Tea tasting and blending is a veritable art form. Find out how the masters at Twinings do it in their tea masterclass. You’ll also find a review of Twinings redbush tea and a recipe for a salted caramel chocolate tea cocktail.
The prime purpose of my trip to London last month was to visit the home of Twinings and experience a tea tasting of both new and old. The Twinings shop on the Strand is a particularly apt venue to sip tea in, as it was the very first establishment in England to start serving tea back in 1706.
This bold move was the inspiration of one Thomas Twining, a coffee house owner and trend setter of his day. Despite various difficulties encountered along the way, including a high tea tax and opposition from beer and coffee providers, tea drinking soon took off. And by the 1750s it had become the British drink of choice.
Student Life
Arriving at Paddington Station from Cornwall, the easiest route to Twinings is to take the tube to Charring Cross and take a stroll along the Strand. Not only does this give me a nice walk, but it’s a chance to wander down down memory lane as well. As a student in London I was very familiar with this area. Charring Cross was where one of our prime bookshops was located and obviously, being a keen student, I frequented it regularly 😉
For a while I commuted from Charring Cross station and got to know it rather more intimately than I might have wished. To avoid the rush hour fight for trains, I’d often go and while away half an hour or so in the National Gallery. It’s many years since I’ve visited this august institution, so I made a mini detour to have a look around. It seemed as though nothing had changed.
Walking along the Strand, I couldn’t help but glance cheekily at The Strand Palace Hotel on the other side of the road. We had many a time filled up on the cheese and biscuits there, which were plentifully supplied along with an apple for a ridiculously small sum. What others ended their meals with was a meal in itself for us.
The Twinings Shop
When I arrived at 216 the Strand, I found I was one of a small but select group of tasters. I was particularly pleased to discover that Fiona of London Unattached was in attendance as well as Caroline of All that I’m Eating.
The shop is long and narrow and steeped in history and packed to the gunwales with tea and tea making paraphernalia. I urge you to have a look at the pictures online as mine were less than perfect. Hey ho, the joys of iPhone photography.
The shop also contains a small museum which is worth a look if you’re passing by. At the back is a tasting bar, where you can sample your tea before you buy. Now what a fabulous idea is that?
For the more adventurous, you can book a tea tasting for around £30 at one of the regular events. Having established that my preference was for green tea, I was offered a freshly brewed cup of Jade Pillars. This is a refreshing tea with floral notes and it went very nicely with the chocolate tart I chose from the accompanying plate of patisserie.
A Tea History
Whilst we were sipping our cuppa and munching on the tarts, Stephen Twining welcomed us to the event. He’s a tenth generation member of the Twinings family and is still involved in the business. Although it’s now owned by Associated British Foods. He told us a little about the history of tea and the family business, which I found really interesting. Some of it I knew, but much of it I didn’t.
I learnt for instance that China tea was our mainstay until 1838 when cheaper Indian tea started to be imported into the UK. Because of the high tax on tea, smuggling was rife and much of the tea that made its way to the British cup was adulterated with dried leaves and twigs.
Richard Twining was instrumental in getting the tea tax substantially reduced in 1774 which effectively put an end to smuggling. In 1837, Queen Victoria granted Twinings the Royal Warrant for tea.
Blending Tea
Feeling suitably steeped in the historical aspects of tea, we then had a session with two master blenders. It takes five years of training to reach this dizzying height and as a mark of achievement the blenders receive an engraved tea spoon of which they are justifiably proud.
Traveling to plantations and sourcing teas from around the world is another of their rewards. Twinings take their tea blending very seriously indeed.
Whilst excellent single origin and premium loose leaf teas can be bought at the shop or online, the teas that most of us drink on a daily basis need to be consistent, both in taste and quality – apparently. Every batch of tea is tasted at least seven times before it’s packaged and sent out for sale.
I quizzed Philippa on the best teas to take with chocolate. She gave me such a fulsome answer that I didn’t have time to write it all down. The essence of it is as follows: Assam for milk chocolate, strongly flavoured teas such as chai for dark chocolate and Darjeeling for afternoon chocolate indulgence.
Tea Tasting
We started our tea tasting with a semi fermented oolong from Taiwan. We could see the large leaves unfurling in the glass teapots as the tea brewed. This was highly perfumed and quite delicious; I would have been happy going no further in my tea journey that day.
I’m glad we did though as I think the second tea was even more irrisistable. This was a first flush Darjeeling. Although a black tea, this is fine and delicate and like the oolong it’s best to drink it without milk. Darjeeling has a high price tag as it accounts for only 1% of the world’s tea. It has two harvests per year with the first flush being the cream of the crop. It tasted like it.
We went on to taste keemun, a Chinese black afternoon tea which again is best drunk without milk. The last black tea we tried was a second flush Assam. In contrast to the Darjeeling, the first flush is best avoided and the second is the one to go for. This was smooth and malty and would be good with or without milk.
Twinings Salted Caramel Green Tea
Innovation continues to be at the heart of what Twinings does. Realising that many people wish to drink green tea for its health benefits, but find it heard to accustom themselves to the taste, they have come up with a new range of sweet greens. Despite the name, these teas have no added sugar or other sweeteners but have an air of sweetness about them and do not taste bitter.
Being a bit of a purist, I’m not normally a fan of flavoured teas, so I was a little sceptical. We tried the caramelised apple first, which with added cinnamon and apple flavour smelt exactly like apple crumble to me. I was surprised to find that I didn’t dislike this tea and in fact didn’t dislike any of them.
Salted caramel was next. The name alone makes this hard to resist and luckily it tasted quite pleasant. I drink a lot of ginger tea, but the gingerbread tea smelt and tasted nothing like my familiar brew. The aroma was quite nostalgic and reminded me of old fashioned ginger cake.
Twinings recommend that you brew these teas for only two minutes. This seems very sensible because in my experience less is more when it comes to green tea. Interestingly, my mother who would like to drink green tea, but doesn’t like the taste, has found these new flavours quite palatable. So game set and match to Twinings.
When we thought we might have had our fill of tea for the afternoon, out came the cocktails. We quickly realised we could very easily manage a caramelised apple Martini made with green tea and vodka. Very tasty it was too.
Lunch at The Delaunay
After the tea tasting the good folk of Twinings took us out for a late lunch at The Delaunay. Those more knowledgable than myself tell me this hotel is well known as a first class venue for business meetings.
I didn’t clinch any deals, but I certainly enjoyed the food. I tasted pierogi for the very first time. The vegetarian Polish dumplings were quite delicious. Needless to say I had a dessert and it just happened to be a chocolate one.
Twinings Salted Caramel Chocolate Martini
I’m not at all sure it was kind of Twinings to introduce me to the concept of green tea cocktails. When I got home, I had a go at creating a salted caramel chocolate cocktail and found I couldn’t stop drinking it.
Chocolate and salted caramel are one of my all time favourite flavour combinations and this drink did not disappoint. The flavour of salted caramel was there without the drink being overly sweet and the chocolate melded well.
It’s not the quickest cocktail to make as you need to make a pot of tea and then wait for it to cool down. But it is, however, incredibly easy. You just need to shake up the tea with your chocolate liqueur of choice and some ice. Strain and pour. Voilà.
Twinings Redbush Tea
I’m a big fan of rooibos, or redbush tea as we English like to call it and it goes exceedingly well with a nice piece of chocolate cake. CT introduced me to it way back when and I thought it highly exotic. These days, I feel quite affronted if we’re out and about and a cafe or tea shop doesn’t stock it.
I’ve never been a fan of black tea, preferring to drink tisanes, but rooibos started my journey into the custom of drinking tea. I’m still not a fan of straight black tea, but I regularly drink all sorts of green and white teas as well Earl Grey and chai.
Rooibos is a South African leguminous shrub, Aspalathus linearis. It’s a traditional drink of the native peoples of Western Cape Province. I particularly like the beautiful copper red colour when I pour it into the cup.
In addition to tasting good though, rooibos has all sorts of health benefits. It contains vitamin C and is rich in flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants; it seems that native peoples knew what they were doing when they took it as both medicine and tea. It’s also low in tannins which means if you leave the tea to brew for a long time, it doesn’t become bitter. And finally it is caffeine free.
I generally drink rooibos without milk or sugar as I find it more refreshing this way. But you can take it with either or both of these additions. An added slice of lemon makes for a particularly reviving cuppa. With a drop of milk, it becomes quite a different drink and tastes almost toffeeish, so if I’m feeling decadent, that’s how I have it.
Twinings Redbush Teabags
Twinings sent me a pack of 40 Redbush Tea teabags to review recently. As a general rule, we prefer to drink loose leaf rooibos as we find it has a cleaner taste. In addition we reuse the leaves several times and get just as good a cuppa as we do the first time around. But I wasn’t going to say no to rooibos.
But it has to be said that I found these teabags to be highly convenient. There’s no messy tea strainers or infusers, no tea leaves to clear out of the pot and clog up the sink, just a teabag to be thrown into the compost bin. Easy peasy. We did get a second brew out of the bag, but it was significantly weaker.
Pip Studio Teapot
Much as I liked the redbush tea, I was even more thrilled with the porcelain Pip Studio teapot that accompanied the rooibos. You need something to brew the tea in after all. I’ve admired this particular teapot since I first spotted it on the web. I find it quite beautiful to look at. It’s a teapot that needs to be proudly displayed and should not be relegated to the cupboard. Indeed I’ve been flaunting it at every opportunity.
Turns out, that not only is this teapot a real beauty, it pours perfectly too. It has a 1.5 litre capacity, so is ideal for an afternoon tea party with friends or family. I can’t quite promise a completely non dripping spout, but of the four cups of tea I poured, I only got a drip on the last one.
Other Tea Reviews You Might Like
- Look at this for IngenuiTEA
- Tea & chocolate tasting in Cornwall
- Teapigs chocolate & matcha teas
- Time for tea
Stay in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you try any of the Twinings teas I’ve mentioned or my salted caramel chocolate martini, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on your preferred social media site and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
For further reviews as well as giveaways follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.
Salted Caramel Chocolate Martini – The Recipe
Salted Caramel Chocolate Tea Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 Twinings salted caramel green tea teabag
- 50 ml chocolate liqueur of choice
- 3 ice cubes
Instructions
- Place the teabag in a teapot and pour 100 ml of near boiling water over it. Leave to brew for 2 minutes then remove the teabag. Leave to cool.
- Pour into a cocktail shaker together with the chocolate liqueur and ice cubes. Shake well and strain into two martini glass.
- Sip as slowly as you can.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Many thanks to Twinings and Hill & Knowlton for a fabulous afternoon out. I was not required to write a positive review and as always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for your support of the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
Janice Pattie says
I’m a huge fan of proper tea and your article was really interesting. The Tea museum sounds like a good place to visit. I’m not sure about Salted Caramel Green Tea but the cocktail sound rather good, I love that you have managed to include something chocolatey in it1
Ren Behan says
In desperate need for someone to make me a cup of tea! Looks like a great day out
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
I would have loved to be pampered like this and taste the salted caramel tea. I am glad to know which teas to pair with chocolate. Luckily I already like Chai.
Karen S Booth says
What an amazing experience Choclette and a fabulous post too! I am a HUGE tea addict and this would have suited me down to the ground!
Heidi Roberts says
Tea is one of those things that you cannot get away from yet I don’t really like. Occasionally with traditional afternoon tea I will have a cup or two but generally I am a coffee type of girl!
Face Up Beauty says
Gosh, I didn’t know thay such tea tasting experiences took place. How fascinating. I drink loads of tea but my problem is that I barely experiment beyond the flavour of Assam! 😉
Angie Schneider says
What an awesome experience! The tea cocktail with chocolate sounds fascinating.
Alida says
Wow this was a very good experience for you. Tea is always interesting as there are so many types with unique flavours. I think we are spoilt for choice these days. I love any type of tea, traditional or herbal, all of them.
Great post!
Janice Pattie says
What a great experience, I love to taste different teas. I like green tea in leaf form but have found the tea bags a bit of a challenge, these sweet teas sound very interesting, worth a try.
Charlene F says
Looks like you had a fab day out, luck you getting to try all those lovely teas x
Heather Haigh says
Oh that sounds fabulous. Ilove twining teas – particularly their fruit blends. My favourite at the moment is blackberry and nettle but I am working my way throuhg lots. I’m very jealous of your tasting session.
Heather. x
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
I love that salted caramel tea. I have been having one in the evening to help with sweet cravings and finding that it really helps.
anthea barton says
I am a massive tea addict, only drink black and have 30+ in my cupboard. I have never used them in a cocktail though … I am inspired!
London Unattached says
So lovely to see you again Choclette. Your photos are fine! And, that chocolate thing at the Delauney looked really lush!
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com says
Choclette, so glad I found your blog this morning! I couldn’t resist a post about Twinings, one of my favourite teas. I prefer loose leaf black teas and am never without a large tin each of Twinings Earl Grey and English breakfast. Unfortunately, I can never find their Darjeeling in loose leaf (I’m in the US).
Shaheen says
Looks like a good day Choclette, something completely different. I love twinnings tea, In my kitchen cupboards I have Winter Spice, Mango and a number of others, I’m a bit hesitant with the green teas, still now quite acquire the taste, but i have to say the Salted Caramel Tea is calling out my name; and I love the sound of the cocktail. Must seek it out. PS I’ve recently made some Polish Pierogi at home, will share soon.