I had a friend - now gone on to a communist heaven - who would practically foam at the mouth at the idea of tea bags.

He went into his local shop once and bought his favourite blend, brought it home and made a cuppa, and it didn't taste right. So he wrote to the blender and asked if they'd changed the mix.

He got back a letter, practically weeping with gratitude - "Someone noticed! Someone cares!" - accompanied by a bunch of sample teas, and several packets of the old, more expensive and tasty blend.