Today I’m at university where I’m studying a PG Cert in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, sounds fun doesn’t it? My expectations of online learning are high, and my uni days this semester have never failed to disappoint me. I could write you an entire post on why and how this learning environment could be used so much more effectively, but all you need to know is that I signed on at 9:15 and I’m already writing a post about tea.

On the upside, this tea is wonderful. It’s called Jenny’s Blend as a tribute to a member of staff at Imperial Teas of Lincoln, and is Jenny’s personal combination of Keemun Hao Ya B and Assam. This reminds me that Keemun was once my tea of choice, when you could get it in Whittards; but I haven’t had it for years and don’t know where to get it from these days.

Brewed for 5 minutes and very definitely taken with milk, this is described as A blend of great fortitude and complex character to keep you going all day, which is precisely what one needs when one is obliged to tune in to other people talking about their research projects and the tutor making suggestions that are clearly derailing everyone’s plans, potentially until half past three with no information shared about what breaks we can anticipate, which is one of the things I would mention in the above-mentioned post that I’m not writing. The tea is satisfyingly dark and definitely hits the notes promised on the box, most particularly the malt and chocolate. I’m not sure I’m getting the rose, but I’m happy to know it is there, deep in the mix.

My mug today is the other one in my Aunty Kathy‘s Artwork collection. I could have gone for beetles or paint splatters, but I chose beach huts because it seemed like something you wouldn’t normally see on a mug. Aunty Kathy has Parkinson’s and moved into digital art after a lifetime of watercolour and other creativity, and these days I don’t think she can manage anything much at all, so I’m raising her mug full of Jenny’s Blend in tribute to her.