The Art of Tea & Coffee

Written on March 22nd, 2018

At Booths our very roots are placed in tea and coffee – our founder Edwin Henry Booth started as a tea trader and travelled often in search of excellent tea and coffee; developing the finely honed expert skill of tea tasting. His expertise has been passed on through generations of the family and we have always blended our tea and roasted our coffee in-house. Current production takes place at HQ in Preston, if you’re driving by of a morning you can often smell the coffee on to roast.

The In Store Brew Experience

Recently we’ve revamped the range of tea and coffee on offer in store, as well as getting a little bit creative to make it easier, educational and that little bit more exciting for you to shop. Our designer and own brand team have worked together to create a full tea and coffee experience, including leaf and bean guides – a guide to the different types of tea leaf available in store, plus a bean roast guide to help you choose the right brew for you. You’ll find a coffee bean grinder in every store too, so you can grind your own fresh beans.

Booths Brews

We’re very lucky to have an expert in tea and coffee as a colleague, Pete Read, who oversees the production of all Booths brand brews. And for the ultimate quality test he tastes a sample from each batch to make sure you get the same great brew every time.

Tea

The skill for tea tasting has been passed down from generation to generation to ensure all Booths teas are blended to match your highest expectations. Our teas are carefully hand packaged in small batches as soon as they are blended, to ensure that they stay fresh down to the last cup.

We take our responsibilities as tea buyers very seriously, we have been importing and blending tea longer than some classic varieties have existed such as Ceylon, Assam and Darjeeling. We actually buy Assam and Darjeeling from the original first tea gardens. As a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership it allows us to ensure the future of the varieties we love and help create a socially just and environmentally sustainable tea industry.

Storage: Always store in a cool dark airtight container.

Preparation: Put a teaspoon of tea per person in the pot – plus one for the pot. Brew for 4 minutes and serve in a warm cup.

Coffee

We choose 100% Arabica beans from coffee estates around the world. We sort, blend and hand roast our coffee in small batches then hand pack them the same day for a really fresh taste.

Coffee is rich in variety and each bean contains a complex array of aromas and flavours that change and develop depending on the level of the roast. To taste your coffee, Pete recommends you first breathe in the aroma from your cup before slurping the coffee to release the full range of flavour. Anything from a citrussy bite to a nutty and earthy flavour can be found. Coffee can be light and refreshing or warm, velvety and comforting – use our coffee bean roast and strength guide to help you taste the difference throughout our range.
In our stores you can buy beans, grind your own beans with the in store grinder that you’ll find the coffee aisle, or if you prefer, just pick up a bag of ready roast and ground.
Because we care about where our coffee beans come from, a number of our coffees are Rain Forest Alliance certified and all of them are sourced from suppliers who trade ethically.

Storage: Once ground your coffee should be kept in a cool, dark, dry container that is airtight.

Preparation: Use a round dessertspoon of coffee per cup in your cafetiere, then pour fresh, just off the boil water over and break the surface of the water by giving it a stir. Brew for 3 to 4 minutes.