Tickety-Boo Tea Bags

I'd call Tickety-Boo a full-bodied cup of tea. They call it a medium blend, though. I'd say, if you like very weak tea, it's not for you, but if you like a good, solid cup of tea brewed by the likes of Yorkshire Tea or PG Tips, then you'll like it. They advise you to steep, or brew, it for the regulation four minutes, and I find it certainly pays to do this, although you'll get a decent cup of tea after perhaps half that time. If you're one ...
...and an unpleasant, back-of-the-throat aftertaste. Tickety-Boo doesn't do this and so I feel pretty much assured it's a blend of good leaves. My mother takes her tea with no sugar and a small splash of milk. She's pretty fussy about her cuppa – not too strong but well-brewed, plenty of flavour – and she finds Tickety-Boo entirely to her taste too.

There you go: Tickety-Boo tea. A brief nod at the packaging, a word about the price in ... more

I'd call Tickety-Boo a full-bodied cup of tea. They call it a medium blend, though. I'd say, if you like very weak tea, it's not for you, but if you like a good, solid cup of tea brewed by the likes of Yorkshire Tea or PG Tips, then you'll like it. They advise you to steep, or brew, it for the regulation four minutes, and I find it certainly pays to do this, although you'll get a decent cup of tea after perhaps half that time. If you're one of the dunk-teabag-in-mug-and-squeeze-with-teaspoon brigade, you should know that the likelihood is you're not getting a cup of tea, but a cup of dye anyway. So there. I drink my tea black with a slice of lemon and a teaspoon of sugar added and often, with cheaper blends, this gives a rather sour flavour and an unpleasant, back-of-the-throat aftertaste. Tickety-Boo doesn't do this and so I feel pretty much assured it's a blend of good leaves. My mother takes her tea with no sugar and a small splash of milk. She's pretty fussy about her cuppa – not too strong but well-brewed, plenty of flavour – and she finds Tickety-Boo entirely to her taste too.

There you go: Tickety-Boo tea. A brief nod at the packaging, a word about the price in comparison to other, similar teas and that's the opinion wrapped up, wouldn't you think? Oh no, not so, not so at all. There's plenty more I'd like to tell you about Tickety-Boo tea and all of it's of significance to the consumer, I promise. Tickety-Boo tea was launched by Billy Connolly, about five years ago. Here, in an excerpt from the blurb on the packet, is why:

"In 1997 the proceeds from two of my concerts were used to build homes in India to house over fifty orphaned and abandoned children. To provide a secure and stable future for the children we devised the idea of selling tea, which is my favourite drink, to fund the operating costs. My hope and belief is that sufficient people will make Tickety-Boo Tea their regular choice to enable us not only to continue the work in India but also help protect and care for other people in need."

I'm never quite sure how I feel about charitable donations made by companies subject to one purchasing their goods – generally, I've a rather nasty feeling it's nothing more than advertising. I don't think you could accuse Tickety-Boo of such a thing, though – they are in fact a theatrical management company and not a manufacturer at all. So I'm pleased when I see that it's funding those two children's homes and also providing a mobile clinic to help children with HIV in Romania, a children's ward for orphans in China and secondary and health education for children in Tibet. Money also goes to the ongoing battle fought against world poverty by the group Jubilee Action. All the profits from Tickety-Boo go to fund these projects; they raise about twenty five pence from the retail price of each pack.

In truth, though, the charitable nature of this tea is bottom of my list of priorities. I'm quite capable of giving, and I do give, to charity all by myself. Provided the producers of anything I buy have received a fair price for their crop, allowing them dignity of labour and a decent standard of living, I'm quite happy for the manufacturer or distributing company to make a fair profit. And I'm happy to pay more for the product. To me, it's not a matter of philanthropy; it's a matter of justice and morality. It's a matter of not being a rich, nasty, greedy, selfish person. I like my cup of tea, but I don't like it enough to buy it when the workers producing it are being abused. I'd rather get some water from the tap. So, a couple of years back, when I decided to swap to fairly-traded tea, I worked my way through all the brands readily available, and Tickety-Boo was the one I liked best. Just to assure you that it is, indeed, fairly-traded, here's another excerpt from the blurb:

"Only the finest leaves have been selected from progressive tea gardens that outlaw exploitation, pay fair wages and ban child or bonded labour. We want you to enjoy this tea, but not at the expense of other people."

I couldn't have put it better myself! It's the nicest-tasting, to my taste anyway, of all the fairly-traded teas, and that's why I buy it.

You'll find Tickety-Boo easily enough. It's sold in many places, including Safeway, Iceland, Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrison and Kwik-Save. Unlike many of the other fairly-traded teas which seem to have chosen fairly discreet and refined, rather upmarket packaging, Tickety-Boo's gone for a real inyerface red and blue scheme. You can't miss it – bright colours, childish drawing of a tea pot and a font in an equally bright, hand-written style. I like the packaging. I think it suits. It screams optimism and positivism at you from its place on the supermarket shelves. Billy Connolly's a jolly sort of chap, I smile when I get my cuppa, and a fairly-traded packet of tea bags whose profits go to charity is A Good Thing, I'm sure you'll agree. I do wish it came in larger packs, though – a measly 80 bag box is all that's available, meaning that I have to buy two packs each and every week. I'd like to see the usual range of sizes – 40s, 80s, 160s, 240s – available, and I'd also like to see Tickety-Boo leaf tea in the range. It's the kind of blend, all the better for a decent time spent steeping, that would appeal to leaf tea drinkers, I think.

As ever, with fairly-traded products, there is a premium to pay for Tickety-Boo tea, but you'll be glad to know it's not a big one. It's actually cheaper than the two big names in the fair trade tea game: Clipper and Teadirect and only marginally more expensive than its closest companion in flavour, Yorkshire Tea. Compared to the supermarkets' own brands, though, there is quite a large difference in price. A current comparison at www.tesco.com shows:

Tickety-Boo @ £1.69
Clipper @ £1.78
Tea Direct @ £1.95
Tesco Premium @ £0.94
Yorkshire Tea @ £1.64

So, y'know, there's really not that much in it, is there? If you like a fairly robust flavoured cup of tea, and you do think you ought to get a bit more involved in the fair trade movement, you could at least give it a go. Gawan. For me.

Anything I forgot to tell you about Tickety-Boo tea can be found here:

http://www.tickety-boo.com/tea

Or here:

http://www.billyconnolly.com/tea/bootea.htm

 

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