Ashmolean Tea

The Ashmolean Tea is a bespoke black tea blend created for the Ashmolean Museum by Team Tea, a local Oxfordshire based business. With the blend, we wanted to capture the essence of the Museum within a tea, so Valerie, Team Tea's founder and tea sommelier, spent time wandering the galleries, taking in the atmosphere of the collections and trying to imagine what tea she wanted to drink in that moment.

The Ashmolean Tea is a full-bodied, refined and elegant black tea, with heritage and a strong link to the Museum's collection. It incorporates teas from China, the birthplace of tea; Assam, where tea is indigenous; and Darjeeling, one of the first commercial tea areas planted for the British East India Company. The blend starts with a second-flush single-estate Assam, which grounds the tea in a comforting maltiness. To this we add a second-flush single-estate Darjeeling, which lifts the tea and brings in some fruitier notes and a lovely aroma. The last component is a very special Black Gunpowder from Fujian, China, a rare tea that not only provides a fantastic link to Guy Fawkes' lantern and the Gunpowder Plot, a highlight of the Museum's collection, but also adds a subtle caramelised, toasty note.

It is packaged in our signature white caddy, with an internal stopper to protect the tea; the tin is adorned with details from a late eighteenth-century child's coat in the Ashmolean Museum collection. Every purchase supports the Ashmolean.

To be enjoyed at any time of day, with or without milk. Brew at 100°C for 3 to 4 minutes.

Ingredients || Black Tea

Warning, packed in an environment that contains nuts

Caffeine || Yes

Tasting Notes || Full-bodied, malty and refined

Brewing Notes || 1 teaspoon per cup, 100ºC, brew for 3-4 minutes.