Would you like a chance to win a pair of tickets to London’s Country Living Fair? We’ve got five pairs of any-day tickets to give away, plus a pair of tickets for any day except Saturday for five runners-up. To enter the draw just send an email with ‘Wellies’ as the subject to liz.earl@bettysandtaylors.co.uk before midday on Monday 15th March.

The Country Living Fair is a showcase of specially selected independent British designers and small producers, running from 24th to 28th March at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Not only is it a great place to shop for everything from traditional furnishings and accessories to handmade crafts and fine foods, but we’ll be there too! For the third year running we’re bringing a little bit of Yorkshire to the capital by welcoming visitors to our spring tea room where they can enjoy a proper Yorkshire teatime. Hope to see you there.

Good luck!

Terms & Conditions: There are five main prizes, each consisting of a free pair of any-day tickets to the Country Living Fair at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, from 24th-28th March. There are also five runner-up prizes, each consisting of a free pair of tickets to the fair on any day except Saturday. Travel is not provided. No applications from agents, third parties, organised groups or applications automatically generated by computer will be accepted. Closing time and date for entries for the prize draw is 12pm, 15th March 2010. The prize winners will be drawn at random under independent supervision on 17/03/10 from all entries received before this date. Taylors of Harrogate will notify the prize winners by email by 2pm, 17/03/10 to arrange collection of tickets from the venue. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 or over. Personal contact details will only be kept on file by Taylors of Harrogate and will not be passed on to any third parties. In the event of non-acceptance if the prize winner is not contactable, Taylors of Harrogate reserves the right to reallocate the prize awarded to the next randomly drawn entry. No purchase is necessary to enter the free prize draw. You can only be entered into the free prize draw once. Multiple registrations will only result in one entry into the prize draw. Taylors of Harrogate will not accept responsibility for the loss of entries through technical fault, transmission delay or incomplete entries. Names and counties of the prize winners will be available if required by interested party sending a stamped addressed envelope to Yorkshire Tea, Taylors of Harrogate, Pagoda House, Plumpton Park, Harrogate, HG2 7LD. Employees and their families of Taylors of Harrogate, its agents or anyone professionally connected with the promotion are not eligible to enter. No alternative cash prize will be offered. By entering this promotion all participants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the terms and conditions. The right to amend, withdraw or terminate any aspect of this prize draw without prior notice is reserved if factors beyond the Promoter’s control require them to do so. The decision of the Promoter is final and binding in all matters. Correspondence will not be entered into. Promoter: Taylors of Harrogate, Plumpton Park, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 7LD

Barking mad about dogs? Well, thanks to our friends at the Wallace & Gromit Foundation and the Kennel Club we’ve got a giveaway that’s not to be sniffed at – we’re offering one lucky Yorkshire Tea fan four one-day tickets to the world’s largest dog show, Crufts 2010.

This classic celebration of all things canine takes place from 11th to 14th March at the Birmingham NEC, and don’t worry, the prize includes an all important but not quite so exciting car parking pass too.

To enter the draw just send an email with ‘Woof’ as the subject to liz.earl@bettysandtaylors.co.uk before midday on Friday 5th March.

PS – While you’re there, don’t forget to visit the Wallace & Gromit Children’s Foundation in hall 5 at stand 21!

Terms & Conditions The prize is a free pair of tickets to Crufts – the world’s largest dog show.  Held at the NEC Birmingham, 11th – 14th March. The tickets have been kindly donated by The Kennel Club. Travel is not provided. No applications from agents, third parties, organised groups or applications automatically generated by computer will be accepted. Closing time and date for entries for the prize draw is 12pm, 5th March 2010. The prize winners will be drawn at random under independent supervision on 08/03/10 from all entries received before this date. Taylors of Harrogate will notify the prize winners by email by 2pm, 08/03/10 to arrange collection of tickets from the venue. Entrants must be UK residents aged 18 or over. Personal contact details will only be kept on file by Taylors of Harrogate and will not be passed on to any third parties. In the event of non-acceptance if the prize winner is not contactable, Taylors of Harrogate reserves the right to reallocate the prize awarded to the next randomly drawn entry. No purchase is necessary to enter the free prize draw. You can only be entered into the free prize draw once. Multiple registrations will only result in one entry into the prize draw. Taylors of Harrogate will not accept responsibility for the loss of entries through technical fault, transmission delay or incomplete entries. Names and counties of the prize winners will be available if required by interested party sending a stamped addressed envelope to Yorkshire Tea, Taylors of Harrogate, Pagoda House, Plumpton Park, Harrogate, HG2 7LD. Employees and their families of Taylors of Harrogate, its agents or anyone professionally connected with the promotion are not eligible to enter. No alternative cash prize will be offered. By entering this promotion all participants will be deemed to have accepted and be bound by the terms and conditions. The right to amend, withdraw or terminate any aspect of this prize draw without prior notice is reserved if factors beyond the Promoter’s control require them to do so. The decision of the Promoter is final and binding in all matters. Correspondence will not be entered into. Promoter: Taylors of Harrogate, Plumpton Park, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 7LD

Greetings from Mombasa!

Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and home to the Mombasa Tea Auction which, each week, sells tea from East Africa to across the globe. Being an island city Mombasa is home to Kilindini Harbour, the principle port of Kenya and so not just essential for the export of tea to our Harrogate HQ but for all of Kenya’s imports and exports.

Laid back given its status as second city, Mombasa has a complex (and at times bloody) history, having been under Portuguese, Omani and British rule, resulting in a vibrantly diverse city both architecturally and culturally.

Teas from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Burundi come here, as part of the weekly tea auction which takes place over two days.  I’ve been working with our Kenya Auction Agent here to gain first-hand experience of the buzz of the auction. Each week there are between 90,000 and 120,000  packages of tea offered here. Samples of each single tea printed in the auction catalogue are sent to the buyers who participate in the auction for tasting and grading prior to the auction day.

Tea in transit

Each buyer grades and values the tea they want, so they’re ready to bid for it at the auction – the exciting bit! At my first auction I sat and observed listening to the lingo. It is really fast paced and you have to think very quickly so you don’t lose which lot number you are bidding for! The atmosphere is competitive but friendly, with just the right amount of banter and fun, which helps maintain the lively flow of the sale.

Dennis and Michael tasting auction samples

By my second auction I was desperate to bid and poised eagerly awaiting my lots of tea to be announced. When the time finally came and the broker read out my first lot I realised I was in competition with another buyer. The race was on. You have to bid up in two cents or more and after a nerve-wracking few seconds I had secured my tea. It was only when I went to write my purchases down that I realised my hands were shaking! Well worth the nerves however, as all the lovely tea I tussled for is destined for our delicious Yorkshire Gold.

My time in Mombasa is coming to an end and my next stop is the area around Mount Kenya, which grows high quality tea produced by smallholder farmers. It will be a lot cooler than the hot and humid coastal areas and I look forward to telling you more from there.

Bye for now!

Suzy

PS – Thought you might also like to see some pictures I took on Sunday – they say less about tea but more about Kenya.

We’ve talked a lot about ‘our work in Rwanda’ over the last few months. Here’s a little more information to explain what we mean by that.

Anthony from the Rwandan Tea Authority is pleased to see Season’s Pick Rwandan on sale

Rwandan tea is a vital part of our Yorkshire Tea and Yorkshire Gold blends. And as the country’s number one export earner, it’s very important to Rwanda too.

However, while the last decade has seen improved infrastructure and new economic opportunities for Rwanda, the disruption of the civil war in 1994 is still evident. For example, there are now only a few factories processing consistently top quality tea, which threatens the competitiveness of Rwanda’s tea industry and the livelihoods of many farmers.

That’s why we’ve matched a grant from the Department for International Development (DfID) to fund a project supporting 10,000 small-scale Rwandan tea farmers – it’s part of a wider UK government initiative called the Food Retail Industry Challenge fund (FRICH).

Our aim is to raise the quality of the tea being produced in Rwanda, through training in cultivation and processing, and to improve social and environmental practices, by partnering with the Rainforest Alliance. We’re even investigating the potential for farmers to raise extra income by protecting (or ’sequestering’) carbon.

Our tea buyers know that at its best Rwandan tea is hard to beat. To see for yourself, try our Season’s Pick Rwandan tea, which is currently available in selected supermarkets.

By creating a premium market for high quality, sustainably-grown tea and committing to purchase a significant volume from farmers in Rwanda, we’ll be supporting local tea communities, providing good living and working conditions for farmers and their workers.

That’s what our recent visitor, Anthony Butera, had to say about the UK. The reason why that’s particularly striking is that he is Director General of the Rwandan Tea Authority. Rwanda, land of a thousand hills. A place so beautiful that our tea buyers get a bit of a glow about them whenever they start talking about their visits there.

The rolling hills of Rwanda

Nevertheless, Anthony insists that to him the Yorkshire Dales are more beautiful than the lush tea-covered peaks of his home. But this is more than a simple case of the ‘grass being greener’.

Yorkshire’s beauty is less obvious during such a grey and chilly February, but it is still a place where life is good for the vast majority. And though Rwanda is unquestionably gorgeous and Anthony’s passion for it is clear, it is a country in great need of development.

Anthony with our tea buyer Sanjay

We’re working with people like Anthony to help Rwanda build a stronger tea industry, which will, in turn, improve the lives of over 10,000 farmers and their families. As one of the country’s biggest exports, tea is vital to Rwanda’s future. With support, the industry can drive development and provide the country’s rural population with the means to build a better life for themselves. Look out for further updates on this in the near future.

So yes, at first glance, it’s impossible not to be struck by the natural beauty of Rwanda’s ‘thousand hills’, but this is still a country with a mountain to climb.

It’s giveaway time on the blog once again! This time we’re offering a pair of tickets to the Baby Show, the UK’s biggest event dedicated to babies and pregnancy. Taking place at ExCel in London from Friday 19th February to Sunday 21st February, it’s great for anyone who’s expecting or already has little ones.

Yorkshire Tea decaf is a big hit with mums who want to cut down on caffeine but don’t want to settle for a second-rate cup of tea, so we’ll be there spreading the word and giving out free samples, alongside many of the best baby and parenting brands.

The event promises to be a fantastic shopping experience where you can test out the latest products for little ones, and take the opportunity to speak to expert midwives, nursery nurses and, of course, fellow mums and dads. With TV presenter and mum Tess Daly, baby expert Miriam Stoppard, nutrition expert Annabel Karmel, breast-feeding guru Clare Byam-Cook and others all taking to the stage to share their collective wisdom, the show is not one to be missed!

For a chance to win a pair of tickets to the show, just send an email titled ‘Baby Show’ to our Liz with the answer to the following question:

Which TV presenter will be making an appearance at the February show?

The Baby Show 2010 takes place at ExCel, London (19-21 February); NEC, Birmingham, (21-23 May) and at London’s Earls Court, London (22 – 24 October). Tickets are available now and can be ordered from www.thebabyshow.co.uk

No matter how you make your Yorkshire Tea at home, the journey tea makes to get to your cup is quite something! I have had the opportunity to see in the detail the impressive process tea goes through to give it the characteristics necessary to end up in a Yorkshire Tea bag. After visiting 16 tea factories and working with expert tea makers I have gained first hand insight into what I now know is both a science and an art. Here, I will do my best to share what I’ve learned so far……

Where the magic begins- two leaves and a bud.

Left to its own devices tea bushes (or Camellia sinensis) would grow into a tree up to 30ft high, but this is no good for tea plucking as you can imagine! Bushes are maintained in neat waist height tables for two reasons – one is for ease of plucking and the other is that keeping a bush tightly pruned makes more lovely green shoots appear, which is just what you need for processing into black tea. When tea leaves are picked the rush is on to take the leaves back to the factory for processing as quickly as possible to ensure the lovey nutrients and enzymes that play a vital role are preserved.

Once in the factory the leaves are sorted to make sure only the best quality is there, and that damaged or old leaf is discarded. The leaves are then spread out in big troughs and left for ‘withering’. This is the first and most important part of the process and requires real skill and experience.

There are two stages to withering: first,the ‘physical’ stage where all surface moisture is removed and second, the ‘chemical’ stage, where initial breakdown of enzymes take place. Left for too long these enzymes would die and you would be left with flavourless tea. Left for too short a time and you’d have thin tea that doesn’t really pack much of a punch. The length of time the leaves must wither depends upon the climatic factors and can last between 12-22 hours. Only when the leaves contain between 65%-68% moisture are they ready for the next stage.

The leaves are rolled and crushed to release the juices that contain crucial enzymes needed in the process. The leaves are then cut 3-4 times and exposed to the air. These juices release chemicals that start the oxidation process, where leaves turn form green to brown. This is another fine balancing act. It is time and temperature dependent so our skilled colleagues must judge on the day whether or not to apply heat and react to the heat of the day. After the leaves have been left to oxidise they then go for drying and are passed through a hot air dryer to extract the remaining moisture and to seal the leaf.

It’s a fine art to get all of these factors right to produce quality tea because if you let any of the stages slip, the quality of the tea will be affected.

The result is various shapes and sizes of lovely black tea which is then sorted and packed ready to be sent off to various destinations around the world, not least to us for Yorkshire Tea!

Some of these teas will end up in the Mombasa Tea Auction, where I made my debut yesterday. But that’s another story! Will tell you all about it in my next blog.

Bye for now!

Jambo!

Kenyan Tea forms an important part of our blend for Yorkshire Tea – renowned for being bright, brisk and refreshing. I have been tasting Kenya Teas in their hundreds back in the tasting room at Yorkshire Tea HQ and to be here to witness their making is fascinating. Three weeks, sixteen tea factories and endless lush green tea fields since my last blog… I’m not quite sure where to start!  My travel plan is designed to follow seasons, allowing me to experience key times that affect tea production so I arrived in Kenya just as the short rains were coming to an end and the dry spell sets in – watching the land and its tea transform.

After landing on the shores of Lake Victoria, in no less than two hours I was breathing in the clean crisp air of Nandi Hills on the Western edge of the Rift Valley. This area is home to many of Kenya’s amazingly fit gold-medal athletes and even my car, struggling up a steep incline, was over taken by a runner!  The peaks of Nandi lie at over 2000 meters above sea level; the climate is pleasantly cool with reliable amounts of rain making it lush and perfect for tea growing. The tea here is grown on both estates and small-scale farms and is brought to one of the several factories in the area for processing. A striking feature of the area is the rugged escarpments dotted with dense indigenous forest. This is very pleasing to see since this area is an important water catchment area. The presence of indigenous forest around rivers and streams is encouraged by the standards of Rainforest Alliance as indigenous trees are less thirsty than foreign eucalyptus so therefore help to protect precious water supplies.

Lush tea fields bordered with indigenous forest

I have now moved to Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya and home of the the tea auction which, each week, sells East African tea around the world. I have internet connection now – and lots to share with you – so keep your eyes peeled for more updates from me!

Suzy

Regular readers will know about our long-standing relationship with Rwanda and the work we’re doing out there to help farmers.

Their tea is vital to our Yorkshire Tea and Yorkshire Gold blends – in the words of our head of tea, Ian, adding Rwandan tea to our blend is like ‘turning the lights on in your cup’.

Well, soon you’ll be able to try Rwandan tea on its own and when it’s at its very best. Our new Season’s Pick range switches from Assam, which has been on offer since last October, to Rwandan from Monday. To find some, just head down to your nearest Waitrose or Booths.

The tea we’ve picked is truly exceptional stuff – lively, refreshing and with a brilliant colour to it. Our tea-buyers reckon it’s as good as Rwandan tea gets.

Let us know what you think!

It’s always lovely when we find that people have been saying nice things about us – particularly when it’s someone unexpected. And if it’s in a national newspaper, all the better. That’s why when the Times ran a piece on a day in the life of Ozzy Osbourne we were rather chuffed to get a mention.

From heavy metal to Yorkshire Gold

It might seem surprising to learn that the Brummie Prince of Darkness loves Yorkshire Gold, but it just goes to show the universal appeal of a lovely cup of tea.

Actually, it’s not the first time Ozzy’s plugged our tea, but we still get excited every time he does. Thanks Mr O.

In fact, thanks to all of you loyal Yorkshire tea drinkers, be you rock gods or not – you’re all stars as far as we’re concerned.