By: Brenda Kay Ledford

My sister and I took a heritage tour to Ireland in 1988 with Western Carolina University.  When we landed in Ireland, our tour director served tea and scones in a cute thatched-roof cottage.  I don't drink tea at 11 am, and this was a new experience for my taste buds.

They served strong tea with lots of "rich" milk.  I had never eaten scones and found them to be a bit dry and not too tasty.  This popular pastry was cut into circles, baked, sliced in half and served with berry jam and stout tea.  The Irish are known for their hospitality and served plenty of this to us Americans.

My sister and I were amazed how they served the Irish tea.  Milk was first poured into tea cups to prevent the hot tea from cracking the china.  What started as a custom to preserve the china, became tradition.  The Irish have discovered that pouring milk into hot tea makes it taste badly.  They call a cup of tea "cupan tae" or "cuppa tay" on the Emerald Isle.

Our tour director told us that "taking tea" is an Irish custom that has been enjoyed for centuries.  Farmers and fishermen drank the hot drink to warm up on cold, winter days.

After our trip to Ireland, my sister and I developed a taste for Irish tea.  We especially enjoy sipping the hot drink during the holidays and munching sugar cookies.  It really "hits the spot" taking hot Irish tea on cold winter days.  It's like a taste of Ireland that we brought home to the United States.