You’d be surprised. Until relatively recently, if you lived in a hard water area you’d be staring at scum floating in your brew every time you took a sip. Our Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water helps reduce that effect, ensuring the whole of the UK can enjoy a proper brew. But just how do we do it and why is it something that literally divides the country?

Let’s start with water. The East of the country is mainly hard water, especially the southern end, and the West soft water. Hard water is pumped from bore holes and has filtered through rocks, like limestone, picking up calcium and minerals on the way. So the water is ‘denser’ and creates more residues caused by polyphenols in tea reacting with calcium. Soft water is basically rainwater that collects in reservoirs and has less than 60mg of calcium per litre. It’s this density of water that has a significant affect on the taste and appearance of tea.

So how do we blend Yorkshire Tea for hard water areas? Over to Suzy, one of our team of expert tea buyers: “Before we can blend it, we taste every single tea we buy, not once but twice. We taste up to a thousand different teas a day, once made with hard water and once with soft water to decide which teas will provide the perfect combination of flavor and appearance for each water type. Hard water tends to make tea darker and thicker, whereas soft water makes a lighter brisker tea – so you can not only taste but also see the difference.”

In Harrogate, where Yorkshire Tea is tasted and blended, it’s a soft water area. Therefore, we have tanks of the hardest water in North Yorkshire delivered to us by Yorkshire Water especially for tasting. We have ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ instead of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ taps in our tea tasting room and we religiously test the hardness of each batch of water delivered.

Suzy adds: “The interesting thing about hard water is that it reveals a lot about tea as it brings out any taints, flavours and characteristics that soft water might mask.”

So now you know why wherever you are in the country, you can enjoy a proper brew.

We’ve been talking a lot about our hard water blend lately, including giving away 50 shiny new Morphy Richards kettles, each with a year’s supply of Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water (to enter, just click here).

But sometimes talk’s not enough is it?

That’s why we’re also sending our trusty travelling tea-mobile, Little Urn, out on the road. He’s been back from America for months now (yes, he really did go!) so he’s been catching up on his domestic duties!

We’re dispatching him to some of the UK’s hard water areas to give out free brews made with our special hard water blend so people can taste the difference it makes.

Here’s where he’s off to:

Sorry to all those of you not getting a visit this time – but don’t worry Little Urn will be out and about again soon! In the meantime, get yourself onto our Facebook page where you can request a free sample of Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water until 19 Feb 2012.

Not you personally, of course. We’re talking about your kettle.

A furred up bottom inside your kettle is a key indicator that you have hard water. In other words, your tap water contains more calcium and other natural substances than the water that comes out of the tap in other regions. This is nothing to worry about of course, but it does make a difference to a few things – your kettle gets scale on it, your bubble bath isn’t as bubbly, and worst of all, your tea tastes different and sometimes gets little floaty bits on the top.

That’s where Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water comes in. Since the day we were founded in 1886, we’ve been tasting tea in different water types to work out which brews better in what, and our Hard Water blend consists of teas that have been specially selected because they work with the mineral content in the water rather than against it. We even work to find teas that don’t create that floaty stuff on the top!

But what if you’re not sure whether you’ve got hard water or not?

Well, if those other signs aren’t helping, have a look at this map we’ve created. It’s only a rough guide, because your water can often change depending on where it’s coming from that day, but it’s a good start. If you want to know more, try your local water board.

Hope that all makes sense! If you have questions, let us know.

And don’t forget our competition to win a year’s supply of tea and a new kettle is open till 7 Feb here.

Think you know how to taste tea? Of course you do. But would you like to know how our professional tea tasters do it? Watch this and our Suzy will explain all…

Our team of tea buyers taste up to a thousand different teas a day in order to pick out which are the best teas on offer at that moment in time – the teas selected then go on to be part of the Yorkshire Tea blends.

And when they’re tasting, Suzy and the team consider all sorts of different aspects of each tea, from how it tastes to the appearance of the dry tea leaves before they’ve been brewed. It all helps to identify which ones are the best quality.

Hope you enjoy the video – let us know what you think!

Tomorrow at 9am, we’re asking all our friends to log on to our Facebook page so we can all share a Christmas cuppa together. In preparation for that, we thought we’d share this little film of our tea expert Suzy’s guide to making a proper brew.

While we’re often asked how it should be done, we respect the fact that everyone has their own way of making tea. But just so you know, this is how we like to do it.

Do you do it the same way? Are you a miffy or a tiffy? Let us know – we’d love to hear what you think!

When we heard that Josh from The Horrors is a massive Yorkshire Tea fan, we decided to pack up Little Urn and take a trip to London to surprise him at the band’s appearance at Xfm Winter Wonderland in Brixton. But as with any good road trip, not everything went exactly according to plan…

On the day of the gig (and approximately 50 miles from London) we got word that Faris, the lead singer, had lost his voice and the band had been forced to pull out of the gig! It seemed that all was lost and Josh would have to wait a while longer for a proper brew.  However, after some help from The Horrors’ management team and some expert negotiation of busy London streets in rush hour traffic, Little Urn pitched up in Central London to meet Josh and the band to cheer them up after the disappointment of not being able to perform – with their very own Horrors tea!

There is no doubt that Josh appreciated a proper brew, telling us as he climbed aboard Urn that his Mum had taught him to brew up before he could talk and they only ever drank Yorkshire Tea!

After that, it was on to Brixton Academy to make a special delivery to The Kaiser Chiefs, although we may have started a riot of our own backstage with the boys apparently fighting over their special box of Kaiser Chiefs’ Tea…

Both bands were quick to tweet about their proper brews and soon another Yorkshire band, The Pigeon Detectives, were telling the Twittersphere of their love for Yorkshire Tea too. Looks like Little Urn might not need to wait too long till his next gig!

Earlier this week, we discovered that boyband phenomenon One Direction had been talking about us again.

‘So what?’ we hear you cry… Well, apart from the fact that these nice young lads are doing an amazing job teaching the younger generation about the importance of a proper brew, it was the oddness of the subject: Yorkshire Tea Ice Cream.

When interviewed by Capital FM, they were asked what flavour ice cream they’d like to see invented – and Zayn suggested Yorkshire Tea flavour, an idea Louis got pretty excited about. (Our bit comes up at 4mins 40secs if you don’t want to watch it all!)

So it got us thinking – could we? Should we?

Thanks to the culinary expertise of our sister company Bettys, we were able to ask the tutors at Bettys Cookery School a favour…

Step forward, tutor David Haynes, who quickly knocked up a wonderfully subtle Yorkshire Tea ice cream, which we quickly dispatched to the boys.

‘But what was it like?’ you ask. Well, we could tell you that is was deliciously malty with a lovely aftertaste. Or we could tell you that our expert tea buyers tried it, and commented on the Assam qualities coming out strongly, and the brightness of the East African teas ensuring that aftertaste had an uplifting quality. But, really, the best way would be for you to try it yourself.

To that end, here’s David’s recipe…

Ingredients

2 egg yolks

½ vanilla pod

310g double cream whipped lightly

60g caster sugar

310g whole milk

2 tablespoons boiling water

3 Yorkshire Tea tea bags

1 tablespoon white sugar

Method

Mix the sugar and boiling water together in a small bowl, add the teabags and brew to make a strong infusion, ideally for about 5 minutes.

Place the whole milk in a pan, then split the vanilla pod, remove the seeds and add to the milk. Gently bring to the boil.

In a bowl mix the 2 egg yolks with the caster sugar and whisk until pale and fluffy.

Pour the milk mixture on to the tea mixture and remove the teabags.

Then pour the milk/tea mixture on to the egg mix and whisk thoroughly.

Return the milk and egg mixture to the pan and bring to 82 degrees (using a thermometer) or allow to thicken and warm (do not boil or the mixture will scramble).

Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve in to a bowl.

Whisk the mixture until it is cool.

Fold in the whipped cream and place in the freezer.

Whisk the mixture every 30 minutes until the ice cream is set…

As we speak, people up and down the country will be laying the table with cakes galore and pots of tea. No, it’s not another royal wedding – it’s Great British Tea Party time!

From 1^st to 10^th December, young and old alike will be holding fund-raising tea party events to support Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, with all the money gathered going towards children’s hospital and hospices across the UK. And there’s still time for you to get involved too!

And one bunch of party-goers are set to get an extra treat – when everyone registered, they entered a draw to win a visit from our own Little Urn! Look out for more news on this on that soon.

Earlier this week, we took Little Urn on a journey to meet legendary cookery writer and baker Mary Berry at her home. Not only did we get to peek inside her kitchen but Mary was also joined by Wallace & Gromit for a brew and a slice of cake.

The ‘Great British Bake Off’ television series judge welcomed us in for a celebratory tea party to launch this year’s ‘Wallace & Gromit’s Great British Tea Party’.

From 1-10 December, we’re supporting Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation, once again helping them to raise thousands of pounds for sick children in hospitals and hospices across the UK. In support, Mary’s encouraging people to get baking for charity and take part in the Great British Tea Party: “This is a wonderful way for family, friends and work colleagues to get together for a traditional teatime celebration that raises money for a really important cause. It’s so easy to join in the fun, simply bake your favourite cakes, put the kettle on and enjoy. You could even rise to the occasion and organise your own Bake Off!” she said.

The fundraising event hopes to raise over £150,000. To register, or to find out more, click here.

Famous Yorkshireman Sir Jimmy may be no longer with us, but the idea of making people’s dreams come true lives on – when motorbike enthusiast Rachel Heath entered the Bennetts Biker Dream competition, she said her dream prize would be to have a cup of tea with bike-racing, barge-building, brew-drinking star Guy Martin. And we were only too happy to help Bennetts make Rachel’s dream into a reality…

We’ve long known that TT & TV star Guy is a big fan of tea, but we had no idea he drinks about 20 cups a day – so he was truly happy to get a tour of the factory then a session with our expert tea buyers.

Guy and Rachel spent the afternoon learning how the professionals taste and select teas, and then got a chance to make their own blends to take home.

We know he likes to have a brew during pitstops – wonder if it will be a cup of his own blend next time?