Rare Tea

This is the lovely Sophie Rushton-Smith, PhD. She ran the 2010 Asics British 10K London run on Sunday 11 July (one of the hottest days of the year) raising money for the Alzheimers’ Society.

Instead of simply asking for sponsorship money, Sophie hosted an afternoon tea event for her friends, neighbours and parents from the local school, with home-made cakes, scones and Rare Teas.

We were incredibly proud that Sophie ran with Rare Tea’s logo.

As you may know if you’ve been follow my blog I’ve recently been to South Africa to visit the farm where my Rooibos grows wild.
Here it is- available on the website and at Waitrose.

And here is the film I made about the farm for Guardian Travel
And here is the article I wrote to accompany the film.

Its one of my favourite places in the world and the rooibos really is spectacular.

This week I have been in Morocco drinking quantities of green tea sweetened with sugar and flavoured with fresh herbs. This man makes the tea for the entire souk in Marrakech. Trays of battered pots and delicately painted glasses are carried through narrow alleys and over the heads of bewildered tourists.

The tea is carried in a constant stream to the stallholders and craftsmen of the souk and absolutely vital to sustain them. Tea is made fresh for each customer and served in a pot. He uses only leaf green tea and fresh herbs, of course. When I asked if he used teabags he was genuinely horrified and I realised even the question was an insult.

I’m not used to all that sugar but I do love green leaf tea with a few leaves of fresh herbs. The topmost leaves of a sprig of mint are the most delicate. If you use a delicate green tea like my Whole Leaf Green Tea it’s not bitter so you don’t need sugar. But of course, its up to you.

People have been asking who takes the pictures of me and my tea.
They are wonderful photographers who can deal with my nonsense: - “um, no not like that…well, I don’t know, maybe like this, um… perhaps like that. Actually I think I like the first one.”

They are extremely kind and extremely talented. Without their help Rare Tea would be a lot less lovely on the eye.

Ben Cowlin, London
ben.cowlin@ntlworld.com

Henrik Olund, New York
www.henrikolund.com

John Noonan, China
noonhan30@yahoo.com

I cannot tell you how exciting it was to go into Waitrose and pick up a beautiful tin of my very own Rare Tea from the shelf.

The last time I cried in the supermarket I was still small enough to sit in the trolley and be pushed around by my mother. This time I took a tin off the shelf and nobody told me to sit down, be quiet and put it back. It was all I could do to stop myself running up and down the aisles shouting with delight.

For those of you that have been looking and asking here is the full listing. If you don’t find Rare Tea in any of these stores please let me know and I’ll get on to them.

Holloway road
East Sheen
Kings Road
John Barnes (Finchley road )
Richmond
Bloomsbury
Putney
Gloucester road
Marylebone
Oxford street
Canary wharf
Belgravia
Wandsworth
Kensington
Fulham
Balham
Barbican
St Katherines Dock
West Ealing

Westfield and Bayswater coming soon.

If you live outside London and want them in your local please ask:
Waitrose CS Freephone: 0800 188 884
Email: customer_service@waitrose.co.uk

I know Green Silver Tip had a few fans around the world but they just weren’t enough beside the legion White Silver Tip lovers. Over the years you have bought x20 more white than green silver tip. I pride myself in just stocking the best teas available anywhere and your preferences informed me that Green Silver Tip just wasn’t. So it had to go.
BUT don’t despair Green Silver Tip devotees. I know that white silver tip is too delicate for some of you. I have the solution.

Green Whole Leaf Tea is a first flush, spring tea and contains a high proportion of buds (silver tips) as you can see.

The flavour is, of course, more robust than 100% green silver tip due to the whole photosynthesizing leaves. However, if you blend White Silver Tip with the Whole Green Leaf you can get just the level of strength you desire.

In the days before mass-market tea production and sealed tea-bags most households would make their own blends. Spoon-fulls of different loose leaves were carefully measured into the pot according to individual preference.

Please let me know what you think the perfect proportions are.

People are always asking if we have a shop. I’m sorry we don’t. Not yet, anyway. NW1 is our office and I’m afraid we don’t sell tea from here. But if you are in the area our local deli does- the effortlessly glamorous Melrose and Morgan and they do have a stock of our teas and glass tea pots.

1. Tea Pot
White tea is very delicate. A silver or metal tea pot can taint the tea as can your favourite tea pot that has been used over and over for black tea.
Its best to use a clean glass or ceramic pot.
2. Water temperature
If you can catch the kettle just before it reaches the rolling boil that makes the best white tea because the amino acids responsible for the lovely grassy flavours dissolve at a lower temperature. John Lewis sell their own brand kettle that has two temperature settings with the lower one being perfect for white tea.
3. Brewing time
White tea needs longer. Well, the good stuff does. If you buy a whole leaf tea like my Limited Edition Darjeelings or the tightly furled Silver Tips it takes time for the water to penetrate deep into the leaf. They are not chopped and broken like black teas which have high surface areas and rapidly give up their flavours. It takes time for the water to penetrate the whole leaves of these white teas. They wont become bitter like black teas because the tannin has not been developed through oxidization.

Lastly I recommend brewing white tea in small batches with a high leaf-to–water ratio.
To make one cup of tea take a good pinch of tea and infuse it with just one cup of hot water. I measure the water with the teacups before I pour it into the tea pot so I am sure I have the correct amount of water. Infuse for roughly 4 minutes and then pour all the tea leaving the leaves at the bottom of the pot. Because they are no longer steeping they will be perfect for a second infusion and a third. You can keep re-infusing the leaves by adding fresh water. This will reveal wonderful subtleties of flavour instead of swamping the leaves in one big pot of water the way one makes black tea.

I hope this helps

It might sound odd but it tastes absolutely delicious.
AND
Extremely rich in polyphenol, research suggests that oolong tea can be used in effectively aiding weight loss and controlling cholesterol by activating the enzymes that are responsible for dissolving triglycerides. Yes, that is fat.

Another wonderful London restaurant where you can sample Rare Teas is Tom Aikens.

What they say about Tom:

Some are calling him London’s top chef; that’s us actually. Is there nothing this man can’t do? Eating here is to discover taste buds you never knew you had.

Tatler Restaurant Guide.

The sky really is the limit for this superb restaurant. It has fully earned its place on the wish list for every gastronome in the know.

Harpers and Queen Restaurant Guide.

What Tom says about us:

The Rare Tea Company creates teas of outstanding quality and aroma.
They offer the finest full leaves with intense flavours (Jasmine is our favourite at Tom Aikens).