You’ve got to hand it to some people when it comes to determination. Take Will Dixon, our wonderfully tall new trainee tea buyer who started on Tuesday – he gets 10/10. His is some story so let’s start at the beginning.

Will is a Yorkshire lad through and through and spent his first eight years on his father’s and uncle’s farm in Mirfield, Dewsbury, before upping sticks and moving up to a bigger farm near Duns in the Scottish Borders. Will then grew up looking after sheep, delivering lambs and growing wheat and barley. Proper man stuff. He later studied for a degree in Economics at Lancaster Uni then spent his next three years managing at Ladbrokes in Lancaster before returning to help his family out on the farm.

Now it gets a bit more glamorous. Will successfully applied to appear on the TV show ‘The National Lottery JetSet’ with his sister. Tasting fame, Will then went on to apply for others, and with some success. In fact you may recognise him from The Chase… Pointless… Total Wipeout… and even Countdown. Actually, he’s probably never off the telly.

“Total Wipeout was incredible. They picked me up, put me on a jet and I spent five days in Buenos Aires in Argentina, where it’s filmed. It was 40 degrees so I didn’t actually mind going in the water” revealed Will. We asked for a demonstration of his special moves but he declined. Another time maybe?

Will also competed on Countdown, hosted by Jeff Stelling, but narrowly lost on the conundrum. He did pick up the pen and dictionary but missed out on the top prize… a teapot.

In the Scottish Borders, half the TVs on Will’s farm picked up Scottish TV while the other half received English. This is important because two years ago, purely by chance, Will happened to be in a room with Look North on and there was a report featuring our expert tea buyer Suzy. Will’s ears pricked up when he heard Suzy say that they were looking for a new trainee tea buyer. Will thought: “I can do that – drink tea and travel the world”. So he applied and made it to interview but was just pipped to the teapot by our Henry, who you might know from ‘Henry’s Blind Tasting’ video. No hard feelings though.

Fast forward to February this year. Totally out of the blue, another trainee position became available at Yorkshire Tea and Will applied again. Straight after the hectic lambing season in April, Will and the other applicants each had individual interviews with all the tea buyers, group exercises and a tasting session involving a dozen different teas, all as before. Except on this occasion, Will was the successful candidate. He had finally landed his dream job and got his hands on the teapot he’d waited so many years for.

“They’re breaking me in easy. On my first day I attended a tea tasting hosted by Suzy at Bettys in Harrogate for fifty people that focused on the origins of tea and the various different factors that affect its taste and how tea is blended. It was fascinating stuff” said Will. He also went on to say “I’m really looking forward to working in a team and travelling to places I’ve never seen before – not your usual tourist destinations – where I’ll get insights into real countries.”

So that’s Will – do leave a message and say hi. He’s a cracking lad who has a bright tea buying future ahead of him here at Yorkshire Tea. And next time you have a proper brew, pop a bag in the pot, think of Will and make a wish. You never know, dreams do come true…

We love people who do things properly, especially if it’s something that’s still made the right way with real skill, genuine pride, tonnes of TLC, and in Britain too.

Well, cutting corners and skimping on quality just isn’t cricket, is it?

Talking of which, you may have heard that we’re getting loads more involved in the world of balls, bails, bats and (most importantly) teas this year. In addition to serving proper brews to tea-loving spectators and players at games up and down the country, we’re running a Facebook competition to win a hand built, 100% British ‘Rolls Royce’. Well, okay, not an ACTUAL Rolls Royce, more the ‘Rolls Royce’ of cricket bats. We’ll explain…

Our friends at Barrington Sports, who organise the fun and games at our ‘Proper Days At The Cricket’, introduced us to Salix – a company in Kent that has been making cricket bats, by hand, since they began. We instantly took a shine to them.

One shake of master bat-maker Andy Kember’s hand and you instantly know that he is a real craftsman and a gentleman. You don’t have to love cricket to appreciate what he does either. Ask Andy what it takes to make a good bat and he’ll tell you “It’s labour intensive, time-consuming and hard work, but a real product”.

Anyway, you’ll see exactly what Andy means if you win our Facebook competition. Click here to enter (before 9am on September 17, 2012) and you could win the ultimate Bat-making Experience. If you win, you’ll get to go down to Salix in Kent and have master bat-maker Andy create a cricket bat to your very own personal specifications right there in front of your eyes. He’ll take into account your weight, height and any personal requirements to make and custom fit a bat that is unique to you.

Mention this to any keen cricketer and they’ll go weak at the knees. (It really is that good a prize.)

Andy and the Salix team also appreciate what we do here – they say they’re Kent’s biggest Yorkshire Tea fans. He and his wife Vicky only drink Yorkshire Tea, and one of their most prized possessions is a Yorkshire Tea caddy, which is coveted by all who visit (and therefore guarded closely!).

Come to think of it, you don’t have to win the prize to see Andy in action. On May 27, Andy will be making a special appearance at one of our ‘Proper Days At The Cricket’ at the National Trust’s stunning Sheffield Park in East Sussex. Little Urn and the Brew Crew will be handing out free Yorkshire Tea during the Armadillos Cricket Day. Barringtons sports will be organising the fun and games which we’d love you to join in with, whilst Andy will make a cricket bat live on the day using traditional tools and techniques.

Do try to make one of our ‘Proper Days At The Cricket’ – they’re great fun and there’s a full schedule on our Facebook page. If you can’t catch one, there’s bound to be a local club competing in the Yorkshire Tea Village Cup that would really appreciate your support. It’s a great way to while away a Sunday afternoon, too. Click here for a list of all the Yorkshire Tea Village Cup fixtures.

So if you want a slice of Great British properness, why not enter our Facebook competition now and give yourself a chance of winning our Bat-making Experience. Off you pop.

Remember when you were little, and you were always told never to touch things? Usually when you were being dragged around the shops or at an aunt’s house?

Well, we’ve a bit of a hands-off approach at Yorkshire Tea, too.

Our tea leaves are a bit like fine bone china in many ways. They’re not just the best quality, they’re incredibly delicate too. That’s why our tea has been handled with almost obsessive care before it arrives at your supermarket.

At Taylors of Harrogate, we believe that the less tea is handled, the better the quality. This starts when it’s carefully plucked from the tea bush by nimble hands, then gently spread out and left to ‘wither’ naturally before being processed.

Then, to treat our leaves with even greater TLC, we developed our very own leaf grade. Tea is ‘graded’ by being passed through a series of vibrating sieves which get finer and finer. but as we  really only buy two or three different grades of tea from each supplier, it’s pointless separating them any more than that because we blend them back together anyway back in Harrogate. So we have some sieves removed and only use the ones we need, which reduces the amount our leaves are bashed about in grading.

Then there’s how we blend it. After precisely weighing out the various different tea leaves to our secret recipe, they are very gently mixed together in one of our special blending drums. These drums rotate very slowly and precisely, twelve times. Any less and the teas would not be properly mixed. Any more and the leaves could bruise and affect the flavour.

We’ve even been canny in reducing the number of bends in the pipes that transport our tea around our factory so they travel in as straight a line as possible. This avoids unnecessary bruising when the leaves hit bends in the pipes.

So next time you’re making a proper brew, remember this… tea is delicate, and needs handling gently. In fact, some say ‘tea has ears’, so speak in soft tones too.

At least if anyone catches you whispering to your tea bag as you gently place it in your mug, cup or teapot, you can now tell them the full story why.

In fact, if you’ve a story about how much you care for your Yorkshire Tea, we’d love to hear it – just whisper a comment in the box below.

It’s not just you that likes to stop for a proper brew. Whenever it’s played, one of Britain’s best-loved games comes to a halt around 4pm for a break in play, a refreshing cup of tea and polite conversation. This Summer, Little Urn is all padded up and running up and down the country to serve Yorkshire Tea to thirsty players and spectators at local county cricket clubs.

Yorkshire Tea and cricket have had a long partnership – not only is our tea served at the very best cricket teas, but our packs have sported a watercolour illustration of a village cricket scene on them for almost as long as we can remember. What’s more, this year we’re also sponsoring the 40^th National Village Cup which has 300 village cricket clubs batting it out to play in a showpiece final at Lord’s, the Home of Cricket, in September.

To kick the tour off, last Sunday Little Urn hit the road and landed at Wormsley Cricket Ground in Essex for the match between Essex and Stokenchurch. It’s a cracking little ground in a really beautiful part of the England. Right from the off, Little Urn and the Brew Crew’s experienced pairing of Melissa and Heidi were busy making tea for spectators.

Yorkshire Tea wasn’t the only thing pouring, either. The weather was… let’s say… very British, lurching between bright sunlight to dark cloud one minute and rain to even hail at one point. But that didn’t dampen the spirits of the loyal crowd. They were revealing their competitive side with games like the Crazy Catch Challenge, organized by our friends at Barrington Sports, that tested their cricket skills to win Yorkshire Tea and cricket prizes. A group of cricket coaches cleaned up – one of them was from Spofforth too which is only a ball’s throw from home in Harrogate. Small world.

Melissa remembered one particularly funny incident: “A woman ran over to me and said she was next up in the game where you throw balls through different sized holes to score points. She said she had a strategy of having a cup of Yorkshire Tea first before having her throw. Well, it seemed to work because she threw her first ball straight through the 100 point hole, which is only just larger than the ball! She was the first to do it that day too. Then her hubby had a go and scored nothing. I think he was a bit embarrassed.”

You can get involved in a number of ways, too. For a start, you could come and try your hand at the Crazy Catch Challenge and enjoy a proper brew or two for yourself at one of the many other county cricket grounds Little Urn will be attending over the next few months – here’s a full list of Little Urn’s Tour:

Sunday 13th May: BPPCA Cricket Day, Birmingham

Sunday 27th May: Armadillos Cricket Day, Sheffield Park, East Sussex

Saturday 9th June: Neston Cricket, Wirral

Sunday 10th June: Richmond (London) Junior Cricket Match

Friday 15th June: Sidmouth, Devon Cricket

Sunday 1st July: Tolethorpe Cricket, Rutland

Tuesday & Wednesday 17th & 18th July: Cheltenham Cricket Festival

Also, if you take your cricket pretty seriously, play for fun or just know someone who does, why not enter our Facebook competition to win a unique Salix bat-making experience? Win and you’ll get to visit their workshop in Maidstone, Kent, to have your very own cricket bat made for you by hand, by Salix experts. Click here to go to our Facebook page and enter.

We’ll keep you posted with the score regarding Little Urn’s Tour as it unfolds and do please catch us when we visit the ground nearest to you. There’ll be a proper brew ready for you, of course.

Meet Simon Hotchkin. He’s our new Sustainability Manager. To be honest, Simon’s job title should really be Head of Properness. His role, at the heart of our Commodities Team, is to ensure that we not only continue to be fair to our suppliers and kind to the environment, but also find ways we can improve further still, right across the business.

So who is Simon? Well, he’s a family man and Yorkshire through and through. Born in sunny Scarborough on the North Yorkshire coast, Simon spent most of his childhood around Beverley and now lives in Wetherby, just down the road from Harrogate. Simon met his wife at University and has three cracking kids.

After a brief stint buying heart valves and pacemakers for the NHS, Simon got a taste for purchasing of a different kind and trained to be a tea and coffee buyer at another UK tea and coffee importer. In his 14 years there, he spent time in operations, manufacturing and new product design before finally spending his last four years there dedicated to sustainability.

Simon is a bit of a catch for us as he’s managed to amass experience right across the business of tea and coffee importing and blending. That’s unusual, but Simon is rather unusual. For example, he’s a bit of an iron man as he swam for Yorkshire, last year started open water swimming (he’s entered the Great North Swim in Windermere this year) and is a keen road and mountain biker. He’s into rubber too and is the only person we know who was in a team that space-hoppered the entire Pennine Way… all 260-odd miles of it. On reflection, unusual might not be the right word to describe him. So what is Simon looking forward to in his new job?

“I’m really proud to be working for the premier Yorkshire brand. It’s all about quality here. My main challenge is to not only carry on with the ethical work Taylors already does, such as developing sustainable sourcing policies with our suppliers, but also to balance that with social and environmental responsibility right through the supply chain. Sustainability through everything we do.”

Simon also mentioned that his other challenge is to not put weight on, as there are some rather tempting and sticky accompaniments to his mug of Yorkshire Tea in the staff canteen at the factory. The cycling and swimming should offset that.

Whilst not exactly offsetting, Simon adds “Here in Harrogate, we already make big efforts to reduce the amount of packaging, our carbon footprint and energy consumption. I’m going to look at every aspect of what we do to see if I can reduce it still further.”

But it’s not all about reducing our impact here, tremendous care and effort goes into ensuring we trade fairly and respectfully with our growers abroad and pay them fair prices. That’s why it’s essential that our buyers, and Simon, travel the world meeting growers at their tea gardens to get a better understanding of their tea, forge meaningful, sustainable long-term partnerships and also secure the best quality tea for our blends. By also having strong partnerships with independent certification schemes such as the Rainforest Alliance, we can quickly help make a real difference to growers and their communities. In fact, we aim to help 100% of our suppliers become Rainforest Alliance certified by 2014.

We’ll let Simon have the final say: “I’m really excited about meeting our growers. I’m fairly well travelled in Africa, India and Sri Lanka, so I’m looking forward to discovering China and South America. In particular, I’m looking forward to launching a couple of exciting new projects which hopefully will be as effective as the one with our Rwanda tea producers which helped improve the lives of 10,000 small-scale farmers and their families.”

At that point we had to cut Simon off and swear him to secrecy, but we’ll be announcing details of our new projects soon. Good luck in your new job Simon – we’re really looking forward to you making a difference. If you’d like to give Simon a good luck message, feel free to leave one below.

We’re very proud to say that our sister company Bettys received a prestigious award this week. Bettys in Northallerton (the furthest afield of their six cafe tea rooms) was awarded Top Tea Place by the Tea Guild – beating off competition from all around the country, including London’s finest. So it’s quite an achievement.

Branch manager Lindsay said: “We’re very proud to be members of the Tea Guild and to be given this Award is a huge honour. We aim to give our customers the very best afternoon tea experience possible and all our staff work tirelessly to make our tea rooms a great place to relax and enjoy the highest quality food and tea. We know just how important it is to get all aspects of afternoon tea exactly right.”

Achieving a virtually perfect score in all 16 different categories of criteria, Bettys Northallerton was judged by the Tea Guild’s expert incognito inspectors to be the best place in the UK to enjoy a proper afternoon of tea. It’s a popular choice too. Last year 165,000 people visited and had a good natter over 54,000 pots of tea.

Lindsay was quick to point out that it was a huge team effort, praising not only the 72 staff at Bettys Northallerton but also the team of bakers and confectioners who create the bread, cakes and specialities at Bettys Craft Bakery in Harrogate every day – and of course, our expert tea buyers here at Taylors of Harrogate who blend their teas.

The judges really were incredibly impressed by everything from the elegant surroundings and exceptionally efficient and knowledgeable staff to the array of deliciously tempting sandwiches, scones, cakes and teas.

It’s not the first time Bettys in Northallerton (which recently celebrated its 40^th anniversary) have won this award as they also received it in 1987. In fact three members of Lindsay’s present staff were working there back then. Bettys tea rooms in Harrogate and Ilkley are also previous winners.

Head of the Tea Guild, Irene Gorman, said: “Bettys Café Tea Rooms in Northallerton offers a truly special tea experience and this award is very well deserved. The very friendly welcome, relaxing and pleasant ambiance helps make afternoon tea at Bettys in Northallerton a real pleasure. It is no wonder that families and groups of friends of all ages truly enjoy the Bettys tea experience.”

Have you ever been to Bettys in Northallerton? Let us know in the comments below!

840 miles and 13 locations in 12 days is some going. During their whirlwind Scotland Tour, Little Urn and the Yorkshire Tea Brew Crew served over 1,825 proper brews to our thirsty friends north of the border. It was worth every minute of it too. In fact, here’s a quick rundown of the highlights, plus our favourite moment of all when we made one mother literally jump for joy on Mother’s Day.

Little Urn’s Caledonian odyssey began with bracing sea air at the port of Leith, just north of Edinburgh, where tea was first shipped into Scotland. Angela and Tom had a special Taylors tartan kilt and matching tea cosy made at family firm Kinloch Anderson, then it was up bright and early to give animal lovers a proper brew at Edinburgh Zoo, before a mad dash across along the M8 for the lovely people of Glasgow’s turn to sample Yorkshire Tea on Buchannan Street.

John, James and Melissa took over for a late night at the Florence and the Machine gig at the SECC where self-confessed ‘Yorkshire Tea junkie’ Josh of support band The Horrors came out for a brew and a cheeky peep inside Little Urn. Josh was genuinely moved by the teapot we gave him and the fans couldn’t get enough brews before and free sample packs post-gig.

Simon, one of our expert tea buyers, then visited the Dewar’s Whisky distillery in Aberfeldy where he and Stephanie from Dewar’s exchanged tasting notes and thoughts on how important blending, water, and quality ingredients are when creating proper brews and drams. It’s amazing how much there was in common.

Next, Sarah and Paula took Little Urn to the National Bagpipe Centre in Glasgow where a piper and Little Urn performed a touching duet of ‘Tea for Two’. They handed over to Jan and John who took Little Urn up to St Andrews University where they quenched the thirsts of students who were in the middle of an election.

The following day was St Patrick’s Day, with all the six nations rugby happening too, so when Little Urn set up in Edinburgh’s historic Grassmarket, it was a colourful afternoon with tea lovers of all nationalities from Welsh and Irish to Italian and American stopping for a brew. In fact one family even asked for a cold one for their baby! They start them young up there.

Well we say finally, but the highlight was still to come. It was Mother’s Day the next day so we asked our Facebook fans if they knew of any mothers who really deserved a proper brew and a visit from Little Urn? Imagine how delighted Edinburgh mum Jenny Greaves was when Matt and John pulled up at her house in Little Urn. She wasn’t just ecstatic, she was literally jumping up and down in excitement. We’d never seen anything like it. Jenny and Julian’s baby Clementine was equally giddy when Little Urn played his ‘Tea for Two’ chimes. She absolutely loved it and giggled and kicked along.

We prepared a proper brew and went through to Jenny’s back garden. The weather was glorious and we all chatted away dunking ginger nuts into our Yorkshire Tea. Jenny loved the tea we brought her and wanted to know how we brewed it. Three to five minutes is ideal and this one was brewed for four. She admitted to never brewing it that long as she thought it would be too strong, but we explained it actually let the flavour really develop. As for Julian, he had a cold and admitted that he couldn’t taste it but “if she says it’s the best cup of tea she’s ever tasted, it is”.

The talk turned to ethical matters. With Jenny working in forestry and Julian in agriculture, they were keen to talk about sustainability and our ethical credentials, including our Yorkshire Rainforest Project. They were also surprised and pleased to hear that one of the key suppliers of the paper for our tea bags is based in the Scottish Borders.

We noticed some paint on Jenny’s face and she revealed she was actually in the middle of decorating her dining room when we arrived. So we grabbed a brush and set to work painting. Well, mums need a proper break on Mother’s Day.

Before we hit the road for home, we took Jenny for a spin around her neighbourhood with ‘Tea for Two’ tinkling along – Jenny was beaming, waving and loving all the attention she was getting from all her neighbours. We then said our fond farewells and left a parting gift of a box of all sorts of Yorkshire Tea goodies including a tea tray, cups and an apron. We think Little Urn really made it a Mother’s Day Jenny, Julian and maybe even Clementine will never forget.

We left Scotland having made hundreds of new friends, and having poured almost 2,000 proper brews and given out over 100,000 teabags. Little Urn has really earned a rest and an oil change. It was a fantastic experience and one we hope to repeat sometime in the future. Thank you Scotland, you’ve been truly wonderful.

Henry, our trainee tea buyer, has been with Yorkshire Tea for eight months now. As part of his training, Suzy, one of our experienced tea buyers, decided to put his developing palate through its paces with a blind tasting. Play the video to see how our Henry, and his taste buds, got on…

Videoblog produced by simonand.com

Tuesday 14 February: Valentine’s Day

First up, we parked up and served up Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water to London’s loved up couples at Canary Wharf Ice Rink in Canada Square Park from 2pm to 7pm. Heidi and the crew worked wonders warming the hands and hearts of over 200 grateful Valentines with proper brews. There was plenty of canoodling going on between tea sipping and some far from professional skating. Lots of male skaters were trying desperately to impress but only managing to just stay on their feet. There was a big element of ‘styling out’ going on as well as some intentional falling and grabbing. A wonderful time was had by all, including a few couples from Yorkshire, and we left a whole lot of love brewing in the air.

Wednesday 15 February: Social Media Week

As you’ll know, we at Yorkshire Tea are big social media fans. Well, you can’t really have a proper brew without a bit of conversation, can you? Our Facebook site has almost 80,000 fans, we’ve over 13,000 followers on Twitter and thousands regularly read our blog. So when we heard it was Social Media Week in London this week, and that our own social media guy Dom was talking there, we hot-footed it over to Bow Street. We set up camp outside The Design Council right opposite the Royal Opera House. Word of Little Urn’s arrival and the free Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water spread like wildfire via social media, so Heidi, Tom and Liz were kept busy whetting the whistles of tweeters and bloggers. Crissy Rock, who plays Janey York in the hit TV series ‘Benidorm’, rocked up too for a brew too. She absolutely loves Yorkshire Tea and it’s rather flattering to have yet another celebrity fan.

Friday 17 February: Nottingham Fine Food Markets

If you’re in the Nottingham area, there’s still time to catch Little Urn and the brew crew at the Fine Food Markets in the Old Market Square. We’ll be there till late afternoon and we’d love you to pop down for a chat. Come have a proper brew on us!

Sunday 19 February: sshhh!

To round off the tour, we’re calling in on a certain someone in Sheffield this Sunday. Can’t say anymore than that right now though – so keep in touch for more info!

…but were afraid to ask.

Well, not afraid. Just unsure who to put the questions to, perhaps.

We decided to go straight to our source and ask the lovely Sue Ritchie, our Customer Service Manager at Yorkshire Water.

Before we get cracking, here’s some background about Yorkshire Tea and hard water to bear in mind. When deciding which teas our buyers will select to put in the Yorkshire Tea blend, they taste every single one in both soft and hard water. This enables them to create not only Yorkshire Tea, but also Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water, a blend that’s perfectly suited to… you guessed it.

Interestingly, Harrogate, where we make Yorkshire Tea is a soft water area, so Yorkshire Water delivers tanks of their hardest water to us especially for our tea buyers to taste with. We even have soft and hard water taps!

Anyway, without further ado, grab a proper brew and it’s over to Sue…

What is hard water?

Rainwater is naturally soft but, once it falls on the ground and percolates through rocks, it picks up natural hardness minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. The more of these naturally occurring minerals present in the water supply, the harder it is.

Water hardness is the measure of the concentration of calcium and magnesium salts in your water – two of the essential minerals that your body needs.

How come some people have it and not others?

Depending on the local geology, the hardness of the water supply will vary. Water hardness can differ across our region as it depends on the soil and rocks from where water is taken. For example, where water has been abstracted from chalk or limestone aquifers it will tend to be harder – on the whole in the east of the Yorkshire region. On the other hand, water from moorlands tends to be softer, which is mainly in the west of Yorkshire.

It may also vary as we often use our ‘grid’ system to move water around parts of the Yorkshire region as conditions and demand requires. Our unique Yorkshire Grid means that we can transport water around the region to where it’s needed most – for instance, if we’re carrying out work or there’s low rainfall in an area. This can mean that the water hardness is not always the same, as the source may vary.

Are there any areas where the water is really, really hard?

Where we abstract water from boreholes for treatment, the water will be harder in nature. This tends to be in the east of the Yorkshire region around Scarborough and also in the Selby and Doncaster areas.

There is no regulatory standard for the hardness of drinking water, and Yorkshire Water does not artificially soften or harden any of its potable supplies.

What does it affect?

Hard water can cause scaling in hot water systems, kettles, electric irons and domestic appliances and often produces less lather from soap, washing up liquid and washing powders.

What is the scale in your kettle?

Hardness due to calcium bicarbonate is destroyed by boiling and is therefore sometimes referred to as “temporary hardness”. Boiling changes it to insoluble carbonate, which is seen as a scale in kettles or a slight film on hot drinks.  There’s no need to worry though as it’s completely harmless.

Hardness due to calcium and magnesium sulphates, is not affected by boiling and is sometimes referred to as “permanent hardness”.

Sue is one of a team that works with Yorkshire Water’s larger business customers and provides all the helpful service, good advice and assistance we need regarding all water and waste water matters.

So, that’s our water supplier’s thoughts – what about your experience? Leave us a comment about your water. Hard or soft? If it’s hard, have you tried our Yorkshire Tea for Hard Water and what did you think?