Brew News - the Yorkshire Tea blog

Our tea buyers travel the world in search of the finest teas, and the very best quality leaves are what go into Yorkshire Gold. Maybe you’ve already tried it? If so, you’ll know it’s a wonderfully rich and luxurious cup of tea. To make it, we blend smooth and malty second flush Assam teas from India with fresh and lively leaves from the highlands of East Africa – especially Rwanda.

As a country, Rwanda has suffered serious hardships, none greater than the civil war in 1994. Since then, the tea industry has played a key role in the transformation of Rwanda and the welfare of its people.

We’ve been buying tea from Rwanda for over 37 years and for the last 3 years, we’ve been co-funding a UK government supported project that’s making a big difference to the lives of more than 10,000 tea farmers and their families. We call it Project Rwanda, and it’s something very important to us that we’d like to focus on over the next month. Play our video to discover more.

Our key aim is to help farms achieve Rainforest Alliance certification. To be certified, farms have to be well managed and practice more sustainable methods such as investing in new better waste water management.

What’s the incentive for them to do this? Well, being a Rainforest Alliance certified farm can be a really effective way to also increase yields, give farmers better prices for their harvests and improve workers’ living standards.

We benefit too, of course – by getting some great tea to help ensure you get a seriously good brew. We hope you’ll agree that it’s worth paying that little bit extra for. In our next blog, we’ll be looking in more detail at how Rainforest Alliance certification is improving quality.

As you probably know by now, there’s only one Little Urn and unfortunately, try as he might, he can’t be in two places at once.

But there are a lot of you out there – at events up and down the country – who really could do with a proper brew. So we did some thinking and then introduced Little Urn to the brother he never knew he had.

He’s not an identical twin by any means – he’s a kiosk, and as yet, he (or she?) doesn’t have a name, but we thought that maybe you could suggest one. Do keep them clean though please!

We got together with our friends at Express Cafes to help us out with creating and looking after him. They already serve around 250,000 cups of tea a year so they know how to do things properly, plus of course, every brew will be Yorkshire Tea, which is the most important thing.

He’ll be appearing at events including the V Festival, Leeds Festival, the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials, the British Superbikes at Brands Hatch and Test Matches at Headingley. He made his first appearance at the Great Yorkshire Show and did remarkably well, despite the mud and cancellation. We reckon he’ll be incredibly busy too as he could be making up to half a million brews each year.

After all, having a good cup of tea is all part of the experience when you attend an event. And with the British weather being what it is, people will hopefully appreciate a proper brew to keep spirits high.

So if you’re going to one of these events this year, look out for him and grab a cup of Yorkshire Tea. For now though, why not make yourself a proper brew, pop your thinking cap on and suggest a name for him by leaving a comment below – there’ll be a special prize for whoever makes the winning suggestion…

With all the blending that goes on here, from selecting teas from up to thirty different gardens for Yorkshire Tea, to finding the very best in the world for our luxury blend Yorkshire Gold, a lot of different tea samples pass through our tasting room.

Once our expert tea buyers have a well-earned break from ‘cupping’ and assessing teas, they collect what’s left of some of the more interesting samples together and have a little fun.

“When we’ve a break, we take it in turns at getting really creative. It’s like ‘Ready, Steady, Cook!’ but with the best teas in the world – anything goes” enthused Kate, one of our expert tea buyers.

Every day, hundreds of 20g samples arrive in envelopes from far-flung places such as Kenya and India and some were growing on the tea bush just four days before we receive them. Many of these fantastic teas are used by our tea buyers to do a little informal experimentation.

“Around 3pm, we often put a hand blend together. Maybe a pinch of this, a dash of that and a sprinkling of the other. Then we see what the rest of the team think. They’re not all successes by any means and they’re quick to say if it’s not right” said Kate.

“Henry might magic up a really refreshing white tea blend, or Simon a really beautifully balanced one with a hint of Jasmine.“

This is actually how one of the more unusual Taylors speciality tea blends are created. For example, our Bettys Celebration Blend – which people ordered for weddings – was a blend of second flush Darjeeling and orthodox tippy Assam teas with a scattering of rose petals

You can actually give blending a go yourself, even with tea bags. “My mum likes to makes a pot with two Yorkshire Tea bags but also pops in an Earl Grey. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea (Kate really did say that), she just likes a hint of it”.

When the buyers buy a tea that is so fabulous that they can’t wait for it to be shipped over – like a Rwandan Gisovu that’s in Yorkshire Gold, or a dry weather East of Rift Kenyan tea – they’ll often grab what’s left of the tasting sample and make a pot. As Kate always says of really great teas “They taste so fantastic, it’s like they’re singing in your mouth”.

So there you are. Our tea buyers don’t sit around drinking tea all day (actually they stand when they’re tasting), but when they do get a break, they blend tea. Now that’s dedication.

People are always amazed when we tell them there’s only one Little Urn – our lovable tea van that spreads the word of Yorkshire Tea and brings the world a proper brew. Some people don’t actually believe us, but it’s true; the exact same Little Urn that has travelled thousands of miles across America is currently popping up to serve tea at village cricket grounds around the country.

Your love of Little Urn though has given birth to Little Urn’s ‘Little Brother’ – an exclusive and highly collectable miniature 1:84 scale die-cast metal version from model legends Corgi.

Sporting distinctive orange paintwork and beautiful Yorkshire scenes, he’s a little beauty. He’s not alone either. We’ve a huge fleet of these diddy Urns revved up and ready to go out into the big wide world.

Small, yet perfectly formed, the only real difference apart from his size is that he doesn’t come with a hot cup of Yorkshire Tea like his big brother, so you’ll have to brew up yourself. We think you’ll manage.

So how do you get your hands on one? Well, you don’t need to pass a test or anything (not that you’d fit behind the wheel of one) and at just £5, including delivery, you could even stretch to two – one for everyday pootling about and one to keep in his box if you’re a serious collector… you never know, he could be worth his weight in gold in years to come.

They’re available to buy right now exclusively on the Yorkshire Tea Facebook page. That’s also where you’ll be able to keep up to speed with his big brother’s tea travels and also by following Yorkshire Tea on Twitter @YorkshireTea.

Then from August, you’ll be able to buy Little Urn’s ‘Little Brother’, along with Yorkshire Tea and a truckload of collectables at www.yorkshiretea.co.uk.

Fictional extras (not included): Cream Horn, Perking Sensors, Bunroof, Sweettooth Connectivity, Brews Control.