TF Tea Cup Championships 2021
Yorkshire Gold vs Dorset Sunshine Blend
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Here we have it: The match we’ve all been waiting for. It’s North versus South as Yorkshire Gold takes on Dorset Sunshine Blend in this final match of the first round of the Tea Fancier Tea Cup Championships. We already have seven teas lined up and ready for the quarter finals. Which of these county-specific teas is going to join them?
In the interest of full disclosure, I feel I should declare my North/South credentials. I am a Southerner, born and bred in the southeast of England. I am as southern in spirit as it comes. Dinner is an evening – not a midday – meal. I say ‘barth’ and ‘parth’ and consider it right and proper to do so. Outside of tea reviews, I never ‘speak as I find’, preferring instead to hedge round a subject with vague platitudes and hope that people can read my mind. I took an online test to determine how northern I am and it came out 0% Northern, which seems reasonable.
So it’s safe to say that this match is being played on Dorset Teas‘ home ground. I’m not from Dorset, of course. Presumably I should try London tea if I want tea brewed with my particular geographical location in mind. (I’m not from London either but I’m more not-from-Dorset than I am not-from-London. And I’m even more not-from-Yorkshire, obviously.)
I reviewed Dorset Sunshine Tea a few months ago and gave it four stars, thus securing its place as the bookies’ favourite in this match. That said, I do have a fondness for Yorkshire tea. I really like their biscuity and jammy blends and they’re very funny on Twitter.
Yorkshire Gold is certainly a full-bodied tea. Normally when I describe a tea as ‘full-bodied’ I intend it as a compliment. I reckon sometimes you can have too much body though. Yorkshire Gold has more body than comfortably fits in the confines of its tea cup. This is a tea which has hulked out, ripped its purple trousers and started smashing things up with its big green fists. I don’t think Tea-Hulk is for me.
Dorset Sunshine Blend, on the other hand, comfortably remains in its trousers. It is a bright, rich brew which I found entirely satisfying. It’s possibly not as refined as some of the other teas in this competition, and it will be interesting to see how well it plays against some of the fancier schmancier blends in upcoming matches.
In a result that will come as a surprise to no-one, Dorset Sunshine Blend is through to the next round.
And I think we can all agree that by having some tea judged by one particular partisan Southerner, any lingering competitive spirit between the North and South of England can be put to bed once and for all.
