kill you' kind of desserts which are now more commonplace in the tea shops and cupcakeries elsewhere in Manchester. The only thing I would suggest changing is the size of the scones which accompany their cream tea. These heart shaped versions were huge! Plus, a cream tea should always have a fruit scone...
Our teas appeared with both a red and white tea pot, and had timers. The idea is to let it draw to your desired strength, then pour the contents into the empty white pot. This stops the remaining tea from becoming stewed. Clever.
I opted for the house breakfast blend, which was absolutely the perfect strength for me (yes, I did leave it for five minutes...). My husband had the Darjeeling second flush, which had a lovely fruity note to it.
Although we had already planned to go to Almost Famous for lunch, it would have been horrifically rude not to sample some of the sugary treats from the display. I fancied a superfood flapjack bite, but then was also talked into a chocolate one as they were two for £2 - like I was ever going to resist that. Both were wonderfully chewy and not too sweet - perfect with a nice cup of hot tea. Paddy had a 'Townie', which was a little pastry cup filled with a layer of jam then peanut butter and chocolate brownie. It was gone in seconds.
Proper Tea is nestled in a quiet little corner of Manchester, which is the perfect little oasis away from the bustling crowds. I can see this becoming a regular little pit stop.
