Buckingham Palace Green Tea

The garden at Buckingham Palace is a wonderful site to behold. Visitors often remark that the stillness within the quadrangle behind the famous façade is remarkable - considering the palace sits within central London. Keep in mind this is no small garden. The yard features a lake with an island, arboretum, rose beds with a large marble vase given as a gift by King Edward VII and a 170 metre long shrubbery border.

While the gardens themselves can be quiet, on the day of a garden party they’re anything but. On those days, the Queen invites up to 8000 of her loyal subjects for a day of tea and finger sandwiches. Like everywhere in Britain, the queue to get in is massive. The garden parties haven’t always been the norm. Until the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1958, debutante balls were held at the palace every year in their stead. One of the new Queen’s first orders of business was to abolish the upper class balls, choosing instead to invite a cross section of her subjects to the now famous garden parties. (According to her younger sister, the late Princess Margaret, "We had to put a stop to it, (the balls) every tart in London was getting in." Woopsie daisy!)

Of course, being a tea company, we’re glad they made the switch. It definitely fits, tea having played such a prominent role in Britain’s history. In honor of the Queen’s landmark move from debutantes to tea, we’ve blended up some of the finest green teas the former British Empire has to offer. We began with a Jasmine green from China, source of the first teas ever to reach merry old England. To this we added remarkable high grown greens from Nepal, Darjeeling and innovative green teas from Kenya. To liven up the visual appeal of the blend, and in homage to Buckingham’s wonderful gardens, we’ve finished up with a sprinkling of cornflower and jasmine petals. The result is a fabulous tea that’s fit for a queen. Ta ta.

Hot tea brewing method: When preparing by the cup, this tea can be used repeatedly - about 3 times. The secret is to use water that is about 180°F or 90 °C. Place 1 teaspoon of leaves in you cup and let the tea steep for about 3 minutes and then begin enjoying a cup of enchantment - do not remove the leaves from the cup. Once the water level is low - add more water, and so on and so on - until the flavor of the tea is exhausted. Look at the pattern of the leaves in the brew - they foretell life.

Iced tea brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.]