I am a big tea drinker, I like to try lots of different flavours and have lots of tea pots and cups to serve it in. I really enjoy the ritual involved in creating the perfect brew and have different teas for different moods. I have tea for the morning, tea for relaxing and tea for just before bed. When I was invited to have a tea tasting session at the Whittard shop in Kingston, I obviously jumped at the chance and I’m so glad I did.
I visited the shop, which is located in the Bentall Centre with fellow tea fanatic Fay. She is probably even more of a tea fan than me, having a fully stocked tea cupboard in her kitchen with every flavour you could possibly think of! When we arrived at the shop we were greeted by the lovely staff and a lovely cup of cold brewed Cucumber and Mint Tea, which was delicious and refreshing.
We talked about the types of tea we liked and got to try a few, both hot and cold. We also discussed some of the more popular and unusual teas in the shop and their origins. I was really impressed to hear that the tea is fair trade and bought straight from the farms they are produced on. It was lovely to see how enthusiastic the staff were about their products and also how knowledgable.
Having talked about the types of tea we liked, we were offered lots of recommendations and discovered lots of new flavours to try. Our absolute favourite was the Cranberry and Raspberry Instant Tea, which is lovely both hot and cold.
Teas can be bought in a selection of beautiful pots and tins or measured out from their canisters, giving you absolutely loads of choice. I was actually completely amazed with just how wide the selection was, and it absolutely extends far further than your normal English Breakfasts and Earl Greys.
Whittard is a long-standing British company which was founded all the way back in 1886! Walter Whittard set up his first shop in Fleet Street when he was 25 years old. He was hugely successful in putting together creative blends and making tea a bit more interesting, something we definitely see a lot of today. The business has survived through world wars and times of recession and goes from strength to strength today, still creating innovative and tasty flavours as well as gorgeous tea making equipment.
Tomorrow is National Tea Day, a great chance to celebrate our love of tea and also an opportunity to try some new flavours and be a bit creative with every cuppa. It also made me think about writing about tea a bit more on here, as its such a big part of my day. Having only visited yesterday I haven’t had the chance to properly try my purchases and samples, so I will definitely be doing an update post soon.
I’d definitely recommend a visit to your local Whittard shop, where the staff will help you find your perfect tea. You can find a full list of stores of the Whittard website.
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