Golden Rules of Tea Brewing

1. Any tea is only as good as the water you brew with. Always start with fresh cold water and only heat it the once. When water is boiled it starts to lose the dissolved oxygen that brings out the flavour of the tea.
2. Tea needs good hot water to brew properly so always warm the teapot with a splash of hot water and discard before you add the leaves.
3. Measure the tea carefully. The strength of a tea should be determined by the amount of tea you put in the pot, not by the brewing time.
4. Pour on the water. Most teas are brewed for 4-5 minutes to bring out the best flavours, any longer the tea over-brews and becomes bitter.
5. Once the tea has brewed, it should be strained and poured immediately.

Strong Traditional Teas

The traditional English 'cuppa' is made from small-leaf black teas to give a really rich, strong brew. The smaller leaves brew quickly and impart more of their flavour. These teas are most often drunk with milk and brewed fairly strong.

Light Traditional Teas

Traditional afternoon tea requires something a little more delicate. Famous blends like Earl Grey and our own Afternoon blend use larger leaf teas that have a softer character. Earl Grey is scented with oil of bergamot to give it its characteristic citrus flavour.

Flavoured Teas

These are based on soft black tea blends and flavoured with fruit and flower pieces. Flavoured teas can be brewed fairly strong and drunk with milk, or made lighter and drunk without. However, citrus flavours do not take milk and are best drunk without.

Specialist Teas

We also stock a wide variety of exotic teas from around the world. From delicate and floral Oolong to rich single-estate Ceylon, from the most precious of Oriental White tea to the most exclusive single-day's picking from Darjeeling. Each tea is unique and meant to be enjoyed in a different way.

Teabags

Most of our standard range of leaf teas are also available in teabags. Whittard teabags are made from the same quality teas that go into our leaf teas; the tea is simply cut smaller than large leaf tea to brew faster. Of course, this means that teabags always brew stronger than the equivalent leaf tea but we strive to keep the flavour as possible.

The Great Milk Debate

Milk first or milk second? In Victorian England there was a great deal of snobbery associated with tea. Cheap ceramics could crack if hot tea was poured straight into the cup, so putting the milk in first would cool down the tea and avoid breakage. People who could afford better ceramic cups would pour the milk in afterwards to demonstrate the superiority of their cups. The milk dissolves a little bit better if the tea is poured into the milk, so milk first is the Whittard rule. However, it's often easier to judge how much milk to add if you pour it in afterwards!

Of course, this debate only applies to tea brewed in a teapot. If you are brewing a teabag in a mug then you must brew with boiling water first and add milk afterwards.

Storage

It helps to store your tea in an airtight container to keep it fresh, but most importantly all tea should be stored in a cool dry place. Heat and humidity are the biggest risks: a paper bag in a cool cupboard keeps tea fresher than an airtight tin in a hot kitchen.