Twinings Teas and Herbal Infusions

In 2006, Twinings has celebrated 300 years of tradition in tea and coffee. The story began in 1706, when Thomas Twining bought Tom's coffee houose in The Strand, London. Looking for something to makie his coffee house different from the 2,000 others in the City of London at that time, he introduced tea as a way of drawing custom, and insisted on selling only the very best tea.

Eleven years on he extended the coffee house and opened his famous shop The Golden Lion at what is now 216 The Strand. He also sold tea and coffee to other coffee houses, inns and apothecaries.

Tea was a luxury item and very, very expensive as it carried 119% duty to protect the brewers who said tea would replace ale at breakfast! All tea in those days came from China only.

The high price of tea made it a very attractive commodity for smugglers. As chairman of the dealers in Tea, Richard Twining, grandson of Thomas, took this problem to William Pitt, prime minister of the day and championed the passing of the Commutation Act in 1784. The result was a greatly reduced duty and therefore, price, which brought tea within the reach of a far wider audience. And, as predicted tea replaced ale at breakfast, upsetting the brewers and putting most smugglers out of business. It was in 1787 that the same Richard Twining built the now famous doorway in front of his grandfathers shop and first used the logo for Twinings which still features on all packaging to this day.

In 1837, R. Twining was granted the Royal Warrant by Queen Victoria and since then, Twinings has continuously held a Royal Warrant  from the Reigning monarch of the day. Around this time, tea began to arrive from India, which lowered prices and made it affordable to a wider range and class of people.

Twinings was acquired by Associated British Foods in 1964 and relocated from London to Andover, Hampshire in 1967. Twinings also has factories in Newcastle  and in Greensborough, North Carolina, USA. Today Twinings tea is sold in virtually every country in the world and the Twining family is still involved in the business, ensuring that the heritage and tradition continues.

Tea can be grown anywhere between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn where there is a warm tropical or sub-tropical climate and a rainfall of at least 100cm (50 inches) a year.

Left unclutivated, the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, which is really a tree, would reach a height of around nine metres. To ensure ease of plucking, it is pruned to waist height.

New bushes are grown mainly from cuttings. After about three to five years, depending on the altitude and the climate, the plant is ready for plucking. The top buds of the bush and adjacent two leaves are taken to be processed and into black, red or green tea.

A wide range of flavours and characteristics can be produced by growing the plants in different soils and climates and at different altitudes.

The Chinese perfected three quite distinct types of tea by varying the processing technique.

Green tea - is not allowed to oxidise.

Oolong, which the chinese call red tea because of the appearance of the unmilked liquor, is partially oxidised.

Black tea, which is allowed to fully oxidise.

India, China, Kenya and Sri Lanka are still the principal tea growing countries. However, tea is also grown in Japan, Turkey, Indonesia, South America, the confederation of Independant States, Bangladesh, Malawi and in small quantities in other African and Asian Countries.

Withering - The plucked leaf from the tea plant is first spread on racks in a current of warm, dry air. This removes up to approximately 30% of the moisute from the leaf, leaving it limp.

Rolling - The withered leaf is crushed  by rolling, or cutting, tearing and curling. This releases the natural juices.

Oxidisation - The rolled leaf is then allowed to oxidise to a bright, coppery colour. The leaves absorb oxygen, which causes the colour change.

Drying - The oxidised leaf is then dried by hot air, to become the familiar black tea.

Sorting - the dry black leaf is then sorted into various grades by sifting machines, which vibrate the leaf through different sizes of mesh.