I’m going to stop doing it. And not only because the law has changed. I’m going to put this filthy habit to bed… if I can.  Like that petty criminal in that O. Henry story, I will reform. My vice is tea-leaf chucking.  I’ve long thought of myself as better than other litterers. I would never have thrown the contents of an ashtray out of the window, nor plastic yoghurt pots. I’ve thought of the tea leaves I chuck as “like the leaves of Autumn”; fresh from nature and eager to return to nature. Indeed, the...

In last month’s Strainer, I wrote to you from Wales. Well, I’m back from Wales. But I’m not quite done with the Welsh theme yet. That’s because, you see, this is the month of St. David’s Day; 1 March, precisely. When St. David’s Day comes around, children in Wales hold a talent show called an Eisteddfod. And every child has to dress themselves as Welsh for the day. In most cases, that means wearing either a daffodil or a leek in the pocket of a blazer. Sometimes it’s just a daffodil, or a...

Let me tell you about this green tea I’m drinking. Laoshan tea (崂山茶), from Qingdao. It’s all a bit of a mystery. But, as these leaves unravel (slowly), I’m building up more of a picture. Let’s be honest; Baidu is helping out as well. This tea was a gift from a friend, who, like the tea, hails from Shandong,that peninsula jutting out from the east of China. It’s not North China. But Shandong is distinctly “northern” in tea terms; further north than Henan, home of the previous, most-northerly tea plantation mentioned...

Suntory’s bottled “Black Oolong Tea” is an institution, as well loved in China as in its native Japan. And here it is, refrigerated and available for purchase, in the UK. Always the stingy skinflint, I resent paying three times the price when the main ingredient, water, is on tap and essentially free. But here it is. Nice to know.    I buy a packet of oolong leaves instead. This is an Asian supermarket in Cardiff. These stores are easier to find than ever, thanks to the steady stream of Chinese students...