Buckingham Palace Green

Description

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, and 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.

Steeping Instructions

IDEAL BREWING TEMPERATURE: 85ºC/185ºF. For Food Safety reasons bring water to 100ºC/212ºF and let it cool down to 85ºC/185ºF.

ANTIOXIDANT BENEFIT: For a greater antioxidant benefit brew longer and use more tea.

FOOD SAFETY ADVISORY: We strongly recommend using filtered or freshly drawn cold water brought to a rolling boil when brewing all types of tea. Today's water has been known to carry viruses, parasites and bacteria. Boiling the water will kill these elements and reduce the potential incidence of water-borne illnesses.

Epic Iced Tea Instructions

Tea isn't just served hot!  Iced tea is one of the most refreshing and natural thirst quenchers around the world.  Here is our suggested method of brewing the best iced tea.

ICED TEA BREWING METHOD (Pitcher): (To Make 1 Liter/Quart):

1. Place 6 slightly heaping teaspoons of loose tea or 6 tea bags into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher.
2. Using filtered or freshly drawn cold water, boil and pour 1¼ cups/315ml over the tea.
3. Steep for 5 minutes.
4. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water.
5. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the tea or removing the bags.
6. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste.
7. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to increase
8. the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.

Note: Some luxury quality teas may turn cloudy when poured over ice. This is a sign of luxury quality and nothing to worry about.

ICED TEA BREWING METHOD (Individual Serving):

1. Place 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of loose tea or 1 tea bag into a teapot for each serving required.
2. Using filtered or freshly drawn cold water, boil and pour 6-7oz/170-200ml per serving over the tea.
3. Cover and let steep for 5 minutes.
4. Add hot tea to a 12oz/375ml acrylic glass filled with ice, straining the tea or removing the bags.
5. Not all of the tea will fit, allowing for approximately an additional ½ serving.
6. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to increase the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted.

Note: Some luxury quality teas may turn cloudy when poured over ice. This is a sign of luxury quality and nothing to worry about.

HERB & FRUIT ICED TEA BREWING METHOD (Pitcher): (To Make 1 Liter/Quart):

1. Place 12 slightly heaping teaspoons of herb & fruit blend or 6 tea bags into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher.
2. Using filtered or freshly drawn cold water, boil and pour 1¼ cups/315ml over the herb & fruit blend.
3. Steep for 5-10 minutes.
4. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water.
5. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the tea or removing the tea bags.
6. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste.
7. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced herb & fruit tea is to increase the strength of hot brew since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.

HERB & FRUIT ICED TEA BREWING METHOD (Individual Serving):

1. Place 2 slightly heaping teaspoons of herb & fruit blend or 1 tea bag into a teapot for each serving required.
2. Using filtered or freshly drawn cold water, boil and pour 6-7oz/170-200ml per serving over the herb & fruit blend.
3. Cover and let steep for 5-10 minutes.
4. Add hot tea to a 12oz/375ml acrylic glass filled with ice, straining the tea or removing the bags.
5. Not all of the tea will fit, allowing for approximately an additional ½ serving. Garnish and sweeten to taste.
6. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed herb & fruit tea is to increase the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted.