Cakes From The Lakes at the Sawmill [@NLi10]

 We are still in the Lake District so today hopped on the Wasdale Express (a free bus!) up to the lake and to the snacks.

Needless to say we got a bit wet

It's all part of the fun though - we had the right gear and this photo was actually taken about 100m away from a lovely warm pub that sold us cider and sandwiches

The bus dropped us off at this little centre which had the sawmill café, a bigger car park and some accommodation

They also sold all the cakes from the lakes range - which was most welcome with a lovely warm cup of tea.

Even our new sheepy friend enjoyed it.

They do a lot of lovely locally made exotic things, but a simple tiffin was required to get our energy levels back up

And the cafe overlooked a river (being an old saw-mill) and gives me the opportunity to prove we dried off (my cap is still damp though).

A lovely day with only a little walking but loads of scenery to appreciate.

0Kcal Drinks - AliENergy Lychee & Dong Feng Shu Ye Jasmine Tea [@NLi10]

We are truly in the confusing era of the 0 Calorie drink.  Tap water is 0 Calories and mostly free, but when you are out it's nice to have a similar experience and a cool healthy drink.  So I picked a few up and then drank them at home anyway! 

This one - I mostly liked the portmanteau of Alien and Energy - I'd not seen that before. It's very 90s and pretty cool. I'd forgive them if the drink was bad.

No calories and a bunch of sprayed on vitamins, it's basically PRIME.

Only this is based around water and sweeteners (boo) but with a lovely fruity taste.  This is unmistakably Lychee, and really refreshing.  Even though I dislike the sweeteners this is very subtle and suitable for most people's tastes.  A win.

And here we have a drink that is usually zero calorie - tea!  Putting milk in (as I usually do) or sugar (as I did in my twenties) makes it less of a healthy proposition - but the natural botanicals of the jasmine tea remove the need for this - IF it's done properly.

They put in some things to keep it fresh, but otherwise this is tea and water - result!  Sure - we haven't quite got to fortified vitamin teas yet, but without the negative parts you can literally drink as much of this as you like and not need to worry.

And it's a good one too - very basey flavour, deep and earthy teas.  The jasmine is very subtle, but does rise towards the end making this a very easy tea to drink.  I'd certainly have this again (even though I do default to the Mr Kong version which is a lot closer to American Pop than this serious adult tea!)

While bottled water is a bit of a menace in nations that have clean and safe municipal supplies (just stick it in the fridge!) it's nice to have flavoured alternatives that are neither too expensive or bland and can give you a little shot of vitamins or cafiene to get through the shopping experience.

Lovely Jubilee! Tea and Muffins with the Queen ('s 70th celebrations) by @NLi10

Happy free Bank Holiday to Englanders - let us celebrate the Queen being The Queen for 70 years.  It's longer than any of us will get to (or have to) do anything! Considering most people get to retire at 65 years of age, doing the actual job for longer than that puts us to shame.  My waving hand would be in agony by now!

Lots of products have been released to coincide with the Jubilee - most deciding that Corgi's should be eaten rather than effigies of her maj.  The lovely people at the best normal tea company PG Tips wisely put them on the box.  I'd have quite liked a commemorative plastic toy like the olden days but times have changed.

Maybe there will be tea cards inside?!

Nope - just some clip art corgis.  And the calorific information.

Deep down though it's just proper, hardworking PG sourced from abroad to fill a gap in the British market, like the Royal Family themselves!

I ended up in Serenity Cafe today (Bearwood Highstreet - fairly basic but good grub) and they had decorations on the tables!

I had an English Muffin to celebrate (with tea - but harder to photo that in a crowded restaurant) - bacon and egg.  It's what The Queen would have wanted.

Long may she reign over us, unless she's bored and wants to let Charlie have a go - that'd be cool too.  I think the Royal's are excellent for tourism, and as the Medieval equivalent of reality TV stars are pretty good at encouraging people to visit the UK and spend money (and emigrate here with all their lovely foods to stuff and find).

So I don't begrudge her a weekend party after all the lovely things we've got in return, but I'm still not watching any of it deliberately.

Miles Finest Teas - West Country Original Blend - by @NLi10 #TeasAroundBritain

 As part of my accidental (but ongoing) Teas Around Britain series my partner picked up this West Country Original Blend while on holiday in that general area.  The West Country is vaguer than the Black Country (where we all live) and is basically centred around Devon and that area (of which we are huge fans).

I'm not sure if she actually went to Porlock, but was in Devon next door and got this on the way back.  Dedication!

It's an Assam blend so people who like regular tea will be happy, and those who like to add fruitiness (or drink without milk) will also be happy.

Reasonable tea-bags and colour on brew.

I couldn't get a picture of the tea colour with the milk in, but it was fairly normal there.

It has a great taste though and is very much something you'd expect in a tea-room or cafe.  A good, all round blend that I could happily drink all day (especially as I've run out of the similar Lifeboat tea at the moment).