News

News

Manchester's favourite cafe has just re-branded from Cup to Teacup on Thomas Street.

Owned by Mr Scruff (Andy Carthy) and his manager Gary McClarnan, the venue in the Northern Quarter is a homage to all things related to tea and tea drinking. They even have their own brand of tea called Make Us A Brew, which is sold in the store.

Cup is changing to Teacup on Thomas Street to reflect the move towards a more tea focused cafe. There will
be a wide selection of loose teas on offer, along with the usual high standard coffee, savoury lunch time selection and a mouth watering array of cakes and pastries.

We asked Gary five questions on food, tea and Manchester.

1. What inspired you go into the food and drink industry?
It was more of a happy accident than an intended move. I've been in the music business for more than 20 years, and it keeps me very busy. One of my clients, Mr Scruff, and I had decided to sell cups of tea for charity at tour dates just to provide a fun twist. Before we knew it we were importing organic tea and packaging it for sale as merchandise alongside teapots, tea towels and cups. We got a lot of press about our tea brand, then Tetley approached us to form a joint venture and push the tea into regular stores.

After a year of business planning, we decided not to do the deal with Tetley, but launch it ourselves. Make Us A Brew tea was on the shelves in Selfridges by the following Christmas, and was the fastest selling tea line there.

At the same time, Scruff and I had been feeling the demise of our Manchester record store's sales (we owned a record store called Vox Pop Music). So, we decided to add a coffee shop to the record store in collaboration with the Love Saves The Day deli brand. After a year with Love Saves The Day, we decided to convert the record store site completely to a teashop and focus on selling our own tea. And now 150,000 cups of tea later, we've progressed the store, renamed it Teacup on Thomas St, and added a menu of loose leaf teas.

Finally, we're now employing our own patisserie chef and producing a very fine line in delicious cakes.

We lucked our way through the first year or so of becoming caterers, but now we love it as much as we do producing albums and delivering international tours. One benefit of still touring the world is that we bringback some interesting ideas and improvements we could make to our menu or the look and feel of the store.

2. What is your favourite dish or food to cook time after time?
The simplest of soups, like broccoli. All you need is some salt. pepper, water, broccoli, goat's cheese and 10 minutes of my time. The perfect choice for a busy lifestyle. Other than that, I can always find time to eat cake.

3. Who is your favourite chef/ favourite restaurant when you go out?
Our two chefs at Teacup will always get top marks from me. If I'm in London's West End I'll always pop into Rocco Princi's bakery, 135 Wardour Street, London.

4. Tell us a secret about running a tea shop?
Filter the water. A good brew is wasted if you don't have clean water. And spend all your waking hours finding the best tea. Oh, and cakes always make a cuppa taste that little bit better.

Not sure if they're secret enough, but I can't reveal some of the more secret secrets.

5. What is your favourite cuisine and why?
Sashimi. I love Japanese food. I need to stay healthy for my job, and it's a deliciously nutritious source of protein and I have a penchant for wasabi and ginger too. Also, helps to balance out my cake consumption.