Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson said she is a “complete nightmare” to make a cup of tea for.
The food writer and TV chef likes her daily cuppa made in a specific manner and admits: “I am incredibly precise and I know exactly how I want it.”
Lawson, 56, also doesn’t make any diva demands when it comes to her “rider” and only asks for tea mugs, a kettle and milk in the hotel room fridge.
Nigella Lawson stars in a Typhoo Tea advert (Freuds)
Although she admits that these days she travels with her own kettle and has started travelling with her own mug because others are “not big enough”.
Lawson stars in the new TV advert for tea brand Typhoo and says the partnership is a “natural and happy fit”.
“I am a complete nightmare to make tea for,” she told the Press Association.
“I like it very strong with some milk in it and I have to have it at the optimum temperature which is just after it’s too hot but before it gets anywhere near room temperature.”
Nigella Lawson in a Typhoo Tea advert (Freuds)
The How To Be A Domestic Goddess author also always travels with her own tea bags and said she has a “slight superstition” when writing or working on a new recipe.
“I can’t wash up the mug that I’m using until the recipe is completed or what I’m writing is completed,” she said.
She estimates she drinks “nearer to twelve than eight mugs” of tea a day.
The new advert shows a relaxed and casually-dressed Lawson in a white shirt and jeans as she shares her recipe for a perfect tea moment.
“On a day-to-day basis I just have my two mugs of tea and then I chain-drink tea throughout the day.
Nigella Lawson teams up with Typhoo Tea (Freuds)
“My treat is some toast and good bitter marmalade and a mug of tea, but that’s not an everyday matter – I often do that on a Saturday or Sunday,” she explained.
Tea has always been in the Lawson family. Her mother Vanessa Salmon was heiress to the Lyons Coffee House dynasty, and she said her grandfather was “said to have the best nose in Mincing Lane”, a reference to the London street that became well-known for its tea establishments.
She will be returning to TV screens in Australia on popular cooking show MasterChef as a guest judge, alongside Matt Preston, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here