Talking to Brits about brews is very delicate business.
Why? Well, because put simply, Brits love a brew.
Statistically too, Brits have been buying tea more than ever during lockdown – with an additional £24 million spent on the stuff in a four week period – so we’re not joking about this.
Brits love a brew and Brits love a debate, so it makes perfect sense that one of the country’s most long-standing debates would involve tea and how to make the perfect cup. Last month, the Queen’s official tea finally settled the long-standing ‘water or milk first’ battle once and for all, but now a ‘professional tea taster’ wants to chip in too.
Yes, that is a real job.
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Arguably, us Northerners love a brew more than anywhere else in the country too, but are we going to be big enough to at least hear this ‘professional tea taster’ out?
Let’s see what they have to say at least.
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Meet Kevin Gascoyne.
First of all, he grew up in Yorkshire, but he’s also since travelled the world seeking out the perfect cuppa, he works as a taster for a specialist tea shop – Camellia Sinensis in Canada – and has co-hosted the World Tea Awards on several occasions.
Oh, and he drinks about four or five litres of the stuff each day too.
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According to Kevin, when it comes to making the perfect brew the first thing to remember is, how ever you like it is the best way and that should settle a few arguments about whether milk goes in first, second, or not at all.
Secondly, there’s a science to it.
Kevin explained to LADbible that: “Priority number one is getting pleasure from your brew. We are each the expert on what tastes good to us so if you have a preferred method, be it milk first or last, stick to your guns.
“[But] I would say it depend on the infusion technique we are using.
“Scalding water messes with the milk, it curdles into curds and whey getting lumpy. It only takes your water a short time to cool a few degrees for this to be avoided. So, with this in mind, in an ideal world my tea would always be brewed loose leaf in a teapot [because] as the leaves infuse for three minutes or so the temperature has come off the boil a few degrees so in this scenario I’d say milk first.”
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What about the office brew round though?
What about those of us who don’t have teapots at home?
Kevin added: “The teapot method is not always the most practical for a quickie or a large group.
“For such times, we revert to the combat conditions of the line-up of mugs and bags. With this set-up, putting the milk first and pouring water straight from the kettle risks splitting the milk, plus the milky water reduces the efficiency of the tea-water reaction, it just won’t brew as efficiently.
“So, for the ‘bag in mug’ set-up, water first-brew then add milk once the tea is brewed and cooled a few degrees.”
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Well, there you have it.
After all that, the perfect brew is how ever you like to make it – can really argue on that front, can we?
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Manchester Airport named UK’s worst in annual Which? survey for third year running
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has officially been declared the worst airport in the UK, according to a new survey by Which?… yet again.
The summer travel season may be drawing to a close now, with hundreds of flights having taken off and landed in our region over the last couple of months, but for any Greater Manchester holidaymakers who are still yet to jet off, an annual ranking by consumer choice group Which? has proved to be pretty grim reading.
That’s because several terminals at the UK’s third largest airport have found themselves at the bottom of the list in Which? latest findings.
Manchester Airport has hit back at the survey and defended itself, saying its own passenger surveys suggest people are “much more positive” about the airport, adding that it was “proud to give people in all parts of the North easy and affordable access to nearly 200 different destinations across the world”.
For its annual survey, Which? spoke to nearly 7,000 passengers to gather feedback about their experiences of flying from UK airports over the last 12 months, and asked them to score the airports across 11 categories.
Manchester Airport has been named the worst in the UK for the third year running / Credit: The Manc Group
Some of these categories including seating, staff, toilets, and of course, the queues we all dread at check in, bag drop, passport control, and security.
And just like in both 2022 and again in 2023, it was Manchester Airport Terminal 3 that ranked right at the bottom, receiving the lowest customer satisfaction score of 37%.
Manchester Terminal 1 ranked one place above that with a score of 40%, while Manchester Terminal 2 was a little further up the the list with a score of 51%, and just saw Luton Airport, London Stansted, and Belfast International Airport sandwiched in between it.
According to Which?, some of the complaints it received about Manchester Airport from passengers who responded to the survey this year was that older people struggled with long walks due to travelators being broken since 2021, difficulties with finding a seat, and “horrendous” queues with people apparently being “corralled like cattle”.
As mentioned though, Manchester Airport has slammed Which?’s findings in a formal statement.
The UK’s third largest airport has hit back at the survey results and defended itself / Credit:
Describing the survey as “disappointing to see”, Manchester Airport’s statement reads: “We understand not every experience is perfect and want all passengers to feel able to raise their concerns directly with us. That is why we speak to them on a daily basis, surveying hundreds of people a month to get in-the-moment feedback from a full range of perspectives.
“That is in stark contrast to Which?, which conducted a tiny and unrepresentative survey of its members six months ago, asking them to recollect airport experiences that could have been as far back in time as April 2023.
“Which? fully understands that its readers form a narrow group of passengers whose views cannot in any way be taken to represent those of the travelling public at large, but chooses to promote its survey findings as if they do.”
Manchester Airport says it’s disappointing see Which? “chase cheap headlines” with its “sensational and over-simplified characterisation of airports” and the different roles they play, adding: “To make matters worse, it has printed inaccurate statements about our facilities and security waiting times that paint a more negative picture than reality.
“This is completely unacceptable.”
Featured Image – Manchester Airport Group
News
Ambitious plans unveiled to create a new river path connecting Salford Quays with the city centre
Emily Sergeant
Ambitious plans to connect Salford Quays with the city centre via a new ‘active travel route’ along the River Irwell have been unveiled.
And the Greater Manchester public is now being asked for their thoughts on it.
Salford City Council has been working in partnership with Manchester City Council and Trafford Council on the original ‘Irwell River Park’ scheme since 2008, and since then work on the project has taken place over the years, usually as and when opportunities have arisen.
Some of these works include the improvement of access to green space at Crescent Meadows, a riverside path alongside the Urban Splash development at Springfield Lane, and the refurbishment of Peel Park and the transformation of Riverside at Chapel Wharf – the latter two made possible thanks to securing Heritage Lottery funding.
Another exciting project was the completion of a new riverside space and a pedestrian/cycling footbridge connecting with Aviva Studios, which was finished last year.
Ambitious plans have been unveiled to create a new river path connecting Salford Quays with the city centre / Credit: Salford City Council
Through the ‘Irwell River Park’ scheme, Salford residents have been able to take advantage of an “improved network of accessible paths close to the river” over the last few years, but now, it’s time for a new chapter.
Salford City Council says its ambition has remained to “further deliver projects alongside the river” following completion of the initial works, which is why plans to create a new active travel route between Salford Quays and the city centre have been unveiled this week, ahead of them going to out to public consultation these next two months.
This consultation will focus on a so-called new strategy that has recently been drafted for Irwell River Park, as well as plans to improve access to the river.
The plans have been unveiled ahead of a public consultation later this month / Credit: Salford City Council
Taking place for six weeks, the consultation will both invite feedback from the public via an online survey from Monday 23 September, as well as three in-person drop in sessions in Salford on 8, 10 and 26 October.
“This refreshed strategy for Irwell River Park is so important,” commented Councillor Mike McCusker from Salford City Council.
“It will focus on making the River Irwell attractive, safe, and easily-accessible from surrounding neighbourhoods and by public transport, and also by connecting local neighbourhoods with the rich history, culture, public spaces and parks that surround the river.”
Emily Sergeant -
30th September 2020 
