A Chiltern based tea business has revealed a special tea celebrating Buckinghamshire - and a good brew.
Duo of professional tea tasters Mark Lawson and Giles Oakley from Chesham decided to bring quality loose leaf tea from some of the best producers in the world to local tea lovers, and did so by starting Two Spoons tea company during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now thanks to support from customers, Two Spoons has gone from strength to strength, including a recent Great Taste Award and rave reviews on the rating website Trustpilot.
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Mark said: “One of the reasons we started Two Spoons is we feel tea is a bit of an unsung hero, and the story of tea right from where it’s producers to getting it to people’s homes is fascinating and a great story.
“We’ve got Bucks Blend – a local blend for the county. It’s an English Breakfast style tea that’s just won a Great Taste Award.”
“It’s got a good quality Assam, some cracking Kenyan tea and then a sprinkling of Darjeeling tea in it, because Darjeeling is known as the ‘Champagne of teas’ – and Buckinghamshire is quite a posh county,” Chesham resident Mark laughed.
Giles said: “We’ve been professional tea tasters for many years and between us have tasted more than a million cuppas!”
Mark said: “As businesses started to open up locally especially, we targeted cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars, and that’s been going fairly well.
“We really feel the local support.”
Two Spoons has taken up a stall at the popular monthly Sunday Cooper’s Market in Old Amersham and Great Missenden, and it can be found at The Front Room in Wycombe and The Junction in Chesham among other cafes and restaurants, and at Chiltern Made Craft Fair at The Elgiva Theatre on November 26.
Mark said: “Tea consumption during the lockdown went up, because people were at home putting the kettle on.
“From that angle it wasn’t really an issue for the people in the tea trade, but what has been a challenge is with the economic madness of the last few weeks.
"Tea’s pretty much bought and sold in dollars, so it’s definitely had an adverse impact on price."
The price of packaging has also increased, but “we don’t want to pass those costs on to customers."
“We’re absorbing those costs for now,” both men said.
“But it’s a challenge for everyone – whether you’re sitting in a cold cottage like I am without putting the heating on through to businesses. Everyone’s feeling the pinch at the moment,” Mark added.
The two men do everything themselves, whether that’s delivering and posting orders, sourcing and buying the tea abroad, while friends often help out with packaging.
For this year's secret Santa, Mark recommended a Bucks Blend tea caddy decorated with Buckinghamshire icons such as red kites, the Turville windmill and Chairboys.
To do their bit for the community, Two Spoons supports the “brilliant” mental health charity Lindengate in Wendover.
“They’re our nominated charity and they do such a good job,” Mark said.
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