Ahhh, the good ol' cuppa. Feeling a bit down? Let's have a cup of tea. Received some bad news? How about a lovely mug of the brown stuff. Broken your leg? Better put the kettle on.
Although coffee has gained in popularity in recent years, tea remains the nation's favourite beverage and no decent slice of cake or chocolate éclair should be eaten without it.
For three days in November, the two drinks are being brought together for the
Tea and Coffee Festival, taking place at Southbank Centre Square.
There'll be plenty of tea-based activities to keep you busy, and a fair few coffee ones as well. Exhibitors from the beverage industry will also be present. Over the three days, there'll be a number of special events taking place, including
Re-inventing British Afternoon Tea.
This will involve the founder of the award-winning
Rare Tea Company, Henrietta Lovell, giving a talk about the history of afternoon tea and how she's going about re-inventing it. Apparently, she makes an astonishingly good cup of tea, so if you ask nicely, she might knock one up for your drinking pleasure.
Also on Friday and Saturday you can enjoy a tutored tea tasting with tea specialist, historian and writer
Jane Pettigrew. If anyone in the world knows about tea, it's Jane.
She's written more than 10 books about tea, writes tea-related articles for magazines, talks on the radio about tea, and is even a consultant to several tea companies. The tasting will include a number of exotic teas such as Japanese Aoki Green, Taiwanese High Mountain Oolong, and Lotus Flavoured Black Tea.
If coffee's more your thing, then the festival still has plenty for you too. On all three days, Dark Fluid will be giving a coffee roasting demonstration.
Dark Fluid is a coffee-crazy collective that describe themselves as a group of "south London characters working together thanks to a common love of great coffee."
During the demonstration, members of Dark Fluid will be happy to answer any coffee-related questions, while at the same time sharing their knowledge about all things coffee.
On Saturday you might have a chance to learn some latte art. Six lucky visitors to the festival will be trained by talented latte artists - and these people know better than anyone how to produce something stunning with a shot of espresso and some steamed milk.
To find out about all the events taking place at the Tea and Coffee Festival, click
here.
