THE TEA STORY

Our two tea rooms - Annie's at Canal Yard and Annie’s at the Boathouse are now serving loose-leaf tea - and here's why...

Have you ever opened a tea bag to see its content? If you haven't, you should. You will see that most of the time the bag contains tea dust (called fanning) and broken leaf particles. Whilst they allow for a fast release of tannins which gives tea its colour, they lack flavour and depth.

Larger leaves used in all loose-leaf teas hold more of their essential oils which infuse to make a drink with full flavour and aroma potential. Once you've tried them, you'll never go back!

All tea varieties come from the same evergreen plant, Camellia sinensis. The production process used after hand-picking only the top bud and one or two leaves, and the percentage of oxidation, is what determines the variety of tea it becomes. Beverages that are made without Camellia sinensis are called infusions or tisane and are made from fruit, herbs, flowers and/or other plant materials.

But that's not the only reason - tea bags are nasty little things (see The Environmental Story below) and we wanted to serve our teas (and our take-away products) in a way that didn't harm the environment.

OUR SPECIALLY CHOSEN LOOSE LEAF TEAS

Our own wonderful loose-leaf tea is sourced from the Golden Monkey Tea Company, who have a long passion for tea and its history and who pride themselves on their knowledge and experience.

Annie’s Blend

We asked the lovely people at the Golden Monkey Tea Company to make a unique and special tea just for us. The result is Annie's Blend – a special blend of hand-picked broken orange pekoe (BOP) leaf black teas. The result is a strong flavourful breakfast tea that is perfect with a slice of cake of two.

Ingredients: Broken Orange Pekoe (BOP)

Darjeeling (Margaret’s Hope)

Our Darjeeling is from the Margaret’s Hope Estate is one of the most popular and prized available. It is a crisp, fully aromatic tea with a full amber cup - the bouquet is aromatic, spicy and a bit sweet.

Grade: TGFOP1 Ingredients: Single Estate Darjeeling Tea (India)

Assam Panitola

This top quality single-estate Assam gives a deep amber colour with a malty aroma with a smooth, slightly sweet flavour.

Grade: FTGFOP1 - Ingredients: Single Estate Assam Tea (India)/

Temple of Heaven Gunpowder

This green tea is rolled into tight small balls resembling gun pellets from which it derived its name. As it steeps, the leaf unrolls into a wonderful green mass that produces a light and refreshing cup with a hint of smokiness.

Origin: China

Monk’s Blend Decaff

This black tea is a decadent combination of delicious vanilla and pomegranate, headily fragrant and is a complex fairground ride of luscious flavours.

Grade: FP - Ingredients: Luxury Decaffeinated Ceylon, Sunflower+ Calendula Petals, Natural Flavours

Ceylon Decaff

This is a classic cup of tea, mild and tender cup with a slightly flowery bouquet. The perfect alternative for those who are looking for a tea to fit the true-brew bill, minus the caffeine.

Origin: Sri Lanka Grade: Orange Pekoe

Earl Grey

Named after the 2nd Earl Grey, it is now the most popular blend of tea in the world. Our blend is composed of tea from the top growing regions in Sri Lanka with the addition of Yunnan tea beautifully flavoured with natural zingy bergamot oil. We think you’ll agree this is the best Earl Grey you’ve ever tasted.

Grade: OP (Orange Pekoe). Origin: Sri Lanka and Yunnan, China - Ingredients: Luxury Black Tea, Cornflower Petals, Natural Flavours

Bora Bora

A selection of local summer fruit and more exotic favourites are blended together to create this sweet and tangy tisane.

Ingredients: Hibiscus Blossoms, Apple Pieces, Papaya Cubes (Papaya, Sugar), Currants, Elderberries, Blackcurrant, Flavouring, Freeze-Dried Raspberry and Strawberry Pieces, Sunflower Blossoms, Corn Flower Blossoms

Moroccan Mint Tea

A refreshing blend of peppermint, spearmint and tightly rolled gunpowder green tea, this Moroccan Mint Tea makes a strong and refreshing infusion. Perfect for quenching your thirst on a hot summer’s day.

Ingredients: Spearmint, Peppermint, Temple of Heaven Gunpowder Green Tea

Turkish Apple Fruit Infusion

Sweet apple pieces and chunks of lovely pineapple from the basis of this sensational fruit infusion. The crisp and slightly sour character of the apple flavour makes it truly uplifting. The longer you steep it the sweeter it will become but feel free to stir in a bit of extra sweetness to make it into that holiday treat.

Ingredients: Apple Pieces, Pineapple Cubes (Pineapple, Sugar), Acidifying Agent: Citric Acid, Flavouring, Freeze-Dried Apple Pieces

Salty Caramel Rooibos

The match between sweet caramel and African Pearl Salt from Namibia will charm your senses in this delightful rooibos. Wonderfully creamy caramel notes melt together with an exciting pinch of salt, which you can dose out individually due to the practical size of the pearls. Open your taste-buds to this surprising flavour experience!

Ingredients: Rooibos Tea, Cream-Caramel Pieces (Sweetened Condensed Skimmed Milk, Sugar, Glucose, Molasses, Butter Fat, Wetting Agent: Sorbitol, Emulsifying Agent: mono- and Diglyceride of Edible Fatty Acids), Almond Pieces, Brittle Pieces (Sugar, Hazelnuts, Invert Sugar), Pearl Salt, Flavouring

Counting Sheep

If you are not sure of drinking pure chamomile, this is the caffeine-free tisane for you. You get a lovely lemony spearmint menthol with a background of chamomile that just adds a calmness to this mix.

Ingredients: chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, lavender

THE COFFEE STORY

At Annie's at the Boathouse, we serve Sumatran coffee from our Espresso machine. This wonderful coffee is shade-grown among small villages at 1500m altitude, in rich soils and harvested October-December. It is Fairtrade, organic and fully traceable, so you can rest assured we are supporting a healthy environment and helping to improve the quality of life for the local farming communities. The unique processing method used by most farmers lends Sumatran coffees their distinct characteristics - earthy tones, low acidity and full body, yet offer a fruity tang owing to the unique way it's roasted.

We use our full-strength and decaff coffee in our entire range of Barista-made coffees.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL STORY

ECO-FRIENDLY TEA BAGS

The majority of these tea bags used in the UK are made by adding acrylic polymer emulsions and a thin layer of polypropylene to the paper bag. Many are treated with epichlorohydrin, a compound used in the production of epoxy resins and as a pesticide. When this plastic material finally falls apart as the tea bag degrades, it ends up in the soil and ultimately in the sea.

At Annie’s, we have switched from tea bags to the use of filter bags to allow our range of wonderful loose-leaf teas to infuse and steep properly. These filter bags are made from bamboo fibre and are unbleached and biodegradable – no plastics, no emulsions, no pesticides. Of teabags that are used for the 60.2 billion cups Britons sip each year 96% are brewed using tea bags.

DISPOSABLE PACKAGING

For disposables destined to meet food and drink, it makes sense to use materials that can be recycled together with food and drink. Vegware plant-based catering disposables are made from renewable, lower carbon or recycled materials including trees, corn and sugarcane, bagasse (recycled sugarcane fibre), recycled card and paper. This compostable food packaging can biodegrade with food waste in under 12 weeks in industrial composting.