“Tea, Earl Grey, hot.” If, like me, you watched a lot of Star Trek: The Next Generation back in the day, you’ll get that reference. And if you didn’t? Well, I’m sorry, but reading this editorial might be a tough slog for you. For the non-Trekkies out there, I’ll try to summarize this as quickly (and painlessly) as possible. On TNG , the Starship Enterprise was equipped with these devices called replicators, which could produce any kind of food or beverage you wanted out of thin air. All you had to do was ask. Romulan ale, tranya, prune juice—you name it, the replicator made it. Now, Captain Picard’s favourite beverage was—you guessed it—tea. Specifically, Earl Grey, served hot. There were many scenes in the show where he’d ask the replicator for a cuppa with his usual “Tea, Earl Grey, hot” refrain. I grew up watching TNG and the idea of having a replicator blew my mind. You’d think I’d have been more impressed by the spaceships, the phasers or the transporters. But no—I wanted ...
