Earl Grey and Chardonnay crisps

Back home, when GB was due to pay a visit I discovered we were out of Earl Grey tea. I went to our local Co-op where the girl behind the counter, a friendly soul called Beryl, looked at me and said ”Earl Grey?” I explained it wasn’t for me - my brother was coming to stay.
“Can’t he drink ordinary tea?”, she asked.
'Ordinary tea' on Merseyside is the local supermarket’s super saver brand with Tetley’s for special occasions and Typhoo if you are really posh.


But GB’s tastes even surprised me when he made some egg sandwiches the other day and I asked did he have any crisps to go with them. The answer, of course, was yes but I was anticipating Walkers’ Ready Salted not “Truly irresistible sea salt and Chardonnay wine vinegar flavour crisps.” Allegedly these are locally cultivated, being “specially selected and hand cooked on Tyrrells Court Farm in Herefordshire.” In practice, when you live in the Outer Hebrides, Herefordshire is only marginally nearer than Stavanger in Norway. Local is a relative term !