The Twinings Tea Bar

Towards the back of the shop you’ll find the tea bar, built in neat contemporary lines, complete with bar stools, and where there are always a few different teas on the go ready for tasting.

The Twinings brand ambassadors are all incredibly knowledgeable and friendly and you’ll be made to feel right at home. They’ve created a wonderfully sociable atmosphere – and they are only too glad to share their passion for tea. The shop is often bustling with Londoners and tourists alike.

The Masterclass

Having chatted to Natalia, I was excited about starting the masterclass with Marta, an Italian who has eschewed coffee for her preference for tea. Marta’s enthusiasm and engaging storytelling had us enthralled from the get go. The masterclass was incredibly interactive as well as hugely informative covering the 5000-year history of tea, and how Twinings came to shape the world of global tea trading. It was Twinings that helped to bring an end to the skullduggery of tea smuggling and piracy on the seven seas. The tax on tea used to be a whopping 118% which meant tea was incredibly expensive and inevitably led to a black market, in which smuggled teas were often tampered with toxic substances including rat poo. Richard Twining persuaded the government to lower the tea taxation to 12.5%. I hadn’t expected the stories of tea to be so swashbuckling.

Did you know that the Americans were tea drinkers before the English, because of the Dutch tea trading companies being the first on scene. But, and without giving too much more away, I was hastily assured that Twinings had nothing to do with the Boston Tea Party. I also learned the reason why it is only the English who put milk in their tea, but I don’t want to give all Marta’s secrets away.

At each class there are six different teas to try ranging in colour, appearance, flavour and the growing and harvesting processes. My favourite was a tea called “Darjeeling Castleton Moonlight Oolong” whose tips are picked under the light of the moon, on the Castleton estate in the Darjeeling province of Northern India… so romantic. You begin with white tea and follow the spectrum along to yellow, green, oolong, black and aged vintage tea.

It was fascinating to hear about the epic journey of tea, from plantation to cup; as well as the different tea growing regions around the globe – China, Kenya, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. There was a screen of moving photos behind Marta, which she’d regularly point to, and filled me with a longing to go and see these amazing foreign lands for myself. I discovered a huge amount about Twinings Source With Care programme and investment in local communities to ensure that workers’ conditions are not only fair wages, but they have clean water and access to education too. Before sourcing their tea, Twinings will often work with the community for a few years to ensure their standards are met, before picking the tea, which really impressed me.

I loved hearing about the Twinings master tasters and blenders and discovering just how much time and effort goes into creating each cup of tea. The tasters make many sacrifices for their craft. They eat a bland diet, don’t drink or smoke in order to keep their taste buds at top performance levels, and taste countless cups per week.  

Seeing, Sniffing & Slurping

Marta expertly blended her storytelling with tea tasting and taught us how to examine the different teas. Introducing questions like “Has your tea gone through the “cut, tear, curl” process or the orthodox process? What is the difference between black and oolong tea?

Once the tea is brewed she took us on the tasting journey: First you have a look for the oils on top of the water (a good tea should release the essential oils of the tea leaves) then sniff the tea and finally an introduction to the art of slurping.

The Finale

To round off this two-hour immersive masterclass, Marta’s conclusion resembled a rousing speech. Her passion shone through her crescendo as she declared fervently “so you see tea is so much more than a tea bag… global trade and business was built on tea, nations would rise and fall on it.”

Wow! I couldn’t recommend this Twinings Masterclass more highly. A tea tasting experience suited to young and old, friends and families, office parties and corporate functions, this is such a fun, informative and interactive way to spend two hours.