Food & Beverage - Tiree is everyone’s cup of tea Machair tea leaves from Tiree Tea
Tiree is everyone’s cup of tea T here are few things in life more satisfying, refreshing and infused with legendary problem solving qualities than tea. No other beverage is credited with such power to bring people together, treat shock, calm situations, restore balance and evoke emotions. The Scots have been drinking tea for more than 400 years, ever since Mary of Modena, the second wife of King James the VII, poured the first cup at
Edinburgh’s Holyrood Palace in 1680.
The Italian-born royal had acquired a taste for the beverage while living in the Netherlands and since then Scots have enjoyed an enduring love affair with the drink that is only surpassed by water in its global consumption. Two of the most famous names associated with making tea so popular were Scots. James Taylor, who is widely regarded as the father of Ceylon tea, was born in Kincardineshire and Sir Thomas
Lipton, who gave his name to a global brand, started life as a Glasgow grocer.
Indeed, even the blend commonly referred to as English Breakfast is believed to have been devised by an Edinburgh Tea Master to the delight of Queen Victoria who introduced it to London society. “I do love a good cup of tea. I was brought up in a house where pots and pots of tea were drunk. It is a very island kind of thing,” said Rhoda Meek, founder of Tiree Tea, a blend of the best
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