NEW! Loose Leaf Pyramids
15th March 2013
New for 2013, we are launching our innovative loose leaf pyramids which each hold 3 grams of our unique Classic Tea in a biodegradable silken tea pouch. All the perks of enjoying loose leaves without the need for a teapot or tea strainer! Available as both 12 and 25 pyramids, presented in lovely keepsake kilner tins which are perfect for re-filling. Our Classic Tea is a consistent and awakening blend of exclusive hand-plucked Tregothnan leaves with the finest Assam - simply delicious with a bold, malty and full-bodied flavour! View the products here.
Spring has sprung in Cornwall
20th February 2013
It's official...spring has sprung at Tregothnan!
Our champion Magnolia campbelli tree is now in full flower and basked in sunshine. These glorious blooms will only last for three weeks, so if you want to see it at its best, why not book a Private Garden Visit with our new guide Alison Cameron?
GREAT British Tea for 10 Downing Street
19th February 2013
Tregothnan was invited to 10 Downing Street recently to discuss a number of exciting export opportunities linked with the GREAT Britain campaign and to tell those that run the initiative of the progress of Britain’s tea growing in Cornwall. Also discussed was the development of a chain of tea houses as the British answer to coffee houses.
Tregothnan tea is an affordable luxury that’s actually selling back to China! As we know, tea cuts across all sections of community and is almost in our veins. Tea just about defines what makes us British.
While Mr Cameron is currently in India, it is confirmed that the rare and magnificent tree, Magnolia campbellii, is flowering at Tregothnan ahead of the specimens in Darjeeling. The tree is taken as the harbinger of spring and an indicator of fine tea growing regions. The first packets of GREAT-branded British Tea created by Tregothnan for the campaign are being delivered to Embassies where the campaign is running, including India, to coincide with the Prime Minister's trip.
Magnolia campbellii, originally from North India, flowering earlier in Cornwall than Darjeeling!
Meanwhile, British tea is being welcomed in other parts of Asia, even in China where tea was first discovered. The attached image illustrates the Tregothnan tea concept in Shanghai. The Chinese in particular adore the giant tea pot, image also attached. It actually pours tea and features regularly on Chinese TV.
The GREAT Britain campaign is an international cross-government campaign run by No10/Cabinet Office, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, DCMS, VisitBritain, UK Trade and Investment and the British Council. It is aimed at generating jobs and growth for the UK by supporting British exporters, increasing inward investment to the UK as well as encouraging tourists and students to visit and study in the UK. Tregothnan will be enthusiastic participants in the GREAT campaign and will add value in ways that only tea can do - potentially broadening even further the already impressive reach of the GREAT campaign. As we know, tea cuts across all sections of community and is almost in our veins. Tea just about defines what makes us British.
Try the GREAT British Tea for yourself by clicking here.
Festival of Tea in Shanghai
11th January 2013
Tea isn't just the world's favourite beverage. It's number one in sentiment - it helps define many nationalities. None can rival the British for taking an ancient Chinese drink with such fervour for four centuries that it is regarded as the most British of customs. Britain adopted and adapted tea customs and invented new tea rituals that are now world renowned. Afternoon tea, tea parties, Earl Grey: the nation living by its kettle.
Industrialisation and tea went hand in hand - the sobriety and caffeine associated with tea meant tea breaks actually boosted productivity. Relaxing with tea also became the height of fashion. No other beverage has had as many public houses devoted to it. Special times in the day were created to ensure tea received proper attention.
The Chinese, not known for their easy persuasion, watched this British love affair develop over half a millennia and were mildly interested when in 2005 the first tea leaves were actually grown and harvested in the UK. Chinese television came to see for itself and in 2013 more detailed views of British tea will be broadcast to half a billion viewers. The best Chinese tea companies are now collaborating with Tregothnan to grow tea for Chinese tea houses in London and Berlin.
Perhaps the most intriguing chapter in tea is only now unfolding. The quintessentially British tea ritual and ceremony is perfectly presented in the Festival of Tea. While the Festival of Tea is quite capable of popping up on Trafalgar Square it is also the best answer yet to the coffee house chains on high streets around the world. Known to tea aficionados as the festival or simply FoT, its permanent presence on the best streets and malls is being welcomed from Shanghai to New York.
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Tregothnan will be given due prominence on the menu as the most British tea ever conceived. However, in keeping with the long tradition of celebrating afar tea cultures, other fine teas will also be available. Tea cocktails in the evening and delightfully British food menus will build a loyal customer base from breakfast time to all day. Simple pleasures of poached eggs, beans on toast and scones, jam and cream are no less brilliant for being simple.
Your country needs you, and tea. Since the financial crises citizens have become reluctant owners of banks and other failed institutions. Now is the time to own an institution that has never failed. There is no trouble so great nor grave that cannot be much diminished by a good cup of tea - wherever you are. So the Festival of Tea is to be franchised to wherever the need is greatest. You can immediately join the Festival for just £10 and receive three cups of tea when we open in Shanghai. This is the civilised version of crowd sourced funding, developed over a cup of tea of course. Tell us where you need to see FoT and we will talk to operators who know how to open our concept in the best locations.
Taking tea back to its ancient home in China with FoT could happen in 2013. Contemporary and stylish but a place also for business meetings. Men were lured into coffee houses because the teashops had a lot of doilies and chintz. Once in the coffee houses they ordered tea, of course. Now the setting, service and choice have been reinvented, tea sales are going to surge. Until last year FoT was bigger in tea than Starbucks. This is no longer true - Starbucks are opening tea shops, helping fulfil the future in tea prophesy. However FoT is headquartered in the UK and is unashamedly British. Tea drinkers of the world, welcome to Festival of Tea.
Get involved and make the Tregothnan Diamond shine!
4th December 2012
Join the Woodland Trust's tree planting challenge and take your place in history.
When: Saturday 8 December, 11am-1pm
Where: Portscatho, Truro. Parking on Treloan Lane, TR2 5EF
The Woodland Trust and Tregothnan Estate are asking people to take their place in history by planting trees on land owned by the estate near Portscatho on Saturday 8 December. The planting is the first of four at separate locations on and around the Tregothnan Estate which will make up 60 acres of woodland creating a Diamond Wood.
The Diamond Wood is being created through the Trust's Jubilee Woods project which has a goal of planting six million trees, creating hundreds of new woods in 2012, to mark Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Over three million trees have been planted already and the charity has set a nationwide Tree Planting Challenge to plant a further three million trees in the next few months.
The Honourable Evelyn Boscawen from Tregothnan said: "As part of our commitment to sustainability on the estate we are delighted to be working with the Woodland Trust to plant trees. It's a great opportunity to increase tree cover on the estate and it is a privilege to be creating the only Diamond Wood in either Cornwall or Devon."
Georgina McLeod, Director of Jubilee Woods at the Woodland Trust, added: "We are looking forward to people joining us to plant this new woodland and pay a very special tribute to Her Majesty The Queen. Every tree planted on the Tregothnan Estate will help us in our aim to expand the amount of native woodland cover in Cornwall and across the whole of the UK."
People's efforts on the planting day will be recorded forever in the 'Royal Record' - a book of all the new trees and woods which will be handed to HM The Queen and the British Library at the end of the project.
For more information about the tree planting event contact Karen Trickey on 0844 334 5404 or 07500 987 923. People are advised to wear warm clothes, sturdy footwear and bring a spade if possible.
Anyone unable to attend on the day can still apply for a free tree pack from the Woodland Trust, orders are being taken now for delivery in the spring. People can apply for either 105 or 420 trees, schools can also apply for packs of 60 trees. Find out more at www.jubileewoods.org.uk.