Musings on tea

Today I read an interesting article on the BBC website about French tea culture- read the article here. One of the points it made was that British companies tend to go for cost, whereas the French are more interested in quality. However, I am coming across lots of quality British tea dealers and some superb blends. The public seems to be developing a taste for a better variety and quality of tea- most supermarket shelves now seem to have a very wide range stocked, yes there is "cheap" teabags, but silk pyramids and loose leaf feature. Many people seem to be more interested in a good cup of tea, and while it might not yet be something they have at home, some of my friends do talk about going for afternoon tea and having loose leaf blends. Maybe tea will get a more French style reverential treatment here too (although I am not too sure about the glass and hot milk).